June 2019 - The Hot Bid

SOLD! The Steinlen Cat Poster with Two Progressive Prints Sold for (Scroll Down to See)

June 28, 2019August 8, 2019

The completed version of the 1894 Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen poster, advertising his first gallery show. It features a calico cat and a black cat, both seated.

Update: The 1894 Steinlen cat poster, offered with two progressive prints, sold for $5,000.

What you see: An 1894 poster by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, advertising a show of his work at the Bodiniére gallery. It also includes two progressive prints of the lithographic poster (scroll down to see them). Rennert’s Gallery estimates the group at $14,000 to $17,000.

The expert: Jack Rennert of Rennert’s Gallery.

I realize to some extent that all posters are advertisements for an artist’s skills, but how unusual is it to see a poster as literal as this one, which advertises Steinlen’s first gallery show in Paris? He did this for an exhibition at Bodiniére. It’s not a reproduction of a poster or a painting [in the show]. It’s an actual design, integrated with text, and he designed the text. It’s completely his poster.

What does it say about him that when choosing the image for this poster–which is intended to lure people to the gallery to buy his artworks–he chose to depict cats? Cats are one of his most iconic and popular images. He loved cats, and had a house full of them. People say you could tell where he lived within five blocks of his house.

The lot notes describe the pair shown on the poster as “his cats.” Might we know which of his cats modeled for this? Did they have names? Or were these imaginary cats? He had dozens of stray cats that he brought into his home in Paris. He didn’t need to imagine them. He had his models right there in his home. Lot 450, the following lot, is maybe his most famous poster of all, and it has his daughter, Colette, and three cats. It was for sterilized milk. She’s testing it before she gives it to them. Of the three cats, the two at the front could be the same two in the Bodiniére exhibit poster. He did them two years apart.

Are the cats in the Bodiniére exhibition poster shown at around life size? The poster is 32 inches wide by 23 inches high, so yeah, pretty much life size. They take up half the entire image of the poster.

The poster is horizontal. Is that unusual for this era? Yes. Ninety percent of the posters of the 1890s were vertical posters, meant to go on vertical spaces, like hoardings. It could have been that this Bodiniére exhibit poster was never meant to be an outdoor advertisement. It could have been in store windows.

Do I sense Japanese influence here? It kind of reminds me of Japanese woodcuts. Japanese art was very popular and influential with many artists in the 1890s, especially in Paris. You can see some of that in the treatment here, especially in the coloring of the cats. But I wouldn’t put too much stock in that. This is Steinlen and his way of drawing.

Do we have any notion of how many of these posters were printed, and how many survive? We don’t know, and I’ve spent a lifetime trying to find out. I would guess that since it was a one-time exhibit, for one month, in one place and one city, I don’t think he would have had more than 200 or 300 copies made. There was no need for more.

This example of the poster comes with two progressive prints of the design, which show lithographic color passes. How do the prints give insight into how the poster was made? It’s stone lithography, so first, they’d do just the gray area, then overprint it with black in a few areas, giving it a solid, deep black look. The third color plate is red, which gives a nice color to the cat and the lettering. It’s unusual to show the final product and how it was arrived at.

A progressive print of the 1894 Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen poster, advertising his first gallery show. It focuses on the gray areas of the image.

Do we have any idea how this example of the poster survived with two related progressive prints? I’d say it’s more likely that it came from the archive of Charles Verneau, his favorite printer. There’s no reason for someone outside of a printing plant to have them. Every now and then you do see progressive prints for a poster, and inevitably, they come from printers’ storage. They’re rare.

How many times have you handled the Steinlen Bodiniére Exposition poster? Over the last 50 years, I’ve handled it ten to 12 times.

And how rare is it to see any poster with progressive prints, never mind a poster as iconic as this Steinlen? It’s extremely rare. Only real passionate poster collectors care enough to even want it. There’s nothing pretty about them. They’re incomplete works. But they appreciate seeing what went into the final [lithographic] stone.

In your 50 years in the business, how often have you seen a poster with progressive prints come up? I’ve probably had a couple dozen instances of that. Once every two or three years, I get a series.

So the Steinlen plus progressive prints will be of more interest to a museum or an institution? Absolutely. I expect museums, galleries, and foundations to have a special interest in them.

How did the presence of the progressive prints affect the estimate? It obviously increases it, but not by a hell of a lot. The poster often sells for $10,000. I estimated this in the $14,000 to $17,000 range because of the prints.

A progressive print of the 1894 Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen poster, advertising his first gallery show. It focuses on the black areas of the image.

What’s the world auction record for this Steinlen poster? Was it set with you? The highest at our auctions was $9,200 in 2006. [This seems to be the world record, not just a house record.]

What makes this a successful poster? Why does it still sell for thousands of dollars more than a century after it was printed? It’s very appealing. It catches your attention. Cat people have an additional reason to be enamored of it. It’s one of the favorite posters by one of the most famous poster artists of the period. It was an important exhibition for him. It established him in the artistic community.

So the 1894 show did well? It was a successful show for him. He sold all his works. I won’t say it was because of the poster, but maybe it takes some of the credit.

How to bid: The 1894 Steinlen Bodiniére Exposition poster is lot 449 in the PAI-LXXVIII: Rare Posters auction taking place at Rennert’s Gallery on June 23, 2019.

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An Amazing 1935 Negro League Baseball Broadside, Featuring Over 100 Players and 15 Hall of Famers, Could Command $20,000 at Hake’s

June 27, 2019December 6, 2019

This page from the 1935 Negro League Baseball broadside shows the Homestead Grays.

What you see: A 1935 Negro League baseball broadside, picturing six of the eight active teams of the time. Hake’s Auctions estimates it at $10,000 to $20,000.

The expert: Philip Garry III, Hake’s sports consultant.

How rare is Negro League Baseball (NLB) material in general? I suspect less of it was made, and less of it was saved. Is that correct? Exactly. Before Major League Baseball (MLB) became integrated in 1947, it was very unusual to find any surviving examples of NLB material, whether it was game-used pieces, cards, postcards, scorecards, or broadsides. There was never a single NLB baseball card issued in the United States, as opposed to millions released for MLB up until 1947.

Who was the audience for this cardboard broadside? It was not for sale. It was not produced for public collectibility. The audience was local townspeople, and it tried to draw them to a game. If you’re in inner city Pittsburgh, walking down Main Street, and you pass a hardware store, it might have this in the window. Some were displayed outdoors, posted on trees. I guarantee this one was in a store, because it survived in such nice condition.

Josh Gibson's image from the 1935 Negro League Baseball broadside.

The lot notes call this “what we believe to be the finest surviving example of Negro League Baseball advertising ever produced.” Could you elaborate? What makes it so fine? Going back to 2014, I researched NLB collectibles in general for over a year. I looked for anything with picture images on it–scorecards, broadsides… I didn’t have a whole lot of luck with photographs being pictured for the most part, until 1940. Then the images start getting clearer. Complete images of players in 1935 is unprecedented.

The lot notes also say player images were rarely featured before 1935. Is that true of just NLB, or all forms of professional baseball in the U.S. then? The NLB. It didn’t have quite so much in the way of broadsides. Expense and cost probably played a part in it. In the NLB, money was always tight.

The first page of the 1935 Negro National League broadside shows group shots of six of the eight teams.

Six of the eight 1935 NLB teams are shown on this broadside. Is it possible to know why the Newark Dodgers and the Philly Stars are not pictured here? It seems extra-weird that the Stars appear in name only, considering they were the defending champions. My guess is they [the leaders of the NLB] planned to do something similar for all teams in the league, but for some reason, production stopped too quickly. To raise the money to print, they probably went to each team and said “Look, we’re going to promote all the teams, and the cost is $100 per team,” and six said “OK” and paid it. The other two, maybe, didn’t have the money or didn’t think it was worthwhile. So they’re represented, but there are no pictures.

And this having “Nashville Elite Giants” on the front implies this was probably meant for display somewhere in Nashville, Tennessee? Probably. Whether they made them for other teams, I don’t know.

The Chicago American Giants team from the 1935 Negro League Baseball broadside.

What accounts for the way the pages of player photos are composed? My guess is they extracted the players’ images from the team photo. It’s possible that the Philly Stars and the Newark Dodgers didn’t have a team photo.

So, it looks great, but what else makes the broadside extraordinary? A total of 15 of the players are in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York, not counting the two teams who are not pictured. It has over 100 players [shown] on it. If any new [NLB] players get in the Hall of Fame, it will drive up the value further. The more superstars, the higher the value. Not only is the broadside worth a lot now, it has good investment potential for the future.

How many other copies of this broadside are known? My research shows three others have come up for auction. They are three different copies. You can see when they come up that the condition is different.

What’s the world auction record for this piece? The highest price I found was in 2010 at Heritage Auctions, which sold a copy for $6,572.50.

Satchel Paige's photograph from the 1935 Negro League Baseball broadside.

How did this particular copy manage to survive in such good condition? It was probably indoors instead of outdoors, and when the store owner was finished displaying it, he took it down and put it away, and it stayed in the building for who knows how long. Or, it went back to a team executive who took it back, and it stayed in a team archive for a while. Or, it went to a player. Executives’ and players’ estates are often the way this material comes to auction. That’s how a lot of it gets to the public.

Is there anything else out there among NLB collectibles that comes close to this broadside? There’s a 1924 Negro League World Series panoramic photo that shows 41 or 42 individual players and eight Hall of Famers. That’s the best I could find outside of this one.

The legendary Pittsburgh Crawfords, as shown in the 1935 Negro League Baseball broadside.

This broadside pictures the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords, which the lot notes say might be the “finest baseball club of all time. black or white”. Could you talk a bit more about that? What makes the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords legendary? In early baseball, the pitcher and the catcher tend to be the most important from a fan viewpoint. The Crawfords put Satchel Paige on as a pitcher, and Josh Gibson as a catcher. Paige was the best, and Gibson was the best. Getting both made for a tremendously successful team. Then they had Oscar Charleston, who was one of the top two all-around NLB players ever. With Oscar, they had a dynasty. Add Cool Papa Bell and Judy Johnson, and you have five Hall of Famers on one team, all at the peak of their careers, except Charleston, who was on a slide.

What is the broadside like in person? It’s big. It’s 22 inches by 28 inches. A very imposing piece. The clarity is excellent, compared to team photos and other broadsides. The images are so good, you can identify all the people on there. The outer boundary edges and the corners are intact. There are no pieces missing, no chips. Toning [a brown discoloration] is minimal compared to other copies. It’s just a great item. If you’re going to have one piece, this is the one to have. It has so much going for it.

Why will this piece stick in your memory? I was at the 2010 auction at Heritage and saw that one in person, but this is the first I’ve handled. I was always a big fan of this piece. Besides its appeal to the NLB collector base, a lot of people collect Baseball Hall of Fame material. This will strongly appeal to them because there’s 15 Hall of Famers on it. And a few NLB guys appear in virtually no other photographs. If you’re looking for those guys, this might be your only chance, ever, to fill the hole in your collection.

How to bid: The 1935 NLB broadside is item 519 in Auction #227 at Hake’s Auctions. Bidding on this particular item ends on July 10, 2019.

How to subscribe to The Hot Bid: Click the trio of dots at the upper right of this page. You can also follow The Hot Bid on Instagram and follow the author on Twitter.

Hake’s Auctions is on Twitter and Instagram.

You can purchase Philip Garry III’s Negro Leagues Baseball collectibles guide on eBay.

Images are courtesy of Hake’s.

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WOW! An Abraham Lincoln Parade Lantern Sold for (Scroll Down to See)

June 26, 2019August 8, 2019

This rare circa 1860s parade lantern features an image of Abraham Lincoln on one panel and a spread-winged eagle sitting on a shield with the word "union" on it.

Update: Heritage Auctions sold the Abraham Lincoln parade lantern for $22,500.

What you see: A glass and tin Abraham Lincoln parade lantern, dating to the 1860s. While Heritage Auctions has not given it an official estimate, bidding opened at $7,500.

The expert: Tom Slater, director of Americana auctions for Heritage Auctions.

How popular were political torchlight parades in the 19th century? In the 19th century, obviously, they didn’t have the communications media we have today. It was important to promote candidates, and torchlight parades were a popular way to do that. They were big events, and integral to politics from 1830 to about 1880 or 1890.

And they fade away after electricity begins to spread? Sure. It’s not coincidental that you see them until the 1890s.

How rare are these lanterns, period, never mind those that depict Abraham Lincoln? I’ve only seen one, two, or three examples of each type. It’s hard to say how many of them there were.

How many people in a parade would have had a lantern as fancy as this one? Multiple people carried torches on the ends of poles. Something like this, there would have been fewer to begin with. They’re really, really rare. We don’t really have evidence if [paraders carried] multiples of this exact type. They heyday of tin and glass lamps is from 1850 to 1872.

So, one person might have had the privilege of carrying this lantern, and the rest might have had more mundane lanterns? It could very well be. It would have been like with a candle. There’s a fitting in the bottom for one.

Is the pole original? It’s the original tin pole. It would have extended a couple of inches beyond what you see in the pictures to fit into a wooden pole.

What’s that thing on the top that looks like an upside-down cupcake wrapper? It’s a vent. Heat would vent from the candle.

Are the printed paper Lincoln and eagle-with-shield images sandwiched between clear glass? The glass is outside, protecting the paper, which adheres to the reverse of the glass. There’s deterioration around the perimeter, which is not that surprising.

Yes, what kind of condition is the lantern in? And what does it mean to talk about condition when maybe three examples survive? You could use the term “excellent” if you wanted to. It’s all there–all four glass panels, and the image is strong. It’s all there. There’s as much as you could ask for from a lantern.

So it has the ideal amount of wear? If it looked like it was made yesterday, it wouldn’t be interesting to me. This has the perfect look. You can see immediately that it’s old. You can relate it to something that happened 150 years ago.

The rare circa 1860s campaign parade lantern for Abraham Lincoln, showing the other two sides of the four-sided object. One is entirely blue, and the other is entirely red.

Why are two of the four panels colored red and blue? To make it colorful, and make a better, colorful display. There’s no symbolic significance. You see red and blue in a lot of political material.

Have you tried putting an LED light in it to get a notion of what it looked like all lit up? That would be ideal. There’s always a risk that a candle could fall over and set the paper on fire. Some have to be backlit [to get a notion of what they’re like] but in this case, as long as there’s daylight, you can see the image very clearly. You don’t need a light inside to make it present better.

Do we know what company might have made the lantern? We don’t.

But it wasn’t made by an enthusiastic individual? It’s definitely manufactured, with paper inserts sized to fit that particular lantern. It’s a complete manufactured unit. It was almost certainly made in New England.

Would Lincoln’s campaign have provided the lantern to paraders? We’re sure it didn’t come from a central source. Political parties were much more local in those days. There was probably a company you could order it from, but it was not provided from above.

How on earth did something this fragile survive so well for so long? The vast majority of lanterns did not survive. People didn’t think they were important to save. Generally, these were disposable, not made as souvenirs to be kept. They served a purpose. But there’s no specific information on how, when, and where [this one survived].

Have you seen the other two surviving Lincoln lanterns? How does this one compare to them? We’re just guessing there might be three. Personally, I’ve never seen another. I can guarantee there’s not five.

This lantern is shown on page 274 of Arthur Schlessinger Jr.’s book Running for President: The Candidates and Their Images 1789-1896. How, if at all, does that affect the lantern’s value? It definitely adds something. It’s considered one of the definitive reference books on political memorabilia. Being chosen to illustrate the book adds cachet. I’m not sure it adds dollar value, but it adds cachet.

What is it like in person? It’s arresting. It communicates the flavor of the times. It’s a very evocative piece, very pleasing to look at.

Why will it stick in your memory? It’s a particularly rare and desirable type of item. You don’t see it very often. And it’s Lincoln. Everybody loves Lincoln. Lincoln is magic because of his historic nature–a wartime president, maybe the greatest president, and he was assassinated at the end of the war. We get bids on Lincoln items from people who aren’t political collectors.

How to bid: The Lincoln lantern is lot #36163 in The David and Janice Frent Collection of Presidential and Political Americana, Part V, taking place at Heritage Auctions June 22 and June 23, 2019.

How to subscribe to The Hot Bid: Click the trio of dots at the upper right of this page. You can also follow The Hot Bid on Instagram and follow the author on Twitter.

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Image is courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

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SOLD! A George Sosnak Grantland Rice Baseball Fetched (Scroll Down to See)

June 25, 2019August 8, 2019

A baseball transformed by self-taught artist George Sosnak. This angle showcases the words "First World Series Aircaster Writer Grantland Rice."

Update: The baseball George Sosnak dedicated to Grantland Rice and the 1921 World Series sold for $2,396.

What you see: A baseball transformed by the late self-taught artist George Sosnak. SCP Auctions estimates it at $5,000 to $7,000.

The expert: Dan Imler, vice president of SCP Auctions.

How prolific was Sosnak? Has anyone done a count or a census of how many balls he decorated? I’ve read in the past that he completed roughly 800 to 1,000 baseballs, but he started roughly 3,000. And he was definitely prolific in the sense of his following and his admirers. His baseballs have been exhibited in many museums, including folk art museums.

He was born in 1922 and died in 1992. Do we know how long he was active as an artist? I definitely think he was most prolific in the 60s and the 70s. In fact he donated some of his work to Cooperstown [The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York] in the early 70s.

What do we know about his creative process? How did he choose his subjects, and how did he create these baseballs? He was definitely focused on notable figures and milestones. He was not confined to players, as you can see by the Grantland Rice baseball we have. He celebrated figures from all facets of the game. In most cases, he started with an autographed ball and built around that–stats, historic data, combined with colorful scenes.

Did Rice autograph it? That’s not the case with this ball, but many Sosnaks I’ve seen have autographs on them.

If a Sosnak has an autograph, how does that factor in to its value to collectors? I think most people collect Sosnak balls for the artistry. That’s where the value is. If the autograph was Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb, it might be more valuable, but it’s looked at for its artistic value more than anything else.

Do we have an idea of how long it would take Sosnak to complete a baseball, and how long it might have taken him to finish this one? We can only make an assumption by looking at the detail of his work, the thoroughness of it. If you look at the Grantland Rice ball, every centimeter of the ball’s surface is covered and well thought out and almost tells a story. I imagine it took many hours of work to produce the typical Sosnak ball.

A baseball transformed by self-taught artist George Sosnak. This angle shows how Sosnak crammed a recap of the 1921 World Series within the borders of this seam of the ball.

Do we know what media he used to produce this–markers? Paint? From what I’ve read, the media was India ink.

Do we know why he chose Grantland Rice to showcase on this ball? Sosnak was an aficionado of baseball and all baseball facts. He himself was a minor league umpire. He had a lot of experience in the game, and a lot of passion for it. What inspired this ball is appreciation for the great historical figures of the game. Grantland Rice was as prolific as it gets in his field.

Did Grantland Rice commission this ball, or ever see it? We don’t know that, but Sosnak was known to give balls to subjects as gifts. We’ve done a lot of athletes’ estate sales, and we see Sosnak balls received as gifts.

A baseball transformed by self-taught artist George Sosnak. This angle showcases his portrait of Grantland Rice broadcasting the 1921 World Series over the telephone system.

How might the fact that Grantland Rice appears on this ball affect its value to collectors? Or does the … decorative intensity matter more? All the factors combine to contribute to the value–subject matter, graphic quality. This one in particular has a dual subject, a dual purpose. It acknowledges Grantland Rice and also memorializes the 1921 World Series.

Forgive me as I don’t know off the top of my head, but why was the 1921 World Series significant? The 1921 World Series might be acknowledged as the first broadcast World Series.

Is that why Sosnak uses the word “Aircaster”–a word I’ve never encountered before? I think it’s a primitive term for “broadcaster”. Grantland Rice telephoned the play-by-play. It was a very primitive broadcast via telephone over four New England radio stations. That ground-breaking aspect is being celebrated on this ball.

Is there a date on this ball? Do we know when Sosnak made this? There’s no date. The only thing we have to go by is a very faint Rawlings stamp on the baseball. It looks like it was probably late 1970s, based on the type of ball it’s on.

What details do Sosnak collectors want in a baseball, and does this one have them? First, I would say great imagery. One panel has a wonderful image of Grantland Rice broadcasting, and you have the Yankees logo and the Giants logo, the two World Series combatants. It has great titling, and a complete, complete play-by-play of the game. It’s just covered. The decorative quality and historical content is just fabulous.

A baseball transformed by self-taught artist George Sosnak. This angle showcases how tightly Sosnak crammed the ball's surface with information about how the 1921 World Series played out.

Where does this Sosnak ball rank on the scale of information-density? It’s on the higher end of the scale, I would say. But there are many like it.

And collectors prefer Sosnak balls that are thoroughly jammed with text? Absolutely. The greater sampling of his work, the better.

Do we know about the provenance of this ball? We really don’t. There’s no long chain of custody here prior to our consigner. He’s had it for many years and we can’t trace it beyond that.

What condition is it in? This one is in relatively high grade for a Sosnak ball. They are susceptible to wear and chipping. This one shows very little of that. He’d typically put a coat of shellac over the ball to protect the ink.

That has to be a problem with Sosnak balls–you want to pick them up and turn them over, to see everything on them. Yeah, there’s something to see on all sides. If you want to fully digest it, there’s a lot of reading to be done.

Another angle on the baseball transformed by self-taught artist George Sosnak, showing statistics and facts about the 1921 World Series between the Yankees and the Giants.

How many Sosnak balls have you handled? How often do they tend to come up? We’ve had probably a dozen in our history. In various auctions, half a dozen to a dozen per year come up. They’re very collectible, and there’s not a lot of turnover. When collectors acquire them, they tend to hang onto them for a while.

Have you handled it? What’s it like in person? I have. It’s stunning, it’s gorgeous. The colors are very, very vibrant. They don’t seem to have faded or changed much since it was created. He used high-quality materials and on top of that, it’s very well-preserved.

What’s the world auction record for a Sosnak? The highest price I could find is $15,500, a Stan Musial, part of his personal collection, sold in 2013.

Why will this piece stick in your memory? Sostak balls are all unique. Every time you see one, you have to be in awe. It will stick in my mind because I got a history lesson about Grantland Rice and the 1921 broadcast. I not only appreciate the artistry of the ball, I got an education as well.

How to bid: The George Sostak Grantland Rice baseball is lot 10 in SCP Auctions‘s current sale, which opened June 5 and closes on June 22.

How to subscribe to The Hot Bid: Click the trio of dots at the upper right of this page. You can also follow The Hot Bid on Instagram and follow the author on Twitter.

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Images are courtesy of SCP Auctions.

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Oleg Cassini’s Archive of White House-era Jacqueline Kennedy Material Could Command $6,000 at Doyle

June 24, 2019August 8, 2019

Fashion drawing done for First Lady Jackie Kennedy by a member of the House of Cassini.

What you see: An image from an archive of more than 40 original drawings, letters, clippings, and other materials from the early 1960s that show how designer Oleg Cassini and his team developed fashions for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Doyle estimates it at $4,000 to $6,000.

The expert: Peter Costanzo, senior vice president at Doyle as well as its executive director for books, autographs, and photographs; coins, bank notes, and postage stamps; and estate and appraisal services.

How rare is it for something like this archive to survive? Is there anything similar between the First Lady and another fashion designer that dates to the White House years? It’s hard for me to say. It is a special archive. It’s Oleg Cassini’s workroom archive, and it shows a working relationship. It was ephemeral then, and it’s ephemeral now. The clothes were the final goal. This was how they did it in the analog age, by drawing everything out. They sat with Mrs. Kennedy and homed in on what she needed for her appearances and her events. Cassini made over 300 pieces for Mrs. Kennedy.

Wow, so he was really her go-to guy. Yes.

How did this archive survive? The archives usually remain with the fashion houses if they’re not discarded. This is a rare opportunity because material like this is seldom on the market.

What does this archive reveal about the working relationship between the First Lady and Cassini’s team? Mrs. Kennedy was highly involved in the process. She provided ideas and made her own drawings. She went through fashion magazines and newspapers and noted what she liked and didn’t like, and they would react to it. She would draw [fashion sketches] and write little comments on fabrics she liked and didn’t like. And she would comment on accessories–this needs a bag or a coat to match. The lot includes contact sheets–Cassini had models that wore Mrs. Kennedy’s size. She would annotate the pictures of the models. She’s very honest in her comments to him and very forthcoming. She felt very comfortable in the relationship and felt it went very well.

Fashion drawings by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, from lot 22 in the Doyle auction.

Are you aware of any other archive that’s come to auction that contains fashion drawings in Mrs. Kennedy’s own hand? We sold a similar fashion archive a few years ago. [It sold in November 2017 for $11,875.] It’s related to the same workshop, from the same period, and was retained by one of the workshop employees at the time. This is similar.

And Cassini stored it all this time? It comes directly from his estate. It was in his home in Oyster Bay, New York.

What was Jacqueline Kennedy’s relationship with Oleg Cassini like? It was extremely intimate. He was the one putting clothes on her back when she was the most-photographed woman on the planet. It has to be considered a collaboration with a wonderful public figure who embraced and acknowledged her role. I think that’s what we see with Cassini and Mrs. Kennedy.

And we know this archive stops in 1962 because… that’s the latest-dated item in it? I have something equally of note in the sale, but selling separately: Lot 14, a detailed workroom ledger of the Kennedy White House years. I know the record book starts in 1961. Page 14 is dated March 1963. The last entry before the assassination is November 13, 1963. There’s something somewhat ominous [mentioned in the ledger]–a pink costume dress and jacket. I think it’s poignant that the last entry before the assassination ends with a pink item.

What condition is the archive in? I think it’s in very good condition from the time of use until now. In the time it was used, it was handled, folded, mailed, and written on. There are some handling creases and torn corners, but it’s very well-preserved overall. The handling is original with its use.

Fashion drawing, with handwritten notes, done by First Lady Jackie Kennedy in the early 1960s. It shows three headless figures. — Another fashion drawing by the First Lady, with handwritten annotations.

What is it like to handle this material? It puts you in the moment with them. You feel like you’re in the room–that’s been my experience. It’s wonderful to feel like you’re in a workroom with Oleg Cassini and Mrs. Kennedy as they produced clothing that became iconic. The designs really became emblematic of the beginning of the 1960s–the Jet Set era, the Jackie look.

Why will this lot stick in your memory? Because it’s highly primary material. It’s a rare opportunity to engage with high-quality First Lady material, let alone the White House years known as Camelot, which doesn’t seem to recede from memory at all. It’s remarkable to view these items. That’s why they’ll stick with me.

How to bid: The Cassini-Kennedy archive is lot 22 in The Estate of Oleg Cassini, a sale taking place at Doyle on June 27, 2019.

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