CWNews
HEARD IN THE HUMIDOR
Los Angeles - Punch has never been more popular.
The famed clown figure has been as much a symbol of cigars in British and Italian communities as the American Indian has been for Americans through the centuries. And that popularity came through in a recent auction of a brightly-colored Punch figure from the 19th Century.
An 18-inch high counter statute of Punch brought a remarkable $207,000 at auction last month at the Morphy Spring Toy Auction held in Denver, Colorado. With its almost intact-paintwork, the figure (illustrated on the home page) dates from around 1885 and was made by the well-known firm of William DeMuth & Co.
This figure is made of zinc rather than wood and was reported to be one of the best-kept examples of this type of figure and relatively few are known to still be in existence.
It isn't the highest price for a Punch figure, of course. Last year, a wooden Punch that stood about five feet high went for the astonishing price of $542,400 in an auction last October. But "inch for inch," the latest auction brought a higher price!
The strong auction results for the Punch figure at the Morphy Spring Toy Auction were mirrored at the Antique Toy & Americana sale in New Hope, Pennsylvania, at which two carved Indians greatly exceeded their pre-sale projections.
The first was a 64-inch tall Indian in full headdress holding a tomahawk in one hand and a tobacco leaf in the other. Expected to bring $12-15,000, it sold for $77,000! A second Indian figure, this one of an Indian scout, was expected to sell for about $12,000, but was sold for $24,200.