Our late fall auction is an eclectic mix – fine and folk art, from carved antique statues to colourful wooden whirligigs, hooked rugs and Persian carpets, English porcelain, French clocks, a primitive merchant’s sign for the sale of Pekin Ducks, and a 19thC mahogany tilt top table. If you’re an audio enthusiast, check out our huge selection of vintage audio equipment, including some rare pieces. Desirable for the high build quality, and warm sound, fans of vintage audio components appreciate the tactile experience of physical knobs and switches – a rarity in today’s digital age. Often easy to repair, and extremely well constructed, this equipment is about far more than nostalgia. With its robust power output, these components often rival or exceed today’s modern equivalents. A favourite, just because they’re so unusual- a Conn Organ Pipe Speaker. Originally designed for use with Conn electric keyboards, they sit atop a compact speaker cabinet containing Cletron speakers. The position of the speakers projects the sound through the pipes. Both sonically and sculpturally interesting, they can be hooked up to an organ keyboard or guitar amplifier. Made in the 70’s in the USA with a polished gold finish, they were incredibly innovative during their heyday, from the late 50’s to the early 70’s, and are still sought after by audiophiles today. From turntables to receivers, microphones to amplifiers, and a varied assortment of vintage ham radio equipment thrown in for good measure, we have the vintage consumer electronic category covered in this auction!
LATE FALL ESTATES AUCTION
Location: Brantford, ON
Date: October 30, 2025 - November 6, 2025
October 30, 2025 - November 6, 2025 Watling penny scale, high quality audio and ham radio equipment including a Shure "Elvis" mic, fine English and European dinnerware and tea sets, including Aynsley, Hutschenreuther, Walwel, Dresden porcelain, including quatrefoile pattern, Bronze figures, Asian decorative collectibles, including carved wooden and bone figures and cloisonne, original artwork, including paintings by Con Vansuchtelen, Marjorie Pigott and CW Campbell, large selection of mantle clocks, including a Boulle Frere Japy clock, hand knotted Persian wool carpets, silk carpet, hooked rugs, folk art, antique furniture, German beer steins, vintage lighting and much more.
All of the audio equipment in this sale came from the same home studio, and was in use until it was picked up for auction.
We are pleased to offer a number of original artworks from Canadian artists. Constant van Suchtelen was a Canadian painter who immigrated from Indonesia in 1954 to Port Colborne to work at the Inco nickel refinery. He became a prominent member of the local community, and alongside his more prosaic industrial career, became president of the Port Colborne Art Club, and an art instructor. Known particularly for his portraiture, his play of light and shadow, and ability to capture the nuances of the human face, particularly the eyes is extraordinary- and as with the best portraits, your imagination is captured, and you want to know more about the person portrayed. His large oil paintings would be a dramatic addition to any room.
Although Van Suchtelen was clearly a consignor favourite, we have many more works of art, from Canadian painters, such as listed artist Alfred William Campbell, and Marjorie Pigott, a Japanese Canadian artist who studied with master artists at the Nanga School, founded in the 15th century in Japan. She moved to Vancouver, Canada in 1940, and used her classical Japanese training in watercolour to great effect in her distinctly Canadian subject matter, such as Muskoka landscapes and wilderness scenes.Along with several works by painters from the mid 20th century, there is something to appeal to all art lovers.
Another rare piece on offer is a Watling penny scale, an old stalwart from the days of carnivals and midways. Its history started with the world’s first coin operated automata – a fortune telling machine, invented by Percival Everitt “the father of modern coin operated entertainment”. Between 1883 and 1891, Everitt obtained over 24 patents for coin operated machines, for everything from blow testers, to grip testers to fortune tellling, but his biggest success by far, which took the world on both sides of the Atlantic by storm, was his coin operated weight machine. Enter the Watling brothers, circa 1889 who shifted their attention from selling candy in theaters, to placing coin operated machines, including slot machines, in theatres instead. Slot machines, mechanical horse races, coin drops and card and dice games quickly became all the rage in the US, with Chicago Ill being the centre of the madness. When the anti-slot ordinance was passed in the 30’s, parallel to alchohol prohibition laws, the fun came to an abrupt stop. The Watlings then turned all of their attention to their most popular product, the coin operated “penny” scale, placing them in arcade and carnival spots as quickly as they became available. The machine Visbids has up for auction is made of high quality porcelain coated metal, with a mirrored panel in front and grab bars on each side, in case your “correct weight” causes you to feel faint. The original label on the back “E.G. Knapp & Co” refers to Eldon and Marion Knapp, who built the Crystal Beach penny arcade in the mid 40’s. which operated largely unchanged through to the 80’s when the Crystal Beach amusement park closed, and the arcade was bulldozed. A piece of nostalgia from the days when a penny was all it took to bring a smile to your face!
Come and give us a visit in Brantford, and check out some of these wonders yourself! Call John at 416-543-0920 to set up a preview.
