the roaming monk

Well, just as soon as the monk arrived on my doorstep, a fellow collector laid claim to him.  And, after brief negotations, the fabulous friar is on his way to New York. 

 

Below are a few pictures of pieces from the recent auction lot I found.  The old picnic is definitely a keeper!

 

No corkscrewing this weekend, as there is much research to do for an upcoming paper.  Maybe a brief venture onto ebay will net out some nice finds….

 

 

today’s arrivals

Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

 

I would have to say that my faith in auction houses was restored this afternoon when 7 corkscrews in a box arrived.  The early picnic is a dead ringer for a piece in the Christie’s May 2003 auction catalog (except the christie’s lot 61 had a bent worm), as well as matches up with pieces in Giulian’s book.  The legs are perfect!  No cracks, no blemishes, sharp helix and a great SNAP in opening and closing.  The bow corkscrew which looked rather ordinary is acutally a lovely facted bow.  And, the other pieces are quite nice too.  And, then…a syroco monk arrived today.  Granted it’s helix is broken, but he is in pretty good shape.

 

A great day at the poop office box!

 

More pictures to follow….

 

 

this week’s flea

Well, I did it.  I got out to another flea market before the end of the season.  Although, some of the flea markets are year round, one is wrapping it up next month.  And, there were some interesting finds, despite the rainy conditions.  A hasselbring sterling/horn piece, a red devil opener (sans the base), a pickwick clothes brush, and ez puller, and a really interesting rabbit/bunny corkscrew.  The rabbit/bunny/hare one is interesting insofar as, it looks less like a rabbit, and more like one of those animals that bill murray made out of plastic explosives in the movie caddyshack.  Still, it was a good deal, and I was pleased.

 

On another note, a long time corkscrew collector was there regaling me with his latest conquest.  Last month, at the same flea, he found a syroco clown for 100 bucks.  I laughed in his general direction and said, I just got a monk for 2 dollars and stuck out my tongue.

 

note to self; visit flea markets more often.

 

 

what happened to the blogs

I was urged by the brimfield boys (borrett and bristow) to start blogging about corkscrews, amongst other things, and I figured what the heck… Of course, they have seemed to have fallen off the faced of the earth…but perhaps eventually their blogs will start up again eventually.

 

Not much on the corkscrew front as of late.  There have been some lovely pieces online, and a haff patent roundlet seemed to dissappear after the seller "added" a buy it now…  Oh well, had I been the one to see it, I would have snapped it up too.

 

Oh, I did finally figure out the thick and thin hegemony thing.  I know that that will ease your corkscrewy minds…

 

 

syroco stuff

So, the cover article in "antiques and collecting magazine" is about syroco.  I would tell more about the article, except all I have been able to do is see a picture of the cover shot, as I can’t find a copy anywhere.  It really is odd that a magazine published in Chicago, is unavailable anywhere in Chicago. 

 

Anyway…  the author who wrote the syroco piece is also working on a schiffer book on the company.  Much like Don’s book on corkscrews, this one will have prices for the items…  I do wonder how accurate the syroco corkscrew and opener pricing will be…

 

Speaking of, prices have gone through the proverbial roof the last couple of days…there was a waiter around 200 at last check.  I do believe the syrocosis psychosis is spreading–it is almost an epidemic!

 

 

 

 

hegemony—and, no answer for my question

Okay… for those corkscrew people out there.  Years ago while working on my master’s degree, I remember discussing hegemony and swear someone mentioned thickly and thinly veiled hegemony.  I can’t find any reference to it, and it is driving me crazy…

 

any help would be much appreciated….that, or just send corkscrews to ease my pain….

 

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……

josef

arnoff

A while back, there was this corkscrew on ebay that looked like a pair of sugar tongs.  It was on a buy it now for 79.99, and I thought that was crazy money, so I ignored it, then watched it get snapped up in minutes.

 

At the CCCC last month, CB sold a similar example at auction for 550$.  I learned my lesson.  Next tongs I see, I am grabbing them!  Well, as luck would have it, I ran across a pair.  And, they are ebay bound. 

 

Gentleman start your engines.  The race to the arnoff is about to begin.

 

 

the corkscrew gods smile once again

I tried a different search on ebay today.  Instead of the usual corkscrew, cork screw, tire bouchon, korkenzieher, cavatappi, cork puller, etc., search.  I keyed in "cork remover."  And, much to my surprise there was a piece there on an unbelievable buy it now–for a whopping one dollar and ninety nine cents.  I nearly fainted. 

 

I hit the button, hoping I would get there first…and lo and behold I did.  What was the "cork remover?" you ask.  check out the picture below.

 

 

a pleasant surprise

Last week sometime another collector and I agreed on a trade.  He told me he had an extra Wulruna Plant’s patent, and given that I don’t have one, I agreed to give him a corkscrew of mine.  He happened to be at my house, so he had the corkscrew he wanted in his hot little hand, and I was dependent on a very small digital camera image of what appeared to be a Wulfruna.

 

Well, yesterday it arrived, and it is immaculate.  No finish loss, marked well, and with an amazing helix.  I am quite pleased with the deal.  And, I will try out the wulruna tonight.

two days in a row…and some corkscrews

In between reading Dewey and Hebdige, I managed to win an auction lot of corkscrews.  This was a live auction, that also was listed on ebay.  I just finished perusing My Pedagogic Creed, when the specific lot was coming up for auction.  Why they chose to put the corkscrews next to last is beyond me.  Still, I watched it come up, and after the dust had settled, I was the winning bidder. 

 

A lovely lot of 7 corkscrews including a pair of ladies legs, an early picnic, a nice weirs patent, and a couple others.  Yes, the corkscrew god’s have been smiling down on me as of late.  However, with the return of the brimfield boys back from their adventures, and soon to be on ebay, it would seem my good corkscrew-karma might be coming to an end.