Ready to rock? Beatles, Bowie & more in sale of 45rpm records

We don’t need vinyl records anymore, but we definitely still want them. Sure, records take up physical space — there’s no way around that — but the sensation of holding your favorite artist’s best songs in your hands will always beat summoning them from the capacious memory of your computer. On May 4, starting at 4 pm, Jasper52 will auction 188 lots of 45s — the vinyl record format reserved for single songs — from several collectors, including a large group that comes from the estate of a former DJ.

David Bowie ‘Fashions’ picture disc box set, estimated at $130-$200

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

Jasper52 map auction offers a world of choices

Maps are beautiful, decorative, and functional. Not only do they put the world in your hands, they let you fold or roll it up and carry it with you, wherever you might roam. It’s not surprising that collectors’ appetite for maps has been, and continues to be, absolutely insatiable. On May 4, starting at 8 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will kick off its Premium Antiquarian Maps sale.

‘Asia According to the Sieur D’anville,’ 1772, estimated at $3,000-$4,000

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

LEGENDARY WATCHMAKER AUDEMARS PIGUET

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak automatic quantieme perpetual calendar octagonal wristwatch with moon phases in solid platinum, which sold for $256,000 at Morphy Auctions in December 2020.

Many people have probably never heard of the luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet, let alone own one of its products – but make no mistake: the venerable Swiss-based firm has been wowing users and collectors for nearly 150 years, from its launch in 1875 until the present day.

The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, childhood friends who reconnected when they were in their twenties, as both had entered the business of watchmaking. Early on, Audemars was creating complex watch movements for other manufacturers, such as Tiffany & Co., and Piguet was specializing in the regulation of watch movements.

The two men partnered in 1875, with Audemars in charge of production and technical tasks and Piguet in charge of sales and management. In 1881, Audemars Piguet et Cie was officially founded, with operations based in the Swiss village of Le Brassus. From that point forward, Audemars Piguet was an industry innovator, introducing the world’s first minute repeating movement for wristwatches (1892), the first skeleton watch (1934), and some of the thinnest watches in the world, such as the 1986 automatic tourbillon wristwatch, the Calibre 2870. But in the 1970s the firm developed what would become its signature line of wristwatches for decades to come: the Royal Oak.

Audemars Piguet 18K rose gold perpetual calendar chronograph watch, one of 100 made to benefit a charity. It sold for $28,290 at GWS Auctions in October 2019.

“Watch collectors in the know will tell you when they think of Audemars Piguet, the words Royal Oak come straight to mind,” said Tyler St. Gelais of Jones & Horan, the New Hampshire-based auction house specializing in antique and vintage watches, clocks, jewelry, and coins. “The Royal Oak was designed by Gerald Genta, the famed designer for Audemars in the 1970s. It is considered by most to be the first luxury sports watch. Genta designed the Royal Oak to look like an antique diving helmet, with its visible screws and octagonal faceted bezel.”

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak offshore men’s watch, which sold for $25,000 at Laguna Beach Auction House in January 2019.

Today the Royal Oak is considered a classic, but it wasn’t the instant success many believe it was. “Its launch coincided with the start of the age of quartz watches, which saw the dominance of Swiss watchmaking brought to its knees,” St. Gelais said. “Over an 18-year period, from 1970 to 1988, 1,600 watchmaking firms collapsed, to just over 600 total. During that time, many makers banded together to create quartz movements to compete with the Japanese, but the effort was futile and many longstanding companies either closed their doors or merged to create more stable conglomerates. This gave rise to the Swatch group, among others.”

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 11.5-carat diamone men’s wristwatch, which sold for $26,432 at Estate Jewelry Auctioneers in December 2019.

Audemars, keeping true to form, saw quartz as a fad and kept working on incredibly intricate and complicated mechanical movements. They knew great watches weren’t just about timekeeping but the romanticism of a truly mechanical piece set to one purpose, versus the soulless tick of its battery counterpart. During the late 1970s, at the height of the quartz crisis, Audemars released the first automatic perpetual calendar, considered by most to be the epitome of complication. This watch was able to adjust from long months and short months, as well as adjust itself for leap years every four years. If the watch were able to run indefinitely without the need of repair or fresh oil, it could do so for 100 years.

Ladies’ Audemars Piguet Royal Oak stainless steel wristwatch, which sold for $7,475 at BK Auctions in March 2019.

In terms of market value, Audemars watches are “all over the place,” St. Gelais said. “The entire watch market has been in a free climb in price since the mid-2000s, which has seen early Royal Oak models from the ‘70s go from stainless models below $20,000 and some two-tone models from below $10,000, to stainless models regularly selling for prices in excess of $75,000 and two-tone models in excess of $50,000. On the flip side, a plain hour minute dress watch from the 1950s through ‘70s or ‘80s has plummeted in value, with prices in the $1,500-$3,000 price range, making them easily accessible to most collectors.”

Unauthenticated Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore men’s watch, which sold for $2,737 at Rare Treasures in April 2020.

These changes in value are not limited solely to Audemars Piguet. “Folks are looking more toward sports watches today in larger sizes, whereas dress models from years gone by are just not desirable in today’s market,” St. Gelais pointed out. “This is true for the other members of the ‘Holy Trinity’ – Vacheron & Constantin and Patek Philippe. For the future, I see no limit to the vintage original Royal Oak models, with collectors viewing these pieces as wearable art. The sky is the limit, with smaller dress models likely to stay affordable to the average collector for years to come.”

World of possibilities in Apr 27 antiquarian map sale

Buckaroo Banzai, lead character of the eponymous 1984 cult movie, said, “No matter where you go, there you are.” A good map lets you identify exactly where you are, but it’s perfectly OK to treat maps purely as works of art, or as a reminder of good times enjoyed in great places. On April 27, starting at 8 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will stage a sale of 16th – 20th century antiquarian maps, selected by expert Steve Kovacs.

Large German map of the Middle East and India, estimated at $350-$400

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

Jasper52 offers fine art, prints & multiples, Apr 28

On April 28, Jasper52 will offer a sale of fine art, prints, and multiples which will kick off at 5 pm Eastern time. The auction features precisely 210 lots that will tempt you to seriously reorganize your walls. Prints Specialist Mary Battaglia curated the sale.

Erik Lovko, ‘Tango,’ estimated at $2,000-$2,500

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

Chinese Chops Add A Stamp Of Approval

Rare Chinese chicken blood stone seal, which garnered $65,000 plus the buyer’s premium in 2011. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers

Chinese chops – or stamps that leave identifying impressions on personal or official documents – have been in use for at least 3,000 years. Because these pieces are portable and small, creating them required not only advanced skills and specialized tools, but also a refined sense of design. All were commissioned by individuals, making each chop unique.

Chops fashioned from durable metals such as iron, bronze, or copper represented enduring authoritative rule, but scores were also carved from blocks of attractive, semi-precious hardstone. Emperors, nobles, and high-ranking officials traditionally prized chops made of jade, which became a Chinese cultural symbol of inner beauty and immortality. The Imperial Heirloom Seal of the Realm, created for the first Emperor of China from sacred jade and passed down through following dynasties, symbolized the legitimacy of what the Chinese called the “mandate from heaven.” From around 400 AD, chops carved from rare, lustrous golden-yellow Tianhuang stone, mined in the mountainous Shoushan region of East China, were also highly desirable.

Carved jade chop featuring carved dragon knob, which rose to $17,000 plus the buyer’s premium in 2013. Image courtesy of Altair Auctions and LiveAuctioneers

During the Qing Dynasty (1636–1912), an era of flourishing artistic achievement, nobles and other high-ranking people wanted chops wrought from beautiful, locally sourced “chicken-blood stone.” The best ones, noted the Shanghai Daily in 2013, “are bright crimson … as though they had been splashed with the blood of a freshly slaughtered chicken.” Unfortunately, cinnabar, the component responsible for this auspicious hue, darkens when exposed to sunlight. So, the redder, the better.

Shoushan Tianhuang stone chi dragon square seal, Qing Dynasty, which settled at $42,500 plus the buyer’s premium in 2020. Image courtesy of Cardale Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers

In time, artists, scholars, and common folk acquired multiple chops. Used in bank transactions, on legal documents, or as personal signatures, many simply bore their owner’s name. Others were customized with select sobriquets, scenes of daily life, or symbols of particular interest. Some chops featured carved signatures or decorative elements along their sides. In addition, many bore mottoes, auspicious sayings, or personalized information worked in delicate, stylized scripts emulating calligraphy, another esteemed Chinese art.

Shoushan stone poetry seal, which realized CA$3,000 plus the buyer’s premium in 2019. Image courtesy of Majestic Auction and LiveAuctioneers

Most chops, whatever their design, were impressed in auspicious silk- or plant-based red paste. Two distinct carving styles emerged. Those featuring high-relief designs, known as yin chops, created red backgrounds, leaving character images white. Those featuring incised intaglio designs, known as yang chops, created red characters, leaving backgrounds white. More intricate chops combined both yin and yang designs.

Chinese calligraphy scroll featuring semi-cursive character inscriptions and red signature seals, which sold for $50,000 plus the buyer’s premium in 2018. Image courtesy of Lauren Auctions and LiveAuctioneers

To facilitate their use, hardstone chops typically bore intricately carved, three-dimensional decorative knobs. Many were shaped like mythical creatures. One-horned qilins, complete with cloven hooves and dragon-like heads, reputedly promised good luck and prosperity. Fierce, stylized foo dog knobs guarded against harmful people and influences. Tortoise-shaped knobs, or those featuring rows of tiny tortoises, were said to insure longevity. Four-legged, serpent-like dragon-shaped ones represented Imperial strength and power. Chops featuring turtle-dragon knobs, which embodied physical and mythical features of both beasts, seem the most fearsome of all.

Twin Chinese glass seal surmounted by qilins, which sold for €13,500 plus the buyer’s premium in 2017. Image courtesy of Sheppard’s Irish Auction House and LiveAuctioneers

As chop designs became more fanciful, artists often used them to mark completed paintings, books, and calligraphy. Collectors, on acquiring one of these treasures, often added their own marks as acts of admiration. According to The China Online Museum website, the Qianlong emperor (1711 – 1799), who was famed for his literary ambitions, used as many as 20 different chops to mark favored pieces in his collections.

Chops added by such esteemed collectors were considered integral parts of each work. In fact, from one century to the next, choice Chinese paintings and calligraphy works often would end up covered by dozens of different chops. These indisputable proofs of appreciation and provenance don’t just increase the historical significance of such works; they also increase their value.

Jasper52 showcases quality Americana from NHADA members

Items of Americana consigned by members of the New Hampshire Antique Dealers Association comprise Jasper52’s April 22 sale, which begins at 6 pm Eastern time on that date. Almost 400 lots feature in the sale, all of which come from dealers who belong to the respected organization. Americana expert Clifford Wallach curated the sale.

Large Yavapai woven basketry bowl or tray, estimated at $1,500-$1,800

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

Exquisite decorative arts tantalize bidders in Apr 21 sale

Making your living spaces better and more pleasant is a reliable recipe for happiness. Jasper52’s upcoming Exquisite Decorative Arts will help you start cooking. Kicking off at 7 pm on April 21, the auction includes 345 lots of lighting, tableware, sculpture, and other decorative objects that will delight you and capture your attention.

Creeping leopard bronze, estimated at $800-$1,000

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

Market for horse portraits keeps trotting along

What would you prefer: a great portrait of a horse, or a great portrait of a car? Andrew Jones, founder of the eponymous Los Angeles auction house, suggests that 90 percent of people would choose the horse, which may seem surprising to some.

More than 100 years have passed since the automobile displaced the horse as our main form of transportation. Admittedly, there are some truly spectacular cars out there. But a painted portrait of a car? Even a magnificently rendered image of a Murphy-bodied Duesenberg, or a Bugatti Type 55? No. The horse wins, and by far more than a nose. But why?

An 1879 Herbert Kittredge portrait of the stallion Bonnie Scotland and chief groom Robert Green sold for $40,000 at Case Antiques Inc Auctions and Appraisals in January 2018.

Well, the mammal has a long head start. Horses have appeared in art pretty much since human beings began creating images as art. The walls of the caves at Lascaux, France, are famously adorned with images of galloping equines rendered in charcoal and ocher. According to current scholarship, the cave paintings are about 17,000 years old. Horses star in other pivotal works of art. Two of the three paintings in Paolo Uccello’s 15th-century trio of tempera-on-wood panels dubbed the Battle of San Romano, showing the artist’s understanding of linear perspective, place white horses front and center. Eadweard Muybridge’s 1878 images of Sallie Gardner galloping with a rider identified as “G. Domm” on her back literally changed the way horses are portrayed. The photographs proved that at some point, however brief, all four of a horse’s hooves leave the ground when it runs.

But the biggest difference is an insurmountable one: cars don’t have personalities, but horses do. Great portrait artists don’t just capture the facts of the sitter, they also capture the intangibles known only to those who love them best, and fix them to the canvas for all to see. In the case of equine portraits, the sitter just happens to be a horse.

A set of 12 equine portrait prints, based on the work of 18th-century British artist Thomas Spencer, sold for £4,600, or roughly $6,300, at Cheffins in September 2015.

“Sitter” also happens to be a contradictory term in this context, as the horses are never shown sitting. Many picture the subject in profile, standing perfectly still, which presents the viewer with another contradiction. We seem to love horses best when they’re moving; Uccello, Muybridge, and the Lascaux artists agree on that. But painting a horse that’s standing still allows us to appreciate the horse at rest, and to admire the skill of the portraitist. “If you’ll Google paintings of horses, you’ll be shocked at how many don’t look like a horse should,” Jones said.

Sarah Campbell Drury, vice president of Fine and Decorative Arts at Case Antiques Auctions & Appraisals in Knoxville, Tennessee, points out that the noted equestrian artist Henry Stull “credited part of his success to actually having studied horse anatomy at veterinary school.”

Commissioning a painted portrait is expensive; horse portraits, in and of themselves, are luxury goods, not unlike a Patek Philippe chronograph or a Ferrari 599 Manual. Horse portraits represent the fact that decades or centuries ago, someone was rich enough to pay an artist to immortalize a favorite horse. “There is the emotional connection and desire to have a portrait as a remembrance and keepsake. But we must also remember that many horses were in fact the livelihoods of their owners. They were raced and bred for large sums of money,” Campbell Drury says. “They were extremely important financial assets. So equine portraits could be used almost as marketing or promotional materials to represent this asset in situations where the horse itself could not be present, not to mention as status symbols.”

An 1895 horse portrait by John Chester Mathews sold for $1,600 at Case Antiques Inc Auctions and Appraisals in January 2017.

British demand for these images during the 18th- and 19th centuries was strong enough to sustain dedicated specialists. “During the period when equine portraiture was at its peak, it was common for the wealthiest of racehorse owners to commission portraits of their most important animals, allowing a handful of artists to earn a living solely from those types of picture,” says Patricia Durdikova, an associate in the Paintings department at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, England. “Portraits of the horses which defined the development of British horse racing, known as the Foundation Sires, are as sought after in the current market as they were at the time of painting.”

Some horse portraits present the animal as a supreme luxury object. An 18th-century English canvas of an unknown equine with a manor house in the background sold for $9,750 against an estimate of $800-$1,200 in February 2018 at Litchfield Auctions.

In September 2015, Cheffins offered a set of 12 equine portrait prints based on the work of British artist Thomas Spencer, one of the few who made his living by depicting elite horses. He portrayed the animals in profile, attended by riders and grooms and surrounded by text that recounted their accomplishments. Estimated at £1,000 to £2,000, or about $1,300 to $2,700, the mid-18th-century group sold for £4,600, or roughly $6,300.

Horse portraits become more interesting to collectors with each proven fact they can claim. An anonymous artist painting of an anonymous horse in a nondescript field can sell well if it’s competently rendered. If we know the name of the artist, that’s good; if we know the name of the horse, that’s equally good, and sometimes better. If the horse has a confirmed racing history, better still. If human beings appear with the horse, collectors prefer to know who they are and why they’re there. If the backdrop contains details that support and confirm what we know about the horse, e.g., buildings belonging to specific horse farms, or a glimpse of the country house of its owner in the distance, that’s beneficial, too.

Lucy Kemp-Welsh might be best known as the illustrator of the 1915 edition of Black Beauty. Andrew Jones Auctions sold an undated horse portrait of hers for $550 in December 2019.

Most desirable of all, obviously, is a portrait of a horse whose name appears in the bloodlines of winners of the Kentucky Derby and other high-stakes races. A painting that sold at Case in January 2018 featured just such an animal. The work depicted the stallion Bonnie Scotland with chief groom Robert “Uncle Bob” Green. The horse’s descendants include Man-O-War, Sea Biscuit, Secretariat, and several other immortal champions.

The 1879 painting had even more going for it. Robert Green is outstanding in his own right. He was born into slavery and, after gaining his freedom through Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, rose to become the highest-paid employee of Bonnie Scotland’s home farm. The work was painted by Herbert Kittredge, who distinguished himself as a master of equestrian art before dying at the shockingly young age of 28. The painting sold at the top of its estimate range for $40,000 to Belle Meade Plantation, the Nashville farm where Bonnie Scotland lived and Green worked.

In June 2016, an undated painting by French 19th-century artist Rosa Bonheur made $6,500 at Wiederseim Associates.

Drury acknowledges that the 1879 Kittredge painting was something of a unicorn. A horse portrait with a wealth of information behind it is, in her words, “pretty rare.” Most collectors must make do with less. However, when asked how the painting would perform if it were re-consigned to Case today, Drury replied, “Actually, about the same. The market for equestrian portraits seems to be fairly stable – pardon the pun.”

Jones says horse portraits continue to hold our attention because they give us something we need. “Horses in motion, horses standing still, it’s a very peaceful form of art,” he says. “Even before COVID-19, it was a lovely thing to hang on a wall.”

HOW TO LIVE LIKE JEEVES AND WOOSTER

Let’s get one thing straight right away: the world of Reginald Jeeves and Bertram “Bertie” Wilberforce Wooster is as fantastical as Middle Earth or Westeros. Sure, P.G. Wodehouse (which is pronounced “Woodhouse”) set the stories in England and New York in an ambiguous time that evidently falls between the world wars, so they can claim connections to places that actually exist. But Jeeves, the uber-competent valet to the well-heeled Bertie Wooster, had might as well be an elf or a dragon. A man of his skill and intellect finding satisfaction in serving a young, proudly idle Englishman whose greatest accomplishment seems to be making and breaking engagements to at least a quarter of the high-born daughters in his circle? Unbelievable.

Jeeves’s loyalty to Wooster, along with Wodehouse’s peerless writing, drives the enduring appeal of the stories. When the wizards who adapted them for the Jeeves and Wooster television series in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they tackled the task of translating the luxurious lives of Wooster and his friends into fittings and furnishings. They succeeded admirably. The only thing that eclipsed the achievement was their recruiting of the British comedians Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry to play the title characters. The television show, and not the books, were front of mind when rummaging the archives for auction results that evoke the early 20th-century backdrops the beloved Wodehouse characters moved through. With a friendly “What Ho,” we invite you to enjoy this collection of sold lots* that call to mind the rarified realm of Jeeves and Wooster.

Tea Time

Spode bone china service in Sheffield pattern

How does Bertie Wooster take his tea? According to the television series, the answer is “in bed.” Several episodes picture him sipping his morning cuppa as he converses, muses, and schemes with Jeeves. The eagle-eyed author of the Look Back & Hanker blog identified the teacup Hugh Laurie holds in the first episode of the first series as belonging to Spode’s Sheffield pattern. In 2004, Auctions by the Bay offered a service in the long-running bone china pattern that included 13 teacups and 14 saucers. It sold for $850.

Shaken and Stirred: A Toast to Simplicity

George V silver cocktail shaker by Herbert Edward

Jeeves can’t stand sartorial crimes, and he judges Wooster guilty with some regularity. When he carries home a jacket or a hat that’s a little bit non-traditional (and why shouldn’t he—what’s the point of being absurdly rich if you can’t be eccentric?), Jeeves reacts as if Wooster had announced an intention to stride out of his apartment in an outfit comprised of a mink stole, hip waders, and a dickie. If panic roils Jeeves, he never shows it. He solves the problem by rescuing Wooster and his friends from the scrape du jour and banishes the offending item from his master’s wardrobe as payment. This is a somewhat long-winded way of saying just as Jeeves doesn’t tolerate fads in men’s clothing, he doesn’t tolerate it in barware, either. No way would he deign to prepare Wooster’s nightly tipple in a novelty cocktail shaker shaped like a penguin or a zeppelin or even a set of golf clubs. He relies on a plain but elegant silver cocktail shaker of the sort offered at Elstob & Elstob in January 2021. Dating to circa 1923, it was designed by Herbert Edward and commanded £950, or about $1,300.

Art Deco Tech

Pye Type 25 English portable radio, 1928

Wooster is young and wealthy and surrounds himself with the best of his era. For him, that means decorating his apartments in Art Deco style. Contrast his digs with the vaguely Edwardian feel of the interiors of his club and the imposing Victorian rooms of the country homes of his assorted aunts, and the difference is immediate and unmistakable. The Wooster of the television show unreservedly lives in the now; it so happens that “now” is decades ago to the viewer. Wooster owns a radio, or as he would have called it, a “wireless,” and it looks as good as it sounds. It’s placed between the writing desk and the piano in his London apartment, and it appears to be a circa-1928 Type 25 portable radio by Pye. Auction Team Breker sold one in 2015 for €240, or about $300.

Thrones for Drones

Arts & Crafts English leather club chairs

Wooster is a member of good standing in the Drones Club, which is named in honor of male bees that perform no work. It provides a haven for Wooster and a place where characters from P.G. Wodehouse’s assorted literary universes meet. The interiors assembled for the adaption of Jeeves and Wooster look exactly as one would expect—coffered ceilings and lots of cozy spaces finished with dark woods. Of course, a club requires club chairs. The Drones Club certainly doesn’t lack them, and the animated opening credits of the show depict a few Drones luxuriating in the embrace of just such a chair. This set of circa-1930 Arts & Crafts English leather club chairs isn’t a perfect match for those shown on screen—they have a little too much decoration—but they otherwise look the part. Offered at Treadway Toomey Auctions in May 2006, they sold for $3,250 against an estimate of $1,500 to $1,800.

The Country Life

Diana the huntress bronze

A fair amount of the action of the Jeeves and Wooster television series takes place at the country homes of Wooster’s friends and family. Being English, virtually all of them keep spectacular gardens as a matter of national pride. A bronze of Diana, goddess of the hunt, reaching back to grab an arrow from her quiver appears on the grounds of Chuffnell Hall, the retreat of Lord Chuffnell, or as Wooster knows him, “Chuffy.” Ahlers & Ogletree Auction Gallery sold a similar-looking statue in November 2017 for $10,000 against an estimate of $3,000 to $5,000.

In All Things, Be Prepared

Louis Vuitton & Christofle cocktail set

The television adaptation establishes early in its run that Wooster’s liquid intake largely alternates between tea and booze. Both must continue to flow no matter where he and his manservant are, be it at home or out in the boondocks of the Home Counties. Jeeves equips himself for this eventuality with a travel cocktail set that permits him to mix drinks from the “boot,” or trunk, of a car. An undated Louis Vuitton & Christofle cocktail set, nested in a black leather case, was offered by Abell Auction in December 2011, and while not of British manufacture, would not have been rebuffed, either by Jeeves or Wooster. French made, it’s the product of two impeccable firms that represent the best of the best. It sold for $3,250 against an estimate of $3,000 to $4,000.

Direct from the Source

English silver cow creamer, 19th c, stamped BH

Want to delight a Jeeves and Wooster superfan? Give them an antique silver cow creamer. The adventures of this jaunty piece of hollowware dominate one of the best-loved Jeeves and Wooster stories, The Code of the Woosters. It starts with Wooster’s Aunt Dahlia enlisting him to sneer at an antique cow creamer and accelerates hilariously from there. Looking at LiveAuctioneers’ archives yields several good results for silver cow creamers, with demand driven at least in part by Wodehouse fans. A 19th-century English example sold by Pook & Pook in December 2011 for $650 against an estimate of $150 to $250. Canonically, the cow creamer is supposed to date from the 18th century, but the friendly little silver bovine with its pert curling tail doubling as a handle looks much like the one showcased in the television series.

Clothes Make the Man

[Wodehouse, P.G.], Tweed Waistcoat from the 1989 Jeeves

At least one happy bidder out there can embrace the idea of living like Jeeves and Wooster almost literally. A May 2020 Freeman’s auction of a P.G. Wodehouse collection included a tweed waistcoat supplied by Angels & Bermans that was actually worn by Stephen Fry in his portrayal of Jeeves for the television series in 1989. Estimated at $100 to $150, it sold for $350. We hope the winner was on the larger end of the menswear spectrum as Fry stands six feet, five inches tall.

As of April 2021, Jeeves and Wooster is not streaming on any platforms, but it’s easy to immerse oneself in the deeply likable duo’s world by reading or rereading P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster books. HP at Plumtopia, a site for Wodehouse admirers, composed a reading list for the series. Click to view it.

To learn about Jeeves and Wooster’s backgrounds, visit Look Back & Hanker’s blog post.