WorthPoint’s Industry Partners are kicking off the summer by offering collectors some spectacular treasures, including Victorian-era birds frozen in time, a container once essential to hunters and soldiers, an artwork by an artist who brought joy to painting, mementos from the personal collection from an acclaimed filmmaker, and a piece of vanishing carnival art.
Nadeau’s Auction Gallery
The Victorians had a thing for dead things, so it’s no surprise that taxidermy fascinated them. It served not only as a means to preserve specimens for scientific study but also as a decorative art form; mounts became popular additions to homes, reflecting a growing passion for nature.
Victorian taxidermy bird dioramas became particularly fashionable objets d’art. These preserved displays of feathered friends, often in natural poses in detailed recreated habitats, were a popular and educational way to showcase the natural world.
At its Fine Art, Decorative Furnishings, and Accessories auction on June 7, Nadeau’s Auction Gallery of Windsor, Connecticut, is offering one of these antique bird dioramas. Lot 36 features six birds perched on branches with leaves under a blown glass cloche dome, with a music-box base.
Taxidermy is highly skilled work, and bird dioramas are prized by collectors, especially since they don’t come on the secondary market that often.
WorthPoint’s Price Guide shows that over the past three years, Victorian bird dioramas have sold between $75 and $2,550 for a piece with eight birds, including a cockatoo, that sold in 2023.
Pook & Pook
Powder horns were once essential containers that hunters and soldiers used to carry black powder for muzzle-loading firearms. Used from the Colonial Era through the 19th century, they were typically made from buffalo, cow, or ox horn. Many powder horns were beautifully decorated, providing insights into their owners’ lives, the places they traveled, and the battles they fought.
During the Online Only Decorative Arts auction on June 11, Pook & Pook of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, is offering several lots of these historical artifacts, including Lot 2232, a scrimshaw example inscribed, “Sgt Silas Dayton his horn made 1775 Col. S. Newcomb Regt. N. Jersey Militia,” with a townscape and arms.
In addition to their functionality, powder horns were also a way for people to show off artistic talent. American examples frequently feature a variety of carvings known as scrimshaw, which were done on the surface of bone or ivory.
WorthPoint’s database shows that over the past several years, powder horns with no artwork or engraving have sold between $5 and $500, while scrimshaw horns, the most desired by collectors, command the highest prices and have sold between $500 and $25,200. Pook & Pook has sold hundreds of powder horns, including this scrimshaw example that fetched $15,860 in 2020.
Goldin
Though his instructional painting show on PBS, The Joy of Painting, ended 31 years ago, and it’ll be 30 years in July since he died in 1995 from lymphoma at age 52, artist Bob Ross remains as popular as ever.
Ross reportedly created 30,000 paintings across the years of his show, most of which are stored at Bob Ross, Inc. in Virginia. Few come to market, but when they do, they generally surpass their happy little estimates.
Collectors and fans of Ross will be able to acquire one of his original oil paintings during the Spring Goldin 100 auction on June 14 at Goldin in Runnemede, New Jersey.
Lot 93 is a circa 1988 Ross-signed and framed painting featuring a tranquil scene of majestic mountains, a peaceful lake, and, of course, his signature happy little trees.
In recent years, there has been increasing demand for Ross’ paintings. Prices captured in WorthPoint’s database show that they have sold between $1,000 and $95,000 for a show-created painting he made in episode 10 of Season 24.
Goldin has sold seven other of Ross’ paintings since 2024, including another mountain scene that achieved $93,940 in December 2024.
Julien’s
The Oscar- and Emmy-nominated American writer-director David Lynch was celebrated for his visionary films and television shows, including Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man, and Twin Peaks.
But Lynch, who died on January 16, 2025, from complications of emphysema, was more than a filmmaker—he was also a musician, museum-exhibited painter, photographer, and woodworker.
Fans and collectors alike are getting a rare peek into the life of the man who was one of the most influential artists of our time through The David Lynch Collection, presented on June 18 by Julien’s Auctions of Gardena, California, and Turner Classic Movies.
The nearly 450 items from all aspects of his personal life feature various ephemera and props from his iconic films and TV work, paint supplies from his home art studio, woodshop tools, an array of furniture including mid-century pieces and many others Lynch built himself, musical instruments and equipment, and several coffee machines and mugs because he reportedly enjoyed 10 cups of “damn fine coffee” a day.
Star performers so far in pre-sale bidding fittingly include Lot 18, Lynch’s personal red leather director’s chair, emblazoned with his name in yellow. It’s already at more than three times its high estimate.
Most of the other lots have also already surpassed their estimates, as Lynch’s fans are eager to get pieces that meant something to him and reflect his artistic vision, as well as his passions and pursuits.
Freedom Auction Company
People’s fascination with the strange and mysterious found a thriving home in the carnival and circus sideshows of the 19th and 20th centuries. Vibrantly colorful hand-painted banners advertising sideshows, with their usually garish artwork, enticed paying customers to step inside and be shocked and amazed at the wonders within.
Considered a vanishing art form today, these banners are highly collectible and eagerly sought after. Collectors are invited to step right up and check out the variety of sideshow banners and tons of other related mementos that Freedom Auction Company of Sarasota, Florida, is offering at its “Sideshow, Oddities, Wild West, Carnival, Allied Arts, Barnum” auction on June 21.
One of the featured items is Lot 1B, an original hand-painted circus sideshow banner of “Alligator Girl” by American artist Snap Wyatt (1905-1984), who painted a substantial amount of banners primarily during the 1940s and ’50s and was known for his distinctive and bold, cartoon-like style.
Wyatt’s work is in demand with collectors and can sell for thousands of dollars. He lays claim to the top-selling sideshow banner recorded in WorthPoint’s database, which sold for $8,000 in 2017. A handful of his other banners that have come to market in the past few years have sold between $2,000 and $6,800.
Jon Waldman is a Winnipeg-based writer. He has written for Beckett, Go GTS, Canadian Sports Collector, and several other hobby outlets over his two decades in the hobby. His experience also includes two books on sports cards and memorabilia. Connect with Jon on Twitter at @jonwaldman.
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