More than 1,000 corkscrews sold to collectors from all over the world during an online auction conducted by Collectorcorkscrews.com. A feature of all these sales has been the strength of demand for the beautiful handcrafted items of the 18th century. The early handmade pieces were made in France, England, Ireland or Holland. Most were decorative and pocket sized (often with a folding worm or a sheath to protect the screw) though some highly prized mechanical corkscrews were handmade particularly in Ireland and France before 1800. In the latest sale from the de Sanctis collection, the highest auction price of $23,244 was achieved for an English Thomason mechanical corkscrew with fine handcrafted Japanning decoration. Without the decoration, the Thomason corkscrew would sell for around $500. Japanning was a highly skilled handcraft introduced in England around 1800, decorating items with black lacquer and gilt. Each decoration is slightly different. Japanned Thomason corkscrews are rare and much prized for their beauty. This piece attracted great competition with 74 bids, eventually going to an American collector. A good example from the de Sanctis collection was a French steel fixed bow dating from around 1750 with openwork decoration of the heart shaped handle and a sheath with delicately chased and gilded decoration. After spirited bidding this fine piece ended up at $13,538 going to the Bucharest Corkscrew Museum, which has dominated the corkscrew market in recent years. The Museum, with a collection of around 30,000 corkscrews, now houses examples of almost all corkscrew designs known, but bids aggressively for these older pieces because of their beauty and individuality. Other highlights of the sale included an Ornate Sterling Silver Corkscrew from the International Silver Co., selling for $110; a Holborn two-piece lever with an English patent brought a high bid of $900; an American Peerless compound lever, U.S. patent from Nov. 10, 1885 saw a final bid of $425; a Beau Brummel Dutch silver double folding corkscrew ended at $1,450 and a German lady’s legs corkscrew with blue and white stripes rounded out the sale with a final selling price of $260. CollectorCorkscrews.com conducts a twice-yearly online auction. The next auction will be held April 20-21. |