Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  My stepfather has a painting, oil on canvas, signed “LeRoy Neiman” in the lower left corner.  “Healy” is printed beneath Neiman’s signature.  My stepfather’s wife bought it for him as a 25th birthday present in August 1966.  The canvas measures 23 1/2in x 30in, the frame 29in x 35in.  The picture shows the back of a bull fighter.  It features bold, colorful brush strokes.  According to my stepfather, this picture was featured in Playboy in the early to mid-1960s as part of its “Man at His Leisure” series.  My stepfather thinks the work was called Matador or Toreador.  When I tried to research this painting on the Internet, I found prices ranging from the low thousands to over a hundred thousand dollars.  What is your advice? – SD, FL, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  You need to do more homework.  Ask your stepfather if he can provide any additional details about the purchase.  Was the painting purchased directly from Neiman or was it bought from a gallery?  Where did the sale take place?  Is there a bill of sale?  The detailed pictures that accompanied your e-mail are ample proof your painting is not a serigraph or print.  But, is it the original used for the Playboy illustration or a later copy?

The picture is called “The Matador.”  Locate the Playboy issue in which the picture appeared.  Try the issues dating from 1962 through early 1966.  Neiman wrote the captions for the “Man at His Leisure” series.  The caption may provide additional information.

LeRoy Neiman (June 8, 1921 to present) was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota.  His father Charles Runquist was an unskilled laborer who deserted his mother Lydia Serline.  His mother divorced and remarried several times.  Neiman came from the name of one of his stepfathers.  LeRoy Neiman started drawing at a young age and was earning extra money by creating advertising art for local merchants and athletic event and dance posters for his high school.

Neiman joined the United States Army in 1942.  Although classified as a cook, he quickly gained a reputation for painting sexually explicit murals in military kitchens and dining halls and stage sets for Red Cross shows.  After his stint in the Army, he returned to Saint Paul and finished his high school degree.  Neiman’s artist studies included stops at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois.  He taught for over ten years at the Art Institute early in his career.

While doing illustrations for Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., a Chicago department store, he met Hugh Hefner, employed as a copywriter at the store.  When Hefner started Playboy, he recruited Neiman to provide artwork for his magazine.  Starting in 1958, Neiman produced sketches and paintings as well as the text for Playboy’s “Man at His Leisure” series.  The series continued for fifteen years.  Neiman still draws the monthly “Femlin” sketch.

Neiman is alive.  One method to authenticate the painting is to send him photographs and ask if it is his work.  Also inquire about what “Healy” means.  Neiman and his wife Janet live at the Hotel des Artistes in New York City.

The secondary market for Neiman paintings and watercolors is very strong, even in these difficult economic times.  In 2003 Christie’s in New York sold Neiman’s 1969 “Man at his Leisure: Le Mans” for $107,550.  Several additional examples sold in the $50,000 plus range.

The primary market is the large New York auction houses, i.e., Christie’s and Sotheby’s.  However, Neiman paintings sell well at large regional auction houses.  In addition, there are Internet websites for art dealers who specialize in Neiman’s artwork, all of whom are potential buyers.

As I stated earlier, additional research is required to authenticate that your painting is a Neiman period piece and was the Playboy artwork.  My recommendation is that you send photographs of the painting to several of the New York galleries that specialize in Neiman and see what happens.  Tell them you want to authenticate the painting and based on what you learn might consider selling it. The quicker you receive a response, the better life will be.

QUESTION:  I have an employee badge that includes a button with a picture of my grandfather N J. Mueller.  “MORRISON FIELD / WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.” surrounds the photograph.  The round button, about 1 1/2in in diameter is pinned into a leather holder designed to be worn on the button of a shirt pocket.  The back of the pin is secured by string to the leather holder.  Whatever you can tell me about this badge would be appreciated. – DZ, Rochester, MN, E-mail Question

ANSWER:  Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Florida was built during 1936 and dedicated on December 19th of that year.  The airport was named after Miss Grace K. Morrison, who was instrumental in the planning and organization of the airfield.  Palm Beach Aero Corporation built the first terminals and hangers in 1937 for Eastern Airlines.  The U.S. Army Air Corps commandeered the field during World War II for use as a transfer site for troops en route to Great Britain for the D-Day invasion.  When the Army Air Corps moved to Mobile, Alabama in 1947, Eastern and National resumed commercial flights.  On August 11, 1948, the airport became Palm Beach International Airport.  In 1951 the military reassumed command of the airport.  Morrison Air Force Base trained over 23,000 airmen during the Korean War.  Palm Beach County resisted the federal government’s attempt to retain the airport as a permanent military facility, taking over operations again in 1959.  Delta Air Lines introduced service in 1959 and Capitol Airlines in 1960.

As the above history indicates, your badge most likely dates either from late 1936 through the end of 1940 or 1947-48, the brief period after the Army Air Corps left the field and before the name was changed.  Judging from your grandfather’s hairstyle and the clothing he is wearing in the photo button (a picture of which accompanied your e-mail), I favor the first period, i.e., 1936-1940.

Employee buttons are collectible, albeit the value of your button is much higher in West Palm Beach, Florida than Rochester, Minnesota.  Its base value is between $25.00 and $35.00.  I trust its personal value far exceeds this.

QUESTION:  I have a cameo necklace and earring set.  The necklace has a white head and shoulder cameo of a woman on a black oval base that is mounted in a gold frame.  I also have a smaller set in a different color—white cameo on a coral base.  Does color make a difference in value? – NP, Birdsboro, PA

ANSWER:  The photograph that accompanied your letter strongly suggests that your two cameo necklace and earring sets are 1950s/60s costume jewelry.  The cameo and base appear to be plastic and not hard stone.

Shell cameos have a curved back.  However, not all cameos are made from shell.  Sardonyx (agate), jet, lava, and plastic are some of the additional materials used.  Based on the photograph, jet and lava can be eliminated.  This means your cameo is either sardonyx or plastic.  Sardonyx cameos are cut from agate layers, a white layer being used to carve the cameo (much finer in detail than on the shell cameo) with the colored layer providing the contrasting background.  Sardonyx and plastic cameos have flat backs, thus eliminating this method of telling them apart.  The plastic back often has impressed lines, nicks, and other imperfections.   A sardonyx back is solid, albeit there may be what appears to be a glass-type chip.

Plastic cameo costume sets were extremely popular from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s.  If the earrings have screw or clips, the sets are definitely from this time period.  If this is what you have, your sets’s value is minimal, i.e., $12.00 to $18.00.  Color makes no difference This also assumes the setting is gold-plated.

If the setting or chain should read 10K, 12K, or 14K, then you need to take your sets to a jeweler or antiques show that features several jewelry dealers and have the sets examined by someone who can handle them.

QUESTION:  I have a large box with a sloped lid.  The outside is covered with a printed celluloid image of a bust of a late nineteenth century woman wearing an elaborate red feathered hat, a red cape with white fur edges, and a blue, tightly corseted dress.  A row of roses is located beneath the woman as well as across the bottom of the front.  The celluloid top/front’s background tones shade from white near the top to dark blue at the base.  When the box is opened, there is a round circle set in the center.  I was told the box was used to store men’s collars.  What is it worth? – AS, Bethel, OH

ANSWER:  You do indeed own a celluloid collar box dating from the turn of the twentieth century, i.e., 1895-1910.  Judging from the two photographs that accompanied your letter, it is in fine or better condition.

These boxes are collected primarily for their surface image, in your case the “pretty lady.”  The value of your box is between $225.00 and $250.00.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth century.  Selected letters will be answered in this column.  Harry cannot provide personal answers.  Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned.  Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049.  You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

You can listen and participate in WHATCHA GOT?, Harry’s antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, on Sunday mornings between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Eastern Time.  If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT? streams live on the Internet at www.gcnlive.com.

SELL, KEEP OR TOSS?: HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY (House of Collectibles, an imprint of Random House Information Group, $16.95), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via www.harryrinker.com.