For Immediate Release
Contact: Christa Johnson
614-325-9660
Garth’s Auctions Kicks Off The New Year
With A Strong and Diverse January Sale
Delaware, Ohio--On January 31st, 2009 Garth’s Auctions will be
holding their first sale of the New Year. The sale includes the collection of Mr. Roger Nordstrom from South Dakota. After serving in the Navy during WW 11, Mr. Nordstrom graduated from the Los Angeles Mortuary College and the Institute of Restorative Art in Chicago, Illinois.
Mr. Nordstrom then began his career at Miller Funeral Home, located in Sioux Falls’s in 1954 when he and three other partners purchased the business from the original founder Glendon Minor. The partners, Alven Aiverson, Ken Koball, Ronald Eidsness and Roger Nordstrom quickly became known as The Big Four and steered Miller Funeral Home into a new era. Their ethics and professionalism influenced areas of funeral service throughout the United States. Mr. Nordstrom served as President of the South Dakota State Board of Funeral Directors in 1954. He then served as the funeral director with Miller Funeral Home until the 1980’s. Mr. Nordstrom died on March 3, 2008.
In addition to his professional career, Roger Nordstrom was a seasoned world traveler and avid collector. He purchased a historic home, known as the Hollister home in 1964 and began filling it with objects obtained on his travels. Mr. Nordstrom was fascinated with different cultures, customs and beliefs. He explored countries as diverse as Yemen, Pakistan, Turkey, Greece and Tibet, just to name a few. In India he witnessed ceremonial elephant races, Bombay burials and ancient cremation rites on the Ganges. Roger then spent time in Africa and Egypt where he studied historical burial customs and in Bali the religious Shrines.
“Garth’s Auctions is proud to include such a diverse and far ranging collection in our January sale”, stated Amelia Jeffers, vice-president of Garths, “there is truly something for everyone, weather they be a collector or a first time buyer.” Several highlights of this collection include a late 19th century fine wood-carved pedestal depicting a woman’s head on the body of a winged griffin-like creature. Estimate $400-$800
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Also in the sale is an impressive Asian carving of a flowering tree against a rocky crag. Estimate $1,000-$1,500
Additional highlights of the sale include a portrait by Martha Walter (American, 1875-1976). This oil on canvas was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum from April 5 to May 3, 1815 and retains its’ exhibition tags. It is signed in the lower right and features a charming portrait of a young girl wearing a big yellow ribbon in her hair set in an outstanding gilt frame attributed to Stanford White. It retains a partial framers’ label and has a presale estimate of $10,000-$20,000.
An impressive, twentieth century bronze bat chandelier is sure to garner much attention. This chandelier features three large bats holding four rings of bats, surrounding a central ring of bats, each with an art glass globe. The estimate is $12,000-$18,000.
