Columbiana Collectors
News about interesting antiques, auctions,
and vintage collectibles from the 1893 World’s Fair
NEWS ABOUT ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES FROM THE WCE
The White City Wish Book: Toys and Holiday Gifts from the 1893 World’s Fair
What holiday gift would you have wished for? In the years following the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, children could have received any number of fair-themed toys and games. Shown below are some examples advertised in the Montgomery Ward Catalogue & Buyer's Guide for 1895, the Carl P. Stirn Catalog of 1893, and various newspapers of the era. Which items would you have circled in the White City Wishbook? Views [...]
Tiffany sterling silver monumental flagon made for the 1893 World’s Fair sells for $40,950
A silver monumental flagon made by Tiffany & Company for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and exhibited in their pavilion there has sold at auction for $40,950. Included in Doyle’s “American Furniture, Silver & Decorative Arts” auction on November 2, 2022, the silver flagon came from the family of Katherine Medill McCormick (1853–1932), daughter of Joseph Medill and wife of Robert S. McCormick. The item exceeded its estimate of [...]
Childe Hassam painting of the 1893 World’s Fair sells for $44,000
American impressionist painter Childe Hassam (1859–1935) created several paintings of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. He visited Chicago for the first time in 1892 to prepare his works that depicted what the World’s Fair would look like when open the following year. He also exhibited five oil paintings and five watercolors in the Palace of Fine Arts. An original 1893 World’s Fair painting by Hassam sold for $44,000 [...]
Sept. 21, 2021: World’s Fair Auction #39 closes
Columbian Exposition collectors may be interested in World’s Fair Auction #39, now open for preview. Online bidding closes at 10:00 PM EST on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 21 through 71 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include several products commemorating various building of the White City: a china vase decorated with an image of the Horticultural Building; [...]
An original painting of the 1893 California State Building sells at auction
An original painting of the California State Building from the 1893 World’s Fair sold at auction for $2,800 on June 25, 2021. The 9.75-by-13.5-inch, unframed oil on canvas features the second largest state building (after that of Illinois) on the Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. Artist William Woodward (1859–1939), who served on the planning commission for his home state of Louisiana, depicted with impressionist flair a crowd passing in front the [...]
Pieces of Siam Pavilion from the 1893 World’s Fair Sell for $1,600
Carved wood architectural brackets, reportedly from a Siam exhibit at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. [Image from Fairfield Auction.] A set of fifteen carved architectural brackets, possibly from the Siam Pavilion at the 1893 World’s Fair, sold at auction for $1,600 on Mar 10, 2021. Fairfield Auction offered the interesting lot, described as coming from the Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT, which had obtained them “reportedly from [...]
Mar. 3, 2021: Columbian Exposition Museum Auction
Hundreds of items relating to Christopher Columbus and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago will hit the auction block on March 3, 2021. The collectibles come from the Christopher Columbus Museum in Columbus, Wisconsin, and include 1893 World's Fair books, tickets, stereoview cards, souvenir coins and ribbons, and an amazing one-of-a-kind, hand-made mechanical model of the Ferris Wheel. The sale will be conducted by Beloit Auction and Realty [...]
Mar. 2, 2021: World’s Fair Auction #38 closes
Columbian Exposition collectors may be interested in World’s Fair Auction #38, now open for preview. Online bidding closes at 10:00 PM EST on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 20 through 92 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include several products commemorating various building of the White City: a "World's Fair 1893" turquoise art glass creamer, an Agricultural Building china [...]
Tiffany & Co. Silver Yachting Cup from the 1893 World’s Fair Sells for $62,500
A yachting trophy designed by Tiffany & Company and exhibited in their pavilion at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition sold for $62,500 at Heritage Auctions’ Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu Signature Auction on November 17, 2020. According to Heritage, Ogden Goelet commissioned two cups for the races that would be held during New York Yacht Clubs Annual Cruise in 1892. The following year the cup was on display [...]
The Decline of Christopher Columbus
CoinWeek has published an article describing yet another arena in which the commemoration of Christopher Columbus is in decline: coin collecting. Heinz Tschachler’s “Christopher Columbus: His Decline in Numismatics and the Nation’s Collective Memory” chronicles the “flagging interest” in the explorer due to both the lack of an authentic portrait of Columbus and changing social and cultural views of his place in history. Tschachler includes a description how the [...]