Page 10 - JOA_July21

WHAT’S SELLING ON eBay
WHAT’S SELLING ON eBay

by Philip Hawkins and Mike McLeod

$3,950 (36 bids, 7 bidders): Very Rare & Antique Ed. Armelin sewing Large, original, double-sided cabinet card with a photo on each side.
machine, France, Nähmaschine. Late 19th century, I can say little about Date: unknown (circa 1890 - 1901). Photo location/side 1: Chien Men
this rarity. It is a small and compact cast-iron sewing machine. It has Gate and street scene, Peking (Beijing), China. Photo location/side
beautiful golden drawings and a bronze medallion with the name and 2: Peking street scene. Approximate photo dimensions: 11 x 8 1/2 inches.
address of the manufacturer. It also has two handles, surely to sew a special (Photos courtesy of eBay seller Southworth-books, Southworth Antiques
garment. I have made a video to clarify doubts (note: video has been taken & Rare Books, 919 Sophia St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401.)
down) (Photos courtesy of eBay seller popmania.)

PH: Photography in and of China began in the mid-19th century, not
long after the genesis of the medium. Western and Chinese photographers
documented Chinese life and individuals much as the Western world did.
One of the great collectors of Chinese photography, Steven Lowentheil,
comments that “… relatively few 19th-century photographs of China
survive, and fewer still remain in China. This scarcity is the result of the
cultural, political, and economic upheavals in the 20th century; the
PH: Starting with the marking of Ed. Armelin, Brevete (“patented”), great photographs documenting 19th-century China are generally
France – Etranger (“foreign”), Angoulême (Angoulême is the capital of the unavailable …”
Charente department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Just on eBay, other single image Chinese photographs of the same
France), we learn we have an object that is being sold under French and era as our listed item have been regularly selling between $2,000 and
foreign patent, and I suspect retailed by Ed. Armelin of Angoulême. I am $3,000. Many sell for less, but subject, quality, and photographer can
not certain exactly what the mechanical object does, and it may relate to make all the difference.
sewing clothing or fabric, but it does not, from the video, appear to operate I found that some photographers issued sets that were later broken
in such a way as to attach cloth in the way we think of sewing machines. apart, and now collectors are seeking to reassemble them. Some collect
From its operation in the YouTube video the seller provided, it appears to particular photographers’ work, some outdoor images, or all areas of
be some type of winder—bobbins perhaps—but I have been unable to general photography collecting. The internet, as with many things,
identify it. I was able to find references to Ed. Armelin whose name assisted the ability of those seeking to find.
appears on mantel clock sets and a very fine gold-cased pocket watch of the
same vintage as the winder, hence, the suspicion that he owned a retail
store selling various wares. Hopefully, the buyer had some idea of what $5,399 (23 bids, 17 bidders): 19thC
they were bidding on given the final selling price. Antique J.H. Weston Catalog of
Weathervanes, Lightning Rods & Balls.
Measuring only 4 by 7 1/2 inches, this
$3,350 (24 bids, 10 bidders): 2 Large, Antique Photos, Peking, antique, hardcover catalog is for J. H.
Beijing, Chien Men Gate & Street Scenes China. These amazing and Weston’s “Lightning-rod Works of
scarce original photos came out of a first-time-to-the-market private Cincinnati, Ohio.” Inside are 68 illustrated
collection from approximately 1890 to 1901. All original and most are in pages of lightning rods with a selection of
exceptional condition. different copper cables and balls, plus pages
Both photos share one single card with an antique albumen photo on of weathervanes and the attachments
the front and back of one card and are not two separate photo cards. The necessary to attach these items to your
photos are more than 100 years old and are not modern-day reprints. home. It is very difficult to see in our
The photos are all original and antique, but it is possible the original photographs, but every page is printed with copper, silver, and gold gilding
photographer printed more than one photo at that time. so the illustrations shimmer when you move them. At the back is a
8 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles