Autographed Arthur Bishop Jeffreys "Vikings of the Air" Painting
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GUEST:
It's been in my family all my life. My father was an aviation buff, knew Orville Wright, lived down the street from him. And he loaned money on this painting to a lady named Neville, whose husband taught Lindbergh how to fly. I think he loaned her, like, $85 as collateral, and the painting was the collateral. The signatures were on it when he got it, and it's been in my family ever since, hanging above the mantel.
APPRAISER:
My word. Well, what we have is a painting done by Arthur Bishop Jeffries. And he was mostly known for painting bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas. And here we have this incredible scene called Vikings of the Air, an aviation scene. But what makes this oil on canvas so incredibly special besides its theme is the signatures. We have Captain Rickenbacker, a very famous pilot, Bert Hassell, Park Cramer. They documented their Rockford to Sweden flight. Amelia Earhart signed it, and this is after her transatlantic flight. We also have Louise Thaden, who had the altitude record, Arthur Goebel, who was a stunt pilot. We have ten or 12 signatures here. It's just incredible.
GUEST:
Like I say, my dad really loved it. My mother and father were the first people ever to be married in an airplane, in 1928 in an open cockpit de Havilland. My mother called seven ministers to find one who would fly.
APPRAISER:
Oh, my gosh.
GUEST:
And, you know, they... my mother told my father she wouldn't marry any man on this earth, so he said, "We'll get married in an airplane."
APPRAISER:
Oh, he is a creative man. Oh, my gosh. In 1928, Love Field was just purchased for $325,000. So I would guess that Arthur Bishop Jeffries started this painting in 1928...
GUEST:
Quite possible.
APPRAISER:
...to commemorate Love Field. We have the title of the painting, Vikings of the Air, and underneath, we have a number of other labels. They include people who have passed away in the pursuit of the history of aviation, including Nungesser and Coli. Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli were to be the first two people to make the transatlantic flight, but sadly, they perished, and Lindbergh got the honors. Most of Jeffries' paintings of bluebonnets sell in the $2,000 to $2,500 range, and they're very beautiful, very colorful. This is an extraordinarily special painting, not just because of the subject matter, but because of the signatures as well. If this painting were to come up for auction, I would anticipate a presale estimate of $10,000 to $15,000 on that.
GUEST:
My goodness-- uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
And I actually wouldn't be surprised if it brought more than that.
GUEST:
My dad thought very highly of it.
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