Technica & Nautica

A selection of items will be on display from April 25th to April 29th at Nybrogatan 32, weekdays from 10 am to 6 pm, Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm, closed on Sundays. Welcome to the viewing!

It's time again for the spring special auction with the theme of technology and nautics at Stockholm Auction House, traditionally organized for almost four decades, primarily through the City Auction. The focus of this spring's auction is on collecting and collections, which is something special with these enthusiasts who year after year hunt for treasures. Collecting is like hunting, finding the pearl, the last puzzle piece. We should appreciate the collectors, thank them for their work. Each collection can be seen as a small private museum. Sometimes these museums come up for sale, sometimes because the collection is complete, sometimes because the collection has outlived the collector. In the latter case, much information is at risk of being lost because we don't always know how the items were collected, what their provenance is, and in the worst case, we don't even know what the item is because it's so rare that only the experts in that tiny area can explain. It's an honor to manage these collections, to do our best to give the items new homes, to make them desirable treasures again.

In this auction, with nearly 200 items, there are five collections, with the largest consisting of over 40 phones and telegraphs.

It's hard to pick favorites, but the two most striking objects in my eyes are:

Diorama by William Frederick Homer (1869-1957). It's a very early and rare large specimen with five fish. With the typical curved glass display case characteristic of Homer and name labeling on a plaque of ivoroid/ivorin. If there is a master in the noble art of preserving fish, it's William Frederick Homer.

Lars Magnus Ericsson's telephone set number 388. This Ericsson desk phone, also known as "The Spider," began production as early as 1902. It's the company's first phone for central battery, unlike the previously common local battery. It's a very rare model and a fantastic addition to a seasoned collector or anyone who appreciates a piece of Swedish technology history.

Other significant items include:

The pair of diving shoes marked with the initials of the manufacturer Erik Andersson.
The music box by Paillard, a rare large specimen showing the luxury and entertainment of the past.
The collection of flags with KSSS affiliation is both rare and well-preserved, with a nice provenance.
The Hedman camera, in fantastic condition, with only about 20 units made.
It's no wonder that nautical items have long been an exciting area of ​​collecting. And now, as often before, it is presented hand in hand with fields usually classified as Technika.

Welcome to explore nearly 200 lots with salt-sprinkled provenances and breathtaking history! A magnificent ship's wheel from the Benson Electric Company is the natural center to start exploring navigational instruments, compasses, and marine spotlights. But in a theme that includes a distance tube from W & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N.Y., there is also room for ships in bottles, even though no one can understand how they once got into those bottles. And for those who wish to decorate their walls with frigates and steamships, there are plenty of ship portraits to choose from. And those diving shoes, with brass toe caps and copper side buckles, can't they be considered sculptures?

This is complemented by a bunch of table and wall telephones from the era when people communicated over long distances with elegance and class, as well as some telegraphs and a couple of other gadgets that look appropriately incomprehensible. As the cherry on top, there is a glowing dream of a jukebox from the 1940s and a clattering and ringing Star Wars-themed pinball machine.

Welcome to unleash your spirit of exploration at Stockholms Auktionsverk!