Four works of cartoon art inscribed to one Richard Portofee have been framed together and are offered for sale by Gallery of History, Inc. A boy playing the trombone has been inscribed and signed by cartoonist
Chon Day. A drawing of Andy Gump by
Gus Edson is very nicely personalized. A souvenir print of the Bumsteads from "Blondie" is likewise dedicated by
Chic Young. A color illustration of characters from "The Katzenjammer Kids" beautifully inscribed by
Harold H. Knerr rounds out the delightful quartet.
According to ancestry.com, Richard Portofee was born in 1926 in Mineola, Long Island. He graduated from Nutley High School in Nutley, NJ in 1944. This would have made him either 14 or 15 in 1941at the time he obtained the drawing from Harold Knerr. That sounds about right to me. (I think I started at 16.) There is no biographical information on whether he played the trombone, but I suspect he did.
The set is offered at $4,999, which sounds high to me. I'm never entirely sure whether I should be commenting on offering prices, but I do anyway. Look, it's easy for me sitting at my computer to say an asking price is too low or, more likely, too high, but usually I'm content to let the market sort all that out. Eventually, even expensive works of art offered for sale will sell, even if buyers and sellers have to negotiate a bit. It's simply not in a dealer's interest to offer works, even significant ones, at a price that no one will pay. That said, this is a fairly pricey offering.
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Four framed works inscribed to Richard Portofee from cartoonists Chon Day, Gus Edson, Chic Young, and Harold Knerr.
Note the hinge discoloration at the corners of each. |
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Chon Day, original color illustration of a boy playing the trombone inscribed "Best Wishes to Richard/Chon Day"
A sterling example, incidentally, of poor watermark placement. |
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| Gus Edson, Andy Gump from The Gumps says "I'm proud to include Richard Portofee among my friends!" Very nice. |
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| Chic Young, a souvenir print of the Bumsteads from Blondie inscribed "To Richard Portofee" and signed |
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Harold Knerr, color drawing with the Katzenjammer Kids saying, "Gesundheit, Richard!"
Inscribed "To Richard Portofee--with hearty good wishes from-- Harold H. Knerr '41." A prize!
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The framed cartoons are being simultaneously listed on Amazon and eBay. Does anyone see a potential problem with this?
July 17, 2016 Update: This piece has been discounted by about $500 and the watermarks have been removed from the
eBay listing. On
amazon.com, there is no discount and the watermarks remain.
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Four framed works personally inscribed to Richard Portofee from cartoonists
Chon Day, Gus Edson, Chic Young, and Harold Knerr.
Note the hinge discoloration at the corners of each.
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| Chon Day, original color illustration of a boy playing the trombone inscribed "Best Wishes to Richard/Chon Day" |
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| Gus Edson, Andy Gump from The Gumps says "I'm proud to include Richard Portofee among my friends!" Very nice. |
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| Chic Young, souvenir print of the Bumsteads from Blondie inscribed "To Richard Portofee" and signed |
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Harold Knerr, color drawing with the Katzenjammer Kids saying, "Gesundheit, Richard!"
Inscribed "To Richard Portofee—/With hearty good wishes from—/Harold H. Knerr '41." A prize!
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| eBay Listing Copied July 17, 2016 |
Note: Other posts about
Chon Day may be seen
here.
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