New Faces

Veteran and first-time collectors united at Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction in Arizona.

MESA, AZ

There is more than one way to measure success at an art show. Sales are certainly one way, as is attendance. And then there’s also the age of the visitors—a more diverse range of age groups is preferred.

For Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction, which took place from January 24 through 26 in Mesa, Arizona, the show was a success on all three fronts. Not only were visitors buying from dealers, but the auction realized sales of $1.3 million. Additionally, the show was regularly full, with visitors of all ages crowding into booths and browsing—and buying— artworks from Old West cowboy materials to historic and contemporary Native American objects. “I’m very happy that the business is still so strong,” show owner Brian Lebel says. “We registered a number of new bidders this sale and saw many, many new and younger faces. A lot of people came through the doors and few left empty-handed. It was fun to watch.”

This year’s show once again featured two components: a dealer show with more than 180 vendors, and a 622-lot auction. More than 800 bidders attended the sale portion, which was largely firearms from the Cordy Rich Collection on the first night and a wider assortment of items on the second night. The sell-through rate was 94 percent, with many lots receiving numerous bids before selling.

The top lot was a historic firearm, a fine-condition Henry Rifle (est. $60/70,000) from around 1865 that

sold for $70,800 to a floor bidder. A noteworthy highlight from the firearms portion of the sale was a flintlock rifle with a Northwest Coast Indian carved stock and powder horn (est. $8/9,000), which realized $38,350. Other highlights were an 1899 photograph of a Nez Perce man by Edward S. Curtis, that sold within estimates for $8,260 and a plateau pictorial beaded flat bag (est. $4,5/5,000) that sold for $4,720. Another notable lot was Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider hat, which had a high estimate of $800 but sold for nearly 10 times that at $7,865.

For the show portion of the event, more than 2,000 came through the doors to shop, including an enthusiastic Friday early buy-in crowd.

Lebel will hold his next show, the Cody Old West Show & Auction, on June 27 and 28 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That auction will feature two prominent estates, including the estate of renowned bit and spur collector Roger Wilmot.

1,2. Northwest Coast Carved Flintlock Rifle & Flask Estimate: $8/9,000 SOLD: $38,350 3. Visitors browse through booths at Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction. 3

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1. Barry Walsh of Buffalo Barry’s Indian Art. 2. Shoppers try on a pair of boots. 3. Don Siegel from Chipeta Trading Co. with one of his stunning weavings. 4. Shoppers browsing through one of the vendor booths. 5. Jeweler Melody Sauceda at her booth. 6. Visitors look through spurs and other items during the auction preview. 7. Visitors line up to get into the show before it opens. 8. A collector shows off some of her haul. 9. Jeweler Olin Tsingine stops by the Native American Art booth.