Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction

Mesa, AZ

Marking three decades since its founding, the Mesa Old West Show & Auction kicked off on January 24 with a massive offering of Western firearms that helped push the show past $1.3 million in sales.

Auction owner Brian Lebel was very pleased with the results of the two-day sale, as well as the two-day dealer show, held at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, Arizona. “I’m very happy that the business is still so strong,” he 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.”

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 many bids from multiple bidders before selling.

The top lots were all historic firearms: a finecondition Henry Rifle (est. $60/70,000) from around 1865 that sold for $70,800 to a floor bidder; an engraved 1860 Colt Army Revolver (est. $16/18,000) that sold for $47,200, nearly tripling its high estimate; and a flintlock rifle with a Northwest Coast Indian carved stock and powder horn (est. $8/9,000), which realized $38,500.

Other highlights from the sale included cowboy artifacts, including a pair of highly collectible Jesus M. Tapia filigreed spurs (est. $30/50,000) that sold for $29,500, and a rare John Cox Canon City Prison Pistol Bit (est. $25/30,000) that sold for $23,600.

Additional notable lots were Clint Eastwood’s

Pale Rider hat, which had a high estimate of $800 but sold for nearly 10 times that at $7,865, and James Reynolds’ oil painting Catalinas Roundup, which sold within estimates at $16,520.

The show portion of the event featured a dealer show that brought out more than 180 dealers from all around the country. More than 2,000 people shopped the weekend show, 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.

Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider hat Estimate:$500/800 SOLD: $7,865 James Reynolds (1926-2010), Catalinas Roundup, oil on canvas, 18 x 24” Estimate: $15/20,000 SOLD: $16,520

Northwest Coast Carved Flintlock Rifle & Flask Estimate: $8/9,000 SOLD: $38,350

Factory-engraved Cold Model 1860 Army Revolver Estimate: $16/18,000 SOLD: $47,200

Henry Repeating Rifle, ca. 1865 Estimate: $60/70,000 SOLD: $70,800

1. Crowds look through Western art and artifacts during Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show. 2. Jeweler Melody Sauceda with some of her creations. 3. A guest makes a purchase during the dealer show. 4. Collectors in a booth during the dealer show. 5. Western painter Mark Maggiori, with several purchases under his arm, visits the Western Art Collector booth. 6. Native American jeweler Olin Tsingine points at our sister publication, Native American Art. 7. A visitor is fitted for a pair of boots.