Mesa Old West Show & Sale
Fine art and historical artifacts come together for Brian Lebel’s Mesa Old West Show & Auction in Arizona.
Mesa, AZ
Brian Lebel sees it all. Everything from paintings and bronzes to guns and saddles. More scrupulous collectors might draw the line at what is fine art, but not Lebel. If it tells a story about the West, then it can be art.
“That’s what’s great about these items we come across,” he says, “they all tell stories.”
Lebel is returning with new stories during his annual Mesa Old West Show & Auction in Mesa, Arizona. Due to health restrictions, the show portion of the annual event has been canceled, but the sale will still take place on Saturday, January 23. The auction is expected to bring more than 500 Western lots to bidders.
Noteworthy collections in this year’s sale include historic artifacts from the Montana Territory collection of Jerry “Buzz” Nyhart and the Roger Wilmot collection of bits and spurs. Wilmot, a noted expert and collector, died just a week prior to the 2020 Mesa Old West Show. “Roger loved top-of-the-line, highquality items, and he was one of the top guys out there as far as knowledge goes,” Lebel says. “And he was also a fantastic human. They recently started a foundation in his honor at the University of Wyoming. He was loved by a lot of people.”
This year’s sale will also feature a number of collectibles and memorabilia related to Hollywood Westerns, including many screen-worn outfits and accessories from actors such as John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Steve Mcqueen, Lorne Greene, Sam Elliott, Ronald Reagan and others. One of the highlights is Wayne’s iconic 10-button bib front worn in the 1956 John Ford film The Searchers, widely regarded as one of the most important Westerns ever made. The lot is estimated at $30,000 to $40,000.
“When you start looking at these kinds of materials, a lot of them were altered from film to film. But John Wayne was a big enough star that he kept all of his costumes and they were never used in other films again,” Lebel says, adding that the Hollywood materials are dear to his heart. “When I was a kid I ran a movie theater, so I love the movies. What’s great about movies is you remember where you were when you saw them. And when you see them again, it’s just nostalgia and good feelings, fond memories. They trigger something in people.”
The auction will also feature a gun Mcqueen used in Henry Hathaway’s 1966 film Nevada Smith. The Wells Fargo revolver is an important and historic gun even without Mcqueen’s provenance. “It was made around