The lifetime collections of Don and Joyce Blyth “ an astounding assemblage of stoneware, sporting advertising, decoys, powder tins, bottles in several categories, Canadiana and more “ will come up for bid in an online-only Canadiana & Sporting auction planned for Saturday, June 5th, by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd., at 9 am Eastern time.
Don and Joyce Blyth were both avid collectors until Don's recent passing. Included in the auction is a nearly comprehensive collection of Guelph merchant stoneware and bottles, among other pieces of Guelph, Ontario memorabilia. Also on offer is Don's collection of Canadian gun powder tins, decoys, sporting and firearms advertising and other rare items.
œTo the Blyths, the thrill was in the hunt, said Ethan Miller, of Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. œThe spoils of their eight-decades-long hunt are now available to a new generation of collectors, and the interest has been staggering. In Joyce's book, The Guelph Merchants, she tells of the town's earliest merchants through stoneware. All of the stoneware in her book is in this sale.
Don's collection of sporting advertising includes numerous posters advertising products from Remington, Union Metallic Cartridge Company, Dominion Cartridge Company and Winchester. The rare cartridge boards for Dominion Cartridge, Union Metallic Cartridge and Winchester are expected to dominate the list of top lots. All carry lofty estimates.
Three 19th century cartridge display boards “ two from Winchester (1887 and 1884) and one from Union Metallic Cartridge (1880s) have estimates of $20,000-$25,000 (all prices quoted are in Canadian dollars). All boards are lithographed cardboard with an applied representation of Winchester's line of ammunition and all are handsomely framed in oak.
Among the most highly sought and iconic American sporting advertising, Winchester's cartridge boards are monumental historic displays. Few survived intact due to their size and the fact they were often displayed in store windows and areas exposed to light. Collectors pursue them because they're large, graphically appealing and display nicely.
Also offered will be a Winchester Double œW cartridge display board from 1902 (est. $5,000-$7,000); an early 20th century Dominion Cartridge Co. exhibition board, Canadian (est. $5,000-$7,000); a Dominion Ammunition store counter display from the 1910s (est. $4,000-$6,000); and a Dominion Ammunition calendar from 1919 (est. $2,000-$3,000).
