Your chance to bid on old, shadow-boxed stuffed squirrels mounted in boxing poses is fast approaching.
Antique maps, fine art and other items, including “intriguing displays” of the boxing squirrels that belong to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. go up for auction Sept. 21 at an art gallery in Cleveland.
Rachel Davis Fine Arts is hosting the Goodyear collection auction.
“Cartography collectors, aficionados of American illustration, and anyone associated with Goodyear, a pioneer in the rubber industry and continually among America’s premier companies, will want to participate in this singularly significant sale,” the gallery said in a news release.
The pieces being auctioned off came from Goodyear’s former corporate headquarters and Goodyear Hall on East Market Street. Goodyear decided not to bring the items when it moved into its new corporate headquarters earlier this year.
“The Goodyear collection of maps demonstrates the finest in antique cartography, both in artistry and in methodology,” the art gallery said. “Curated by the late Janet Schirn of Chicago with researchers from the British Museum, the University of Leyden, and the Bibliotheque Nationale, the collection documents the ever-changing views of the world during the age of discovery and into the industrial age, from the 17th through the 20th centuries.”
The auction will include art by American illustrator Dean Cornwell, two oil paintings by John Clymer and original artwork done for Goodyear advertising campaigns.
The boxing squirrels got special mention.
“Among the more intriguing displays that adorned the offices is a series of four shadow boxes, each containing a round in a boxing match between two genuinely furred animals, appropriately attired in trunks and with gloves, with one ultimately pummeling his bloodied rival into the ground,” the gallery said.
The art gallery is at 1301 West 78th St., Cleveland.
For more information, call (216) 939-1190 or email info@racheldavisfinearts.com . The website is www.racheldavisfinearts.com.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.