:headbonk: Hello all Chuckie Chezze here,
Have i think some fantastic news, Arrived in the U.S.A from Holland...After takeing care of some things went with my older brother up to San Francisco! He had made and appontment for me with Mr. James Ferrel of Bonhams&Butterfields. Well we where there i explained that i would not be able to be in the country on Dec 5-7 for thr Preview of the JW items. So we where given a sneak preview, and this is what i have to report..
All the item,s have excellent provenance to JW. The Calvary Sword is from (She Wore A Yellow Ribbon) This there is no doubt !! The sword is listed by serial number on an insurance appraisal JW had done of his gun collection. The sword is also marked{J. Wayne RKO 1949} The sword is actually a French Model 1822 Saber with the French Armory Marks ground off.( But Are still slightly visible) The U.S 1860 Model was based on this design and they look almost the same. If you watch the Movie you will see that JW's saber has a Nickel-Plated Scabbard. And so does this one at the auction. Also U.S 1860 sabers had steel scabbards so this is the real one all!!!
The costum is marked in several places, but these items i was not allowed to touch, like the saber which was nice to hold. So Mr Ferrel show me these himself. The vest is marked{ Hollywood Costum Company/ John Wayne}. The shirt is embroidered {J. Wayne}, {Costumes--Luster Bayless.} Also the Boots&Spurs are in the book (Cruising With the Duke). And that was simple to see that they too are original!!
So friends of JW, as i sit here in the Clarion Hotel in San Fancisco Ca, there is no doubt in my mind that all the Item's are actually John Wayne's. But be aware that if anyone is going to try to bid on this there is also a Buyers premium 12%, and Tax 8 1/2%. I myself left a bid on there books for the Saber, hope i get it. But i would like to thank my brother for his influence at getting us in, with out his help this would have been a bit difficult..
So this has been a great day for me, to hold that Sword and to see the other things was just Fantastic!! So if you want any of those JW items go for it... Bid high seems there going to be sold high. Good luck to all and hope to be back in holland next week... C-YA CHUCKI CHEZZE :stunned:

Hi Chuckie is the Rig (Holster and cartridge belt) the real thing too.Was it worn by the Duke.
Chance :stunned:

Hi Chuckie
please don't hold it against me. I'm trying to give as much information on these pieces as possible. Many people have been burnt buying "originals" ever since the memorabilia market was discovered. Just imagine: If James Dean would have written all the autographs that has been sold to this day, he should well be alive today. The same is true for our friend John Wayne. I'm NOT saying the pieces are fake. All I'm saying is: Check all available sources before going into financial battle over those pieces. I took the liberty to send your descriptions to the friend I referred to before. He took the time to write and provide some more interesting information. That should make all of us think twice. This is a tough business. I apologize for leaving his notes untouched for he makes some harsh comments. Here it goes:

Western Costume today
*
One of the oldest motion picture businesses in Hollywood is Western Costume Company. Doing business under the same name since 1912, it outdates any studio or production company.

Hi

To each his own....but Western's own history page, shown above, claims they have done business under the "same name" since it's inception in 1912.

I have never heard anyone in the history of the planet refer to it as "Hollywood Costume" nor have I ever seen nor heard of any labels printed that way.

All are WESTERN and have numbers to identify the invoice from the film.

Luster was an employee of Western until 1961 when he went to work for BATJAK so they seem to be making an assumption there since all the films they claim usage are from 1970 to the end.


I have handled many Wayne shirts and they ALL have been Western from this period and sell for an average of $1800. Please refer to past Sotheyby's, Butterfields Christies and Profiles sales.

Western sold all it's STAR WARDROBE in three sales: Oct 93, July '94 and December '94. I was at all three.

After that Michael got most of the remaining Wayne pieces from Eddie Marks. They have only been in N. Hollywood since 1990. The family that hired me owns Eastern and CRC (Costume Rental Co.) also has a member running Western as they are next door neighbors to CRC. I spent a month there in 1999.

The JW tan pants you bought and most other pieces I have had came from there, as I they got the pieces left by Michael which was precious little...

And if he thinks Western will even TALK to him he is misinformed. They tell everyone that calls that they do not even know what the numbers on their labels mean...

And except for Halloween they are closed to the public, just like CRC, which is an armed camp to get into. Even studio people are not allowed on the floor or in the warehouse. They have little cubicles and go to an info desk and ask for specific pieces to be brought.

So no new HARD information that I can see.

This vest and shirt do look like the set sold three years ago at Butterfields as from TRUE GRIT, which they were not, but still sold for a record $15,000 to some fool.

But from someone who has been pulling his hair out since May with Bonham's on the Hollywood Studio Sale they had in June, where they identified NOTHING for over 500 pieces and don't have a clue and don't care.................

I bought a pair of French Louis XVI giltwood pedestals used in both TOP HAT and CITIZEN KANE on Monday and they have refused to sell me a dozen more pieces that failed to sell in June.

They could care less......


I will defer to his info about the sword; maybe it was presented to Wayne afterward.

But I am very troubled by it being engraved RKO as the film was produced by ARGOSY, Ford's Company and financed and released by RKO. It was a location shoot and not made at the Back 40, RKO's Culver City lot.

Selznick had a similar deal with RKO, at the same time under the name VANGUARD and everything I have had from them is so marked that and not RKO.

RKO was in serious difficulties all during the decade and was renting facilities to other producers like Selznick, Goldwyn, Republic, Capra and Ford to generate income.

They did not make this film.

You well know that Wayne's contract that has been sold is between him and ARGOSY..........not RKO.

I would also ask who and what year was this insurance sheet done for?

If it has the COLT serial number why have they not run it through COLT archives for dates and origins?

There is no smoking gun here.......

For these estimates this large these pieces should have much better provenance.




Chuckie, I can only add this bit of information: True, Wayne signed a contract for this film with John Ford's (at that time) company "Argosy" - RKO just distributed.

I couldn't tell you if these pieces are real or not, but apparently somebody thought they were real, as the below prices attest, which I copied off the Bonhams and Butterfield's auction site, from last week's auction.


Antique Arms & Armor and Modern Sporting Guns
sale 7480A, December 9, 2003 - December 10, 2003
Prices include the Buyer's Premium

Item # 1046 *Customized Colt Single Action Army Revolver and Western Rig Owned by John Wayne and Used in "The Cowboys", "True Grit", "Rooster Cogburn" and Other Films $97,750

Item # 1048 *Set of Winchester NRA Commemorative Rifles Presented by the Winchester Arms Company and the National Rifle Association to John Wayne $46,000

Item # 1049 Brown Stetson Cowboy Hat Owned by John Wayne $5,462

Item # 1051 Group of John Wayne Ephemera $4,312

Item # 1052 John Wayne's Costume as Rooster Cogburn as seen in the Films 'True Grit' and 'Rooster Cogburn' $46,000


Yee doggy! Hey, itdo, you wanna adopt me as your number one son? :rolleyes:

Chester :newyear:

Did you notice they changed the catalog per the wardrobe to WESTERN costume labels (not "HOLLYWOOD", the thing we discussed)

What happened to the saber? That was the only unsold lot.

Chuckie, did you get lucky?