Attention art snobs, sticks in the mud and tasteful cowards too quick to categorize populist decorative art as kitsch (or too silly to know that kitsch can be terrific when executed bee-u-ti-full-ee): This is not addressed to you.
To all others, saddle up and mosey on over to Christie’s at Rockefeller Center this Wednesday and Thursday (July 14-15), and examine the trove once owned by “King of the Cowboys” Roy Rogers (1911-1998) and his wife, collaborator and “Queen of the West” co-star Dale Evans (1912-2001).
Marquee names in postwar American culture, Rogers appeared in over 100 films, recorded 32 songs (he was a two-time inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame), and starred in his eponymous TV show from 1951 to 1957; Evans, in addition to also starring in The Roy Rogers Show, appeared in more than 30 films and wrote approximately two hundred songs, among them her and Rogers’ signature ditty “Happy Trails.”
The 344 lots come from the dynamic duo’s own museum. Founded by Rogers and Evans in a former bowling alley in southern California’s Apple Valley in 1967, The Roy Rogers – Dale Evans Museum moved to larger digs in nearby Victorville in 1976. In 2003, Rogers and Evans’ family relocated the private museum to Branson, Missouri, where it closed December 12, 2009.
Memorabilia include Rogers’ aviator-style sunglasses with “RR” and the bust of a horse etched onto the lens; scores of awards and photographs and paintings of the couple; enough guitars to serenade a campfire of any size; battalions of badges belonging to various state and local law enforcement bodies; and numerous boots, saddles, spurs and bespoke riding togs fitted to Rogers and Evans, many made by famed “Rodeo Tailor to the Stars” Nudie Cohen, whom Rogers and Evans discovered and who went on to design for a stable of clothes horses such as Elvis Presley, Gene Autry and ZZ Top.
But the standouts are (or were) transportive. First is Rogers’ 1964 Pontiac Bonneville convertible, estimated to roar into the sunset for $100,000-150,000. Customized by Nudie Cohen, who by the early 1960s had added cars to his repertoire, Rogers’ ride could rival anything currently on MTV’s Pimp My Ride, and is best described in the sale’s catalog:
“…Nudie removed all traces of the original interior material and carpeting, replacing it with exquisitely hand-tooled leather. Then came the application of hundreds of genuine collectible silver dollars, along with chrome-plated pistols, horseshoes, miniature horses and rifles. Some of these items acted as functional replacements for interior and exterior door handles, switches and controls. Nudie worked out the mechanics of six-shooters to point where the pull of a trigger on the gearshift works the gears, other pistols open the doors and two more pistols on chrome stands replace the front seat arm rest. Still another pistol sounds the horn and two more open the doors from the outside. Two derringers are also employed replacing the emergency brake release and the other works the directional lights.”
The catalog further notes that on the car’s exterior, “the six-foot wide Texas longhorns on the front end of the vehicle leave an imposing first impression.”
Additionally, there are two custom parade saddles, both made by Edward H. Bohlin and both expected to straddle between $100,000-150,000. The newer of the two, from approximately 1949, is a “Taxin” model composed of elaborately carved leather and silver and gold mounts. It was Rogers’ most ornate as well as his last parade saddle. Made in approximately 1940, the first parade saddle—ornately carved leather mounted with elaborately etched, heavy gauge sterling silver—is that worn by Trigger, Rogers’ famous Palamino horse.
And then there’s Trigger himself, or as Rogers’ used to call him, “The Smartest Horse in the Movies.” As the catalog explains, “On July 3, 1965 at the Rogers ranch in Hidden Valley, California, Trigger left this earth at the age of 30 (one day before he would turn 31), succumbing to old age. Reluctant to ‘put him in the ground,’ Roy was inspired by the animals on display in the Smithsonian. He decided to have Trigger mounted in his iconic rearing position on two legs and put on display at the Roy Rogers – Dale Evans Museums, then located in Victorville, California.” The stuffed steed is hoping to cross the finish line at $100,000-200,000.
Andrew Myers
Myers, Andrew, writes extensively about architecture, design, and the fine and decorative arts for the Robb Report and Modern Luxury families of magazines, as well as 1stdibs.com and a catalogue of shelter magazines too long (and boring) to mention. But the fun doesn’t stop ...
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