TSII Sale Catalog for C R Dispersal

 

Sale Catalog of Timaru Star II pieces from the Colette Robertson Estate Dispersal, during BreyerFest 2024.  (Not to be confused with the larger CR Dispersal Auction, held on Thursday the 11th!)  Two pictures per saddle are listed below;  additional pictures and many other details are in each saddle's own post, with links below.  Funds raised go directly to Colette's medical and other bills.  (No premium or percentages to me.) 

TSII #401, Koi & Water Lilies.  Closes Sat., July 13, at 8pm.   SOLD   $2500

TSII #442, Colette's Medieval Vine.  Closes Fri., July 12, at 8pm.  SOLD   $2200

TSII #451, Clyde Goehring No. 1 Silver Mexican Parade:  Closes Fri., July 12, 9pm.  SOLD  $3200

TSII #427, Mint Chocolate Chip.  Closes Thurs., July 11, at 8pm.    SOLD   $1000

TSII #448, 10th Anniv. Donation.  Closes Thurs., July 11, 9pm   SOLD   $1500

TSII #358, Colette's Starburst Rays.  Closes Wed., July 10, at 8pm.  SOLD    $800

TSII #434, Rose Gold Concho.  Closes Wed., July 10, at 7pm.  SOLD    $500

TSII  Domo Vaquera Spanish Saddle set SOLD, see below for pictures.

TSII Four-in-Hand Hungarian Trad Harness for sale, see below for pictures, $500.

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It is with both sadness and pleasure that we present the cream of Colette Robertson's collection of Timaru Star II pieces, up for offers.  She was my best customer;  many times, across nearly two decades (1993 to 2010) and beyond, she literally kept the TSII alive.  Her unfailing demand and enthusiasm drew out of me the best I could produce.  The model horse world is losing a truly great champion.

The current plan is to accept offers via email until closing.  My email address is sbytsii@verizon.net.  Starting the evening of July 8, offers will also be accepted via text (814-470-7199) and in person.  The pieces may be viewed in my CHIN room 612 starting Monday evening.

Gritty details:  Cash is preferred.  I can also accept PayPal (same address as my email) and personal checks.  Checks will be held til clear (yes!).  I am Not set up to accept credit cards, Sorry!  Shipping costs must be bourne by the buyer.  Time pays up to 60 days are allowed:  a deposit of 25% is required at time of winning, with balance due by Sept 12 at the latest.  Fractional payments are non-refundable.  If you do not respond to contact within the 60 days, all amounts paid are forfeit {ouch} and the piece will be re-listed.  Foreign bidders welcome!  If winner has an international address, they need to bear shipping costs. 

Please understand these pieces are being sold on an as-is basis.  Colette kept her tack in beautiful condition, and now they have passed through my hands and been cleaned, polished and in some cases updated.  But there can be no guarantee they'll stay that way.  Now it's your turn to keep them safe from sun and dust and preferably air.

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TSII #401, Koi & Water Lilies, originally built in 1997 for Susan Rudnicki.  [Reserve has been met.]  More pictures and many details, including a link to its own earlier long blog post (and pictures of Colette), here.  Includes the horse.  Closing at 8pm Eastern July 13, Saturday, 2024.

May it find a good owner.

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TSII #442, Colette's Medieval Vine, built in 2005.  This saddle has its own post, here, (ignore the first paragraph), but I'm still sneaking in extra pix below.  [Reserve has been met.]  I personalized this saddle especially for her.  There is a stethoscope and syringe tooled on the front of the taps; the taps' inner side has a design incorporating the Rx symbol.  The vine-and-grape pattern, originally inspired by a page from the Anglo Saxon Chronicles, is a reference to wine-drinking, something I didn't do, but she did.  Note this photo shows the correct blanket!

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TSII #451, Clyde Goehring Silver Mexican Parade saddle the First, finished in 2014 for Sue Stewart and later purchased by Colette for an unknown amount.  A portrait of a real-life saddle, this exquisite piece of tack took 15 months to create; I was inventing new techniques every step of the way.  Embellished with hand-engraved Argentium on a custom tree, this saddle is documented with no less than thirteen (13) blog posts;  the final listing is here.  [Reserve has been met.]   (Note that a second Goehring Silver Mexican exists, TSII #457, made for EJH.) 

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 TSII #427, Mint Chocolate Chip set, was built in 2002 for Val Sydor.  [Reserve has been met.]  More pictures, and descriptions from my Grey Braidwork scrapbook and the TSII Saddle Numbers Registry, here.  Don't miss this delicious example of model tack artistry!  Closes Thurs. July 11 at 8pm.

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TSII #448, 10th Donation Saddle, made to benefit NAN 2008, built in 2008.  The winner of that auction was, who else, Colette.  [Reserve has been met.]  The saddle was inspired by a High Noon 2008 catalog photo.  More pictures and saddle details here.  Note new closing time, 9 instead of 8.  Closing Thurs., July 11, at 9pm.

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TSII #358, Colette's Sunburst Rays Silver Parade Set, built in 1993.  Includes parade rider doll with two hats, two extra pompom blankets, a doll vest and flower bouquet (does not include my horse!).  [Reserve has been met.]  More pictures are here.  Closing Wednesday July 10, at 8pm. 

 

 

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TSII #434, Rose Gold Concho, was built in 2004.  Sold on eBay, it was won by Denise Stover.  [Reserve has been met.]  So named from the gold pins in the center of its Rio Rondo conchos and plates, and the Rose Rayonnant carving pattern.  More pictures and details here.  Closing Wednesday, July 10th, at 7pm.

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TSII Spanish Domo Vaquera saddle, built in 2009.  Colette won this piece in an eBay auction in October of 2009.   New cinch buckles that will not corrode, just installed June of 2024.

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TSII Four-in-hand Black & Gold Hungarian Harness, built in 1997.  She ordered it for her 4 white Amarna Arabs.  For sale with delivery at BreyerFest, $500. 

Be aware the rings and buckles are probably heavily corroded.  (Not looked closely at as of this writing.)  I cannot attend to replacing them until after my next book is published, hopefully in fall of 2024.

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Huge thanks to Christie Partee and Kim Wandrey who are doing incredible work with this dispersal.  There is a FaceBook group, CR Perf Dispersal Sale, headed by Christie, dedicated to the task of rehoming Colette's collection of tack and props.  We always referred to it as Smaug's Hoarde!!  and she said the job was like trying to "boil the ocean," so true.  Christie has allowed me to handle most of the TSII pieces.  My deepest thanks also to all those who supported the TSII;  and most especially to Colette the Medicine Woman, who is really going to be missed, to put it mildly.  Our hearts go out to her, in hospice as of this writing.  May she know as much peace and comfort as possible.

 Some great shots taken during North American Nationals in my photographer heyday:

TSII #434, Rose Gold Concho

 

The Rose Gold Concho saddle, TSII #434, was a triumph of braidwork and design when it was made in 2004.  Timingwise it falls between the Elk, my own braided set (TSII #432), and #435, originally known as Tackett's Brown Zebra.  The Rose was part of a wave of braided-edge saddles that started with a Parade set, #428 and ended with #437, the Bongo.  The wave was preceded by (and followed with) some incredible efforts known as Peruvian Paso sets, so I really had braidwork on the mind!

 The auction for this saddle closes on Wednesday July 10, at 7pm Eastern.  Delivery is free at BreyerFest.  For the latest bid and all the details, see the master Sales Catalog post here.

This past week (June 26), I cleaned up this saddle.  Colette took very good care of her pieces and this one needed the least work of all.   In the 20 years, only the dees and conchos accumulated a thin layer of goldeny exudate, which was easily rubbed off.  If the next owner keeps this gorgeous example of model tack carefully bagged (airtight) it ought to last another 20 years...

 

 

Another contemporary (2024) shot.  The tag on the horse says HORSE NOT INCLUDED.

 

Here are some 2004 photos from when the saddle was made:

Of course braidwork in model tack continues to be my focus today.

The notes in the Grey Braid Scrapbook say: "begun 0402.26, Ended 0403. 26.  A very famous set owing to the exciting auction.  It was displayed at MAR and GPMHS.  Even more perfected braidwork."  

The TSII Saddle Number registry says: "Rose Gold Concho" auction saddle.  Tan and half-tan double skirt tooled in Rose Rayonnant; seat left plain and undyed.  ISH.  Pommel of new encased-metal type as well as seat;  stirrups also have thin metal cores.  Completely trimmed in braided sinew:  horn rim, horn neck (almost all the way around), gullet, stirrup edges, cantle, back cinch rings, both back skirts.  Four corner plates:  Rio Rondo P106 & P121 held on with largish gold pins.  Most hardware stainless -- cinch rings homemade.  Conchos mostly pinned domed etched -- small dees held at 1st and 4th points (like Elk).  No strings.  Marching breastcollar and bridle of long button sinew.  Auctioned on eBay April 5, 2004, to Denise Stover."

Rose Rayonnant was a tooling pattern I developed around then.  It is a matter of timing, I think, that Colette's saddles so often feature this pattern.

TSII #358, Colette's Sunburst Ray silver Parade set

TSII #358 was Colette's first parade set by me.  She placed a large order in 1993 and this was part of it.  It didn't have a name at the time.  For this sale, I've taken to calling it Sunburst or Rays.  It is truly an antique, with the silver tape [actually aluminum] technology I was so proud of then.  Yes, it's fragile and the rays like to lift, but it's in amazingly good shape given its age.  

This auction closes Wednesday, July10, at 8pm Eastern.  Delivery at BreyerFest if paid for in full at the time of closing.  Check the latest bid on the Sales Catalog post here.

The set comes with a Parade rider doll, two hats, three blankets, a vest and a bouquet, all collected by Colette.  HORSE NOT INCLUDED,  he's just there to show the size!  I'm not sure who made the extra blankets but they are exactly the same style as the original red one, so it could've been me.  This would make a really good Parade class entry for some enterprising shower.

With care, this beautiful old piece of TSII history should last another 30 years.  This past week (June 25, 2024) I went over it very carefully, replacing all drop rings with stainless steel wire ones and gluing down as many rays and panels as I could.  Glues used included Aleene's and Jewelry Glaze.  I replaced the coatings on some parts and polished the conchos and bit.  I cleaned off as much green as I could.

Here's a bridle shot:

We have relatively few historical photos of this saddle.  These three are from the Red Parade Scrapbook.  At the time, I used a hand drawn design page for each silver saddle.

TSII #448, 10th Donation Saddle (NAN 2008)

 

TSII #448 was built in 2008 as a portrait of a real saddle.  Its 2024 auction closes on Thursday, July 11, at 9 pm Eastern (Note new closing time!).  Free delivery if at BreyerFest!  Details and the latest bid are on the master Sales Catalog post here.

From the TSII Saddle Numbers Registry pages:  "High Noon Southern California Parade Saddle.  2008 North American Nationals Auction piece.  My 10th-ever donation [to NAN].  Second-ever saddle to use a Sculpey tree I made myself.  Third-ever saddle to use hot-fix silver conchos;  1st to use gold ones.  First to have solid silver pommel (silver tape) & back skirt plates above the concho bar [read: solid, undecorated silver plate set above the concho row, something the real saddle had].  Based on a saddle seen in the 2008 High Noon Auction in January [of that year]..."

Here's a birds-eye shot:

Compare the above with a birds-eye shot taken 16 years ago.  You will agree Colette took care of her tack!!

Sold to Colette Robertson in 2008 (16 years ago) for the then-record-breaking price of $2000.  Reserve is currently set at $600.

On June 22, I replaced three buckles with twisted stainless-steel-wire ones.  Here is the bridle before,

And after.  There's not much difference.  See the bottom of this post for details on the buckle replacement.  I still think these face conchos are among the best I've ever done.

This resin is Ramses sculpted by Carol Howard.  The blanket is made with Melody Snow's [blanket-making] book as inspiration.  The bit is one of a kind, made from Argentium with an inset gold round, an ikandi (iron on), as are the other gold spots.

The next few shots aren't quite as flattering to the horse, but the saddle shows up well.  The last face shot is almost comical;  I guess it proves that the bridle can adapt to a forelock!

2406.22 (June 22, 2024)  In hand, the bridle proved to have 3 buckles almost solidly covered in verdigris:  poll, throatlatch and noseband.  Only been 16 years!  This photo shows all three.

I made the decision to replace them with our standard twisted-stainless-steel-wire buckles, also handmade and proven to not corrode.  (At least not over the ~20 years I've been using them.)  There were other twisted-wire buckles on the bridle, (curb, face ornament), so why did I use what now appears to be white brass?  Indulging in my ability to carve beautiful buckles, I suspect.  The photo shows them partially cleaned.  The rest of the saddle is fine.

Here's a shot of a horse wearing this newly-fixed bridle.  I know, it's the horse for Medieval.  Y'don't s'pose I'd admit I got 'em mixed up, now, would you...?!  The bridle was too big for her, and now I know why.