The Benefit Shop Foundation, Inc., usually has merchandise  that runs the gamut from soup to nuts in its monthly Red Carpet auctions. This is especially true for its next auction on Wednesday, May 16, at 10 am, which features an Andy Warhol “Souper” soup can paper dress, which was only made 1966-67. Absentee and Internet bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

“Our auctions mostly are soup to nuts affairs with a little bit of everything,” said owner and founder Pam Stone. “This sale has a very strong pop culture sensibility with the Andy Warhol dress as well as a couple of very striking Coca-Cola pieces with great graphics but the auction is still a mix of antiques and oddities.”
The Warholesque “Souper” Campbell’s paper dress, circa 1966, measures from shoulder to hem about 37 inches and is made of 80% cellulose and 20% cotton. The dress was produced for two years only and was inspired by the Campbell’s “Soup Cans” series painted by Andy Warhol. Campbell’s produced these dresses, when paper dresses were in fashion, as a mail order offer meets advertising campaign. Warhol himself was famous for looking at the relationship between artistic expression, culture and advertisement and this dress is a fitting testament to that — marrying fashion, art and industry in one object.

Crossing the block early in the auction will be a vintage Coca-Cola 12-inch button sign marked “AM 74” under the bottle and with four holes around the base for hanging and a vintage metal Coca Cola cooler from the 1950s with an interior removable tray, side bottle opener and a carry handle. Measuring 19 by 18 by 13 inches, the cooler is marked “Progress Refrigerator Co. Louisville, KY.”

Artwork in this sale ranges from an after Pablo Picasso lithograph of a man smoking a pipe, signed and dated, 28 by 21 inches including the frame, to a midcentury modern oil on  canvas painting by Lee Kundera. The latter is a thickly textured abstract scene of New York City, painted in bold reds, oranges, yellows and black, 32 by 25 inches.

The Arts and Crafts style figures prominently in the sale from a handmade chain stitch carpet having red ground color with cream, green, aqua blue and black tones in a floral design, 121 by 96 inches; to a vintage single-arm side chair with cream upholstery, and a one-armed settee chair.

A wide range of other art and design styles and period are also represented in the sale. Highlights include a Midcentury Modern chrome and leather lounge chair with ottoman by Plycraft Inc, Lawrence, Mass.; a folk art carved and painted wood swan, made in Canada, having a moveable, neck, vintage possibly antique, 21 inches long; and a Louis XV style bureau plat desk.

Bohemian glass has performed well here recently and this auction offers a red toned painted Bohemian glass vase that looks to be handpainted with white toned detail depicting a female figure walking with a basket, 9 inches tall; and a pair of cut crystal Bohemian glass style decanters having intricately cut geometric relief detail, with purple toned stoppers,  necks, and accents with floral detail, 11 inches tall.

A large collection of vintage/antique fans was recently consigned by a New York City estate and the first offerings will be in this auction, including a feathered ladies fan with lush black toned bird feathers and faux shell body, 14 inches tall, and a ladies parchment fan with carved openwork bone having double sided paintings depicting figures lounging in wooded countryside landscapes, 11 inches tall.

Rounding out this auction will be an antique mechanical card shuffler in a handled, hinged and lidded custom wood box, marked as Nestor Johnson Mfg Co, Chicago; an Emilio Pucci vintage silk dress in a geometric multicolored floral design; a handmade intricately detailed Persian wool rug with floral and geometric details, 126 by 74 inches; a handsomely carved vintage footed wooden chest with two carved paw style feet and a carved face, 59 by 25 by 28 inches, and a collection of tools and primitives. “We are still cataloguing items as they come in but I can say there will be an interesting mix of antiques and collectibles as well as curiosities and oddities,” Stone said.

The monthly Red Carpet sales feature choice collections of antique, Midcentury Modern, brand furnishings, sterling, china, crystal, jewelry and fine art. With a mission of “to donate, to discover and to do good,” the foundation is a non-profit and all auction proceeds support community organizations. Consignors get a tax deduction, the buyer gets a great deal and local non-profits get much needed funds.

The auction takes place at 185 Kisco Avenue, Suite 201, and online. For more information, https://www.thebenefitshop.org or 914-864-0707.