Jack Kirby's drawing table.

[shadroch]

Anyone want to guess what King Kirbys original drawing table would fetch on the open market?

It was built for him in his attic studio when he moved to Long Island and was used by both he and Joe Simon from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, when he moved to Williston Park. It was left behind when he moved because it was too big to fit down the pull down stairs he had installed at the same time.

A later owner renovated the house and expanded the staircase, but doesn't fully appreciate what is in their attic.

 

Might this sell for more if it were cut up and sold in pieces in a nice display, with a COA?

[jimjum12]

.....something like that should be at the Geppi Museum....GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[thehumantorch]

.....something like that should be at the Geppi Museum....GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Agreed, a museum is the best place for the table to end up.

[markseifert]

Might this sell for more better if it were cut up and sold in pieces in a nice display, with a COA?

 

Ah, man... honestly, I'd hate to see that happen.

[WEBHEAD]

Anyone want to guess what King Kirbys original drawing table would fetch on the open market?

It was built for him in his attic studio when he moved to Long Island and was used by both he and Joe Simon from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, when he moved to Williston Park. It was left behind when he moved because it was too big to fit down the pull down stairs he had installed at the same time.

A later owner renovated the house and expanded the staircase, but doesn't fully appreciate what is in their attic.

 

Might this sell for more better if it were cut up and sold in pieces in a nice display, with a COA?

 

[VintageComics]

Anyone want to guess what King Kirbys original drawing table would fetch on the open market?

It was built for him in his attic studio when he moved to Long Island and was used by both he and Joe Simon from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, when he moved to Williston Park. It was left behind when he moved because it was too big to fit down the pull down stairs he had installed at the same time.

A later owner renovated the house and expanded the staircase, but doesn't fully appreciate what is in their attic.

 

Might this sell for more better if it were cut up and sold in pieces in a nice display, with a COA?

 

This one?

[comicwiz]

Anyone want to guess what King Kirbys original drawing table would fetch on the open market?

It was built for him in his attic studio when he moved to Long Island and was used by both he and Joe Simon from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, when he moved to Williston Park. It was left behind when he moved because it was too big to fit down the pull down stairs he had installed at the same time.

A later owner renovated the house and expanded the staircase, but doesn't fully appreciate what is in their attic.

 

Might this sell for more better if it were cut up and sold in pieces in a nice display, with a COA?

 

This one?

 

Chopping for auction blocking should definitely be out.

 

This quote especially begs the question of whether donating to the Smithsonian is what a piece of history like this deserves:

 

It’s probably a good thing the Kirbys still own all of this: the Smithsonian has so many hundreds of thousands of important pieces of art and history, this would probably be packed away in a box somewhere conceivably forever if they had it.

 

 

 

[shadroch]

No, that is not the one I'm talking about.

1) That one is a third the size of the one on Long Island

2) That one is still in the hands of the Kirby family, so I'm guessing its the one from his California ranch days. The one in question was built for him him in place in his attic and was too big to remove so he left it when they moved.

 

 

It took me awhile to track down the exact houses where he and Joe Simon lived across the street from each other. It turned out that the description from Simon's bio was slightly off. Its funny, the people had no idea who the former owners were, even after I told them. Whe they heard that they created Captain America, they were more amused than impressed.

I'd like to see the house(s) turned into a museum, but thats not going to happen.

[RedFury]

No, that is not the one I'm talking about.

1) That one is a third the size of the one on Long Island

2) That one is still in the hands of the Kirby family, so I'm guessing its the one from his California ranch days. The one in question was built for him him in place in his attic and was too big to remove so he left it when they moved.

 

 

It took me awhile to track down the exact houses where he and Joe Simon lived across the street from each other. It turned out that the description from Simon's bio was slightly off. Its funny, the people had no idea who the former owners were, even after I told them. Whe they heard that they created Captain America, they were more amused than impressed.

I'd like to see the house(s) turned into a museum, but thats not going to happen.

 

Did you confirm with the current owners that the drawing table is still in the attic? Did you see it?

[shadroch]

Yes, and no. I was told it is still there, but the attic is full of clutter and they would not let me up. I strongly suspect they would sell it rather cheaply(as long as they don't see this, of course)

[KirbyJack]

I would love to see the big table. Buy it and set it up in my spare room; I'll let boardies view it for free.

 

That small one is awesome, especially when you consider the prime examples that flew from it. But I imagine those large art, double page centerfolds from Captain America Comics must have come from a real whopper.

[Dr. Balls]

Yes, and no. I was told it is still there, but the attic is full of clutter and they would not let me up. I strongly suspect they would sell it rather cheaply(as long as they don't see this, of course)

 

I had a really large hand-made framing table that I had to unscrew, remove carpet and disassemble to get it through the doors in my house. Not very practical, but sometimes that's how you get impractical stuff in the home.

 

I would imagine that someone with a little carpentry skill could figure out how to either cut or disassemble the desk in a way that it could be put back together again with little to no damage or unsightly issues.

[Dr. Balls]

I would love to see the big table. Buy it and set it up in my spare room; I'll let boardies view it for free.

 

I'd love to have that in my studio and put it back into use. Sometimes it's kind of cool to see these things function, even something as simple as a desk. Imagine if a Jim Lee or Alex Ross got a hold of this and put it back to work for them? Now, that would be cool.

[miraclemet]

I'd contact Marvel and ask them if they had interest in displaying it at their corporate offices, or our in LA in their Marvel Studio Offices (you could buy it and "have it on loan" to them). At least that way you know its more on display than getting a rotation at the Smithsonian every decade or two...

 

Just dont tell Stan Lee about it... he'll carve his name in it and say that he made it...

[shadroch]

If only 5,000 fans contribute $100 each, we could buy the house and turn it into a Kirby museum.

[markseifert]

If only 5,000 fans contribute $100 each, we could buy the house and turn it into a Kirby museum.

 

Is the house suitably located for a museum? Zoning issues, parking, etc?

 

In any case... $500k is a tall order, but if you're serious about the museum idea, here's what I might consider:

 

The Kirby Museum (kirbymuseum.org) has been trying to raise $30k for a temporary (10-12 weeks) "pop-up" museum located in the Lower East side near where Jack grew up. Their idea is to rent a space.

 

I'm a HUGE Kirby fan, but I must say I never thought raising funds for a museum that would be in operation for 3 months was an ideal situation. Make no mistake, I have a lot of respect for the people involved with Kirby Museum, and their intentions here are good, but it just seems like a large effort for a very temporary result.

 

It sounds like there would be a lot of hurtles even besides the money to making the house a permanent museum (staffing, ongoing operational expenses, taxes, etc), but it might be worth contacting them and bouncing some ideas around regardless -- they would have the contacts to get many other interested people involved. With the right plan, I think it might be possible to raise a good amount of money for a permanent museum on kickstarter to get it started.

[Senormac]

Wheres the "this thread is useless without pictures" guy

[That Ron Dude]

All kinds of things were owned by Carl Barks were sold off after he died. I considered purchasing his easel but didn't bid. In the end I think it went for only about a hundred dollars, complete with certificate of authenticity. It went for hardly more than the price of a new, similar easel. Jerry Weist was the seller: he is gone now too. So many things were sold from that estate that it made owning a piece of Barks memorabilia, from a paint tube, to a blue line rough very affordable. I don't know if the drawing board was auctioned off or what it went for if it was.

 

There might be some parallels there.

[Senormac]

Looking back only has so much power