Rare Toy Collection On Display At Sotheby's

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 21st 2011 at 11:01AM

A selection from a collection of tens of thousands of European and American toys and trains is on display at Sotheby's York Avenue headquarters in New York through January and February. The exhibition takes up an entire floor of Sotheby's York Avenue headquarters but is just a fraction of the entire collection which is available for private sale through Sotheby's as a single lot.

"The Jerni Collection is a passionate homage to the Golden Age of toy making, but on a scale that is breathtaking. Tens of thousands of miniature works of art-trains, stations, villages, carousels, Ferris wheels-conjure up a privileged childhood world of beauty, magic and sheer happiness," said David Redden, Sotheby's Vice Chairman.

The more 35,000 objects in The Jerni Collection were assembled piece-by-piece over a 50 year period by a single dedicated collector who is one of the world's leading authorities on model trains and toys. The pieces date from roughly 1850–1940, and form an encyclopedic collection of toys and trains from every major European and American manufacturer operating during this period. "I put it together piece-by-piece, and my quest for the highest quality trains and toys took me to thousands of toy fairs and shows. The collection has been my abiding passion but it is now time for everyone to enjoy and appreciate these wonderful objects. I hope they bring as much joy to others as they have brought to me," stated Jerry Greene, owner of this remarkable collection. Some estimate that the collection should bring in around $10 million but others state that the value is far greater, perhaps as much as $40 or $50 million.

Tags: antique trains, jerni collection, rare toys, sothebys