Dali Original Intaglio Restrike: "Cervantes."

Dali Original Intaglio Restrike
"Cervantes"

This image comes from the suite of 5 original etchings titled Five Spanish Immortals (Field catalog #65-7(B), pp. 28-29).  The one in my collection is a Collector's Guild unlimited edition restrike characterized by the black ink and Dali's signature in the lower left corner of the plate (Restrike information in Field catalog on p. 236).

The etching seems to have been released in a wood frame with silver accents (pictured here) and a white or off-white matte.  On the back of the frame is a Collector's Guild COA.  This original frame and matte combination makes for an attractive package.

It is interesting to compare this package with the Don Quixote framed etching from the same series.  Both are in the exact same size and style frame, but the Don Quixote is about 50% heavier.  I believe the difference in weight is due to the different material used for the backing board.  The Don Quixote has a dense particle board wood backing, and the Cervantes has a softer, cardboard-like backing covered with brown paper.

More research is needed on this issue.  Perhaps this aspect can be used to assess relative order of prints from the unlimited edition.  If sturdier materials are found associated with this print, one hypothesis is that the move to lighter materials represents a switch to cheaper production costs in later runs.

There is no definitive information about how many of these unlimited restrikes were made, but they are very easy to find.  They generally sell for between $50 and $100 depending on the condition.

I was able to get this one in beautiful condition for fewer than $90.

1988 U.S. Olympic Dali Medallions.

1988 U.S. Olympic Dali Medallions

by Deak International

This set of five olympic medallions is packaged in a dark blue flocked case.  Each medal is embedded in a clear plastic holder so you can inspect both sides.

This set comes with a COA which identifies it as one of a limited edition of 25,000 sets in silver.  Also listed is a gold set limited to 1,000.

Each medal is .5 troy oz. of .999 pure silver, 30mm in diameter.  The medals have an attractive frosted proof appearance.

Four of the medallions share the USA Olympic Committee name and logo, dated 1988, on the reverse.  One medallion (the one in the lower right corner of the first image above) has a US-Canadian friendship motif on the reverse (see photos below).

While each medallion bears Dali's signature/logo, I question the level of Dali's participation in these designs.  Unless these designs were produced prior to about 1980, these designs probably weren't even made by his hand.  Dali's last painting was produced in 1983, and it likely that another artist's hand worked at Dali's direction.

Nevertheless, these medallions are attributed to Dali, and are a neat little collectible.

The set is fairly easy to buy, though sellers tend to ask way too much.  At the current average price for silver (~$40/troy ounce), there's only $80 worth of silver in this set. 

A good rule of thumb to calculate the value of something like this to a Dali collector is about 2 to 3 times the value of the precious metal.  Therefore, a reasonable price for this set is about $200.  I got my set for a bit less than that.