Auctions: Circus banners at Pook & Pook and Rago Arts

Two suburban auction houses known for the high prices that their goods command will have big-volume sales next week with generally affordable merchandise. Both will also feature East Asian artwork.

And each will offer a bizarre circus sideshow banner from the mid-20th century - one of a series of coincidences in next week's auction scene.

While the banners are virtually the same size, about 7 by 10 feet, the more outrageous of the two will be featured by Pook & Pook Inc. at its two-day, 1,300-lot sale of decorative arts in Downingtown: a depiction of the Great LaCardo, a sword swallower, ingesting a neon tube.

The 89-by-115-inch oil on canvas is among the 800 lots that will be offered at the second session, beginning at 9 a.m. next Friday at the gallery, 463 E. Lancaster Ave. One of more than a dozen lots of advertising, posters, and promotional material, it has a presale price estimate of $4,000 to $6,000, according to the color-illustrated auction catalog (accessible online at www.pookandpook.com).

Nearly 300 lots of East Asian artwork will follow, including items expected to bring the auction's top prices, notably for three carved jade pieces. A carving of Guan Yin has a presale estimate of $4,000 to $6,000. Coincidentally, a statue of this same goddess of mercy will be offered next Friday at two other auctions: by Gordon S. Converse & Co. at People's Light & Theatre Company in Malvern under the name Quan Ying and at Freeman's as Quanyin, with a presale estimate of $30,000 to $50,000.

A 7-inch-high jade mountain at Pook & Pook has a presale estimate of $8,000 to $10,000, and a mountain almost 10 by 13 inches has a presale estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.

The first session, beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday, features 500 lots of antique and period furniture, silver, redware, porcelains, needlework, and some paintings.

Previews: noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, and 8 to 9 a.m. next Friday. For more information, call 610-269-4040.

Rago's Great Estates. The less-outrageous circus banner will be offered by Rago Arts at its Great Estates sale beginning at 11 a.m. Sept. 10 at 333 N. Main St., Lambertville, N.J. It depicts "Taylor the Man of Mystery," a tailcoated magician surrounded by tricks of his trade and a voluptuous assistant. Two inches shorter than the Great LaCardo, it has a considerably smaller presale estimate of $800 to $1,200.