Alberg design archive available post-sale at Swann Galleries

[Swann Galleries]

Our September 30 Americana auction at Swann Galleries was generally a solid success, but we did not find a buyer for a substantial archive of Carl Alberg's designs, models, and other papers, much of it relating to his work on Cape Dory yachts.

For the next week, the archive will be available to the first buyer for $8,000 plus our 20% buyer's premium. After that point, it will be returned to the consignor. If you have any questions, please contact Americana specialist Rick Stattler at 212-254-4710 x 27. The full catalogue description follows.


PRINTED & MANUSCRIPT AMERICANA 09/30/2010 01:30 PM, Lot No. 224

(YACHTING.) Archive of yacht designer Carl Alberg. 38 rolled pencil and ink sketches, 39 rolled blueprints, 4 half-hull boat models, and a box of manuscript records (including additional folded plans, correspondence, notes, photographs, and promotional material). Mostly Marblehead, MA, 1938-85. bulk 1957-85
Estimate:$10,000-15,000

Carl A. Alberg (1900-1986) of Marblehead, MA was a successful designer of fiberglass-hulled sailboats. Born in Sweden, he came to the United States as a young man and established his national reputation as a naval architect from the 1940s onward. Some of his best-known work was with Cape Dory Yachts of Massachusetts.

This archive includes large-scale drawings, blueprints, and production correspondence relating to dozens of Alberg's popular boat designs, including two 1958 blueprints for his popular Triton. Also included are scale models of 4 popular Cape Dory designs, including the iconic Cape Dory 36 (pictured below). A detailed inventory of the collection is available upon request.

With--8 books, mostly in Swedish and many inscribed by the Alberg family, 1908-1984.