Stories for April '17
(Fragment)Allen and Wyckoff of Raccoon Creek Sentenced
In a plea deal, George Allen, 63, and Gordon Wyckoff, 67, of Reading, Pennsylvania, who called their business Raccoon Creek at Oley Forge, each pleaded guilty on February 13 to charges of failing to make required disposition of funds received. Allen and Wyckoff were accused of taking antiques on consignment ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)A Virtual Visit with Attos Antique and Estate Jewelry, Portland, Maine
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Attos Antique and Estate Jewelry
This month we view the antique jewelry market from the perspective of a jeweler and store owner, Attos Santana, and his company, Attos Antique and Estate Jewelry in Portland, Maine.
During the February storms that happened in Maine the week of Valentine’s ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)A Buyer's Premium
Editorial
Buyer rewards programs have been used with credit card companies, hotels, airlines, restaurants, and other businesses for years. Now Kagin’s Auctions of Tiburon, California, is extending an offer to buyers at auction.
The numismatic firm has announced the implementation of the Kagin’s Auctions Loyalty Program. All purchasers will be entitled to ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Christie's American Art Department Appointment and Promotion
Christie’s has appointed Will Haydock as head of department for American art. He joined the American art department at Christie’s in May 2014 as specialist head of sale. Since then, he has been responsible for notable auction consignments, including Norman Rockwell’s Country Editor, William Bradford’s Midnight Sun, The Arctic, Thomas ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Kneeland and Adams Cabinet Shop Records Found
A 270-page ledger kept by Hartford, Connecticut, cabinetmaker Lemuel Adams (1769-1850) has been discovered at the University of Miami by Kevin G. Ferrigno, according to a press release from Historic Deerfield. The Adams ledger provides a record of the cabinetmaking business in Hartford during the 1790s.
Historic Deerfield associate curator Christine ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Gurley Show at Deerfield Fairgrounds for Antiques Week in New Hampshire
Joshua and Rachel Gurley, the children of Nan Gurley (1943-2016), have announced that the New Deerfield Antique Show at the Deerfield Fairgrounds, Deerfield, New Hampshire, will be held on Monday, August 7, the beginning of Antiques Week in New Hampshire.
The fairgrounds in Deerfield were not used for Nan Gurley’s show ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Longstanding Vermont Antiques Week Show Changes Name, Moves to New Location
A Vermont Antiques Week show is moving and getting renamed. Antiques in Vermont, which had been held at the Riley Rink at Hunter Park, is moving to the Mountain Lodge at Okemo in Ludlow, Vermont, and the show will now be known as the Vermont Pickers Market. The previous promoters ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Pennsylvania Representatives Introduce Ivory Legislation with Antiques Exemption
On February 2 two members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Madeleine Dean and Tarah Toohil, announced that they would soon introduce legislation “prohibiting the import, sale, purchase, barter or possession of ivory or rhinoceros horn.”
When the text of the proposed law was published on February 23, it included an ... (Read More)
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(Computer Article)Simple Is Best
Computer Column #340
John P. Reid, <[email protected]>
About 1960, the aerospace industry coined the acronym KISS for “keep it simple stupid” (no comma) and insisted it in no way implied the listener was stupid; rather the opposite (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle). We computer users need to remind ourselves of the KISS principle.
Speech-to-text smartphone app taking ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Christie's to Open New Location in Los Angeles
In April Christie’s will open a new 5400-square-foot two-story flagship location in Beverly Hills, California. The auction house says there is growing demand among Los Angeles-area collectors for greater access to buying and selling opportunities, fine art advisory and appraisal services, private selling exhibitions, auction highlight tours, and art-related estate ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Man Arrested in Antiques Mall Burglary
On Thursday, February 16, at approximately 8:48 p.m., officers with the Harrisonburg (Virginia) Police Department responded to the Rolling Hills Antique Mall at 779 East Market Street for what has been investigated as a commercial burglary. Officers on scene were able to view security footage showing the suspect entering the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Judge Rules in Basquiat Case
On February 27 Judge Charles E. Ramos ruled in favor of Michael P. Schulhof in his suit against art curator and consultant Lisa Jacobs of New York City. Schulhof alleged that Jacobs had skimmed $1 million off the sale of Future Sciences Versus the Man by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) in ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Nancy McClelland's Homage to George Washington and Old New York
On January 22, 1932, more than 3000 luminaries from the arts, academia, politics, design, and New York society gathered at the Waldorf Astoria for the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects’ annual ball. Departing from the society’s usual Francophilia, the theme was “A Pageant of Old New York,” in honor of the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Auctionata Files for Insolvency
Online auction house Auctionata (www.auctionata.com) filed for insolvency on March 1. “Our business operations will discontinue,” an e-mail from the firm read.
The firm, based in Germany, had tried to find financing. On February 1 Auctionata had sent an e-mail stating that the firm had filed for preliminary insolvency on January ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Rosetta Stone Sketchbook by Tompkins H. Matteson Rediscovered
From my point of view, 2016 was the year for the prominent American genre and historical painter Tompkins H. Matteson (1813-1884).1 In the March issue of Maine Antique Digest I spotted a small advertisement by Axtell Antiques (p. 12-CS) offering a self-portrait of the artist as a young man. With ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Philadelphia Man Charged with Interstate Transportation of Stolen Print
Gerald Garrett, 58, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was charged on February 28 with the interstate transportation of stolen property in connection with the theft of a signed LeRoy Neiman print of Muhammad Ali from the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of ten ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Chait Indicted in Smuggled Rhinoceros Horns Case
Jacob Chait, 34, who served as the head of acquisitions and auctioneer of I.M. Chait, a gallery and auction house in Beverly Hills, California, appeared on February 21 in Manhattan federal court in New York to face charges of conspiring to smuggle rhinoceros horns, in violation of the Lacey Act. ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)The Story of a Shingle-Style House with Secrets
Photos courtesy Jane Goodrich
The drawing on the cover of The House at Lobster Cove is a quick sketch done by one of Kragsyde’s architects, Robert Swain Peabody, circa 1885. It is housed in the files of Boston Architectural College, unidentified, but Jane Goodrich is more than confident that it’s Kragsyde. ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)John Krynick and Francis Nestor of Cottage+Camp, North Egremont, Massachusetts
In the Trade
People end up in the antiques trade for all sorts of reasons. When it comes to John Krynick and Francis Nestor of Cottage+Camp, North Egremont, Massachusetts, the explanation is straightforward. “If we didn’t have the business,” Nestor said, “we’d probably be hoarders. We can’t get away from it. ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Jonathan Fairbanks to Receive AD20/21 Lifetime Achievement Award
Jonathan L. Fairbanks. Ian Justice photo.
The tenth anniversary AD20/21 Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Jonathan L. Fairbanks at the gala preview of the AD20/21 show in Boston on Thursday evening, April 6. The show, which includes the Boston Print Fair, features close to 50 modern to contemporary exhibitors.
Art, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, April 2017
Ian McKay, <[email protected]>
This month’s selection contains something a little out of the ordinary in the form of a heavily illustrated piece on a sale of vesta cases that took place far from the London rooms—but sales in the capital are certainly not forgotten.
A spectacular ivory table centrepiece known as the ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)What a Wonderful World
The Young Collector
The walls start to close in around the end of January each winter. It’s a tiny house. We’ve all been together unrelentingly since Christmas and without large-scale diversion since about two weeks after Christmas when the toys lost their luster (and their pieces). We have eight enormous windows, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, April 2017
Maine Antique Digest includes, as space permits, brief announcements of exhibitions planned by galleries, museums, or other venues. We need all press materials at least six weeks in advance of opening. We need to know the hours and dates of the exhibit, admission charges, and phone number and website for ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)ACC Grant
To encourage new research in the field of ceramics, the American Ceramic Circle awards annual grants to individuals to provide assistance for costs associated with scholarly research that reflects the general interest of the members. Grant amounts vary depending on the project, but do not exceed $5000 and are not ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Philadelphia in April
Put Philadelphia on your April calendar. A lot will be going on there.
The Philadelphia Antiques & Art Show, a benefit for Penn Medicine, will be held April 21-23 with a preview party on April 20. As it was last year, the show will be in a purpose-built tent at the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Michigan Art Dealer Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Prison
Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz, a.k.a. “Robert Chad Smith,” a.k.a. “John Goodman,” a.k.a. “James Sinclair,” was sentenced on February 16 to 41 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan for wire fraud charges arising out of his sale of dozens of forged artworks purportedly by renowned American artists ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Society of the Cincinnati Plate Leads at Potomack
The Potomack Company, Alexandria, Virginia
Photos courtesy The Potomack Company
The Potomack Company held its midwinter catalog sale in three stages. The gallery sale took place on January 28 at the firm’s facilities in Alexandria, Virginia. On January 31, an online-only sale was conducted. That sale highlighted items from the estate of ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 25th Outsider Art Fair
New York City
Celebrating its 25th year, the Outsider Art Fair drew record crowds January 19 through 22 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, a venue that is easy to get to on West 18th Street in Manhattan. Owned and managed for the last few years by Outsider art dealer Andrew Edlin’s Wide ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Sale of the Katz Collection
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
When Ralph Katz retired from his medical practice in Buffalo, New York, he and his wife, Susanne, moved to a 1950s house in New Hampshire, where they lived with their collection of American folk art until they downsized and moved to a retirement community and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith Collection
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
American furniture and paintings from the collection of the late E. Newbold and Margaret “Peggy” du Pont Smith, which sold at Sotheby’s on Saturday afternoon, January 21, had been assembled over two generations. Peggy Smith’s mother, Margaret W. Lewis du Pont, left some of her ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Clock Brings Nearly $1 Million
A rare 18th-century English-made pagoda-form automaton musical clock, produced for the Chinese Qing Imperial Court, sold for $998,250 (including buyer’s premium) at Fontaine’s Auction Gallery’s antiques and fine art auction on January 21 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
The 50" tall clock weighs 100 pounds. It is raised on a large black wooden ... (Read More)
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(Show)NYC Big Flea
New York City
Faced with having to change her show’s venue on very short notice, manager Dee Dee Sides scrambled and was able to pull off her NYC Big Flea January 19-21 in the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center on West 34th Street.
Sides received notice from her original venue, the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)"C" Is for Collections
Case Antiques, Knoxville, Tennessee
Photos courtesy Case Antiques
Collectors know what they are looking for—a chance to acquire outstanding examples from an extraordinary collection. For those interested in southern furniture, regional paintings, and Outsider art, the Case Antiques auction on January 21 was a perfect opportunity, as almost 950 lots crossed the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Iris Schwartz Collection of Silver
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
Iris Schwartz got hooked on silver after she saw the work of Hester Bateman (1708-1794) and realized that a woman ran a London silver workshop in the middle of the 18th century. Schwartz soon decided to specialize in American silver. Over a period of 30 ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Various-Owners Americana
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
In addition to five single-owner sales presented in five catalogs, Sotheby’s offered 415 lots of property from various owners in one fat catalog. On Friday afternoon, January 20, after the single-owner sale of silver from the collection of the late Iris Schwartz, Sotheby’s put the ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Winter Antiques Show 2017
New York City
The Winter Antiques Show, the grande dame of antiques shows, now in its 63rd year, was bedecked with giant digital snowflakes high on the walls and with real flowers on the floors and chandeliers. The show is like a dowager—elegant and traditional. The energy of her youth, when ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Altmayer Sale
Christie’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Christie’s
After the final tally was counted, it was clear that the family and estate representatives of the late Jay P. and Nan Altmayer had made a tough but profitable decision. They had turned down an offer of $4 million cash for the contents of Palmetto ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Chinese Export Porcelain at Christie's
Christie’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Christie’s
A collection of 17th-century “Hatcher cargo” porcelain was the first part of Christie’s Chinese export porcelain sale on January 18 in New York City. Back in 1984, Christie’s held a landmark sale in Amsterdam that offered Chinese porcelain from a 1640s shipwreck that had been ... (Read More)
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(Show)The New York Ceramics & Glass Fair
New York City
The opening moments of the five-day New York Ceramics & Glass Fair on the fourth and fifth floors of the Bohemian National Hall at 321 East 73rd Street in New York City on Wednesday afternoon, January 18, were as competitive as at an auction. The major collectors and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Alexander Hamilton Papers Sold
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s successful sale of the Hamilton-Bowdoin family archive of Alexander Hamilton letters proved that Hamilton is no longer a neglected Founding Father. Ron Chernow’s prize-winning best-selling biography in 2004 put Hamilton in the light. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical Hamilton, which won 11 Tony Awards, added ... (Read More)
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(Show)Washington Winter Show Continues with Style
Washington, D.C.
The Washington Winter Show celebrated its 62nd year over the weekend of January 13-15. This marks the seventh year that the show has been held at the Katzen Arts Center on the campus of American University.
The longstanding event benefits three Washington, D.C., charitable organizations: the Founders Board of St. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Antiques and European and Asian Furniture and Decorative Arts
Garth’s Auctions, Delaware, Ohio
Photos courtesy Garth’s
The first sale each year for Garth’s Auctions in Delaware, Ohio, tends to be not only a mixed affair but also a mouthful. Described by the company as offering “American Antiques and European & Asian Furniture & Decorative Arts,” the January 14 event included all ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana and Fine Art
Pook & Pook, Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Pook & Pook
Pook & Pook held a winter sale on Friday, January 13, and luckily it did not snow. James Pook decided to sell 341 lots in one long Friday evening sale, knowing that many in the trade and some collectors were headed to ... (Read More)
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(Show)Hudson Antique Show Provides Fresh Start to 2017
Hudson, Ohio
It takes a brave soul to host any kind of event in northeast Ohio in January, let alone an antiques show. Dealers do not want to drive for miles cross country on ice or through snowdrifts with their precious cargo. There is no joy in loading and unloading merchandise ... (Read More)
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(Auction)A Fall Full of Sales
New Orleans Auction Galleries, New Orleans, Louisiana
Photos courtesy New Orleans Auction Galleries
Auctions in New Orleans usually feature material from notable estates, which are highlighted in the catalog’s opening tributes. While continuing the diversity of these major 1000-plus-lot events, New Orleans Auction Galleries has begun to add specialty auctions as well. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Pitchers, Hats, and Light Bulbs Grab Collectors' Interest
Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
With a sale total of $1,777,834 and a sell-through rate of 93%, the December 3, 2016, Americana and political auction presented by Heritage Auctions’ historical department was a solid success. It comprised two catalogs: one for the Scott W. Dolson collection of political Americana, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Rare Corkscrews
At an online auction of corkscrews sponsored by ICCAuctions, LLC, a rare German Langenhan spring corkscrew, one of only two known, sold on November 13, 2016, for $25,376.62 (no buyer’s premium charged). For many years, German corkscrew collectors have searched for a Langenhan spring corkscrew, patented in 1878, and known ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Southern Folk Pottery Sale
Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society, Bennett, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society
Approximately twice a year the Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society (SFPCS) sends out a publication about southern history and geography in the form of a spiral-bound absentee pottery auction catalog. The 46th SFPCS sale, which closed on ... (Read More)
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