Stories for September '17
(Fragment)Brock Jobe to Discuss C.K. Davis Collection
On Wednesday, September 20, at 6 p.m., Schwenke Auctioneers in Woodbury, Connecticut, will host an “Expert Eye” decorative arts forum program. The speaker will be scholar, author, instructor, and research expert Brock Jobe.
Jobe will discuss recollections of C.K. Davis and his relationship with Henry Francis du Pont, founder and benefactor ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)The Ups and Downs of Deaccessioning
The Young Collector
At the time of this writing, it’s the middle of summer in a mostly boxed-up house with two bored small children whose entertainment choices seem to be digging in the dirt, riding a tricycle in circles on the deck, reading, coloring, watching whatever PBS is showing, and seeing ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Bruce Phillips, Fair Trade Antiques, Heath, Massachusetts
In the Trade
Bruce Phillips didn’t get into this business because he loved antiques. He got into it because he loved traveling to faraway places—Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, India—and selling antiques was a way to underwrite the traveling life. “It’s an accidental career,” he said. He’s been doing it for almost ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Pure and Simple Show in Indiana Changes Dates
The Pure and Simple Antique Show in Kokomo, Indiana, is changing dates. In 2018 the show will be held on June 23. According to the promoter, the show date is being changed for numerous reasons but mostly because of already established shows in the East.
Bobbie Pries of Westfield Center, Ohio, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)The Museum of the American Revolution
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
If the musical Hamilton is responsible for the current boost of interest in our Founding Fathers, the new Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, which opened on April 19 (the 242nd anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord), should propel American history to a much wider audience. ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Yes, There Will Be a 2018 Philadelphia Antiques & Art Show
The Philadelphia Antiques & Art Show preview party on April 19, 2018, will take place in its purpose-built tent at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and the show will continue on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 20, 21, and 22. The tent will be pitched closer to the river than it ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)"American Watercolor in the Age of Homer and Sargent"
A Book Review
American Watercolor in the Age of Homer and Sargentby Kathleen A. FosterPhiladelphia Museum of Art, 2017, 496 pages, hardbound, $65.
For those lucky enough to have seen the exhibition of 140 American watercolors at the Philadelphia Museum of Art March 1-May 14, the accompanying huge catalog is a bonus. ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Cabinetmaking in Rural New England
The exhibition Planed, Grained, & Dovetailed: Cabinetmaking in Rural New England at Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, highlights rarely seen objects and primary source materials from OSV’s collections. Centered on three main themes—form, process, and people—the exhibition examines the tools, products, and livelihoods of rural cabinetmakers in the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Queens Gallery Owner and Employee Charged with Illegal Trafficking of Elephant Ivory
A Long Island City, New York, gallery owner and a salesperson for the appointment-only business have been charged with illegally selling a sculpture made with elephant ivory. They were charged with selling the sculpture in June to state undercover investigators for more than $2500. In New York, the sale of ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Owners and Store Plead Guilty in New York Ivory Case
Irving Morano, 47, Samuel Morano, 49, and Metropolitan Fine Arts & Antiques Inc. have pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to varying degrees of illegal commercialization of wildlife. They were charged with selling and offering for sale illegal elephant ivory.
As part of their sentence, the defendants forfeited all ... (Read More)
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(Computer Article)Thinking about Taxes
Computer Column #345
John P. Reid, <[email protected]>
The middle of summer does not seem a likely time to think about federal income tax, but April 2018 will be too late. Now is a good time to start planning if any changes in filing procedures are being considered. Antiques collectors and dealers who ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Amelia Jeffers Resigns from Garth’s and Selkirk
Amelia Jeffers has resigned as president of her family’s two auction houses, Garth’s in Delaware, Ohio, and Selkirk in St. Louis, Missouri. She stepped down for personal reasons. Jeff Jeffers remains as CEO and lead auctioneer for both businesses.
“My hope would be that I’m not gone from that industry permanently, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Lady of the Canyon: Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, Interior Designer, Architect, Collector
I didn’t expect to return from a trip to Grand Canyon National Park with a story for M.A.D. readers, but while there I learned about an early interior designer, architect, and collector, Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869-1958), who deserves far more recognition than she has. A significant body of her ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)The Zipps of Crocker Farm: All in the Family
Head of the House
Photos courtesy Crocker Farm
Two catalysts were involved in the creation of the Crocker Farm specialty auctions in Sparks, Maryland: the long-held desire of Anthony Zipp to run his own business, and the family’s passionate interest in American stoneware and redware. Tony describes how he, his wife, Barbara, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Director of Waverly Rare Books
Catherine Payling, MBE, has been appointed director of Waverly Rare Books, a Quinn’s Auction Galleries subsidiary in Falls Church, Virginia. Payling’s 25-year career in creative and nonprofit industries includes 15 years as curator/director of the Keats-Shelley House Museum in Rome, Italy and two years as an adjunct professor at Georgetown ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Permitted but a Pain
Editorial
We received a letter from a dealer who attended an Americana auction in New York that had a large selection of clocks.
“When I arrived on Friday to view the clocks in person, I noted that all the ivory escutcheons for the door keys on the clocks were missing,” the letter ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, September 2017
Ian McKay, <[email protected]>
A lengthy leonine leader in this month’s “Letter” is followed by some miniature masterpieces, which if not shown here “Actual Size” are nonetheless impressive. Russian works of art of various kinds also feature in this month’s selection, along with some ancient Roman pool attendants, Sèvres and Meissen porcelain, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)1stdibs Changes Its Commission Structure
1stdibs (www.1stdibs.com), an online art and antiques marketplace, announced in July to dealers that it was changing its commission structure. 1stdibs will now charge 15% on the first $10,000 of an order and 5% on the value of an order above $10,000. The firm has been adding a processing fee ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Two New Hires at Morphy Auctions
Lucas Wentz and Russ Withem have joined Morphy Auctions, Denver, Pennsylvania.
Wentz will serve as director of the company’s antique fishing and tackle division. He grew up in a home filled with hunting and fishing antiques and has over a half-century of hands-on experience handling these specialties. His father was a ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Free Admission to Worcester Art Museum in August
The Worcester Art Museum (WAM) will continue one of its most popular summertime traditions: free admission for the entire month of August. “Free August” includes access for everyone to special exhibitions, the permanent galleries, and WAM’s August programming.
“We are delighted to offer free access to WAM again this summer, thanks ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, September 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)"Casablanca" Poster Ties Auction Record
An Italian four-sheet 78¼" x 55½" poster for Casablanca (Warner Brothers, 1946) tied the world auction record for a movie poster at auction. It realized $478,000 (includes buyer’s premium) at Heritage Auctions during its July 29 and 30 movie posters auction in Dallas, Texas. The buyer was not identified.
Believed to ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Alleged Head of Wildlife Smuggling Ring Extradited from Australia
On July 24 Guan Zong Chen (“Graham Chen”), a Chinese national, was arraigned in federal court in Boston on charges that he led a conspiracy to illegally export $700,000 worth of wildlife items made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory, and coral from the United States to Hong Kong. Chen was ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Dorflinger Punch Bowl Brings $114,000
George Siek ran a successful wholesale supply business in Florida before he retired to Highlands, North Carolina, where he opened the Museum of American Cut and Engraved Glass and shared his passion with visitors for the last 25 years. “I will close the museum in November,” said 87-year-old Siek a ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Scrimshaw Record Set at Eldred's
Robert C. Eldred Co., Inc., East Dennis, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Eldred’s
For its annual Cape Cod marine auction under the big tent on July 20, Eldred’s in East Dennis, Massachusetts, began as it meant to go on. It was a buying kind of day, and bidders were ready. Eldred’s was more than ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in Case of Historical Documents
On July 20 Daniel Witek, 54, of Buffalo, New York, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in U.S. District Court. Court papers state that Witek is also known as Daniel Mountbatten-Witek and Walter Payne.
According to the plea agreement, Witek was a volunteer at the Buffalo History Museum in 2013. While volunteering ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)An Apollo 11 Lunar Bag, Bought for $995, Sells for $1.8 Million
A bag used by Neil Armstrong to bring back to earth samples of lunar material sold for $1,812,500 (with buyer’s premium) at Sotheby’s on July 20 to a “private American.” The estimate was $2/4 million.
Photo courtesy Sotheby’s
This wasn’t the first time this bag had been offered at auction. In fact, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The George "Frolic" Weymouth Sale
Pook & Pook, Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Pook & Pook
Friends and neighbors of George A. “Frolic” Weymouth, who died in April 2016, gathered at Pook & Pook in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, on Friday evening, July 14, for cocktails and a light supper before a short auction of the remaining contents of Big ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Lincoln-Hamlin Flag Brings $40,124
An 1860 glazed cotton parade flag reading “For President, / Abraham Lincoln. / For Vice President, / Hannibal Hamlin.” sold for $40,124 (includes buyer’s premium) at the Hake’s Americana July 11-13 auction in York, Pennsylvania. According to Hake’s, that’s a record price. The estimate was $20,000/35,000.
The buyer was York County, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Bonhams Canada Appoints New Director
Kristin Kearney has been appointed director of Bonhams, Canada. Based in Toronto, Kearney will work alongside Jack Kerr-Wilson.
Kearney joined Bonhams as business manager for Canadian art sales in 2007 and has worked on sales in New York, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. Since 2013 she has been the jewellery specialist ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Amputation Kits, Once Snarled in Lawsuit, Sell
Two amputation kits that once belonged to Dr. John Warren (1753-1815) sold at Boston-based RR Auction for $104,147.05 (includes buyer’s premium) in an online sale that closed on July 12. Two other medical kits were included in the lot.
These kits sold for $104,147.05. Photo courtesy RR Auction.
In 2011 Boston dealer ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Heritage Auctions' Inaugural Chicago Sales
Heritage Auctions, Chicago, Illinois
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
When Dallas-based Heritage Auctions announced late last year intent to open an outpost in Chicago, jaded survivors of the city’s auction scene can be forgiven if some shrugged, rolled their eyes, and wondered “What next?” We’ve seen them come and watched some go. The ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Heritage Auctions' Summer Fine Jewelry Sale
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
Jill Burgum, Heritage Auctions’ senior director of fine jewelry, was in Chicago for the June 26 summer fine jewelry signature auction, the inaugural sale at that location. We spoke on the telephone after the sale to find out what’s happening in the antique and ... (Read More)
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(Show)Optimistic Response to Inaugural Annapolis Fair
Annapolis Summer Antiques Fair, Annapolis, Maryland
The first annual Annapolis Summer Antiques Fair was held June 24 and 25 at The Byzantium events center in Annapolis, Maryland. The show was produced by Dordy Fontinel Show Management and was the logical extension of her successful run of January shows at the same ... (Read More)
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(Show)Goosefare's Very Good, Short Day
Wells Outdoor Antiques Show & Sale, Wells, Maine
It’s hard to get better than this—perfect weather, a short day, and good stuff.
On June 25 Goosefare Antiques and Promotions of Wells, Maine, produced a one-day show that was almost directly across the street from its home base. The 17th Wells Outdoor Antiques ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 2017 Lititz Antiques Show
Lititz, Pennsylvania
The town of Lititz, in the fertile farmland of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has a group of dedicated residents who have preserved the rich history of the area. The year after the Lititz Historical Society was founded in 1961, the society held an antiques show as a fund-raiser, and every ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Primitive Paintings Color Auction
Hap Moore, York, Maine
They weren’t the priciest items on the block, but the flavor of Hap Moore’s June 24 auction in York, Maine, seemed to emanate from some primitive paintings and a nifty piece of classic Maine painted furniture.
A Prior-Hamblen school portrait of Mercy Dixon of Lebanon, Maine, came with ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Native American Art at Auction
Bonhams, San Francisco, California
Photos courtesy Bonhams
What went wrong and what went right at Bonhams’ June 19th Native American art auction in San Francisco?
When asked what went wrong, department director Ingmars Lindbergs immediately answered, “Number forty-five,” referring to the current presidential administration. “I was apprehensive before the December auction,” he continued, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Anna Pottery Presentation Vase Leads Evans Sale
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Mt. Crawford, Virginia
Photos courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates held its 32nd semiannual Americana and fine antiques auction, spotlighting Virginia and the South, on June 16 and 17 at the firm’s gallery in Mt. Crawford, Virginia. This sale was a two-day ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Julia Auction Buzzed by Swarm of Dragonflies
James D. Julia, Inc. Fairfield, Maine
The latest James D. Julia, Inc. lamp, glass, and jewelry auction on June 16 in Fairfield, Maine, was all it was cracked up to be and a lot more. It added up to a record for the division at about $4.3 million gross for the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Books and Historical Paper at Auction
Christie’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Christie’s
For the fifth time since 2011, historical paper collector Eric C. Caren auctioned some of his vast and still-growing collection of newspapers, broadsides, and eyewitness letters that get as close as possible to major events of modern history. His most recent offering was the 109 ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Art Auction
Swann Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Swann Galleries
The final auction of Swann Galleries’ season took place during the afternoon of June 15, and after three and a half hours, $1,471,643 of American art had been sold. The auction was the top-selling American art sale in the department’s ten-year history, said ... (Read More)
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(Auction)An Engagement Ring and Artwork at Grogan
Grogan & Company, Boston, Massachusetts
If you want to become engaged, head to auction. Perhaps not all full-service auction houses perform that extra, but Grogan & Company in Boston did it nicely for a San Francisco couple. Erik Altman and Natasha Sadeghi had been looking for some time for an antique ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Colonial Club of Fairhaven Sale
Marion Antique Auctions, Marion, Massachusetts
Marion Antique Auctions has established itself as a clearinghouse for antiques along the South Coast of Massachusetts, which spans the cities and towns along the ocean from Wareham to Fall River and includes New Bedford. The auction house’s June 10 sale at the venerable Marion Music ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Spring Design Sales
Bonhams, Christie’s, Phillips, and Sotheby’s, New York City, and Rago Arts, Lambertville, New Jersey
Photos courtesy Bonhams, Christie’s, Phillips, Rago Arts, and Sotheby’s
May and June is the time for the spring editions of the 20th- and 21st-century design sales, a market that covers more than a hundred years of furniture ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Bertoia's Spring Auction Rests at $1 Million
Bertoia Auctions, Vineland, New Jersey
Photos courtesy Bertoia Auctions
Bertoia Auctions, Vineland, New Jersey, offered an arresting array of toys, banks, advertis-ing pieces, and doorstops in a manic two-day 1400-lot sale on June 2 and 3 that brought in $1.05 million.
There were over 150 clown and canine-themed comic/character toys, not to mention ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Edgefield Pots Are Winners
Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society, Bennett, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society
The Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society’s 47th absentee sale closed on May 27. The prices realized show it was a clear win for the Edgefield, South Carolina, candidates. Notable signed examples by Dave the Slave Drake and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Pennsylvania Chest Tops Garth's Sale
Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers, Delaware, Ohio
Photos courtesy Garth’s
Top lots from different sessions had an interesting connection during the sale held by Garth’s in Delaware, Ohio, on May 12 and 13. The link—longtime collections. While high-quality items remained in demand, the event underscored the added appeal of desirable antiques that have ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Indian and Western Art
Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Cowan’s Auctions
Without provenance, it’s just a bunch of rocks. That’s the gist of what auction house owner Wes Cowan told a full gallery of potential bidders at the start of a sale of American Indian and Western art, held by Cowan’s on April 8 in ... (Read More)
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