Stories for November '15
(Fragment)Tremont Auctions Opens
A new auction house has landed in the Boston constellation. Tremont Auctions has opened its doors in Newton, Massachusetts. While the auction house is new and the paint is still wet, the principals are old hands in the antiques business. Tremont Auctions is a collaboration between Brett A. Downer and ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Made in the Americas: The New World Discovers Asia
Photos courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A dazzling show is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). It opened in August and will be up through February 15, 2016—an unusually long run for an exhibition at this museum. After that, the show travels to the Winterthur Museum, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Texas Dealer Pleads Guilty in Antiques Investment Case
A William Spratling banquet set once owned by country singer Marty Robbins and pink diamond jewelry once owned by an alleged mob boss were enticing antiques to investors. Several ponied up money to invest in the objects in the hope that once they were sold there would be a handsome ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Tennessee Dealer Sentenced
Paul “Mike” Willis, the owner of Unique Antiques and Auction Gallery, Collierville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to theft of over $60,000 from a customer and was sentenced on September 1 to 90 days in jail and ordered to pay $22,000 in remaining restitution, according to Shelby County District Attorney General Amy ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)Books Received, November 2015
These are brief reviews of books recently sent to us. We have included ordering information for publishers that accept mail, phone, or online orders. For other publishers, your local bookstore or a mail-order house is the place to look.
Magnificent 19th Century Furniture: Historicism in Germany and Central Europe by Rainer ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Malcolm Ivey Pleads Guilty
Malcolm Ivey, the former operator of Ivey-Selkirk Auctions and Appraisals in St. Louis, Missouri, pleaded guilty on September 14 in St. Louis County Circuit Court to five Class C felony counts of stealing and one Class D felony count of unlawful business practices. As part of the plea agreement, Ivey will ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)School's in Session
The Young Collector
After 120 years our house seems to have come full circle. As of this fall it is once again a schoolhouse. Nora, who just turned five, has started kindergarten at home. (Just in case the house itself wasn’t evidence enough that we never do anything the easy way.) ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Accidents Happen
Last year, during a flurry of assignments and looming deadlines, I returned calls or e-mails only if they seemed urgent. When the pressure died down I finally got around to amending my negligent behavior.
“What happened?” a friend familiar with my collecting penchant inquired. “I thought maybe you got crushed by ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Shakers in Connecticut
This past summer, the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) in New Britain, Connecticut, opened a new permanent Shaker gallery, one of only three found in U.S. art museums. The other two are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The brainchild of museum trustee ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)A Colorful Folk
A Book Review
A Colorful Folk: Pennsylvania Germans & the Art of Everyday Life
by Lisa Minardi
The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc., 2015, 70 pages, softbound, $14.95 plus S/H from the Winterthur bookstore (www.winterthurstore.com) or (800) 448-3883 or (302) 888-4822.
A Colorful Folk: Pennsylvania Germans & the Art of Everyday Life, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Grant to Aid Research of Transferware Medical and Toilet Wares
The winner of the Paul and Gladys Richards Foundation Research Grant for studies in British transferware, awarded by the Transferware Collectors Club (TCC), is Richard Halliday of Market Harborough, U.K., who will research transferware medical and toilet wares, 1780-1850.
Halliday plans to produce a book that deals specifically and comprehensively with ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)The-Saleroom.Com and Bidsquare Team Up
The-saleroom.com, a portal for art and antiques auctions in the U.K. and Europe, and Bidsquare, an online bidding platform in the U.S., have forged a partnership. Participating auctions will be listed on each other’s respective websites, allowing auction houses to reach new international bidders and expose more fine art and ... (Read More)
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(Auction Law and Ethics)Time to Rethink
Auction Law & Ethics
Auctions are different—very different. Those who patronize auctions know they are nothing like going to a traditional retailer to shop. The public knows it too. So why do I make a distinction between those who go to auctions and the public? Because just as auctions and retailers ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Good Fellows: The Walpole Society
Part I of V
Photos courtesy the Walpole Society
“…an assembly of good fellows, meeting under certain conditions.”
— The definition of club by Dr. Johnson (1755)
The Walpole Society—have you heard of it? Even longtime antiques aficionados may not know of this über-exclusive club for Americana collectors, curators, scholars, house preservationists, and antiquarian ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Berks County History Center
The Berks History Center at 940 Centre Avenue in Reading, Pennsylvania, will open two new galleries dedicated to Pennsylvania German folk art and Berks County clocks and furniture on Saturday, November 14. The new installation was made possible through a bequest of 33 artifacts from the estate of Lancaster County ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Looking at Antiques Shows from Both Sides Now: A Collector's Experiences
Have you ever wondered what it is like for dealers to “do” an antiques show? What they experience? What they see when we—possible customers, potential friends, dismissive critics—wander past their booths? So have I, and I decided to shadow a dealer during several shows. (My apologies to dealers in advance ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)The "Washington" Comes Home
In 2001 a theft from the Oysterponds Historical Society in Orient, New York, resulted in the loss of a painting of the bark Washington, a Solon Francis Montecello Badger portrait of the ship Jennie French Potter, and two whalebone busks.
On September 29 the FBI returned the bark Washington painting to ... (Read More)
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(Computer Article)Bits and Bytes
Computer Column #323
John P. Reid, <[email protected]>
More on the Internet as an aid to moving a business, antiquers’ software on the new Windows 10, and a way for some of us to beat robot phone calls are reported below.
Terminate Sales Tax License
In the September issue, we listed dozens of ways the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, November 2015
Ian McKay, <[email protected]>
With this month’s “Letter” I have finally cleared my summer and earlier sale files, and even managed to add one early bird from the new season—the very costly pair of old running shoes that kicks off this selection.
In no particular order, the remaining offerings include a carpet; an ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Auctionata Acquires ValueMyStuff
Online auction house Auctionata (https://auctionata.com) has acquired the London-based valuation company ValueMyStuff (VMS). VMS (www.valuemystuff.com) was founded in 2009 by its current CEO, Patrick van der Vorst, a former director and head of the Continental furniture department at Sotheby’s in London.
VMS offers fee-based valuations with a team of over 60 ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Show in Miami after Old Show Is Postponed
After a three-year hiatus from the Miami market, Dolphin Promotions is returning with a new show, the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show, to be held at the Miami Airport Convention Center (MACC) January 22-24, 2016. The inaugural Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show will feature about 100 ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Art Gallery Owner Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy in Wildlife Case
Michael Polenske, 53, the owner of Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley, an art and antiques gallery as well as a wine-tasting collective in Yountville, California, pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco on August 11 to wildlife trafficking and conspiracy.
Polenske, who has been featured in Town & Country, Forbes, the Robb ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)"The Art of More" Premieres November 19
Is the world of high-end auction houses a good backdrop for a television series? The streaming service Crackle (www.crackle.com) thinks so, and on November 19 the network will debut The Art of More, its first scripted drama.
According to the network, the ten-episode series explores “the underbelly and surprisingly cutthroat world ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Spruce Gum Boxes--Folk Art for Sweethearts
Spruce gum boxes were created by lumbermen in the crowded bunkhouses of the North woods on Sundays and during cold winter nights. The boxes were made to contain sap from the spruce tree used as chewing gum. Spruce gum is resin from the spruce tree, and before chicle was discovered ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)The International Vintage Poster Fair Will Be a Featured Section of the Pier Antique Show
The International Vintage Poster Fair is returning to New York City for its 26th anniversary with a new location; this year’s fair will be a featured section of the Pier Antique Show in New York City on November 14 and 15.
The International Vintage Poster Fair offers collections from over a ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Henry Caldwell, Black Bass Antiques, Bolton Landing, New York
Black Bass Antiques, Bolton Landing, New York.
Henry Caldwell holds a trophy for a 1905 powerboat race at the “Exeter Carnival.” He’s not sure where the race was held but notes that the trophy was made by a Boston manufacturer. He’s asking $875 for it.
A partial view of the very crowded ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, November 2015
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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(Issue Story)Washington State: Vote No on Initiative 1401
Editorial
In Washington state, voters will decide in November on Initiative 1401, a proposed bill to help fight trafficking of animals. As with many of the so-called “ivory bans,” its cause is noble, but it’s deeply flawed legislation, and it should be rejected by voters.
Initiative 1401 would affect the trade of ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Pewter-Inlaid Clock Sells for $192,000
Lancaster tall-case clock in a cherry case, dated and with initials in the sarcophagus top “FR 1762 ST,” the brass dial engraved “Rudy Stoner”for Rudolph Stoner (1728-1769), 100" tall, sold for $192,000 (est. $15,000/20,000) to Alan Miller for the Chipstone Foundation. Pook & Pook photos.
This Lancaster tall-case clock has a ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Furniture and Outsider and Folk Art
This Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) portrait of George Washington, oil on canvas, 29¾" x 24½", was part of the Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette collection consigned by Credit Suisse. This is one of the 75 replicas Stuart made from his Athenaeum portrait, which was painted from life in his Germantown studio in ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)The Million-Dollar Rembrandt That Turned Up in New Jersey
A small (12½" x 10") painting, cataloged as “Triple Portrait with a Lady Fainting, 19th Century, Continental School,” had a $500/800 estimate but sold at a Nye & Company auction in Bloomfield, New Jersey, for $1,087,500 (includes buyer’s premium) on September 22 to a bidder on the phone. The bidder ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Man Arrested for Burglarizing a Florida Antiques Shop
According to authorities, antiques shops in Manatee and Sarasota Counties in Florida have been experiencing a rash of burglaries.
On September 22 Michael Linsey Gambuzza, 45, was arrested in connection with a burglary at an antiques shop in Manatee County. When arrested, he had “burglary tools” and a handwritten note listing ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Hindman Jewelry Sales Bring $8.52 Million
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
LeslieHindman Auctioneers offered the single-owner sale of jewelry from the estate of Rita Dee Hassenfeld on September 16 and an important jewelry sale on September 17 and 18. “We had three days of sales, covering 1685 items. For all three sales we did 92% sell-through, and the ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Baltimore Summer Antiques Show
Baltimore, Maryland
The Baltimore Summer Antiques Show, held August 20-23 this year, was really four shows in one: a jewelry show, an antiques show, an art show, and a book fair. For 35 years, it has presented a huge variety of wares from all parts of the world. When the Palm ... (Read More)
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(Show)Coastal Maine Antiques Show at Round Top
This portable desk box has about 20 compartments, brass and ivory hardware, star and fan inlays, and some cryptic symbolic inscriptions inside that give no clue to its origin. Malcolm and Marnie McFarland of Orr’s Island, Maine, asked $1250 for it.
Joe Bent of Nobleboro, Maine, brought a lidded pewter coffeepot, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Talbot Auction in Turner: Where a Buck Is Still Worth a Buck
Charles M. Talbot Associates, Turner, Maine
Hey, how about this for strange? You go to an auction, right? And you bid $100 for an item. Then you actually pay $100 for it. Weird, huh? But that’s what happens at Charles M. Talbot Associates auctions in Turner, Maine. At the company’s August ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 22nd Annual Folk Fest
Atlanta, Georgia
Taking a hint from P.T. Barnum, the “World’s Greatest Folk Art Show and Sale” took place in Atlanta August 14-16. Going well beyond Barnum’s three rings, the 2015 Folk Fest featured 86 dealers and artists occupying nearly 150 booths.
Attendees at the 22nd annual Folk Fest were greeted at the ... (Read More)
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(Show)Still the Jewel in the Crown
Woodlawn Museum Antiques Show, Ellsworth, Maine
The stately Woodlawn Museum in Ellsworth, Maine, is a fitting location for Maine’s cream-of-the-crop antiques show, held this year from August 12 through 15 under a gargantuan tent on the old homestead’s spacious back lawn. Reportedly it took a work crew a solid ten days ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Harry Hartman Collection, Part II
Conestoga Auction Company, Manheim, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Conestoga Auction Company
At the second part of the Harry Hartman estate sale at Conestoga Auction Company, part of the Hess Auction Group, in Manheim Pennsylvania, on August 14 and 15, a 4" high kugel in the form of a blue ribbed pear sold on ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Maine Antiques Festival: 34 Years and Counting
Union, Maine
The gravitational tug of the Maine Antiques Festival in Union, Maine, held this year from August 7 through 9, pulls in dealers from across the country and Canada. And like planets orbiting the sun, sales and mini-flea markets spring up alongside the roads to the fairgrounds, hoping to distract ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Ellie Hoover Walker Collection Buoys Auction
Skinner, Inc., Marlborough, Massachusetts
Massachusetts native Ellie Hoover Walker (1924-2015) began collecting and dealing in antiques in Ohio in the 1950s. She specialized in New England and Pennsylvania Dutch antiques, and over the years refined her collection to the point that when it came to market at Skinner’s August 9 sale ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Five Auction Records Realized Among 700 Vintage Posters
Swann Auction Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Swann
An unprecedented 700 posters were offered for bidding at an auction of vintage posters at Swann Galleries, New York City, on August 5. Five of these posters set auction records—three Art Nouveau posters, one World War I poster, and one international vintage racecar ... (Read More)
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(Auction)California and Western Paintings
Bonhams, Los Angeles and San Francisco
Photos courtesy Bonhams
Bonhams’ California and Western paintings and sculpture specialist Scot Levitt said he was “pleasantly surprised by the results of our August fourth auction. We had the highest percentage of lots sold in years, with all of the high-price paintings finding new homes. The ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Fred Ponton's Cane Collection
Wickliff Auctioneers, Carmel, Indiana
Photos courtesy Wickliff Auctioneers
Late during a specialized cane auction on August 1 in Carmel, Indiana, a man sitting at a table near the back of the room began muttering in frustration as he was outbid by one particular buyer. “This is ridiculous,” he said, just loud enough ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana, Paintings, and Maritime Art
Robert C. Eldred & Co., East Dennis, Massachusetts
The highlight of Eldred’s three-day outdoor auction of Americana, paintings, and maritime art held July 29-31 in East Dennis, Massachusetts, was a 7" high sand art apothecary bottle by Iowa artist Andrew Clemens (1857-1894). It depicts a vessel and has the name “Clara ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Lincoln Hen Tops Decoy Auction
Decoys Unlimited, Hyannis, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Decoys Unlimited
For sure the best auctions on the circuit are those of decoys. The summer sales, two-day affairs, feature all manner of delectation—in addition to the fine feathers for sale. This summer decoy sales ran for five days straight, back-to-back and sometimes simultaneously, in an ... (Read More)
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(Show)Newport Antiques Show 2015
Middletown, Rhode Island
The Newport Antiques Show, held July 24-26 for its ninth year, competes for attention from many other events held near the “City by the Sea” on sun-kissed summer weekends. Activities including music festivals, golf tournaments, weddings, sailboat races, and country club soirees fill the calendars of potential showgoers.
This ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Nelson Lots Top Massachusetts Auction
Marion Antique Auctions, Marion, Massachusetts
When Marion Antique Auctions announces one of its twice yearly sales, collectors and dealers mark their calendars. Much of what passes through the auction house is fresh to the market; much of it has area provenance. Much relates to the maritime heritage of the area.
Frank McNamee ... (Read More)
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(Auction)"Emerald Bay" Brings Gold
Gustave J.S. White, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
It was all about paintings at the Gustave J.S. White sale on July 25 at Michael R. Corcoran’s Newport County Auction Gallery in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. As fixtures on Aquidneck Island (the island that includes Newport, Portsmouth, and Middletown) Corcoran and his staff are positioned ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Coeur d'Alene Art Auction Exceeds $23 Million Mark
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, Reno, Nevada
Photos courtesy Coeur d’Alene Art Auction
Classical Western and American artworks are synonymous with the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction. For more than 25 years the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has offered up stellar examples not only by iconic past masters but by in-demand contemporary artists as ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Bill Johnson Collection
John McInnis Auctioneers, Amesbury, Massachusetts
Bill Johnson began collecting as a schoolboy—with clocks. And by the time the Berwick, Maine, native died at an auction last year, his gleanings occupied 15 acres along Route One in Wells, Maine, in his very own Johnson Hall Museum. The museum embodied Johnson’s appreciation of ... (Read More)
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(Auction)A Pottery Sale for the New Collector Generation
Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society, Bennett, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society
Not every Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society (SFPCS) absentee sale can offer a $100K-plus “Dave the Slave” decorated pot. Then again, few collectors can even think about bidding on such an item. The most recent SFPCS sale, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Sue Cummings and Glynn Marsh Collection
Jerry Stichter Auctioneer, Inc., Troy, Ohio
Textiles played a considerable role when auctioneer Jerry Stichter held a one-owner sale on July 11 in Troy, Ohio. The latest in a series of auctions, it included material from Sue Cummings and Glynn Marsh, whose interest in collecting antiques came honestly, according to Stichter. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Two-Day Auction of World War I Posters
Guernsey’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Guernsey’s
Guernsey’s of New York City presented an auction of patriotic posters over two days, June 30 and July 1, with 705 posters offered on the first day and 605 posters offered on the second. This was an unreserved auction with many lots opening for bidding ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Richard Mellon Scaife Sale
Christie’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Christie’s
When the late billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife’s Nantucket house sold in December 2014 for $27.1 million, it set a real-estate record for the island. Selections of the furnishings of the five-bedroom, 6000-square-foot house on 1.5 acres were offered at Christie’s in New York City in ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana Auction in Cincinnati
Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Cowan’s Auctions
Cowan’s Auctions had another go at an Americana-only auction on June 20 in Cincinnati. It was something the company last did in April 2014. The results this time around were once again encouraging, and Kirstie Craven, coordinating specialist for Cowan’s fine and decorative arts ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American History Auction
Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Cowan’s Auctions
In the closing minutes of the American history sale held by Cowan’s Auctions in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 12, a cabinet card that sold for $300 (including buyer’s premium) said something about this genre of material that has served as the foundation for the ... (Read More)
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