Stories for March '16
(Issue Story)Good Fellows: The Walpole Society
Part V of V
Photos courtesy the Walpole Society
“Looking toward strengthening the society’s prospects in the future, I feel that it is appropriate for the membership to act to insure our relevance and assure that we continue to enjoy the most loyal, enthusiastic, and uniquely qualified membership in the Walpole Society’s ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)Risky Business
The Young Collector
Last summer (oh, maybe we should just pause here for a few welcome minutes to think about summer), we talked about mistakes and recovering from them, but the reality is that the antiques business carries with it inherent risks. With risk comes that pesky concept everyone seems to ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)The Lighter Side of Collecting
John Stinger’s cartoons have appeared in Maine Antique Digest and other publications for years. Now the artist, collector, and cartoonist has released a book called The Lighter Side of Collecting! It features 200 cartoons and over 60 pages of quirky humor about collecting.
Stinger said that it’s “designed to appeal to ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Antiques Show for Portland, Maine
Goosefare Antiques & Promotions is launching a new antiques show in Portland, Maine, at a new location—Thompson’s Point Event Center at Brick South.
“Many antique enthusiasts used to go to our shows at the Portland Exposition Building until parking became unavailable. For years, we have tried to find another location in ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Antiques Dealers Need Not Apply
Editorial
On January 28 the board of the village of Huntley, Illinois, passed a resolution im-posing a six-month moratorium on approving occupancy permits for certain businesses in the town of about 25,000. Personal loan agencies, payday loan companies, and currency exchanges are included in the types of businesses to be frozen ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)TEFAF New York at the Park Avenue Armory
The European Fine Art Foundation, known as TEFAF, has entered into a joint venture with Artvest Partners to produce two new shows a year in New York City at the Park Avenue Armory.
The new venture calls for a show to be held at the armory October 21-27 that will feature ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Heckscher and Kenny Receive Annual Wunsch Award
On January 20 the Eric M. Wunsch Award for Excellence in the American Arts was awarded to Morrison Heckscher and to Peter Kenny, each of whom was recognized for his contributions to the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The short ceremony was held ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Maine Antiques Show
The inaugural Scarborough High School Antiques & Vintage Show will be held on April 2 in Scarborough, Maine. Benefiting the Model United Nations Club, the show with 50 exhibitors will have a blend of “quality antiques and fun n’ funky vintage,” according to the managers.
The show will be managed by Rachel ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Annual Silent Auction to Benefit Alzheimer's Research
Barbara Johnson of Pewter & Wood Antiques, Cave Creek, Arizona, is hosting the tenth annual Alzheimer’s Benefit Silent Auction on March 19 from 1 to 2 p.m. MT. Pewter & Wood will host an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. on the same day.
All the auction items are donated by ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)U.S. Antique Shows Cancels Pier Show for November 2016
The Pier Antique Show scheduled for November 12 and 13 at New York City’s Pier 94 has been canceled. Dealers received an e-mail from U.S. Antique Shows on February 3 announcing the news.
“At this time we do not have any indication that the ten-year trend—that has seen the Pier Antique ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)Books Received, March 2016
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.
The Historical Apothecary Compendium: A Guide to Terms and Symbols by Daniel ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Dealer Sentenced to Federal Prison in Connection with $1.4 Million Ponzi Scheme
On January 15, Rose Marie O’Reilly, 63, of La Grange, Texas, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for her role in an estimated $1.4 million Ponzi scheme. In addition to the prison term, O’Reilly was ordered to pay $1,463,128.50 in restitution and to be placed on supervised release ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Two Buyers (for a Head) Are Not Better than One
A sculpture had one seller, two buyers, and two wildly different prices.
On January 12, Gagosian Gallery of New York City filed suit in federal court against Pelham Europe, Ltd. in a case involving the sale of Pablo Picasso’s 1931 sculpture Buste de Femme (Marie Thérèse), which was on loan to ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Bill Introduced to Extend Tax to Out-of-State Art Purchases in New Mexico
The New Mexico legislature is considering extending a state tax on fine art sales to out-of-state, nonresident buyers. Senate Bill 226 would require all receipts from a New Mexico place of business to be reported.
“This would extend the New Mexico gross receipts tax, New Mexico’s versions of the sales tax,” ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)Willard Lighthouse Clocks
A Book Review
Simon Willard Patent Alarm Time Pieces: An Exhibition of Willard Lighthouse Clocks by Paul J. Foley and John C. Losch Willard House & Clock Museum, 2016, 110 pages, softbound, $35 plus S/H from the Willard House & Clock Museum, (www.willardhouse.org/shop) or (508) 839-3500.
Simon Willard, perhaps America’s best-known clockmaker, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Dealer Charged with Two Counts of Theft
Antiques dealer Robert Jones, 48, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, has been charged with two counts of “Theft—Business Setting,” a felony, according to a criminal complaint filed on January 19.
Court papers state that a police investigator was contacted by Marc Storch on November 15, 2015. Storch reported that he had contracted ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Hoosier Antiques Expo Discontinued
The semiannual Hoosier Antiques Expo has been discontinued. A notice on the show’s website (www.hoosierantiquesexpo.com) reads, “Due to my ongoing divorce; I am unable to continue promoting the show. Thank you for your patronage and support. Respectfully, Christoph Miller.” An e-mail with the same wording was sent to the show’s ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, March 2016
Ian McKay, [email protected]
With the London season still to get properly under way at the time of writing, I am still dealing here with things sold at the end of the old year. Though I have included the horological star turn of 2015 in this month’s “Letter,” it was part of ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Factory Sample Canoe Exhibit
The Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) is planning a major exhibit of antique factory display samples at its annual assembly in Paul Smiths, New York, on July 15. The WCHA assembly runs from Tuesday, July 12, until Sunday, July 17, but the exhibit will be up only on the morning ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Dwarf Tall Clocks
For hundreds of years clockmakers have made some clocks that were smaller versions of normal household clocks. The tendency has given birth to, among others, American dwarf tall-case clocks and similar small British examples. As far as I know, when the same small-size clocks were made in Great Britain, the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Ex-Employee of Black Angus Antique Mall Arrested and Charged
On January 19, Ephrata (Pennsylvania) Police arrested and charged a Schaefferstown man with the January 3 burglary of Black Angus Antique Mall in Adamstown.
According to the police, vendors reported that jewelry, coins, and antiques valued at over $4000 were taken from their stands. Mall employees identified former employee Ryan Lee ... (Read More)
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(Computer Article)Swaying Users
Computer Column #327
John P. Reid, e-mail <[email protected]>
In January, installations of the new Microsoft Windows 10 reached 200 million. A spate of upgrades and new products accompanied it.
New software called Office Sway for creating presentations has been released as an addition to the Microsoft Office family. It can be used on ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Gurley's Americana Celebration Changes Location
Antiques Week in New Hampshire now has another major change. Promoter Nan Gurley is moving her Deerfield Americana Celebration Show from the fairgrounds in Deerfield to the Everett Arena in Concord. The show had been located at the fairgrounds for over 20 years, occupying four buildings and outside spaces. On ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Trotta-Bono Antiques, Shrub Oak, New York
In the Trade
The old joke is that if you plan to get an English degree in college, you’d better learn how to ask, “Would you like fries with that?”
But Ted Trotta and Anna Bono, who met while teaching reading and English at a New York City high school, seem to ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Boxborough Paper Town Show Rescheduled until March 12
Because of the major snowstorm that struck the Northeast on January 23, Flamingo Eventz has rescheduled the Boxborough (Massachusetts) Paper Town—The Vintage Paper, Books & Advertising Collectibles Show. The new date for the show will be Saturday, March 12, at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough. The hours will be 9 ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, March 2016
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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(Auction)The Market for Americana in New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s and Christie’s
All auction prices include the buyer’s premium.
“As goes January, so goes the year” is an old Wall Street aphorism subscribed to by the antiques world. It is not always true, but many believe it. That is why collectors and the trade carefully watch the January Americana ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Michigan Art Dealer Arrested and Charged with Fraud
The FBI is looking for people who bought art from Eric Spoutz. Not a familiar name? How about Robert Chad Smith or John Goodman or James Sinclair? They also want to hear from people who bought art with provenance including “Betty Parsons Gallery,” “Larry Larkin,” “Henry Hecht,” or “Julius and ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Fortuna Auctioneers: A Small Town Approach in the Big City
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Fortuna Auctioneers
Fortuna Auctioneers and Appraisers, owned and operated by partners in business and marriage Seth Holehouse and Anna Lin, GG, is a relative newcomer to the jewelry auction scene in New York City. The company held its fine jewelry sale on January 19.
Lin and Holehouse ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Foster Rings in the New Year
Robert Foster, Newcastle, Maine
Robert Foster always packs in a huge crowd for his larger auctions in New-castle, Maine. I previewed the January 1 sale a day earlier, so by the time I arrived about an hour before the start on New Year’s Day, I had a healthy walk from the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)New Year's Day Sale
Nadeau’s Auction Gallery, Windsor, Connecticut
Photos courtesy Nadeau’s Auction Gallery
Nadeau’s Auction Gallery in Windsor, Connecticut, was selling to a packed house on January 1. Part of the reason could have been the Americana collection consigned to Nadeau from Credit Suisse. That massive collection included a full-length portrait of Thomas Alva Edison ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Eclectic Mix at Smith
William A. Smith, Inc., Plainfield, New Hampshire
Photos courtesy William A. Smith
The auction hall was nearly full for most of the 500-lot auction at the William A. Smith gallery in Plainfield, New Hampshire, on December 28, 2015. The sale consisted of an interesting and eclectic mixture of country Americana, American art, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The December Auction
Grogan & Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Fine art and jewelry are frequently areas of blurred distinction. Both are mainstays at Grogan and Company’s auction gallery in Boston, and neither disappointed at the December 6, 2015, sale where a fine 18" long silver necklace by Alexander Calder (1898-1976) brought $109,800 (includes buyer’s premium). ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Freeman's American Art
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Freeman’s
A standing-room-only crowd, a dozen staffers on telephones, plus a fellow at a computer taking bids from online bidders filled the first-floor gallery at Freeman’s in Philadelphia on Sunday, December 6, 2015, for an auction of more than 130 lots of American art and Pennsylvania Impressionism. Many ... (Read More)
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(Auction)December Sale Presents the Flatt Collection of Fine Art and Unusual Artifacts
New Orleans Auction Galleries, New Orleans, Louisiana
Nothing provides more panache for an auction than a glamorous collection with star lots, and the New Orleans Auction Galleries (NOAG) had an impressive biography to open its December 4-6, 2015, sale. Lloyd Cooper Flatt was a retired aerospace executive with homes in the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)This Old Guitar Sold for $29,700
Mebane Antique Auction Gallery, Mebane, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Mebane
On December 4, 2015, Alfreda Evans met the man who bought her great-uncle’s 1937 Gibson Nick Lucas guitar. The encounter represented an important closure for Evans. She had never met her Uncle Ben. The amateur guitarist was killed in a robbery at ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The 55th Annual Thanksgiving Americana Auction
Garth’s Auctions, Delaware, Ohio
Photos courtesy Garth’s Auctions
Paint played a pivotal role during the 55th annual Thanksgiving Americana sale held by Garth’s Auctions on November 27, 2015, in Delaware, Ohio. Not that anyone was surprised. Garth’s is known for great pieces in early paint, and on Black Friday color was king.
Topping ... (Read More)
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(Auction)California Paintings Sale Brings $2,735,625
Bonhams, Los Angeles, California
Photos courtesy Bonhams
At Bonhams’ November 23, 2015, auction of California and Western paintings and sculpture, sales totaled $2,735,625 (includes buyers’ premiums). The auction was simulcast in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Scot Levitt, Bonhams’ specialist for California and Western paintings, said, “We did well, I’m happy to ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Buyers' Market for Vintage Radios, Phonographs, and Related Equipment
Vintage Radio and Phonograph Society, Mesquite, Texas
The 41st annual Vintage Radio and Phonograph Society (VRPS) convention held in Mesquite, Texas, November 20-22, 2015, was the country’s largest radio club auction of vintage radio, phonograph, and related equipment spanning the pre-World War I windup phonograph to the 1950s miniaturized transistor radio. ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Boston Home Décor Show
Boston, Massachusetts
The newest show in town is the Boston Home Décor Show, an innovative combination of fine traditional antiques and art with edgy contemporary art and design. At the inaugural event November 19-22, 2015, at the Cyclorama in Boston’s South End, interior designers and architects rounded out the mix. The ... (Read More)
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(Show)Schedule Swapping Sparks Serendipitous Sales
Monroe Antique Show and Sale, Monroe, Washington
Those who hold the power of the scheduling strings have the ability to make life interesting for those in need of space, as Loretta Johnson has now twice discovered. Normally the Monroe Antique Show and Sale in Monroe, Washington, is held two weeks before ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Chandler Tall Clock Paces November Auction
Hap Moore, York, Maine
Several of the most salient lots in Hap Moore’s November 21, 2015, auction in York, Maine, were pieces of local history from southern Maine and New Hampshire. A small handful of items edged over $3000, led by a New Hampshire tall clock in birch or maple stamped ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Variety as the Spice of Barrett's Toy and Train Auction
Noel Barrett Antiques & Auctions, New Hope, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Noel Barrett
Noel Barrett staged his fall antique auction on November 20 and 21, 2015, at the Eagle Fire Hall in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Barrett’s eclectic array of nearly 1000 lots cut a wide swath with toys, trains, dolls, dollhouse miniatures, and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)November American History Auction
Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Cowan’s Auctions
An original copy of Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War took the top price during the American history sale held by Cowan’s Auctions on November 20, 2015, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The two-volume set realized $84,000 (including buyer’s premium) against an estimate of $100,000/150,000. ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Yankee Ingenuity-- Imagination and Invention
Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, Massachusetts
Rufus Porter painted hundreds of home wall murals and probably thousands of quick portraits, and he patented at least 24 practical mechanical inventions. Born in 1792 in West Boxford, Massachusetts, he founded Scientific American magazine in 1845, taught dancing and music, wrote books promoting art instruction and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Traylor Tops Folk Art Auction
Slotin Folk Art Auction, Buford, Georgia
Photos courtesy Slotin Folk Art Auction
“You don’t have to go to New York or Baltimore to find top-notch folk art. Anything you’ll ever want will probably be seen here at Slotin,” said one collector to another at the Slotin Folk Art auction on November 14 ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Tremont Auctions' Inaugural Sale
Tremont Auctions, Newton, Massachusetts
Tremont Auctions got itself off to a fine start at its inaugural sale on November 15, 2015, at the gallery in Newton, Massachusetts. Collectors and dealers crowded the spanking new gallery to look, compare, and buy. The crowd endured for much of the 375-lot sale, and prices ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Custer Leads the Charge
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine
It was a weekend of highs and lows at the Thomaston Place Auction Galleries sale on November 14 and 15, 2015, in Thomaston, Maine. The high was a Howard Pyle-type advertising panel of General Custer in extremis at the Little Bighorn, which moved out for ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Paintings Week
Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Bonhams, Heritage, The American Art Fair, and Just Off Madison, New York City
Twice a year collectors and dealers from all over the country come to New York City in search of American 19th- and 20th-century landscapes, portraits, and still lifes, Modernist paintings, and sculpture. In November and again ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Bertoia's "Holiday Surprises" Lives Up to Its Name at $1.867 Million
Vineland, New Jersey
Photos courtesy Bertoia Auctions
With an eye-popping inundation of treasures, Bertoia Auctions lived up to its pre-Thanksgiving theme of “Holiday Surprises.” The three-day, 2239-lot event, November 13-15, 2015, was a rip-snorter. No toy category was left behind as banks, trains, doorstops, vintage windups, a well-curated batch of biscuit tins, 250 ... (Read More)
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(Show)2015 Salon: Art + Design
New York City
Vive le Salon! Now in its fourth year under the management of Sanford L. Smith + Associates, but no longer partnered with the Syndicat National des Antiquaires, The Salon: Art + Design opened in New York City, November 12, 2015, the night before the terrorist attack in Paris.
A ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Holiday Sale 2015
Humler & Nolan, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Humler & Nolan
Four words: different merchandise, same story. That was largely the case during the Holiday Sale 2015 conducted by Humler & Nolan in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 7 and 8, 2015. For the most part, the best things did well, while the middle ... (Read More)
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