Stories for November '18
(Fragment)Olde Hope Publishes Catalog
It has been six years since Patrick Bell and Edwin Hild of Olde Hope in New Hope, Pennsylvania, published a catalog of folk art for sale. In the days before websites, printed catalogs were a mainstay of marketing Americana. Now they are rare.
The libraries of collectors used to have piles ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Yes, There Will Be a New York Antique Ceramics Fair
Nine dealers will show their wares at the New York Antique Ceramics Fair on the third floor of Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street, New York City, Thursday through Saturday, January 17-19, 2019, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, January 20, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The nine dealers ... (Read More)
|
(Computer Article)Using Statistics
Computer Column #358
Simple statistical analysis can be useful for antiquers. High-level statistical analysis, sometimes known as “analytics,” used by large retail businesses is beyond our needs.
Higher level statistics get an occasional bad rap. Nineteenth-century British statesman Benjamin Disraeli said, “There are three types of lies—lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Eighteenth-century ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Letter from London, November 2018
Quite a mix in this month’s “Letter,” ranging from very costly portraits and sculptures to a very old light bulb. Here you will find Chippendale furniture in company with a hugely expensive car number plate, an old brown bottle that turned out not to be a fake after all, some ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Rethink That Resale: Proposed American Royalties Too Act of 2018 Seeks to Regulate Downstream Sales
On September 25 members of Congress introduced the American Royalties Too (ART) Act of 2018 (the ART act). The ART act has bipartisan support and calls for an amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976, which currently governs copyright disputes. The amendment would require purchasers of visual art to pay ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)An Exotic Side Chair Attributed to R.W. Bates & Co. of Chicago
An Exotic Side Chair Attributed to R.W. Bates & Co. of Chicago
R.W. Bates & Co. was a high-end manufacturer of custom furniture and interiors in the late 19th century. Based in Chicago, the business had professional and private clients across the United States. Sharon Darling drew attention to this firm ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Judi and Cy Stellmach, Blue Dog Antiques, Stafford Springs, Connecticut
In the Trade
When Judi Stellmach reflects on her career as a longtime antiques dealer, she notes that her path has paralleled what has happened in the antiques trade writ large: “In the 1960s I had a shop; then shows came along, and I did them, and now it’s the Internet.” ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Simple Goods Show Returns to Berlin, Ohio
Promoters Christina Hummel and Kris Casucci have announced that the Simple Goods Early Country Antiques & Primitive Goods Show will return to the Heritage Community Center in Berlin, Ohio, this fall. The show had moved last April to Heritage Community Center, a brand new state-of-the-art facility that offers space for ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Discovery: A Peter Stretch Watch
In August antiques dealer James Kilvington of Dover, Delaware, drove to Alderfer Auction in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, to preview the cataloged sale of paintings, books, clocks, and American furniture from the estate of architect and interior designer James David “Jay” Hellyer Jr. to be sold on August 23. It was not ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Exhibitions, November 2018
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)
|
(Issue Story)James Arthur and His “Temple of Time”: A Cautionary Tale for Collector-Donors
Photos courtesy Maude Arthur Brown Family Archive
If asked to name an example of the thwarting of what is called, in philanthropic and legalistic circles, “donor intent,” many people in the collecting world would cite what was perhaps the most widely publicized case in recent memory. I’m referring to the protracted ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)White’s Auctions Sells Three Folk Portraits for $73,200
Three watercolor portraits on paper found in an attic excited nine phone bidders, and the three portraits brought a total of $73,200 (includes buyers’ premiums) at White’s Auctions in Middleboro, Massachusetts, on September 30.
“A local man brought the three portraits to us after the catalog was posted, just nine days ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Doyle + Design
Doyle, New York City
Photos courtesy Doyle
With plenty of international interest, Doyle’s modern and contemporary art and design auction, held two weeks after Labor Day on September 17, rang up a total of $1,348,156 (with buyers’ premiums). Of the 253 lots offered, 82% sold.
A young man standing in the salesroom with ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Good Buying at Pook & Pook
Pook & Pook, Inc., Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Pook & Pook, Inc.
Pook & Pook in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, began the fall season with a 660-lot Americana and international offering on Friday evening, September 14, and Saturday, September 15. Much of it came from six estates, including one from New Mexico. Some of ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)The Ferrell Family Collection at Wooten & Wooten
Wooten & Wooten, Camden, South Carolina
Photos courtesy Wooten & Wooten
September 8 may be remembered as the last great reunion of Edgefield District pottery collectors. Drawing this dedicated group together was the remainder of the estate of Terry Ferrell (1922-2018), a collection of 19th-century and contemporary pottery, furniture, paintings, and one ... (Read More)
|
(Show)Baltimore Shows Bring Summer to a Close in Style
Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show, Baltimore, Maryland
The annual Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show was held over Labor Day weekend, August 30-September 2, at the Baltimore Convention Center, downtown at the Inner Harbor. This was the 38th year of the show, which over time has been branded under several ... (Read More)
|
(Show)No Frills, with Honest-to-Goodness Antiques
Heartland at Hilliard, Hilliard, Ohio
Things didn’t go exactly as planned for Jennifer Sabin during a canoe trip near Nelsonville, Ohio, last summer. As one of four people in two canoes, she found herself dunked in the river twice that day. Both times rapids had moved her craft under some trees, ... (Read More)
|
(Show)Maine Antiques Dealers Association Goes Back to School
Coastal Maine Antiques Show, Damariscotta, Maine
The annual Maine Antiques Dealers Association (MADA) Coastal Maine Antiques Show, held on August 22, had to be moved to another location this year because of ongoing renovation and construction at the Damariscotta River Association (DRA) in Damariscotta, Maine, where the show has been held ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Bid $100, Pay $100: How Strange Is That?
Charles M. Talbot Associates, Turner, Maine
Charles Talbot Associates, Turner, Maine, has been in business for over 60 years, making it one of the oldest auction firms in Maine. At the start of the August 21 sale, auctioneer and co-owner Dale Talbot related the story of the company: “Talbot was started ... (Read More)
|
(Show)Ellsworth Woodlawn Show Going Strong in its Ninth Decade
Ellsworth Antiques Show, Ellsworth, Maine
The Ellsworth Antiques Show in Ellsworth, Maine, held this year from August 16 to 18 at the Woodlawn Museum, still lays claim to being America’s longest-running antiques show, with its genesis harking all the way back to 1937 and only a brief break during the World ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)MacKay and Field Collection
Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Photos courtesy Northeast Auctions
Connecticut dealers Susan MacKay and Peter Field began collecting at an early age. They set up as MacKay and Field Antiques in 1986 when their own collections were bursting. They began with flea markets and soon were exhibiting at indoor shows, all the ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Edwardian Necklace Tops Joseph DuMouchelle August Sale
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Joseph DuMouchelle
Joseph DuMouchelle’s fine jewels and timepieces auction was held on August 16 in Birmingham, Michigan, with around 105 lots on offer for jewelry enthusiasts and dealers. When I spoke with Melinda “Lindy” Adducci, G.G., vice president of Joseph DuMouchelle, on the phone after the ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Three-Catalog Americana Sale at Skinner
Skinner, Inc., Marlborough, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Skinner, Inc.
Skinner hosted a three-catalog Americana sale at its Marlborough, Massachusetts, gallery on August 12 and 13. One catalog was for the collection of respected New Hampshire dealers Gail and Don Piatt, which garnered much interest. The second included the folk art collection of Arthur ... (Read More)
|
(Show)Maine Antiques Festival Approaching Middle Age at 37
Maine Antiques Festival, Union, Maine
With about 150 exhibitors, the Maine Antiques Festival, held in Union, Maine, August 3-5, lays claim to being the largest antiques show in Maine. I arrived in the early afternoon on Saturday, a bit after the early rush dissipated. As a reporter, one can always get ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Americana and Paintings
Eldred’s, East Dennis, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Eldred’s
A summer auction on Cape Cod is a more than acceptable way to pass an afternoon. Over the course of three days, August 1-3, under a green and white striped tent in East Dennis, Massachusetts, Eldred’s sold nearly 1400 lots of Americana objects and paintings. ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Coeur d’Alene Art Auction Exceeds $13 Million Mark
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, Reno, Nevada
Photos courtesy Coeur d’Alene Art Auction
The Thirsty Trapper by American artist Alfred Jacob Miller (1810-1874) led the way at the 2018 edition of the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, held July 28 in Reno, Nevada. The 24" x 20" oil on canvas sold for $1,715,000 (including ... (Read More)
|
(Show)Camden-Rockport Show Turns 38
Camden-Rockport Historical Society Antiques Show, Rockport, Maine
Even before the opening gun sounded at the 38th running of the annual Camden-Rockport Historical Society Antiques Show, there were 50 or 60 people at the gate and more streaming in from the parking lot. The show, under the management of John and Elizabeth ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Fraternal Objects Sold in Ohio
Ross Auction Company, Chillicothe, Ohio
On Saturday, July 21, Ross Auction Company in Chillicothe, Ohio, sold a large trove of Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) ceremonial objects. Heart-in-hand staffs, oversize bows and arrows, decorated axes and pikes, carved torches, swords, shields, robes, collars, and even a coffin with a human ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Sporting Antiques Sold on the Cape
Eldred’s, East Dennis, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Eldred’s
The highlight of the sale came late in the day when this Louisiana swimming ring-necked or ring-bill drake decoy by Nicole Vidacovitch Sr. (1853-1945), circa 1890, flew past the $7500/9500 estimate to sell for $21,250. Vidacovitch carved with great care, using mostly cypress root, and ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)A Housewarming to Remember
Case Antiques, Inc., Auctions and Appraisals, Knoxville, Tennessee
At the Friday night preview party for Case Antiques’ July 14 sale, auction-goers and staff alike enjoyed the stimulating new gallery glow of their recently purchased facility on Papermill Drive in Knoxville, Tennessee. Whether you spoke with co-owners John and Stephanie Case or ... (Read More)
|
1 (800) 752-8521 • PO Box 1429 • Waldoboro, ME 04572
