(Young Collectors)
Imagine That by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond
The Young Collector
In his editorial last month, Clayton Pennington asked the question, and we paraphrase: is Americans’ ignorance regarding our own basic history undermining the antiques marketplace (and possibly Western civilization as well)? This sparked a disagreement at our house (thanks, boss), because Andrew feels fairly strongly that history has ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
Luxe Events will launch two new jewelry, watch, art, and antiques shows to be held at the Naples Woman’s Club in Naples, Florida.
“We’re bringing two shows to the center of downtown Naples during the height of the season,” said Andrea Canady, founder of Luxe Events, LLC. These two events will ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
In early November TEFAF announced that it was implementing a new policy regarding vetting its shows. Going forth, no members of the trade—dealers and auction house specialists—will be voting members of vetting committees. Those committees will now consist of “academics, curators, conservators, conservation scientists and independent scholars only.”
It’s a good ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
On October 9 Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced that his office had secured a conviction against an antiques dealer for illegally selling exotic narwhal ivory tusks. The sentence included significant fines, community service, and probation.
Antonio’s Bella Casa, Inc., and its owner, Anthony James Buccola, were each found guilty ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
Part II of IV
Photos courtesy Maude Arthur Brown Family Archive
Why some of even the most fastidious men and women make no plans for their lifelong collections, who can say? Maybe it’s simply because they can’t imagine themselves dead. In contrast, there is the other type of collector—the one who fusses ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
“Original” York Antiques Show Alive and Well, Promoter Says
Melvin Arion, promoter of the “Original” York Semi-Annual Antiques Show in York, Pennsylvania, emphasized in a recent press release that the shows he manages in York, Pennsylvania, are “doing just fine.” Arion noted that recent press reports about Bob Bockius and Mitchell ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
Barnebys Group, a Swedish firm that operates an Internet search engine for design, antiques, and art, has acquired ValueMyStuff (www.valuemystuff.com), an online art and collectibles valuation service.
According to a press release, ValueMyStuff has over 500,000 users and provides online valuations of art, memorabilia, wine, watches, and other assets in over ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
A Book Review
Glenn Adamson’s new book is not about the end of the age of clutter. It is not about the fact that there are fewer, better antiques shows with fewer, better dealers, nor fewer, better shops, nor fewer, better lots at some decorative arts auctions.
Its subtitle, The Hidden Wisdom ... (Read More)
|
(Book Review)
A Book Review
The Henry D. Green Symposium at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, has taken place biennially in February since 2000. Most of the talks have been published in illustrated softbound journals.
Dale L. Couch, the curator of decorative arts at the museum, has ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
An allegedly stolen identity and multimillion-dollar bids for a couple of pieces of contemporary art have resulted in two men being charged in federal court.
On October 5 a seven-page complaint was filed against Antonio DiMarco and Joakim von Ditmar, charging each with wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.
According to ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
A Book Review
This book is a festschrift, a collection of writings published in honor of Jonathan Fairbanks on the occasion of his retirement after a five-year stint as director of the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. Fairbanks, whose career was spent at major institutions such as Winterthur, the Museum ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
Photos courtesy Anne Childs
Anne Childs of Little Rock, Arkansas, is a talented and popular contemporary folk artist. Her watercolors—done in a folky Americana style—are so good that unscrupulous people have removed her signature monogram and put her work in the marketplace, leaving no indication that it is new work and ... (Read More)
|
(Computer Article)
Computer Column #359
The world of antiques covers many areas, and no one can be an expert in them all. Sometimes antiquers will want to expand their horizons and enter a new area. The computer, the Internet, and search engines are tools for gaining an initial picture of this new world. ... (Read More)
|
(Book Review)
A Book Review
With all the new research on early 18th-century attempts to make porcelain in America, this new book that tells the story of porcelain production in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries in Europe is timely. The author, Jeffrey Munger, is a former curator in the department of European ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
Books Received
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.
Frederic Church’s Olana on the Hudson: Art Landscape Architecture, edited by ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
In the Trade
If you want mid-century modern furniture for your home, you’ll have no trouble finding it. It’s all over the place. Dealers who once upon a time sneered at anything made after 1840 are now eager to show off their Finn Juhl chairs or their Harvey Probber sectionals.
Acquiring the ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
*Update: Ithaca.com reports David Hall has been arrested, and charged with second degree grand larceny
Denis Gouey, a consignor to National Book Auctions who filed suit in May against the Ithaca, New York, firm, was granted a default judgment on October 26, 2018.
The Torrington, Connecticut, bookbinder claimed in court papers that ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
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)
September and October sales in London saw $1.4 million paid for a Banksy painting at Sotheby’s that was seen to (partially) self-destruct as the hammer fell—and thereby immediately increase in value—while in New York City at Christie’s a far, far higher than predicted $432,500 was paid for an AI (artificial ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
TEFAF New York Fall, New York City
George Washington made an appearance at TEFAF New York Fall in the booth of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York City, and the full-length, 95" x 64" Munro-Lenox portrait by Gilbert Stuart was spoken for by the third day of the event.
This full-length portrait ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
One of the last buildings in Manhattan to house interior design tenants was the location of an open house on October 30, held to get the word out. “We’re still here” is the message visitors got from the 13 participants throughout the seven floors of 306 East 61st Street, the ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
There is some good news to report from the antiques show front lines. A completely new event has entered the mid-Atlantic antiques and collectibles marketplace. Dubbed the Virginia Pickers Antique & Collectors Show, it was held at Gilmanor Farm in Glen Allen, Virginia, the weekend of October 20 and 21.
The ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
With an emphasis on serving the downtown area and having an eye toward educating potential new buyers about the eco-friendliness of antiques, Andrew Jones Auctions has opened in the heart of Los Angeles. The company’s first two monthly sales, held in September and October, brought considerable interest from absentee and ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
Three green Chippewa spinner lures made around 1910 by the Immell Bait Company, Blair, Wisconsin, brought a combined $24,780 in Canadian dollars ($18,901 U.S.) with buyers’ premiums, and a circa 1930 Canadian-made Lurette No. 2 was reeled in for a new record price for the lure at an auction held ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
The top lot of Swann Auction Galleries’ October 18 sale of photographs and photo books in New York City was Constantin Brâncusi’s Vu d’atelier, a circa 1928 silver print of the artist’s studio, featuring four of his sculptures. The image brought $125,000 (includes buyer’s premium), well over the estimate of ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)
On October 13 a battery-operated Walking Batman toy sold at Milestone Auctions in Willoughby, Ohio, for $16,800 (includes buyer’s premium). The estimate was $10,000/15,000.
Battery-operated Walking Batman by TN, Japan, 12" tall, new old store stock with original Japanese-version box, $16,800.
Made in postwar Japan by TN, the 12" tall Walking ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Pook & Pook, Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Pook & Pook
The sale of the collection of Paul and Rita Flack on Saturday, October 13, at Pook & Pook in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, was the sixth time the Flacks have offered pieces from their collection for sale. Their first was held at Pennypacker Auction ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
Waldoboro Antique Sale, Waldoboro, Maine
Waldoboro, Maine, may not be the state’s antiques mecca just yet. Ellsworth, Searsport, Wiscasset, Kennebunk, and others are all contenders for the title once held by Hallowell. But Waldoboro is, of course, the home of the venerable Maine Antique Digest, and it’s also the site of ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
Antiques at Rhinebeck, Rhinebeck, New York
As an antiques writer and collector who a long time ago was transplanted to upstate New York from Ohio, I always relish going to the semiannual antiques shows in Rhinebeck, New York, at the fairgrounds. Why? It is fun, and I always learn something new ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Swann Auction Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Swann Auction Galleries
Swann Galleries’ department of African American fine art registered the second-highest sale in its 11-year history at its October 4 afternoon auction in New York City. Attracting a salesroom audience of 80, filled with bidders and enthusiastic supporters, the sale totaled ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Doyle, New York City
Photos courtesy Doyle
Over 550 lots of American paintings, furniture, and decorative arts were offered at Doyle’s October 3 sale. At the completion of the eight-hour sale, the total realized was $1,165,444 (with buyers’ premiums), with 93% sold by lot. The presale estimate was $735,450/1,108,750.
William Trost Richards (1833-1905) ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Sotheby’s, New York City
Sotheby’s mid-season sale of American art on October 2 offered 133 lots that totaled $3.953 million, with a sell-through rate of 70.6%. The morning sale attracted several buyers and had a dozen specialists taking bids on the phone. Order bids left with the auctioneer were numerous, as ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
Antiques at Stratton Mountain Vermont Antiques Dealers’ Association Show, Stratton, Vermont
How one views the results of the 2018 Antiques at Stratton Mountain Vermont Antiques Dealers’ Association Show, held on September 29 and 30, depends on what show you compare it to.
If you choose to compare it to last year’s Stratton ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
Ludlow, Vermont
What’s better than an antiques show in an accommodating venue? Two shows in the same venue. Show promoter Frank Gaglio invented that trick when he launched the Bedford Pickers Market way back in 1998. It was a completely different show that dovetailed with Gaglio’s MidWeek in Manchester event, using ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
Weston, Vermont
For the 60th time an antiques show was held to benefit the Weston Community Association in Weston, Vermont. The Weston Antiques Show, held September 28 and 29, with a preview party on September 27, housed 30 diverse dealers in the sprawling Weston Playhouse, the main beneficiary of the funds ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
The Potomack Company, Alexandria, Virginia
Photos courtesy The Potomack Company
The Potomack Company’s most recent fine art and period antiques auction was held at the firm’s galleries in Alexandria, Virginia, on September 29 and October 2 and 3. The Potomack Company has settled comfortably into a schedule of staggered sales, with a ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
Ludlow, Vermont
The calendar was no friend to this year’s Okemo Antique Show, held at the Mountain Lodge of the Okemo ski resort in Ludlow, Vermont.The slate of five Vermont shows traditionally occurs just before and during the first weekend in October, with the last event occurring on the first Sunday ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
Ludlow, Vermont
Kris Johnson and Steve Sherhag, assisted by Bobby Conrad, took over the management of the Ludlow Antiques Show this year. They changed the name, and, more importantly, they raised the quality of the goods.
The two-day show, which opened at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 28, looked similar. It was ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
Swann Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Swann Galleries
Harold Holzer amassed a collection of images of Abraham Lincoln over a span of almost 50 years. The purchase of an autograph by then Congressman Lincoln was the acquisition “that started it all,” said Holzer, and in 1971, at the age of 22, ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Skinner, Inc.
Skinner’s sale of jewelry held on September 25 in Boston “was a great sale for antique jewelry,” according to Kaitlin Shinnick, senior specialist of fine jewelry. “Attendance was strong, both in person and online.” The auction opened with antique offerings, and they kept coming. ... (Read More)
|
(Show)
Original Semiannual York Antiques Show and Sale, York, Pennsylvania
Melvin “Butch” Arion’s Original Semiannual 171st York Antiques Show and Sale kicked off the Pennsylvania show season September 21-23 at the York Expo Center (fairgrounds), York, Pennsylvania, with 88 dealers offering mostly Americana. As usual the show was strong in quilts and ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Bertoia Auctions, Vineland, New Jersey
Photos courtesy Bertoia Auctions
An alluring triad of vintage toy windups, still banks, and trains induced an adrenaline high, and bidders responded with gusto at Bertoia Auctions’ September 22 auction in Vineland, New Jersey.
Toys at auction are as bullish as Pamplona, and Bertoia seems to have success ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Skinner Inc., Boston, Massachusetts
It didn’t matter that only nine people, including your reporter, were in the audience when Skinner’s sale of American and European works of art began on September 21 in the Boston gallery. Skinner’s bank of phones was full, and three Internet bidding platforms were in place. Bidding ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Seeck Auctions, Kansas City, Missouri
Photos courtesy Seeck Auctions
Auctioneer Jim Seeck is seeing what may prove to be emerging trends in the carnival glass market, and the last auctions for the Tarkington collection are no exception.
Prices for punch bowl sets and big pieces seem to be getting softer as collector tastes ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Jackson Hole Art Auction, Jackson, Wyoming
Photos courtesy Jackson Hole Art Auction"The Duke" had his day when the 2018 Jackson Hole Art Auction took place September 14 and 15 in Jackson, Wyoming. Much ballyhoo preceded the sale of the monumental portrait of John Wayne, the work of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), and ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers, Delaware, Ohio
Photos courtesy Garth’s
Highlighting the sale of country Americana by Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers on September 14 and 15 in Delaware, Ohio, was a zinc statue of Lady Liberty that sold for $25,200 (including buyer’s premium). But that wasn’t the story of the day. In a ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Robert L. Foster Auction Company, Newcastle, Maine
As has been happening for the past several decades, Robert Foster’s Labor Day weekend two-day sale in Newcastle, Maine, held this year on September 1 and 2, capped off the state’s end-of-summer auction binging week. This time around an elegant floral still life in ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Bruce Gamage Jr. Antiques Auction, Rockland, Maine
For decades Bruce Gamage usually opened Maine’s auction-packed end-of-summer week near the close of August. This year, he closed it with his August 27 sale in Rockland, Maine.
This oil on canvas portrait of a young girl with a cat, signed on the back with ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine
The sale held on August 25 and 26 in Thomaston, Maine, was Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ biggest yet, finishing up at a grand total of over $4.6 million. Several major pieces of Orientalia from a Florida estate soared into the stratosphere and made their estimates ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)
John McInnis Auctioneers, Exeter, New Hampshire
Photos courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers
Janis Blouin of Georgetown, Massachusetts, is a picker extraordinaire, and her collections are extensive. They came to market August 24-26 at a John McInnis auction held in Exeter, New Hampshire, at the historic 1855 Exeter Town Hall in the center of ... (Read More)
|