Stories for June '20
(Fragment)Christie’s Settles with Manhattan DA in Tax Case
Christie’s has resolved an investigation by the Manhattan district attorney into violations of New York state tax laws. The auction house was accused of failing to register to collect and failing to collect New York and local sales tax between 2013 and 2017.
In the agreement, Christie’s London, Christie’s Private Sales, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, June 2020
The Times, and the Auctions, They Are a Changing
Though the situation began to change in the U.K. during the latter part of April, with some salerooms beginning to find a way around the restrictions, the sudden, across-the-board cancellation of live auctions in the U.K. has had a major impact. It ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Michael Diaz-Griffith Named Executive Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation
On April 21 it was announced that Michael Diaz-Griffith got the job he has prepared for all his life. Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation, the New York-based foundation that supports Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, selected him as the foundation’s new executive director.
Diaz-Griffith first came to the attention of ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)St. Louis Shop Files Lawsuit Challenging Closure
Elder’s Antiques in St. Louis, Missouri, is a co-plaintiff in a federal lawsuit seeking to reopen after being closed because of the pandemic. The suit seeks a temporary restraining order, preliminary and permanent injunctions, and a declaratory judgment.
In April St. Louis County and City of St. Louis officials issued orders ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Co-Presidents Howell and Kenny Retire from Classical American Homes Preservation Trust
The announcement of the retirement of Margize Howell and Peter Kenny as co-presidents of Classical American Homes Preservation Trust (CAHPT), effective March 31, came as a surprise to the world of antiques and historic preservation.
Howell was the founding executive director of CAHPT and served previously as the curator of the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Hanging with Jeff and Beverley Evans
We are all spending much more time now in our houses and apartments because of COVID-19. To give our readers an idea of what some of their colleagues, fellow collectors, and other readers surround themselves with in their abodes—on the walls, floors, or ceilings—we are introducing this new column—“Hanging with…”—because ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Adaptations
The Young Collector
Human beings, we are always being told, are highly adaptable. It is, one hears, a key to our evolutionary success. (Assuming we are still an evolutionary success. We seem to be botching that at the moment.) As usual, the reality is more complex, and although we are highly ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Opening Up
On May 8 Maine Governor Janet Mills announced that retail stores in 12 mostly rural Maine counties would be permitted to open on May 11 with enhanced safety precautions. The opening timeline aligns with neighboring New Hampshire. Good news for dealers with open shops.
Shops in Aroostook, Piscataquis, Washington, Hancock, Somerset, ... (Read More)
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(Show)Antiques Dealers’ Association of America Online Show
ADA Spring Online Show
Almost immediately after the opening of the ADA Spring Online Show, April 24-27, dealer John Chaski sold to a dealer a sixth-plate daguerreotype housed in a leatherette case. It depicts a portrait of a young girl holding a book, with her doll in a wagon alongside. David ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)“Tutti Frutti” Bracelet Sells for $1.34 Million in Online Auction
Sotheby’s dedicated online-only single-lot sale of a circa 1930 Cartier “tutti frutti” bracelet opened on April 24 and concluded on April 28. According to Sotheby’s, the bracelet “had never before appeared at auction, having been passed down through descendants of an American family for more than 30 years.”
Five bidders chased ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Alaska Dealer Charged with Lacey Act Violations and Tax Evasion
Anchorage, Alaska, dealer Walter Earl, 75, owner of The Antique Gallery, was charged on April 23 in federal court for illegally buying and selling walrus ivory and failing to report income to the IRS.
Earl has agreed to plead guilty to three counts of Lacey Act violations and one count of ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Online Design Sale
Freeman’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Freeman’s
Henry Van de Velde, a Belgian-born architect and founder of Modernism, is not nearly as well known as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, but he probably should be. Born in Antwerp in 1863, he died in Zurich at 94 in 1957. He worked to the end of his ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)“Highly Engaged” Buyers and Over 90% Sold in Hindman’s Jewelry Sale
Antique Jewelry and Gemology
Photos courtesy Hindman
Hindman, Chicago, held its March 31 online-only “essential” jewelry sale, comprising 444 lots of contemporary, period, and antique jewelry, exclusively on LiveAuctioneers. I spoke with Kimberly Burt, director of the fine jewelry and timepieces department, who said it had always been scheduled as an online-only ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Technology Opens Doors Closed by Stay-at-Home Order
Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Brunk Auctions
On March 26, one day before Brunk Auctions’ two-day catalog sale, commissioners in Buncombe County, North Carolina, issued a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order. By 8 p.m., everyone in Asheville and surrounding communities was to be at home and sheltering in place to ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana and Country Americana
Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Cowan’s Auctions
This one wasn’t normal. No sane individual would have expected it to be. When Cowan’s Auctions held a two-day sale of Americana on March 19 and 20 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the doors were locked and the showroom floor was empty. Ohio’s statewide stay-at-home order ... (Read More)
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(Auction)California and Western Art
Bonhams, Los Angeles, California
Photos courtesy Bonhams
Scot M. Levitt, vice president and director of fine arts at Bonhams, said plans to postpone the March 17 California and Western art auction or to go online-only were being considered “moment by moment, as the sale was taking place.” As it turned out, the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Spring Sale at CRN Auctions
CRN Auctions, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy CRN Auctions
CRN Auctions’ spring sale was held on March 15 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. With the coronavirus in mind, staff had rearranged the gallery. Gone were the neat rows of chairs divided by a center aisle. In their place chairs were staggered at angles about ... (Read More)
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(Show)A New Owner and New Vision for an Old Favorite
Fort Worth Show of Antiques, Art & Jewelry, Fort Worth, Texas
The Fort Worth Show of Antiques, Art & Jewelry has a long history in this Texas city often referred to as Cowtown. A visit to this year’s three-day show in March made it clear that this is no swap meet ... (Read More)
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(Auction)“Art & Design” at Toomey & Co.
Toomey & Co., Oak Park, Illinois
On March 8, just before the coronavirus clobbered the U.S., Toomey & Co. held a scheduled “Art & Design” sale that totaled roughly over $1 million. Shortly after the sale, Toomey vice president and senior specialist John Walcher told us that exact results were difficult ... (Read More)
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(Show)Great Country and Americana from Respected Dealers
Country Spirit Antique Show, Arcola, Illinois
A large painted buttocks basket sold early and often during the Country Spirit Antique Show, held March 5-7 at three locations in Arcola, Illinois. In a way, the basket exemplified the overall show; buyers were eager to find something special whenever and wherever they could.
The ... (Read More)
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(Show)A Gathering on the Prairie Antique Show
Arthur, Illinois
Consider what came before. When A Gathering on the Prairie Antique Show opened its doors to a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 7, at the Otto Center in Arthur, Illinois, Antiques Week in Central Illinois was already a little gray around the temples. At least for ... (Read More)
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(Show)Rural Life Show Draws a Crowd
Rural Life Antique Show, Tuscola, Illinois
Friday morning, an hour before the start of the Rural Life Antique Show, held March 6 and 7 in Tuscola, Illinois, a steady, cold wind sent oak leaves scurrying sideways across Main Street, moving with a sense of urgency. It was several weeks before the ... (Read More)
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(Show)Homesteaders on the Prairie Antique Show
Arthur, Illinois
I’ve got a tiger by the tail, it’s plain to see; I won’t be much when you get through with me. Well, I’m a losin’ weight and a turnin’ mighty pale; Looks like I’ve got a tiger by the tail.
On the opening day of Homesteaders on the Prairie Antique ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Passage: Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Juan Hamilton
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
It took a village of Sotheby’s specialists to bring “Passage,” a sale of art and objects from the personal collection of Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), to market. Culling expertise from the departments of American art, African and oceanic art, books and manuscripts, Chinese works of art, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana and Political Sale
Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
A shotgun with a storied role in the history of America’s Old West sold for $375,000 (with buyer’s premium) at auction in Dallas. The 10-gauge shotgun used by legendary frontier lawman Wyatt Earp to kill “Curly Bill” Brocius is regarded as a museum-quality relic ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Premier Fine Art Auction
Caza Sikes, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Caza Sikes
A 4' tall replica of the Statue of Liberty that had been in some unlikely hiding spots in Ohio for years sold for $106,250 (including buyer’s premium) at Caza Sikes in Cincinnati on February 22. The piece is one of eight examples known.
The figure ... (Read More)
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(Show)A Bouquet of the Best Antiques on Valentine’s Day
Heart of Tennessee Antique Show, Lebanon, Tennessee
There are no rules that require antiques shows to be visually attractive, but it never hurts. The fifth annual Heart of Tennessee Antique Show, held this year February 13-15 in Lebanon, Tennessee, was both beautiful and well organized. While the focus is always on ... (Read More)
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(Show)Finally, a Building to Match the Quality of the Exhibitors
The Nashville Show, Nashville, Tennessee
The Nashville Show is the current––and surely permanent––title for the long-running February gathering of exhibitors presented by the Indiana-based Jenkins show management team. After many wanderings, the event has been held in recent years at what is formally called the Fairgrounds Nashville. In the past, the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Dogs in Art and Sporting Art
Doyle, New York City
Photos courtesy Doyle
Doyle offered 151 lots of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, and other objects featuring dogs, horses, and sporting art in a sale scheduled to coincide with the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden, New York City.
The February 12 auction totaled $294,431 (includes ... (Read More)
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(Show)A Long-Running Show Transformed
Fiddlers at the Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
"Same Great Show, New Location” was the slogan on pre-event advertising, which proved to be absolutely true as the long-running Fiddlers show opened on February 12 at the brand-new Expo Center at The Fairgrounds Nashville complex, just off Interstate 65. Over 70 dealers set up ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville Celebrates 30 Successful Years
Nashville, Tennessee
The theme was “Legacy” as the Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville presented its 30th edition, held January 31-February 2. The long-running event is a rare example of a highly successful charity event. It benefits Cheekwood, a local house museum and garden complex, and 20 charities supported by the ... (Read More)
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