Stories for July '20
(Fragment)Baltimore Show Pushed to November
According to the Palm Beach Show Group, the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show, originally slated for late summer, has been rescheduled for November 12-15.
“Following the City of Baltimore’s Executive Order update to cancel public events through August 30th, arrangements were secured with the Baltimore Convention Center to move the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Why the Pandemic Gives Me Hope for the Antiques Trade
In the era of COVID-19, all the tried-and-trues, safe bets, proven models, and longstanding traditions in the antiques trade are suddenly impractical, unfeasible, or irrelevant. A business dependent on large groups of people gathering in close quarters to handle and exchange objects seems like an absurd and irretrievable fantasy of ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Burton Antiques Market Rescheduled to July 18
The Burton Antiques Market will return to the Geauga County Fairgrounds in Burton, Ohio, for the first of this year's semiannual shows on Saturday, July 18. The show is one day only. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the show has been moved back six weeks from its original June 13 ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)As a Collector, What I Will Never Take for Granted Again
Thornton Wilder’s quintessentially American play Our Town, first presented in 1938, depicts an American small town in New England, Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, in the early 20th century and the daily lives of its residents. The play is powerful and earned Wilder a Pulitzer Prize for drama. In Our Town, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Scam Artist with Fake Check Hits Virginia Shop
“On Friday morning, right when we opened, a nicely dressed gentleman came in,” said Jay Gates of the events on May 8 at his shop, Gates Antiques in Midlothian, Virginia. “He was African American, probably 6'1", 6'2", well built, early mid-50s—built like a former football player.
“We had a lovely thirty-minute ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Ammi Phillips Volumes Updated
In the year that has passed since David Allaway published My People: The Works of Ammi Phillips, free to all online via ISSUU (https://issuu.com/n2xb), he has made some changes. The book is a lot bigger. He has added more biographical information to Volume I and revised the pictorial layout in ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Goosefare Show Cancellations
According to & Promotions, the John DeSimone 20th Wofells Goosefare Antiques Show Antiques scheduled for June 28 at Laudholm Farm in Wells, Maine; the 40th Camden-Rockport Historical Society Antiques Show, scheduled for July 25 and 26 at the Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Maine; and the 52nd New ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Banks Sale in Asheville in September
William Nathaniel Banks’s collection of Federal and Classical furniture, lighting, 19th-century American paintings, and the accoutrements of gracious living that filled the Gordon-Banks house in Newnan, Georgia, some 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, will be sold at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, on September 12. The collection was assembled ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)We Don’t Know
The Young Collector
Humans are really bad at not knowing exactly what to do. We are pretty sure that at the current moment none of you needs us to provide examples of this. To be fair, many of us do not like to be told what to do either, thus condemning ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)How to Lose $20 Million in Less Than a Minute
In March 2018 Christie’s agreed to sell the Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) painting known as Le Marin (The Sailor) on behalf of Sierra Fine Art LLC, Las Vegas, Nevada. Christie’s acquired the painting and planned to sell it at a May 15 auction at its New York City gallery that year.
Enter ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, July 2020
Though it is good to see just how many sales have now been scheduled in London and around the country, albeit still online or with only limited access, it proved a little frustrating to realise that the real pick-up would begin just a couple of days after my copy deadline ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Hanging with Reid Dunavant
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 have introduced this new column—“Hanging with…”—because ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Antiques Week in New Hampshire
Antiques dealers and collectors are a stalwart bunch whose ability to overcome obstacles of every sort is stunning. The antiques world has overcome the vicissitudes of weather, will, and law and order. Now the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a new kind of challenge, and the antiques world has responded.
Auctions and ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Editorial: Positive News
There’s some promising news regarding the resumption of the business of antiques. While most shows are still shut down for the foreseeable future, there are signs of life to be seen, albeit under different circumstances.
On May 15 and 16, the fourth Virginia Pickers Antiques and Collectables Show was held in ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Auction Prices Realized
Here are a few notable prices of antiques sold recently at auction, as provided by press releases. All prices include the buyer’s premium when charged. We’re always looking for news of prices realized at auctions, particularly unusual or top lots. Send pictures, complete descriptions, and information to A.P.R., Maine Antique ... (Read More)
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(Show)Venerable Show Goes Online
The Philadelphia Show, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The venerable Philadelphia Show went online via InCollect (www.incollect.com) from May 14 through 28 with 48 of the 60 dealers who had appeared on the April 23 preview party invitation before the actual show was canceled. The online show got mixed reviews from collectors and dealers. ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)The Whimsical and “Thoughtfully Made” Hit Home Runs
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Freeman’s
Freeman’s May 21 sale of jewelry and watches—which in pre-pandemic times would have been a live sale—was held online, and there were many ways to “attend” the auction. I communicated via e-mail with Virginia Salem, vice president, and department head of jewelry and watches, and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Bidders Undeterred by Pandemic or Remote Format of African Americana Sale
Swann Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Swann Galleries
"I am still somewhat dumbfounded that we managed to pull off a strong sale given the circumstances,” director of books and manuscripts Rick Stattler wrote in an e-mail shortly after Swann’s annual printed and manuscript African Americana sale on May 7. The auction ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Modern Native American Art Sells Well at Hybrid Auction
Bonhams, Los Angeles, California
Photos courtesy Bonhams
Ingmars Lindbergs, Bonhams’ Native American art department director, called the May 1 auction of modern Native American art Bonhams’ “first hybrid sale.” He explained: “The shutdown happened four days before our auction, which had been scheduled for March 23. The catalog was out, and we ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Broadway Cooler Sells for $480,000 at Absentee-Only Auction
Crocker Farm, Sparks, Maryland
Photos courtesy Crocker Farm
"It far exceeded our expectations,” stated Mark Zipp following his family’s absentee sale that ended May 1. The Zipps of Crocker Farm converted what would have been their regular live sale, scheduled for March 21, to an Internet, phone, and absentee auction, which ran ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Freeman’s Americana
Freeman’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Freeman’s
Freeman’s April 28 Americana sale was a slow, tedious online experience and a huge success. Just 160 lots were offered in six and a half hours. The pace was 25 lots an hour on three platforms, LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, and Freeman’s Live. There were a few ten-minute ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Fine Art and a Chinese Surprise Lead at Potomack
The Potomack Company, Alexandria, Virginia
Photos courtesy The Potomack Company
The reality that many are referring to as the “new normal” has arrived in Alexandria, Virginia. Beginning on April 25, The Potomack Company held a multi-day online-only catalog sale. In one way, The Potomack Company is used to this new normal. For ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Sale of the Down Town Association Collection
Arader Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Arader Galleries
Arader Galleries auctioned the collection of the Down Town Association online on April 25. The auction included engravings and lithographs that Graham Arader called “one of the finest collections of 18th- and 19th-century New York City views, scenes, maps, and maritime prints ever ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Paintings, Furniture, and Decorative Arts
Doyle, New York City
American Paintings, Furniture, and Decorative Arts
The coronavirus pandemic caused Doyle to offer its twice-a-year American paintings, furniture, and decorative arts auction to an online-only audience. The sale, which closed on April 21, totaled $863,781 (including buyers’ premiums) with an 85% sell-through rate. The presale estimate was $637,100/977,750. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Design Sale Brings $4 Million
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s mid-season design sale was scheduled to be live on March 31, but with social distancing in force in New York City because of COVID-19, it went online on March 24 and concluded at 4 p.m. on March 31 with an impressive $4,037,500 total (with ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Country Americana
Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers, Columbus, Ohio
Photos courtesy Garth’s
Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers went back to the basics for its March 28 sale of country Americana. The material represented a sweet spot for the auction house, but Ohio’s stay-at-home order because of the coronavirus pandemic led Jeff Jeffers, Garth’s CEO and principal ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Record Price for Aladdin Lamp
Photos courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates
On March 28 Jeffrey S. Evans &Associates in Mt. Crawford, Virginia, conducted an online-only sale of 771 lots of kerosene lighting, led by the Aladdin lamp collection of Larry Spradley of Beaumont, Texas. The sale’s top lot was a possibly unique clear opalique Short ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Collection of June and Larry Greenwald
Treadway Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Treadway Gallery
Tiffany lamps from the collection of June and Larry Greenwald dominated the March 22 auction conducted online and absentee by Treadway Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio. The single-owner auction was a mix of high-quality decorative arts typical of June Greenwald Antiques of Cleveland. From a humble ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Stay-Home Order Not a Problem for Art Auction
Rachel Davis Fine Arts, Cleveland, Ohio
Photos courtesy Rachel Davis Fine Arts
While many industries scrambled to create an online presence amid the COVID-19 outbreak and the closing of nonessential businesses to public foot traffic, those in the auction industry who have made online options available to their clientele for years were ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Hilliard & Co. Enjoys Continued Growth
Hilliard & Co., Madison, Virginia
Photos courtesy Hilliard & Co.
With more than 50 cataloged sales under their belts, André and Nicholas Hilliard are seeing sale-over-sale and year-over-year growth at their Madison, Virginia, auction gallery. The most recent auction at Hilliard & Co. was held on March 14 and consisted of more ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Buatta Collection at Stair
Stair Galleries, Hudson, New York
Photos courtesy Stair Galleries
Auctioneer Colin Stair of Hudson, New York, remembers a time, not so long ago, “when the whole of New York was decorated in chintz and floral prints.” When he worked in the English furniture department at Sotheby’s he often found himself in Mario ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Works by Sally Mann and Édouard Cortès Take First Place at March Sales
Leland Little, Hillsborough, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Leland Little
To heighten enthusiasm the week before his March 13 and 14 sales, Leland Little sent multiple e-mail blasts to his fan base. The reminders were graphic essays prepared by his information technology staff that focused on a few specific lots. Consignor and art ... (Read More)
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(Show)Madison IS Americana!
Madison Antiques Show and Sale, Madison, Georgia
If there ever were a capital city for southern Americana, it should be Madison, Georgia, especially at the end of February each year. For 19 years the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center has produced the small, invitation-only Madison Antiques Show and Sale, held February 20-22 this ... (Read More)
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