Stories for June '22
(Fragment)Three Men Charged in Massive Fraud Scheme
An indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Chicago in April alleges a 15-year-long scheme to sell fake art and memorabilia.
The indictment charges mail fraud or wire fraud against Donald Henkel, 61, of Cedar, Michigan; his brother Mark Henkel, 66, of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Raymond Paparella, 59, of Boca ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)It’s Not Just Us
Beneath the Surface
Over the years we have talked a lot about what some people see as a declining interest in antiques. Is it because young people are debt ridden? Is it because they are more transient and not looking for purchases that are large in terms of size and in ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Phoenix Perches at Cahoon Museum
The Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Massachusetts has announced the debut of Phoenix by artist Robin Tost as part of the museum’s “Streetside” series.
Robin Tost and friend John Graney place Phoenix at the Cahoon Museum.
Phoenix is the third in a series of quilted birds made for The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, June2022
Both London and provincial sales once more provide the content of this “Letter” and offer a mix of the rare and very costly—into which category falls an early and very colourful little tile that made a very high six-figure sum—and in the rather more affordable category, some animal-themed pincushions.
Among the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Director of Books and Manuscripts at Skinner
John Dorfman is the new director of books and manuscripts at Skinner, Inc. He will oversee the research, acquisition, and sale of rare books, historical documents, autographs, and ephemera for the auction house.
John Dorfman.
Dorfman arrives from the field of arts journalism, having spent the past 16 years as editor-in-chief and ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Have You Seen Harriet Dean?
In 1868 portraits of Nathaniel and Harriet Dean were painted from life by Nicola Marschall (1829-1917), a well-known southern portrait painter, who also is widely accepted to be the designer of first national Confederate flag, known as the “Stars and Bars.” Born in Prussia, Marschall immigrated to America in 1849, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Auction Prices Realized, June 2022
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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(Issue Story)Hanging with Diana Douglas and Michael Ogle of American Garage
After almost 30 years in business, with 14 of those spent running their Los Angeles gallery, Michael Ogle and Diana Douglas moved a couple of years ago to a custom-built house on a lake 30 miles south of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they maintain their design business and sell predominantly ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Left to Their Own Devices
Next month, auctions in New York City will no longer be governed by strict rules that were put into place in 1986. Beginning June 15, auctioneers in New York City will no longer need a license. The change puts the city on the same footing as the rest of the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, June2022
Portrait of Catherine Gates Willard (1762-1785), artist unknown, oil on canvas, circa 1785. Courtesy Willard House and Clock Museum.
—Through June 25 —North Grafton, Massachusetts
For centuries clocks and watches have been depicted in artwork. Timepieces have served as reminders of human mortality and as symbols of affluence, occupation, or technological ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Antique Bottle with Nitric Acid Destroyed by Bomb Squad
On May 4 the Sublette County Unified Fire was dispatched to the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, Wyoming, to safely collect and dispose of a small quantity of concentrated nitric acid in an antique bottle, a press release stated. Presumably the bottle had been donated to the museum, ... (Read More)
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(Show)Martha Sells!
Great American Tag Sale, Katonah, New York
When Martha says sell, her flock listens. Over Rt. 22 past Girdle Ridge Road they flew to Martha Stewart’s compound in Katonah, New York, for the Great American Tag Sale. There were a few hundred lucky and proactive ticketholders who scored early admittance (for ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Weber Box Leads Americana Auction
Pook & Pook, Inc., Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Pook & Pook, Inc.
Pook & Pook’s spring sale in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, April 21 and 22 offered 806 lots of mostly estate property, including consignments from two much-loved dealers, Peter Tillou and Christopher Rebollo. On Thursday evening beginning at 6, after a preview party, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Beatles Poster Sells for $275,000
A bright yellow cardboard window card promoting the Beatles concert at New York’s Shea Stadium August 23, 1966, sold for $275,000 (includes buyer’s premium) at Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas, April 16.
The price shatters the previous auction record for a concert poster—$150,000 paid for another Beatles Shea Stadium poster and for ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Winter Show at Barneys
New York City
The Winter Show in spring was no April Fools’ joke. From April 1 until April 10, it filled the space that was once Barneys department store at 660 Madison Avenue in New York City with works of art from prehistory to the present in every medium and all ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Popeye and Olive Oyl Tank Brings $105,000
Photos courtesy Milestone Auctions
At Milestone Auctions’ April 9 toy auction, a Linemar Popeye and Olive Oyl Tank with its original box sold for $105,000 (includes buyer’s premium); the estimate was $30,000/40,000. According to the Willoughby, Ohio, auction house, that price sets a new auction record for a Popeye toy.
The buyer ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Bixler Flowerpot Blooms
Crocker Farm, Sparks, Maryland
Photos courtesy Crocker Farm
The Zipps of Crocker Farm put together a powerhouse 479-lot spring sale. Held from March 25 to April 8, the absentee-format sale ended with a callback session April 9, the day after bidding closed, for lots with $5000 or higher bids.
“Our last four sales ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Diving Helmets and More
Nation’s Attic, Wichita, Kansas
Photos courtesy Nation’s Attic
Imagine this: Officers of the submarine U.S.S. Batfish are huddled in their quarters, nervously pulling on cigarettes and stubbing them out in a brass ashtray as they decide whether to stay afloat and use the dark seas as cover or submerge and fire upon ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Eclectic Estate of Carl Grenn
Green Valley Auctions, Mt. Crawford, Virginia
Photos courtesy Green Valley Auctions
Green Valley Auctions conducted a three-session online-only antiques and collectibles sale over three consecutive days, March 29-31. The sales were staged from the firm’s facilities in Mt. Crawford, Virginia.
Although there were several consignors, the overwhelming majority of the material came from ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Aftermath Sets New Artist Record
Swann Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Swann Galleries
Swann Galleries’ sale of African American art in New York City the afternoon of March 31 offered 241 lots of paintings, lithographs, sculpture, mixed media, and quilts. At the end of the six-hour live auction, held online, the department had sold $3,684,007 worth ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Small Americana Sale at Skinner
Skinner, Inc., Marlborough, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Skinner, Inc.
Skinner’s March 30 American furniture and decorative arts auction comprised 111 lots. Presale press releases described the selection as “tightly curated.” It was. A cache of objects that descended from Alexander Hamilton caught bidder interest. Several of the Hamilton objects related to other important ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Quality, Paint, Surface, and a Country Aesthetic
Garth’s, Columbus, Ohio
Photos courtesy Garth’s
“Pro-ject and e-nun-ci-ate.” Words from a high school English teacher. Mrs. Buzzard was a stickler about speech. She talked with a diction in which every syllable popped, and she expected no less from her students. In that manner, she would have approved of the online-only two-session ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Carpenter and du Pont Estates
Wooten & Wooten, Camden, South Carolina
Photos courtesy Wooten & Wooten
In 2013 when Jeremy and Rebecca Wooten started their antiques auction business in Camden, South Carolina, their business plan centered on the antiques category that put South Carolina on the map: pottery. With large sales of ceramic jars and jugs from ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Historical Design Sale in California
California Historical Design, Alameda, California
Photos courtesy California Historical Design
There were a whopping 956 lots in the March 26 California Historical Design auction in Alameda, California, so bidders had to know what they wanted. The top sellers were a veritable who’s who of the Arts and Crafts era.
Even with an illegible ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Antique Jewelry at Heritage Auctions
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
A well-curated array of antique jewelry was offered at Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas, March 22 when its antique heirloom jewels auction was held. Jill Burgum, senior director of the jewelry department, shared news about the auction and the market in post-sale email communications. She ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Inaugural Sale of DeWitt Collection Brings $1.8 Million
Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
During his lifetime, the fascination that J. Doyle DeWitt (1902-1972) had with historical American political memorabilia produced what Heritage Auctions called “one of the most significant political history collections in the country.”
A portion of DeWitt’s vast collection sold for $1,883,533 March 19 and 20 ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 65th Annual Spring Fox Valley Antiques Show—Online
Digging through data on the 65th annual Spring Fox Valley Antiques Show, held online March 19 and 20, we spotted a positive trend for the antiques trade and a good thing for collectors—and it came from the horrendous years of COVID-19.
Readers may remember that we introduced the “pounce” when we ... (Read More)
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(Show)“The World of Collecting Begins with Things from Everyday People”
Genesee Country Antique Dealers Association Antiques Show, Pittsford, New York
This quotation, “The world of collecting begins with things from everyday people,” from an exhibitor at the 47th Genesee Country Antique Dealers Association (GCADA) Antiques Show, held in Pittsford (Rochester), New York, March 19 and 20, started me thinking. Is she ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Drexler’s PinKing Reigns Supreme
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, Maine
Photos courtesy Barridoff Auctions
Mostly 20th-century art sold at Barridoff Auctions’ aptly named International Fine Art Sale March 19 in the South Portland, Maine, gallery. Peter Coccoluto called the 206-lot sale, which divided up pretty much equally among bidders in the gallery, bidders on the phone, and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Country Americana
Skinner, Inc., Marlborough, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Skinner, Inc.
Skinner’s online country Americana sale March 5-15 was one of the auction house’s “Discovery” sales, auctions that are offered on a more or less monthly basis. These sales feature lots from across the Americana spectrum and include artwork, estate material, and decorative objects from ... (Read More)
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(Show)“You Had Me at Hello”: Making Sales in Ohio
The Hudson Antique Show, Canfield, Ohio
Springtime in northeast Ohio: it’s true that all four seasons can occur in a 24-hour period at that time of year in the Buckeye State. Unfortunately winter came and stayed for the Hudson Antique Show, held at the spacious Canfield Fairgrounds Event Center in Canfield, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Monique Knowlton Toy Collection Brings $2.16 Million
Bertoia Auctions, Vineland, New Jersey
Photos courtesy Bertoia Auctions
Pristine. Perfect. There are no absolutes, but when a collector works in an industry where perfection is desired, it is easy to see how that notion can manifest itself elsewhere. Monique Knowlton, a former international fashion model and art gallery owner, knows all ... (Read More)
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(Show)A Gathering on the Prairie
Arthur, Illinois
Nobody would have predicted what was ahead. On March 7, 2020, when A Gathering on the Prairie opened the doors for its regular semiannual appearance at the Otto Center in Arthur, Illinois, the mood was upbeat despite talk of the COVID-19 virus that was spreading across the United States. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Rural Life Antique Show
Tuscola, Illinois
One day before the spring edition of the semiannual Rural Life Antique Show, held March 4 and 5 in Tuscola, Illinois, Chris Smith of American Antiques, Waynesville, Ohio, was confident about the weekend ahead. “I’m going to peel the walls tomorrow,” he said.
Among the items for sale was a ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Spring Country Spirit Antique Show
Arcola, Illinois
The semiannual Country Spirit Antique Show had its largest event to date during the spring edition held March 4 and 5 at Arcola, Illinois. Forty-five dealers set up at three locations around town, with a staggered opening time for each on Friday. Enthusiasm from shoppers was palpable, according to ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Circus Is Coming to Town
Freedom Auction Company, Sarasota, Florida
Photos courtesy Freedom Auction Company
The arrival of the circus used to be a highlight for any community it visited. The very first signs of a circus’s impending arrival were the posters that popped up all around town weeks ahead. Vacant buildings, fences, and telephone poles were ... (Read More)
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