Stories for December '23
(Issue Story)Auction Prices Realized, December 2023
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) Artificial “Intelligence”
Beneath the Surface
Small business, as many of you know, has its perks. You can go to the movies, bank, or grocery store in the middle of the week when things are quiet. You can be 15 minutes late getting back from a dental appointment or take off early in the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)A Closer Look at David Ellinger
Native Son: The Life and Art of David Ellinger by Lisa Minardi is the catalog for the retrospective exhibition of works by David Ellinger (1913-2003), a native son of Trappe, Pennsylvania, on view until July 28, 2024, in the galleries of the Dewees Tavern at Historic Trappe, at the crossroads ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Celebrating the Artistry of Folly Cove Designers
A Book Review
Located on the North Shore of Gloucester, Massachusetts, the neighborhood of Folly Cove has inspired generations of artists, including the printmakers of Folly Cove Designers, which operated from 1941 to 1969. Unlike the emerging Abstract Expressionists of post-World War II, Folly Cove Designers were trained to draw their ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Folk-Art Watercolor Goes to Independence Seaport Museum
In 1984 a schoolboy’s navigation workbook was donated to what was then the Philadelphia Maritime Museum—now the Independence Seaport Museum (ISM)—by Mary Lyman Cox Muir Cammann, whose second husband, Schuyler Van Rensselaer Cammann (1912-1991), was directly related to Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat.
The notebook did not have anything to ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, December 2023
Franklin’s Lost Arctic Companions Revealed
More than doubling the high estimate in the process, the set of 14 recently rediscovered and very early daguerreotype portraits depicting Sir John Franklin and other senior members of an ill-fated 1845 expedition aimed at completing the charting of a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)More Protection, Please
The collapse of Garth’s is a stunning development. The Ohio-based business had been a steady regional auction house for decades. Since its founding in the 1950s, it has brought significant Americana to market. It’s an immense loss for the antiques market, evoking sadness and some anger.
While we mourn Garth’s, the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Hanging with Bob Markowitz
Treasures abound at “Casa Markowitz,” home to antiques collector and dealer Robert “Bob” Markowitz, whose day job is practicing pediatric medicine in Boston and its environs.
The good doctor runs the Optimal Wellness for Life program specializing in pediatric obesity at Children’s Hospital and its satellite locations in Waltham and Peabody, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, December 2023
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, blown cameo glass vase, 1900, 6¼" x 21 1/16" x 21 1/16". Image courtesy Chrysler Museum of Art. Photo by Edward Pollard. © Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory.
—November 17, 2023-March 15, 2024 —Saint Augustine, Florida
Art Nouveau is an exuberant, radical style that takes inspiration from the vitality of ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Garth’s Auctions and Jeff Jeffers Surrender Auction Licenses
Garth’s Auctions—a staple in the Americana market for decades—is gone.
According to a settlement agreement between Garth’s Auctions, Inc., and its CEO, Richard “Jeff” Jeffers, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which regulates auctions in Ohio, Jeffers and Garth’s are “permanently ineligible for auctioneering licenses in the state of Ohio.”
The settlement, ... (Read More)
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(Show)The San Francisco Fall Show
San Francisco, California
This year’s San Francisco Fall Show was held October 11 to 15 at the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture. October 12, the first full show day of the show—the day after the famous-for-the-lamb-chops-alone opening party—was a dressy affair. From the vignettes at the entrance to the ... (Read More)
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(Show)Another Strong Weekend at Fishersville
Fishersville Antiques Expo, Fishersville, Virginia
The 71st edition of the semiannual Fishersville Antiques Expo was held October 13 and 14 at the Augusta Expo Event Center in Fishersville, Virginia. The show has been a mainstay in the mid-Atlantic region for 38 years, and it does not appear to be losing any ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Fresh Weber Box Tops Americana Sale
Hess Auction Group, Manheim, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Hess Auction Group
The fall Americana sale at Hess Auction Group in Manheim, Pennsylvania, October 7 offered a traditional Pennsylvania menu—two Jonas Weber boxes, some Ben Austrian paintings, a Schimmel dog, Christmas ornaments, marbles, teddy bears, butter prints, and chalkware, all items collected in this ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Max Ernst’s Flowers Leads at Potomack
The Potomack Company, Alexandria, Virginia
Photos courtesy The Potomack Company
The Potomack Company’s fall menu consisted of a series of seven online-only auctions between September 21 and October 6. During the three weeks, more than 1300 lots were offered. The firm continues its established practice of targeting its sales. This series offered ... (Read More)
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(Auction)A Sale of Serious Collections
Pook & Pook Inc., Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Pook & Pook Inc.
Pook & Pook, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, is known for getting some surprising high prices for Pennsylvania German household gear and painted furniture, but in recent catalog sales, Americana has not brought the most surprising high prices. At Pook & Pook’s “Americana ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Tiffany Lamps and Victoriana Bring $2.5 Million
Fontaine’s Auction Gallery, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Fontaine’s Auction Gallery
On September 23 and 24 Fontaine’s Auction Gallery, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, sold a group of Tiffany lamps, Victoriana, and other fine property, 818 lots, for a total of $2.5 million. There were about 200 antique lighting devices—about 40 were made by Tiffany Studios. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Evans Sells the H. Marshall Goodman Collection
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Mt. Crawford, Virginia
Photos courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates
In two sessions, September 22 and 23, Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Mt. Crawford, Virginia, sold the collection of H. Marshall Goodman Jr. of Richmond, Virginia. The more than 1000 lots represented only a portion of the ... (Read More)
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(Show)The September York Show
Original Semi-Annual York Antiques Show and Sale, York, Pennsylvania
The Original Semi-Annual York Antiques Show and Sale in York, Pennsylvania, September 22 and 23 was half the size it was in the old days. Four dealers listed on the website were not there. There were two days of setup for the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Early 20th-Century and Modern Design
Rago/Wright, Lambertville, New Jersey
Photos courtesy Rago/Wright
Rago/Wright held a one-day streamlined sale September 21 in Lambertville, New Jersey, that began at 11 a.m. with 109 lots of early 20th-century art pottery and Arts and Crafts decorations. They were followed at 1 p.m. by 152 lots of 20th-century design, beginning with works ... (Read More)
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(Show)Americana and More at Lebanon Show
Lebanon Antique Show, Lebanon, Ohio
The Lebanon Antique Show was held September 9 and 10 on the Warren County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Ohio. Described as the state’s longest-running antiques show, the event is a fund-raiser for the Warren County Historical Society.
The show featured 35 booths. Promoter John Wanat lost five dealers, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Leland Little’s Signature Fall Sale
Leland Little Auctions, Hillsborough, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Leland Little Auctions
Before his 275-lot fall “Signature” auction September 9, Leland Little reflected on the future of the antiques auction business. “I’m looking forward, not back,” he said. “The best is yet to come as baby boomers begin to downsize.” Most of that ... (Read More)
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(Show)Country Farm Antiques Show
Casey, Illinois
In its fourth year, the Country Farm Antiques Show was held August 26 in Casey, Illinois. The venue, Richards Farm Restaurant, housed about two dozen dealers. “It went really well. Three or four of the dealers said they had their best show there to date,” said Kim Groothuis, who ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Antiques and Artifacts at Marion
Marion Antique Auctions, Marion, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Marion Antique Auctions
Marion Antique Auctions offered a two-day auction August 19 and 20 in its Marion, Massachusetts, gallery that ran the gamut of antiques and artifacts. The first day began with a group of etchings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) from an area ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Train Reigns at Americana Auction
Bonhams Skinner, Marlborough, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Bonhams Skinner
Bonhams Skinner’s August 13 Americana auction in the Marlborough, Massachusetts, gallery featured a fair number of maritime lots and some fine clocks. The highlight of the live and in-person 71-lot sale was a 2008 model of a locomotive, which sold for $51,200 (including buyer’s ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Marine Sale at Eldred’s
Eldred’s, East Dennis, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Eldred’s
Eldred’s opened its August 10 and 11 marine sale in its gallery in East Dennis, Massachusetts, with 19 lots of well-documented scrimshaw from a Rhode Island collection along with scrimshaw and whaling items from other collections that drew lively bidding. The highlight of the first ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Antiques and Estate Items in Amesbury
John McInnis Auctioneers, Amesbury, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers
It was a very busy spring and summer for John McInnis Auctioneers in Amesbury, Massachusetts, with a fine art auction July 13, an online estate sale July 16, and a garden and lawn furnishings sale July 27. The auction covered here, McInnis’s ... (Read More)
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(Show)Antiques at Wells Reserve at Laudholm
Wells Antiques Show & Sale, Wells, Maine
The Wells Antiques Show & Sale, Wells, Maine, now in its 22nd year, is one of those shows that only improve year after year. Collectors and dealers returned to the show on June 25 at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, a national estuarine research ... (Read More)
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