Stories for June '25

(Issue Story)

Fitting It In
by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond

Beneath the Surface At a recent show, we sold our two biggest and heaviest things, which always means it is a successful show. In our early auction days one strategy of ours was to go to shows and walk the floor the last few hours; we would usually come up with ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Hanging with Amelia Jeffers
by Julie Schlenger Adell

Amelia Jeffers wears a bracelet that reads “fearless,” and she subscribes to the notion “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Luck has rested on her shoulder since childhood. “I’m a poor kid from West Virginia,” she said, who had no generational ties to antiques. Thanks to an elementary school ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Landmark Maps of Texas: History and Much More
by M.A.D. Staff

A Book Review Frank and Carol Holcomb compiled a vast collection of maps during their 45 years of collecting. Many of these maps are the illustrations for Landmark Maps of Texas, which is less of a scholarly history of Texas maps and more of a cartographic art lesson of the state. ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

L.A. Pawn Shop Owner Indicted
by M.A.D. Staff

Glenn Steven Bednarsh, 58, the owner of a pawn shop in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles, California, was indicted on April 22 for allegedly conspiring to sell a stolen Andy Warhol print trial proof, which was shipped from the Beverly Hills office of an auction house to Dallas, Texas, ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Auction Prices Realized, June 2025
by M.A.D. Staff

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)

(Book Review)

Concord Museum’s American Revolution Collection
by Bob Frishman

A Book Review “The Revolution, the great turn from a monarchy to a republic, was already over well before April, 19, 1775, the day the Revolutionary War began.” So writes David F. Wood, celebrating his 40th year as Concord Museum curator and author, in his new richly illustrated book. Eyewitness to Revolution: ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Ohio Man Charged in Online Auction Fraud
by M.A.D. Staff

Paul Jackson of Youngstown, Ohio, was charged on April 7 in federal court with two counts of wire fraud. Jackson is accused of defrauding “Online Auction Site 1” from November 2017 through August 2021. The online auction site is not named in the court filing, but prosecutors state that it ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Jim Crow Meets Bluebeard: Imagination and Humor in the Staffordshire Potteries
by Joe Mottashed

The Collector’s Find The story, or perhaps the journey, began at Elinor Penna’s home on Sunday, October 1, 2023. That was the day members of the Staffordshire Figure Association (SFA) had the opportunity to purchase figures from Penna’s vast collection of Staffordshire figures, numbering in the thousands. Penna, a well-known collector ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Collector Discipline
by Baron Perlman

For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories. —Plato Collectors need many attributes if they are to build a collection over time that they are proud of. Patrick Bell of Olde Hope names three. Passion and knowledge are two. (And of course money never hurts.) ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Exhibitions, June 2025
by M.A.D. Staff

Manufactured by Thomas W. Jones, New York, peacock weathervane, 20" x 27½", circa 1885, copper. Private collection. —Through June 8 —Waterville, Maine Into the Wind: American Weathervanes at the Colby Museum of Art dives into the history of weathervanes, exploring their symbolism, use, and manufacture and what their designs advertised as they ... (Read More)

(Show)

Another Way: The High Point Antique & Design Center
by Pete Prunkl

High Point, North Carolina High Point, North Carolina, was once the furniture capital of the world. Its first factory opened in 1888. Aided by cheap labor, an abundance of hard woods, and a tradition of cottage-industry furniture makers, by 1900 High Point and the surrounding Piedmont region had 44 furniture factories. ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Brazilian Folk Painting Tops Maine Auction
by Clayton Pennington

Farrin’s Country Auctions, Randolph, Maine “My grandmother bought it on a cruise in 1957,” said the consignor of a Brazilian folk painting that was the top lot at Farrin’s Country Auctions in Randolph, Maine, on April 26. “It’s been in my house, sometimes just leaning against a wall,” she said, sitting ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Bloody Massacre Sells for $200,000
by Walter C. Newman

Paul Revere’s engraving The Bloody Massacre is one of the most familiar images related to the American Revolution. The event depicted, commonly referred to as the Boston Massacre, took place in the evening of March 5, 1770, and is considered one of the seminal moments that solidified Colonial resistance to ... (Read More)

(Auction)

The Spirit of Spring: Modern American Art at Christie’s
by Julie Schlenger Adell

Christie’s, New York City Photos courtesy Christie’s Female Modernists occupied some of the real estate in Christie’s 99-lot modern American art sale April 17 in New York City. The live auction, which attracted over two dozen attendees, totaled $14,228,382 and had an 84% sell-through rate. Christie’s reported that 18% of the buyers ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Bierstadt’s Old Faithful Tops Decorative Arts Auction
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Doyle, New York City Photos courtesy Doyle Auctions are unpredictable. Sales depend on estates that must be settled and downsizing by collectors who change their focus. In these times of economic and political chaos, consignors were cautious as they watched the middle market settle down to lower values and saw sectors once ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Hilliard’s Eclectic Sale Lives Up to Its Name
by Walter C. Newman

Hilliard & Co., Madison, Virginia Photos courtesy Hilliard & Co. One of the realities of the post-COVID-19 online antiques auction world is the move toward targeted sales. We now see an increasing number of sales that consist of lots grouped so as to appeal to specific genres or collecting categories—Asian ceramics, 20th-century ... (Read More)

(Auction)

New Auction Record for Temperance Jug
by Karl H. Pass

Crocker Farm, Sparks, Maryland Photos courtesy Crocker Farm Setting a new auction record for an American temperance jug, this Anna Pottery stoneware temperance jug, 12" tall, with a rare solid cobalt ground sold to a folk-art collector for $144,000 (est. $30,000/50,000). Provenance, condition, extravagant decoration, and coloring (the blue ground) all played ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Tiffany and More
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Rago, Lambertville, New Jersey Photos courtesy Rago Tiffany Studios enameled copper cabinet vase with mushrooms, circa 1905, just 2¼" high x 2½" diameter, sold online for $82,550 (est. $10,000/15,000). “It turned up on Antiques Roadshow in Oregon, and the owner said she bought it for less than a dollar at a garage ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

$900,000 Fine Levied in Endangered Species Case
by M.A.D. Staff

On April 9 a federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced two men for trafficking protected birds and eggs into the United States in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Dr. John Waldrop of Cataula, Georgia, was ordered to pay a $900,000 fine—one of the largest ever for an ESA case—and serve ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Spring Sale of Art, Silver, and America’s Favorite Pastime at CRN
by Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo

CRN Auctions, Cambridge, Massachusetts Photos courtesy CRN Auctions. Two fine estate collections from stalwarts of the antiques business came to market at CRN Auctions April 6 in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, gallery. One featured some interesting 19th- and 20th-century paintings from the estate of private dealer John “Jack” Carter of Gloucester, Massachusetts, including ... (Read More)

(Show)

The 2025 Mt. Kisco Antiques Show
by Julie Schlenger Adell

Mt. Kisco, New York Show manager Debbie Turi of D. Turi Antique Shows rallied some 28 dealers to set out their wares at St. Francis of Assisi church in Mt. Kisco, Westchester County, New York, on April 5 and 6. A sizeable crowd had already shown up by the time M.A.D. visited ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Spring Sale of Americana at Horst
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Horst Auctioneers, Ephrata, Pennsylvania Photos courtesy Horst Auctioneers Horst Auctioneers’ spring sale in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, began Friday, April 4, at 2 p.m., lasted until 6 p.m., continued on Saturday, April 5, starting at 9 a.m., and was over by 2 p.m. All 805 lots found buyers, and the sale brought a total ... (Read More)

(Show)

The GCADA Greater Rochester Spring Antique Show
by Fran Kramer

Henrietta, New York The patrons poured in to Minett Hall inside the ROC Dome Arena in Henrietta, New York, April 5 at 10 a.m. for the Greater Rochester Spring Antique Show produced by the Genesee Country Antique Dealers Association (GCADA). Escaping the pouring rain, they were eager to buy antiques, and ... (Read More)

(Auction)

African American Art at Swann Galleries
by Julie Schlenger Adell

Swann Auction Galleries, New York City Photos courtesy Swann Auction Galleries Swann Auction Galleries, New York City, held its customary spring African American art sale Thursday, April 3, a day after the stock market reacted negatively to the Trump administration’s announcement of widespread tariffs. Nevertheless, the 193-lot sale totaled $1,797,755 (including buyers’ ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Tremont Attracts International Interest and Sales
by Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo

Tremont Auctions, Sudbury, Massachusetts Photos courtesy Tremont Auctions Tremont Auctions featured several large collections in the March 30 sale in the Sudbury, Massachusetts, gallery. American and European paintings attracted interest, and a large portion of the artwork was headed overseas. A large collection of Asian objects came from upstate New York, and ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

John Deere Sign Brings Big Money
by M.A.D. Staff

A recently discovered John Deere Gilpin Sulky Plow sign sold to a private collector for $71,500 (includes buyer’s premium) at an auction conducted by Aumann Auctions of Nokomis, Illinois. The sale closed on April 28. Bidding for the sign started at $1 on March 28. Photos courtesy Aumann Auctions. The rare chromolithographed ... (Read More)

(Show)

International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Print Fair
by Julie Schlenger Adell

New York City The International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Print Fair speaks for itself, evidenced by the lines of ticketholders wrapped around the Park Avenue Armory in New York City all the way to Lexington Avenue on opening night. And those on line were VIPs who arrived a full hour ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Toy Market Strength on Display at Bertoia
by Susan Emerson Nutter

Bertoia Auctions, Vineland, New Jersey Photos courtesy Bertoia Auctions Bertoia Auctions’ spring “Signature” event held March 15 in Vineland, New Jersey, found the second half of the Curtis and Linda Smith collection of pre-1900 American toys headlining the event. The first session of this couple’s collection of toys sold a year ago ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Bonhams Skinner Art Sale
by Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo

Bonhams Skinner, Marlborough, Massachusetts Photos courtesy Bonhams Skinner Bidders disregarded the estimates on Island Funeral, this charcoal on paper sketch, 43" x 50½" (sheet size), by Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945) and drove it to $508,500 (est. $25,000/35,000). In September 1934 Wyeth watched from the porch of his home in Port Clyde, Maine, ... (Read More)

(Show)

Stellar Gate and Growth for Hudson Antique Show
by Susan Emerson Nutter

Canfield, Ohio The Hudson Antique Show held March 8 and 9 at the Canfield Fairgrounds Event Center (a.k.a. the Michael Kusalaba Event Center) in Canfield, Ohio, recorded the largest gate in the history of the show. Dealers and shoppers alike pulled show manager Steve Sherhag aside to state variations of ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Buyers Root for Orville
by Mark Sisco

Casco Bay Auctions, Freeport, Maine Photos courtesy Casco Bay Auctions The Casco Bay Auctions March 8 sale in Freeport, Maine, was spiced by a few items that notably leaped past their estimates to settle in at low four-figure prices and a few awakening sleepers that later might yield tidy sums for their ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Marc J. Matz Collection of China Trade and Indian Art Draws Strong Bids
by Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo

New England Auctions, Branford, Connecticut Photos courtesy New England Auctions Fred Giampietro of New England Auctions offered the Marc J. Matz collection in a single-owner sale March 5 in Branford, Connecticut. Matz is a longtime specialist in works from the China trade, colonial India, the Dutch East Indies, Japanese export, and Southeast ... (Read More)

(Show)

The Original 184th Semi-Annual York Antiques Show & Sale
by Christopher Malone

York, Pennsylvania On January 31 and February 1 the York Fairgrounds Convention & Expo Center in York, Pennsylvania, opened with a rush of eager buyers looking for the best in Americana and folk art. The Original Semi-Annual York Antiques Show & Sale is attended by people from multiple nearby states because ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Selling the Future
by Clayton Pennington

A 200-vendor group shop in North Tonawanda, New York, entered into an agreement in November 2024 with Flow Capital Funding LLC to provide capital. Those funds came at a high cost—almost 50%. It wasn’t a loan. According to paperwork filed in a Monroe County, New York, courtroom, the shop sold future ... (Read More)
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