Stories for April '13

(Fragment)

Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George
by David Hewett

 Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, New York, will be the site of an unusual major art exhibition beginning this June. The collection has received a $200,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, with additional support from the Charles R. Wood Foundation and other sources, to mount the first exhibition of ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Saline Antiques Market to Fill Ann Arbor Gaps
by M.A.D. staff

The new Saline Antiques Market will be held June 15-16, July 20-21, August 17-18, September 14-15, November 17, and December 8 at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds in Ann Arbor, Michigan.According to a press release, when the promoters of the Ann Arbor Antiques Market chose to refocus their efforts to ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Philadelphia Antiques Week Events
by Lita Solis-Cohen

There are plenty of events during the 2013 Antiques Week in Philadelphia to keep collectors and dealers busy. Stenton Symposium The Stenton Symposium, “Philadelphia & the Frontier: Urban & Vernacular Furniture in the Early Eighteenth Century,” will be held Thursday, April 11. The sold-out program was rescheduled after Hurricane Sandy caused its ... (Read More)

(Feature)

Appreciating an Important Contribution to Our Musical Heritage
by Scott Keuler

If you sauntered down the quaint cobbled streets of London, England in the late 18th/early 19th centuries, you would have passed by a large number of musical instrument makers. Shops such as Jacob Erat & Sons, Dodd & Sons, Sebastian Schwartz, Schwieso & Grosjean, J.C. Schwieso, J.A. Stumpff, and the ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Exhibitions
by M.A.D. staff

Exhibitions Maine Antique Digest includes, as space permits, brief announcements of exhibitions planned by galleries, museums, or other venues. We need all press materials at least six weeks in advance of opening. We need to know the hours and dates of the exhibit, admission charges, and phone number and Web site ... (Read More)

(Computer Article)

Point-of-Sale Tablet
by John P. Reid

This laptop for writing sales slips at shows might be replaced soon by the tablet computer on the left. Computer Column #292 John P. Reid, [email protected] The world is periodically turned upside down by new technology, such as Gutenberg’s printing press and Watt’s steam engine. The automobile, airplane, radio, television, and computer radically ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

The Philadelphia Antiques Show Solves Some Tax Problems
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Philadelphia, looking for ways to raise revenue, is collecting obscure back taxes plus interest from antiques dealers who participate in shows in that city. First targeted were dealers who exhibit at the venerable Philadelphia Antiques Show, the fund-raiser for Penn Medicine, the healthcare part of the University of Pennsylvania, the largest ... (Read More)

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William Crolius Heart-Shaped Inkstand Gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
by Karl H. Pass

Photo courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The William Crolius incised and cobalt blue decorated heart-shaped inkstand on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for the past 22 years has recently been made a promised and partial gift to the institution. Purchased by Pennsylvania collector ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

California Country Show: Under New Management and New Name
by M.A.D. staff

Sandy Raulston and Ted Birbilis, owners of Roadside America in Pasadena, California, have taken over the management and promotion of the California Country Antiques Show in Los Altos, California. The show, now renamed the New California Country & More Antiques Show, will be held on June 9 and October 20.Raulston ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Christie’s and Sotheby’s Change Buyers’ Premiums
by M.A.D. staff

On February Christie’s and Sotheby’s announced new buyers’ premiums. Christie’s new buyer’s premium in the United States is 25% of the hammer price of each lot up to and including $75,000; 20% of the hammer price from $75,001 up to and including $1,500,000; and 12% above $1,500,000. Sotheby’s new fees are 25% ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

$20 Million Thomas Cole in Crate
by Betty Flood and Katlin Nash

In February the Seward House Museum and the Fred L. Emerson Foundation jointly announced that Thomas Cole’s landscape Portage Falls on the Genesee, 84" x 61", had been removed from the museum and was going to be sold. The Fred L. Emerson Foundation, incorporated in Delaware in 1943, was the former ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

A Taxing Problem
by Clayton Pennington

Tax authorities in Philadelphia, in a clumsy and shortsighted move, have decided that dealers exhibiting at the Philadelphia Antiques Show, one of the most prestigious shows in America, are tax scofflaws who haven’t been paying enough tax to the city (see Lita Solis-Cohen’s report on page 12-A). The city is ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Books Received
by M.A.D. staff

These are brief reviews of books recently sent to us. We have included ordering information for publishers that accept mail, phone, or on-line orders. For other publishers, your local bookstore or mail-order house is the place to look. A Handsome Cupboard of Plate: Early American Silver in the Cahn Collection by ... (Read More)

(Young Collectors)

Point, Click, Bid!
by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond

The Young Collector We’re not lazy people. Trust us. In the past 48 hours we have gone to two grocery stores, the post office, the gas station, the pet store, and the bakery; worked on four upcoming lectures; made the necessary preliminary notes for this column and cranked out 800-plus words; ... (Read More)

(Feature)

Scouting the Competition
by Al Kenney

The Art of Marketing Since beginning this column several months ago, I’ve received a fair number of open-ended questions, all of which I have answered as quickly as possible through e-mail. Answering individually has not been an easy task, so I thought I might spend some time in the column discussing ... (Read More)

(Auction Law and Ethics)

No Transparency at the Block
by Steve Proffitt

Auction Law & Ethics Every time I pick up a paper or click on the news, someone is calling for transparency in something. Critics and the media demand transparency in this and that. The public wants transparency in everything—except their individual affairs. Transparency shows up time and again in discussions of ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Letter from London
by Ian McKay

Ian McKay, [email protected] From the portraits of two beautiful women whose lives followed very different paths, this month’s selections move on to include Dr. Heller’s “silver lexicon,” blacksmithies and white owls, masterpieces of 18th-century French furniture making, overweight cattle and pigs, beautifully engraved glasses, and something to bring a smile to ... (Read More)

(Feature)

John Fignar of Saratoga Springs, New York
by Frank Donegan

John Fignar is shown with the slot machine he bought in Las Vegas that got him hooked on gambling antiques. It’s a Pace “Saratoga” model machine made in 1937. In addition to being a slot machine, it also includes the world’s easiest pinball game, which you had to “succeed” at ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

U.S. Attorney Files Forfeiture Complaint for $15.77 Million in Vintage Photos
by David Hewett

On March 1, United States Attorney for New Jersey Paul J. Fishman announced that he and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marion Percell filed a complaint on February 22 in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey for forfeiture of more than 2200 pieces of art—mostly vintage photographs—from Green Diesel, LLC, and ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Esmerian Case: Sotheby’s Moves to Quash Bankruptcy Trustee’s Order
by David Hewett

Three documents were filed with the clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, at just before 4 p.m. on February 19,beating a filing deadline of 5 p.m. by a little more than an hour. With those filings, the fate of the Ralph Esmerian folk art collection ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

February Jewelry Auctions
by Mary Ann Brown

Antique Jewelry and Gemology Photos courtesy Sotheby’s, Doyle New York, and Freeman’s Three sales in February offered jewelry ranging from modest to extravagant to buyers shopping for Valentine’s Day. Sotheby’s sale of “Important Jewels” was on February 7 and included the higher-priced jewels (though the offerings were more moderate than the stellar ... (Read More)

(Show)

The Only Stella Show in Town
by Nancy A. Ruhling

Chuck White of Warwick, New York, had several weathervanes lining his booth walls, and this quill example, by J.W. Fiske, caught the eye. Made in the 19th century, it was priced at $9000. “It’s in untouched condition,” he said. You didn’t need a mirror to see that this mermaid, priced at ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Sotheby’s Americana
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), A View of Mount Vernon with the Washington Family on the Terrace, signed and dated along the bottom, “Benjamin Henry Latrobe nat. del. [delineated from nature], July 16, 1796,” watercolor and pen and ink on paper, 16 3/8" x 24", consigned by a descendant of John ... (Read More)

(Show)

The Winter Antiques Show 2013
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Peter H. Eaton and Joan R. Brownstein of Newbury, Massachusetts, sold the tall grain-painted chest (left) and the 12-panel chest under the pair of portraits by Ammi Phillips, from the artist’s “Border” period, of Ashbel Stoddard and Patricia Bolles Stoddard. The Rhode Island gate-leg table was $48,000. The compass-seat chair ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Americana at Christie’s
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Edward Hicks (1780-1849), Penn’s Treaty, oil on canvas, 17¾" x 23¾", with the words “Penn’s Treaty” in gold on the mahogany frame, sold for $2,546,500 (est. $600,000/900,000), the highest price of Americana Week. It has not been seen in New York since 1977 when it was shown at Hirschl & ... (Read More)

(Feature)

Americana at Bonhams
by Clayton Pennington

The $3000/5000 estimate was quickly eclipsed by bidders both on the phone and in house for a painted and parcel-gilt urn that took off, ultimately selling for $152,500 to a phone bidder. It was Russian Imperial Porcelain, dated 1830 in Cyrillic, 21½" high, and decorated with a young woman sewing ... (Read More)

(Show)

The Metro Show 2013
by Lita Solis-Cohen

This 50" x 131" cotton textile painted with natural dyes from the Huari culture of Peru was carbon dated to A.D. 850 and was $350,000 from William Siegal Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Eric Garduño said that it is the finest he has ever owned. The Weiss twins, Leon and Steven, ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Other Events in New York City during Americana Week
by Lita Solis-Cohen

James Kochan of Frederick, Maryland, is shown next to a 34" x 52" oil on canvas by John Jenkinson, A Private Armed Vessel Arriving at Liverpool, that was tagged $65,000. “It looks like a Robert Salmon,” said Kochan, noting that Jenkinson and Salmon were contemporaries in Liverpool, England. Jenkinson, however, ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Keno Sells Americana
by Lita Solis-Cohen

This 1760-80 Massachusetts 32¾" x 34" x 20¾" mahogany serpentine chest of drawers sold on the phone for $117,800 (est. $50,000/80,000), the top lot price of the sale. John Ritto Penniman (1782-1841) of Boston painted the 1818 burning of Boston’s Exchange Coffee House and signed and dated it on the lower ... (Read More)

(Show)

Ceramics Fair 2013
by Lita Solis-Cohen

The Bohemian National Hall is a perfect place for the New York Ceramics Fair. A chorus of Martin Brothers bird tobacco jars were (from left) $50,000, $35,000, $32,000, $90,000, and $55,000 from George Kingham of Kinghams Art Pottery, Ltd, Gloucestershire, in the Cotswolds, U.K. One sold! The second from the right ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Copley’s Winter Sale
by Lita Solis-Cohen

This preening eider drake decoy by Augustus “Gus” Aaron Wilson (1864-1950) of Maine, circa 1900, sold in the salesroom on one bid for $172,500 to New York City collector Jerry Lauren. The estimate was $150,000/250,000. O’Brien called it “one of the finest traditional Maine decoys ever offered at auction.” A ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Special Sale of Americana
by Don Johnson

Late 19th-century full-bodied cow weathervane in copper with verdigris surface, attributed to New York, 27½" high x 43½" long, bullet holes and surface damage, $24,675. Paint-decorated poplar blanket chest with original pinwheels and flowers on a red ground, dated 1835, Centre County, Pennsylvania, 25½" high x 49" wide, repaired hinge rail, ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Happy New Year’s Day At Foster’s
by Mark Sisco

This Louis Vuitton traveling wardrobe opens to reveal an abundance of drawers and hanging compartments and sold for $8800. This Enrico Caruso caricature of fellow Italian tenor Dante Del Papa and a book entitled Caricatures of Caruso (not shown), published in 1908, which includes a very similar caricature of Del Papa, ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Design of the 20th Century
by Lita Solis-Cohen

This rare Tiffany Studios Trumpet Creeper lamp sold for $914,500 (est. $400,000/600,000) to an American private collector. It was highest auction price for Tiffany in December 2012. The 1902-06 lamp has a large Tree base. The leaded glass and patinated bronze shade is impressed “Tiffany Studios/ New York/ 346-1” and ... (Read More)

(Auction)

20th-Century Design Including Tiffany
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Carlo Bugatti (1856-1940), rare desk and chair, circa 1902, the chair with adjustable back, painted vellum, tooled copper, brass, and wood, desk 36¾" high x 27¼" wide x 22" deep, and the chair 38¼" high, sold for $80,500 (est. $30,000/50,000). Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) for Jean-Michel Frank (1895-1941), Trepied a Feuilles table ... (Read More)

(Feature)

The Greenberg Collection of Art Deco
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Jean Dupas, Allegorie du Tissu, circa 1937, 38½" x 128", oil on canvas with silvered wood frame. It sold for $1,650,500 (est. $150,000/250,000) to an American private collector. It is the final preparatory painting for a mosaic executed by Dupas for the Pavillon du Textile at the 1937 Paris Exposition ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Design Sales
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Line Vautrin (1913-1997), Baguettes mirror, circa 1960, convex mirrored glass, Talosel resin, colored glass, 14¾" diameter, sold for $96,100, the highest price of the week for a Line Vautrin mirror. Harumi Nakashima (b. 1950), Struggling Form T-1, 2001, stoneware, white, blue, and transparent glazes, 38" x 34½" x 17½", sold for ... (Read More)

(Auction)

American History Auction
by Don Johnson

Worsted wool 34-star Naval flag with diamond-shaped star configuration, 6' x 10', some toning, scattered holes, and canton repair, $23,500. Book from Thomas Jefferson’s library, Robert Patterson’s A Treatise of Practical Arithmetic, Intended for the Use of Schools (1818), purchased in 1829 at the sale of Jefferson’s library in Washington, D.C., ... (Read More)

(Auction)

American Paintings Sale
by Lita Solis-Cohen

George William Sotter (1879-1953), The Neighbors, signed bottom right, and with “George W. Sotter Studios” on the stretcher label, 26" x 32", oil on canvas. It sold for $62,500. It was painted on burlap, the texture of which is visible throughout the painting, under the paint. Asher Brown Durand (1796-1886), Landscape, ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Holiday Sale 2012
by Don Johnson

Cowan Jazz bowl in melon green glaze, signed by designer Viktor Schreckengost,  8¼" high x 13 5/8" diameter (the smaller of the two sizes made), some restoration to cracks, $25,300. Rookwood Iris glaze plaque by Sturgis Laurence, 1903, four-masted ship off the coast of Maine, catalogued as having the back incised ... (Read More)

(Feature)

Bankruptcy Trustee Goes after Transfers
by David Hewett

The “Grand Reopening Sale” for New Orleans Auction Galleries (NOAG), November 30-December 2, 2012, was featured in M.A.D., March 2013, p. 16-D. The previous business bearing that name had run into financial problems and declared bankruptcy on April 1, 2011. That filing is still open and being conducted by Judge ... (Read More)
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