Stories for June '13
(Fragment)Palm Beach Show Group to Launch Chicago Show
The Palm Beach Show Group (PBSG) is a adding a seventh show to its portfolio. The inaugural Chicago International Art, Antique & Jewelry Show will take place at the Navy Pier on April 24 through April 28, 2014. It will feature more than a hundred dealers and will kick off ... (Read More)
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(Feature)Barn Star Revives Wilton Show
The Wilton Historical Society and Frank Gaglio’s Barn Star Productions will produce a new one-day show, the Wilton Fall Antiques Market, on Sunday, October 27, at the Wilton High School Field House in Wilton, Connecticut.
Show manager Marilyn Gould produced Wilton shows for years. Gaglio said in a press release, “I ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Antiques Roadshow “Golden Ticket” Sweepstakes
Antiques Roadshow, PBS’s most-watched ongoing prime time series, is offering “Golden Ticket” sweepstakes entrants a chance to win a VIP trip for two to the Roadshow event in Richmond, Virginia.
The grand prize includes round-trip transportation for two adults to Richmond; hotel accommodations for two consecutive nights; a VIP entrance for ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)GLM Acquires the Pier Antiques Show and Antiques at the Armory
Show producer GLM has acquired the Pier Antiques Show and Antiques at the Armory from Stella Show Management Company in a deal announced on May 20.
“Following the recent addition of the Miami National Antiques Show to our annual events, the acquisition of these established shows in New York further strengthens ... (Read More)
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(Feature)Solomon Bell Cats Bring $73,000
Earthenware cats with lead and manganese glaze. “These are probably the best example of Strasburg, Virginia, redware figures that have ever been offered or sold in public,” the buyer told us. Photo courtesy Burt Long.
A pair of redware cats made by Strasburg, Virginia, potter Solomon Bell sold for $73,000 (no buyer’s ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Are Massachusetts Show Exhibitors Due a Dose of Philadelphia-Style Tax Medicine?
A fresh threat from a state taxation entity has emerged to bedevil show dealers, many of whom have not yet recovered from the Philadelphia dispute that cost them dearly last year.
The Philadelphia episode occurred when exhibitors at past shows began receiving dunning notices from a collection agency seeking retroactive “business income ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Rebel Collector Embraces Loisaida and Graffiti Art
John Axelrod and his Australian terrier, Myrna Loy, with (untitled by the artist) Subway Door by Lee Quinones (b. 1960). The work is acrylic, oil stick, and spray enamel on a 37¾" x 27¼" section of a wooden New York City subway door. “This was part of a door between ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)Books Received
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.
New Views of New England: Studies in Material and Visual Culture, 1680-1830, Martha ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)Recipient of the 2012 American Ceramic Circle Book Award
A Book Review
Liverpool Porcelain 1756-1804 by Maurice Hillis Maurice Hillis, 2011, 570 pages, hardbound, £60 plus S/H from (www.TheLiverpoolPorcelainBook.weebly.com)
In his foreword to this groundbreaking tome, Geoffrey Godden leaps from his long-occupied English porcelain pedestal to exclaim, “This is the most welcome and eagerly awaited of books.” Godden, who is not ... (Read More)
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(Feature)Needlework from Hunterdon County, New Jersey
When Dan Campanelli sold his Halloween collection at Noel Barrett’s in 2003, he said that he and his wife, Marty, were changing the direction of their collecting. Now we know that their next passion was samplers. When they bought an old house in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, they narrowed their ... (Read More)
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(Computer Article)Antiques Apps
Stoneware crocks in an on-line auction viewed on a small Android tablet.
Computer Column #294
by John P. Reid, [email protected]
In the last year this column has commented often about the rapid rise of mobile computing—of the use of smartphones for more than phone calls and of tablet computers. Mobile computing is even ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Vazzana and Steele to Assume Cord Shows
From left: Ed McClure, Beth Steele, Rich Vazzana, and Vivien Cord.
Cord Shows Ltd. events will be assumed in 2014 by the father/daughter team of Richard Vazzana and Beth Steele of Ridgefield, Connecticut, according to Vivien Cord, president of Cord Shows Ltd., and her partner, Edward McClure.
Cord and McClure will continue ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)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)
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(Book Review)Prior Knowledge
A Book Review
Artist and Visionary: William Matthew Prior Revealed
by Jacquelyn Oak and Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw
Fenimore Art Museum, 2012, 64 pages, softbound, $29.95 plus S/H from Fenimore Art Museum (www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/museumshop) or (888) 547-1400.
When an auctioneer must catalog a small unsigned flat-painted portrait of a man, woman, or child, he or she ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Stoneware Jug with Acrobats Goes to New York State Museum
A Fulper Brothers four-gallon stoneware jug depicting acrobats, offered at the 2013 Winter Antiques Show in New York City for $295,000, is now part of the Weitsman Collection of American Stoneware at the New York State Museum (NYSM) in Albany. It was acquired for the museum by stoneware collector and benefactor ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Three Jewelry Auctions
Alexander Eblen said that this Victorian yellow gold, pearl, and shell cameo brooch was beautifully crafted. “With shell, you’re dealing with a material that is most common in cameos, so it gets the least respect; however, when you have a really finely carved one, and it’s something out of the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)More on Rockwell's Willie Gillis: Package from Home
Drama surrounding the sale of Norman Rockwell’s 1941 painting Willie Gillis, Package from Home appeared to sputter to a close in mid-April when Chicago auctioneer Sean Susanin chose a curious way to announce that he had sold the painting for $1.75 million. That sum is millions below the $3/5 million ... (Read More)
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(The Art of Marketing)Creating Goals and Improving Web Traffic
The Art of Marketing
Last month I covered the topic of setting a budget to cover the most essential marketing items that you need. This month we will review creating achievable goals. Once your core strategies have been set, you’ve completed your SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, and you ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)The London Foundling Hospital’s Textile Tokens, 1740-70
John Styles, a research professor in history at the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K. and an honorary senior research fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, researched ordinary people’s clothing for his book The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England, published in 2007. Very ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)High Noon for Consignors
Auction Law & Ethics
Transparent is not a correct adjective for the auction process. Murky is close. Midnight is the truth. When I serve as an auction consultant to consignors, this is the message that I continually emphasize.
Since April, we have been considering the lack of transparency in auctions and how ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London
Ian McKay, [email protected]
Time passes, as they say, and in preparing this month’s reports I became only too aware that a few clocks I meant to include in earlier “Letters” were still on my files. Those clocks were accompanied in the waiting room by Chinese works of art sold in the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Samuel Prince, Master Cabinetmaker in Revolutionary New York City
Figure 1. Royal Gazette, June 27, 1778.
Figure 2. Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer, April 22, 1773.
Figure 3. Bureau chest of drawers, or Beau Brummel, labeled by Samuel Prince, circa 1770, mahogany, poplar, brass (replaced), mirror glass, height 33¾", width 40", depth 22". Museum of the City of New York, New York City, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Rebekah Milne and Seamus McCance, At Home Antiques and Gallery, Kingston, New York
Two generations. On left, Seamus McCance with partner Rebekah Milne, who’s next to her parents, Jim and Judy Milne.
Exterior of the shop at 81 Broadway in Kingston.
A view of the shop’s 30' ceilings.
Rustic hand-hewn farm table, $2850; set of seven reproduction Windsors—one arm and five sides—$3250; 1970’s red tableware, $20 ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Things Are Looking Up
The Young Collector
We’ve pretty much given up complaining about wanting to talk to real people, haven’t we? After lots of complaining in the 1990’s about the growing numbers of “Push one for…” phone systems, we’ve just sighed and gone on about our business. The Internet, most would say, has only ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)A Trail to Follow
Editorial
The antiques business could use a helping hand, and Connecticut State Senator Rob Kane is trying to get his state to lend one.
Kane, a Republican who represents the 32nd District, which includes Woodbury and ten other towns, has sponsored a bill in the General Assembly to expand the existing Connecticut ... (Read More)
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(Feature)Early Illinois Folk Art 1825-1925
Two-piece hollow cast-iron bull with black and white paint, sometimes known as a “Baloney Bull,” manufactured by the Simpson Windmill and Machine Company.
The DuPage County Historical Museum in Wheaton, Illinois, opened the exhibition Early Illinois Folk Art 1825-1925 on April 13. The exhibit, which offers the opportunity to examine the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Auction House Owners Arrested for Offering Elephant Footstools
Mary Jo Garlo, 60, and Peter Francese, 70, owners of Great American Auction Service, Inc., Hyde Park, New York, failed to obtain a permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) before offering in an auction two stools made of elephant feet. On April 10, New York ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Doyle Sells Diego Giacometti Console Table for Record $1,762,500
Console table by Diego Giacometti (Swiss, 1902-1985), bronze and glass, signed “Diego” and monogrammed “DG.” The 31¾" x 67" x 15" table was accompanied by a certificate from James Lord; a letter from Pierre Matisse to Serge Matta, the French fashion designer for whom this table was made in 1975; ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana, Paintings, and Decorative Art Sold on the Cape
Cape Cod artist Ralph Eugene Cahoon (1910-1982) painted this seaside scene with three sailors carrying two mermaids in nets. In the background a train pulls into an active seaport. A hot air balloon, often seen in Cahoon’s paintings, is in the sky. The painting sold quickly at $22,420 (est. $15,000/20,000).
This ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Decision Reached: Sotheby’s to Sell Esmerian Folk Art Bonanza
It’s as final a word as any could be about the often up-in-the-air business. Sotheby’s will offer the 212 pieces of folk art formerly at New York City’s American Folk Art Museum at a public auction at the end of this year or early in the next. The possibility that ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Repaired Butter Churn Brings $19,500
$19,500.
A rare circa 1825 N. Clark & Co. (Nathan Clark, Athens, New York) six-gallon salt-glazed stoneware butter churn, decorated with a large cobalt deer and tree, brought $19,500 (no buyer’s premium charged) at Rhonda’s Auction and Event Center in East Bloomfield, New York, on March 23. According to the auctioneer, the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Every Picture Tells a Story
Pablo Picasso, Visage au nez noir, 13" high white earthenware clay pitcher, 1969, decoration in engobes (slip glazes) of black, green, blue, white, and red, engraved by knife under partial brush glaze, marked “Edition/ Picasso/ 122/200/ Madoura,” stamped “Edition/ Picasso” and also “Madoura/ Plein Feu” on bottom, $48,400.
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Toys Main Attraction of Third Lambert Auction
An early 18th-century cherry Bible box in its original dry surface with a carved pinwheel in the center of the lid and carved star in each corner stole the show when it went from an opening bid of $1000 to close at $11,000. Collector Cliff Stanton, phoning from Florida, bought it.
A ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Double Bogey
Two of the early standouts in the African sale were these bronze ancestral plaques from Benin dating to the 16th-18th centuries. The one on the left, with three young men in high relief, 17½" x 14½", sold for $17,250. Right, a bronze guardian plaque of three warriors, each carrying a ... (Read More)
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(Show)Sales Stronger Than Ever at Sixth AD20/21 Show—Finally
(From left) AD20/21 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award winner John P. Axelrod; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston curator Nonie Gadsden; and Boston Architectural College President Theodore C. Landsmark. For many years, Axelrod has had a close association with the MFA, Boston, acting as an overseer and donor. The Art of the ... (Read More)
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(Show)Connecticut Spring Antiques Show in the Armory a Hit with Exhibitors and Visitors
No, it’s not an Oreo cookie! This 2 5/8" diameter carved walnut butter print, or stamp, came from the collection of Frederick S. Weiser, a Lutheran pastor and authority on Pennsylvania German culture and artifacts who died in 2009. The print is sitting on page 123 of Weiser’s Butter Prints ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Buyer’s Premium Dropped for Attendees of Cast-Iron Concept Sale
Hubley coupe, 6¾" long, $1003.
Excellent Kenton vehicles abounded. This sprinkler tank truck, 7" long, made the biggest splash at $1534.
Kenton city bus, 6" long, $1100.
Arcade yellow cab panel van, 8" long, restored, $1200.
From a bumper crop of farm equipment, three tractors, 5½" to 8" long, sold for $1000.
Bertoia Auctions, Vineland, New Jersey
Photos courtesy ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Wootens Succeed at Debut Sale
This circa 1830 15-gallon stoneware storage jar signed by Harvey Drake of the Edgefield District, South Carolina, was the top lot of the sale at $168,000. See story for details.
A circa 1830 hunt board from Forsyth County, North Carolina, 41 3/8" x 54¼" x 19½", was the top furniture lot ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Garth’s Country Americana Auction
Soap Hollow blanket chest by Peter K. Thomas, dated 1862, poplar with its original stenciled decoration and red ground, trimmed in black and yellow, 28" high x 47½" wide, missing escutcheon inlays, replaced period glass pulls, $14,460.
Decorated Chippendale blanket chest, Pennsylvania or Virginia, dated 1791, pine and poplar, original paint, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Potomack Company Opens New Facility
This 36" x 36" silkscreen was the second Andy Warhol print offered at the sale. This image uses a photograph of flowers as its basic design. It is brightly colored with hot pink, yellow, and light blue blossoms and with green as the background. Signed by Warhol in graphite, it ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Don’t Bring a Gun to a Knife Fight
This Gorham Versailles pattern service in sterling, owned by the Bonbright family of Flint, Michigan, features more than 430 pieces, weighs 556.45 ounces, and came in a three-drawer mahogany campaign-style chest. The service sold at the top end of its high estimate for $18,000.
A swallow-tail American cavalry guidon with 35 ... (Read More)
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(Show)Indy Antique Advertising Show
Ron and Bridget Fugate of Middletown, Ohio, who are retiring from the antiques business, were setting up at their last Indy Antique Advertising Show. The painted wood Burma Shave sign behind them was tagged $150, while the embossed metal Professional Barbers Association sign cost $195.
Pepsi-Cola and Hires double soda fountain ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Lots of Bang for 13 Million Bucks
This one-of-a-kind engraved and gold-inlaid lightweight Winchester model 1886 lever-action rifle, made for automobile pioneer John Francis Dodge, brought the top price of the sale, $333,500. Julia photos.
This cased model 1893 Borchardt pistol by Loewe, serial number 22, featured two-piece walnut checkered grips numbered to match the pistol and various ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Fine and Decorative Art Auction
The Kentucky Arsenal by Paul Sawyier (1865-1917), oil on canvas, signed, 20" x 24" (sight), plus frame, $84,000.
Lonesome Pine Trail by Robert Burns Wilson (c. 1851-1916), watercolor on paper, signed, 22" x 10¼" (sight), plus frame, $10,200.
Shoveling Snow by Paul Sawyier (1865-1917), watercolor on paper, signed, 18" x 10½" (sight), ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 56th Spring Fox Valley Antiques Show
Neil Zuehlke of Hartland, Wisconsin, was one of two sellers set up in the atrium behind an entry display. Zuehlke and his wife said they liked their spot and that separation from the main rooms was just fine with them. The location brought many visitors. Their 1880’s hotel sign was ... (Read More)
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(Show)Antiques in Alexandria Celebrates 17 Years
This assortment of lusterware pitchers and pictorial children’s cups was found in the booth of Bill Shaeffer Antiques, Glyndon, Maryland. The prices ranged from $175 for the smaller mugs to $600 for the large pitcher.
Stuart Nordin Design, Alexandria, Virginia, offered these framed black-and-white prints. They are not dated, but they ... (Read More)
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(Show)Indianapolis Art & Antiques Show
A New Dress for the Empress by Jennifer Mujezinovic of Bloomington, Indiana, a 48" x 24" oil on canvas with collage, was offered by the artist and sold during the preview party.
This Danish peg tankard by Holm, circa 1910, late Renaissance style, .830 silver, was $2600 from Bradley M. Bloom ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Springfield Hog Brings $35,650
This stoneware flask signed “The Springfield Hog. from Kirkpatrick/ Anna, Ills May 21 1871” is unusually large for the form at 8¾" long. It sold for $35,650 (est. $30,000/40,000) to a collector from Pennsylvania bidding in the room. Both ears had chips; otherwise, the flask was in good condition. “The ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Solid Sale for Rago
This massive Teco vase by Fritz Albert, 22½" high and decorated with irises, was made in Terra Cotta (Crystal Lake), Illinois, circa 1905, and is stamped “Teco” twice. It sold for $212,500 (est. $35,000/45,000).
Rare seven-handled Grueby vase, Boston, circa 1900, 10¾" high x 8½" wide, marked with circular Grueby stamp, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)World at War Auction
German World War II Luftwaffe bomber clasp and day fighter clasp, excellent condition, $862.50 the pair.
Original U.S. McClellan saddle restored circa 1980 by Hank Kluin of Burgess and Company, Red Bank, New Jersey, replicates the M-1885 pattern cavalry saddle, with Kluin-made accessories, unused, very good to excellent condition, $920.
British Boer Wars ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Nineteenth-Century Antiques Sold in Alabama
All-original R.J. Horner nine-tube mahogany grandfather clock decorated with carved cross-armed full-bodied maidens down both sides of the case’s front, $86,250.
Circa 1880 Pottier and Stymus Neo-Grec ormolu and porcelain-mounted sideboard with parcel-gilt and ebonized marquetry inlay, $63,250.
Signed George Jones 10'6" monumental walnut regulator clock with carved deer head and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)African-American Art: Landscapes, Cityscapes, Dreamscapes
Up Balls by William T. Williams (b. 1942) went to an institution for $120,000 (est. $75,000/100,000). The 1971 acrylic on canvas, at 84" x 60" one of the biggest pieces in the sale, had been deaccessioned by the AT&T corporate art collection in New York City. It came to this ... (Read More)
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