Stories for August '15
(Computer Article)Tips for Touchscreens
Touchscreen artificial nails are shown laid on a smartphone. The ridge seen on the middle one completes the electrical circuit between the artificial nail tip and the user’s cuticle.
Computer Column #320
John Reid, <[email protected]>
Most of us are multilingual and may not realize it. Versatile musicians know that the fingering is different ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Father, Son, and Daughter Plead Guilty in Fake Peter Max Case
From left: Leslie Roberts (left) and his wife, Silvia, with Peter Max when Max in the Grove opened in 2009. Photo courtesy Coconut Grove Grapevine.
It was a family affair.
Miami, Florida, gallery owner, Leslie Roberts Jr., pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of mail fraud and was sentenced on ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Winterthur Scientist Helps Team Discovering Why Matisse's Brilliant Yellow Is Fading
An international team of scientists that includes Winterthur Museum’s senior scientist Jennifer Mass, Ph.D., has announced new findings on why a bright yellow pigment favored a century ago by master artists such as Henri Matisse fades to a drab beige. The study, published in the June 2015 issue of Applied ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Westmoreland Museum of American Art Honors Richard M. Scaife
The board of trustees of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, recently voted unanimously to rename the director/CEO position held by Judith O’Toole as the Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO.
A 2005 recipient of the museum’s Westmoreland Society Gold Medal as “Distinguished Patron,” Scaife supported the museum during his ... (Read More)
|
(Young Collectors)Prioritizing Change
The Young Collector
We all know about opinions. As the old saying goes, opinions are like dirty socks. Everyone has them, and they all stink. Turns out, we seem to feel the same about priorities, which makes sense because priorities are a more visible reflection of opinions, opinions in action, if ... (Read More)
|
(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 a mail-order house is the place to look.
Homes Down East: Classic Maine Coastal Cottages and Town Houses by Earle ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Frame Consignments--Risk Free
Eli Wilner & Company, New York City, has a new program to provide frames at no upfront cost to consignors of artwork. According to Wilner, “In order to participate in this program, the owner of the artwork must agree to purchase the Wilner frame, but the payment is only due ... (Read More)
|
(Auction Law and Ethics)Prepare to Negotiate
Auction Law and Ethics
We are nearing the end of a long series I have been writing about consigning valuable property to auction. The length of this review reflects the importance of the process and the points, issues, and strategies that it includes. My goal is to help consignors make successful ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Jeff and Holly Noordsy, Cornwall, Vermont
Jeff and Holly Noordsy in front of some of their favorite glass.
Pair of rearing horse andirons, circa 1930, $795. The rear supports for the log rests are in the shape of horseshoes.
Portrait of a boy with a gun, complete with shot bag and silver-mounted powder horn. The stretcher is yellow ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Legislation to Protect New York Art Authenticators Passes Senate
“Art authenticators are critical to preventing art forgery and fraud. However, very expensive lawsuits have deterred these experts from rendering their opinions to the point of disrupting commerce,” explained New York State Senator Elizabeth O’Connor Little.
Little said the point of the legislation she sponsored was “to establish protections under the ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Julia Sells Antique Advertising, Toy, and Doll Division to Morphy
Fairfield, Maine, auctioneer James D. Julia has sold his firm’s antique advertising, toy, and doll division to Dan Morphy Auctions LLC, Denver, Pennsylvania.
“For nearly 30 years, we have been a major force in the antique toy, doll and advertising world, but as of recently, we have had a couple of ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Heritage Auctions Expands to Hong Kong
Kenneth Yung.
Dallas-based Heritage Auctions has announced that it will open an office in Hong Kong in late 2015. Heritage has hired Kenneth Yung as its director of Asian operations. The company is finalizing its plans to acquire space in the city and will hold its first auction in December.
“Heritage already ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)A Colonial Masterpiece Brings $218,300
Two full pages in the catalog were devoted to the 44" x 43" x 23" walnut desk by cabinetmaker Robert Walker that sold for $218,300 (est. $150,000/250,000). The large batwing brasses were original. See story for details.
These large (22" tall) cast bronze figural andirons by Louis McClellan Potter (1873-1912) got ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Bill to Outlaw Possession of "Big Five" Species Introduced, Passed by NY Senate, but Then Recalled
On April 7 New York State Senator Tony Avella introduced a bill that would ban the import, possession, sale, or transportation in New York of the “big five” African species, the African elephant, African lion, African leopard, black rhinoceros, and white rhinoceros.
The bill would amend current state law by including ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Letter from London
Ian McKay, <[email protected]>
Items as diverse as a lock of Mozart’s hair, an Olympic torch, and a goggle-eyed figurine from ancient Japan feature in this month’s selection. Japan also provides a wonderful screen recalling an early encounter with the “Southern Barbarians”—the Portuguese in this instance. This month’s “Letter” also offers perfume ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Group Shop Owner Reaches Plea Deal
The owner of Derby Antiques and More, LLC, Derby, Kansas, reimbursed some of her former clients more than $13,000 on June 15 as part of plea negotiations with prosecutors. Sandra Ostrander pleaded guilty to three counts of theft in return for a recommendation that she be placed on probation and ... (Read More)
|
(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 website for ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Simple Goods Show in Ohio Changes Hands
The Simple Goods antiques and primitives show in Mansfield, Ohio, has been sold to Massachusetts antiques dealer and show promote Kris Casucci, who with her husband, Paul, and Pennsylvania antiques dealer Christina Hummel owns Walker Homestead in Brookfield. Hummel and her husband, Scott, own Primitive America Antiques in Pennsdale.
Casucci and ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Dolphin Promotions to Manage 40th Annual Pineapple Antiques Show
Dolphin Promotions has been selected by the Rotary Club of Sarasota Sunrise Foundation to manage the 40th annual Pineapple Antiques Show to be held March 12 and 13, 2016, in Sarasota, Florida. The show will feature 40 dealers. The two-day event will be held at the renovated Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Historic Deerfield Acquires 1803 Tall-Case Clock
Tall-case clock by William Lloyd (1779-1845), 1803, Springfield, Massachusetts, cherry, white pine, sumac, birch, brass, iron, bitumen, and enamel. Historic Deerfield photo
Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts, has acquired a Springfield, Massachusetts, tall-case clock made by cabinetmaker William Lloyd (1779-1845). The case, made in 1803, had been on loan to Historic ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)An Army of One
Editorial
You can’t fight City Hall, or so the old saying goes.
Don’t tell that to Karen Barchi, owner of Bay Avenue Antiques, Barnegat Township, New Jersey. She’s on the verge of victory.
Last year the Barnegat Township Committee passed a “Secondhand Dealers” ordinance that put severe restrictions on antiques dealers in the ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Chappaqua Antiques Show Canceled for 2015
The Chappaqua Antiques Show, which has been in existence for 46 years in the tiny hamlet in northern Westchester County, 40 miles from New York City, has been canceled this year. Organized by a team of over 100 volunteers under the aegis of the New Castle Historical Society (NCHS), the ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Financial Troubles of Broker/Consultant Create Avalanche of Legal Action
A broker and consultant’s financial troubles have led to three lawsuits, and he figures prominently in other suits where he is not named as a defendant. London resident Timothy Sammons and his dissolved firm, Timothy Sammons, Inc., are facing suits in U.S. federal courts and a New York state court. ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Yes, There Are Treasures to Be Found
This mask sold for $380,621.
This Kota reliquary figure sold for $6,172,827.
Photos courtesy Christie’s
A Tlingit mask from the Northwest Coast of America, striking in its expressiveness and rare iconography, sold at Christie’s in Paris on Tuesday, June 23 for $380,621 (includes buyer’s premium), more than four times its high estimate ($56,994/91,191).
The ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Spitler Chest Brings $356,500
A yellow pine blanket chest decorated in paint by Johannes Spitler (1773-1837) and called the “Long Family Spitler blanket chest” sold at auction for $356,500 (includes buyer’s premium) on June 20 at Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Mt. Crawford, Virginia. The buyer was a southeast Virginia collector.
Jeff Evans said, “To ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Burglary at Vintage Vendors in Florida
On Wednesday, June 10, employees at Vintage Vendors in Fernandina Beach, Florida, encountered an individual they thought to be suspicious for several reasons. The man arrived at closing time with a box of antique items and attempted to sell the items to the store employees. The employees declined to purchase ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Skinner Live Auction in Boston, Online Sales, and Open for Business in NYC
I was watching the Skinner auction online when this signed Howard & Co. antique sapphire and diamond ring from the Lanier family of Indiana and New York came up. It was prong-set with a cushion-cut sapphire measuring approximately 9.82 x 9.10 x 6.60 mm and weighing 5.43 carats framed by ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Purple Flask Has Collectors Green with Envy
Photo courtesy American Glass Gallery.
In every category of collecting something will come along that will cause others to ooh and ahh and say, “Wow, that’s a beauty.”
At the May absentee bottle auction held by the American Glass Gallery (AGG) was a J R & Son scroll flask made by ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)The Warshawsky Collection
The top lot of the sale was this circa 1910 Oriental Poppy floor lamp, bought by dealer Sandy van den Broek for a client. She paid $1,066,000 for the lamp. It was estimated at $400,000/ 600,000. She fought off bids from two phone bidders and one in the salesroom. The ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Clocks, Watches, and Antiques at Schmitt Spring Sale
The highlight of the two-day sale was this 80" high E. Howard & Co. No. 60 regulator wall clock that sold for $40,500.
This man’s minute-repeating chronograph was the highlight of the watches when it sold within estimate for $16,312.50. It was made by London makers Nicole, Nielson & Co. for ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)The Harry Hartman Sale
This rare Soap Hollow miniature blanket chest attributed to John Sala, with the initials and date “JKM 1851,” is grain-painted and has gilt stenciling with a central horse and rider with a bird atop the rider’s head, flanked by urns of flowers, and with a checkerboard band border and a ... (Read More)
|
(Show)Spring Masters 2015
Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts, New York City, took a large booth located at the front of the show. Displayed on the wall are a set of five terra-cotta reliefs by Carl Milles (1875-1955), The Muses, circa 1935, each 15½" x 10", priced at $125,000. In the center is a 1934 ... (Read More)
|
(Show)Shenandoah Antiques Expo Just Gets Better and Better
Don Toth of Richfield, Ohio, trades as Parkside House Antiques. Toth set up on the infield and offered this group of Americana items. The honey-color dry sink is constructed of pine and features a high back with a shelf and two drawers. The sink was tagged $825. The wooden toolbox ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Bonhams Sells von Eldik Collection on Site in Virginia
The high lot of the von Eldik sale came from the fine arts category. This pair of large oil on canvas naturalistic scenes is by Peter Caulitz (German, circa 1650-1719). First is an avian group with strutting cocks, hens, turkeys, and pigeons in a yard before a stone dwelling. The ... (Read More)
|
(Show)The Grass Valley Old West Show
Jeff Holabird of Western Americana, Reno, Nevada, was asking $8000 for this circa 1872 pocket watch made by a Virginia City, Nevada, jeweler.
Helena, Montana, dealer Don Grimmer was exhibiting but not selling this vintage advertising bulldog, something he had long coveted at Desert John’s Saloon Museum, Deer Lodge, Montana. It ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Beacons Bring $27,000
These maritime beacons, made of copper and brass, have plaques reading “The Patent Lighting Co., Ltd. Hayes England.” The cut-crystal Fresnel lens prisms are set into bronze frames. With hinged and vented tops and hoisting rings, the beacons opened at $15,000. Bidders from the Internet and phone competed until the ... (Read More)
|
(Show)The Historic East Berlin Antiques Show
Mark Wannemacher of East Berlin, Pennsylvania, asked $975 for this copper kettle made by John Kidd in Reading, Pennsylvania, circa 1796.
Lynne Oppenheimer of Ivy Hill Primitives, Langhorne, Pennsylvania, asked $965 for the very large English pewter plate, 1720-40; the punched tin lantern was $385; the soapstone inkwell, $195; the stoneware ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Fabergé Cane Tops Spring Auction
The top lot of the auction, this fabulous Fabergé cane with a handle of nephrite, gold, diamonds, and a ruby realized $11,800 (est. $10,000/15,000). Sweetening the deal, its ½" ringed gold collar was marked with a pre-1884 St. Petersburg city touch, with “56” (14 karats), and with “EK” for Fabergé ... (Read More)
|
(Show)The Pure and Simple Antique Show
Shenandoah Valley pie safe, Rappahannock or Culpeper County, Virginia, grain painted, four tins, $2800 from Bob and Carole Closser of Red Kettle Antiques, Carthage, Indiana.
“Rabbits for Sale” sign, $110 from Tim and Charline Chambers of Missouri Plain Folk, Sikeston, Missouri.
Uncut hooked rug pattern, “E.S. Frost & Co. Biddeford, ME / ... (Read More)
|
(Show)The Greater York Antiques Show 2015
The line was long on Friday. The weather was too gorgeous on Saturday for a really big crowd, but the right people came, and business was done.
Kelly Kinzle of New Oxford, Pennsylvania, offered this Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, walnut Dutch cupboard, fresh to market, for $14,000.
Ruth Rogers of School House Farm ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)California and Western Paintings Auction Brings Highest Total in 16 Years
Old Coast Road, 30" x 36", by William Wendt (1865-1946), which had a two-page spread in the catalog and was pictured on the back cover as well, broke the million-dollar mark, selling for $1,565,000 (est. $400,000/600,000). This painting was on the cover of Plein Air Painters of California: The Southland ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Kennedy Blanket Brings $14,400
This navy-blue lap robe embroidered with the presidential seal, one of two from the presidential limousine of President John F. Kennedy, sold to a Texas museum for $14,400. McInnis photo.
This Federal period portrait miniature of a gentleman, 3" x 2¼", in a 14k gold frame in the original presentation case ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Unusual Mix of American, Continental, and Asian Objects
This riverine landscape by French artist Charles François Daubigny (1817-1878) came from a New Jersey collection and sold for $38,400. The painting retained a paper label of the Parisian gilder and framer on the back. CRN Auctions photo.
A Connecticut collection of Latin American items was also the source of this ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Folk Art Auction Tops $1 Million
Martin Ramirez (1895-1963), Caballero, graphite on paper, 25" x 23½", $44,400.
The single lot by Minnie Evans (1892-1987) sold for $30,000. From the artist’s personal collection, it had been displayed in the 1986 exhibition Heavenly Visions: The Art of Minnie Evans at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh. The exhibit ... (Read More)
|
(Show)The Antique Garden Furniture Fair
Cherry Gallery, Damariscotta, Maine, had a welcoming booth.
A new paint collection, inspired by the New York Botanical Garden, was introduced at the Antique Garden Furniture Fair. The NYBG partnered with paint manufacturer Prestige; purchases of the paint, available on Amazon.com, support the garden.
Francis J. Purcell displayed lanterns, carriage lamps, Art ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Pastels Rule the Day
This Northwood ice-blue stippled Strawberry ruffled bowl with a basketweave back sold for $18,000. Ice blue is among the rarest pastel colors, and this bowl further had a mix of unusual features of a basketweave back and stippled treatment. The bowl was the top-selling lot of the auction.
Northwood stippled Strawberry ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Texans' Clock Collection Sells in Massachusetts
Peter Sawyer took home this Joseph Nye Dunning wall clock for the second time. It has an eight-day time-only weight-driven brass movement typical of banjo-style wall clocks, but the shaped mahogany case is distinctive and especially attractive. It made $30,750. Two other rare Dunning clocks also brought strong prices.
One of ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Property from the Oprah Winfrey Collections
At $45,000, The Little Mother by Hovsep Pushman was the top lot. Photo courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
Some things are simply unexplainable. The set of six rabbit placeholders, estimated at $100/200, sold at $531. Hindman photo.
Visually striking, the circa 1900 Viennese ebonized dressing table measured 28" x 27½" x 19¾" and ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)North American Decoys at Auction
The $69,000 preening scoter by Maine carver Augustus Wilson, from the last quarter of the 19th century, has carved eyes and an inlet head. The form demonstrates a crossover with folk art and highlights a growing direction in decoy collecting. Guyette & Deeter photo.
These three Mason’s Decoy Factory plaques are ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture
LeRoy Neiman’s Football Star Constellation (35" x 24") was the top lot of the sale, bringing $430,000, way over its estimate of $40,000/60,000. It sold to an American private buyer on the phone. It was signed, dated “’78,” and inscribed “Louisiana Superdome / Super Bowl XII / Denver Dallas 1-15-78.” ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)A Fresh Maentel, Painted Furniture, and a Valley Forge Sign
Across the Canal by Edward Redfield (1869-1965), a 26" x 32" oil on canvas, signed lower left, was a gift of the artist to Charles F. Bockmann, grandfather of the consignor. It sold to a phone bidder for $132,000 (est. $40,000/80,000).
Pennsylvania painted poplar chest of drawers, circa 1815, with original ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Quinn & Farmer Sale Tops $1Million
The high lot of the sale was this pair of Chinese square stools. The stools, 17th/18th century, are constructed of huanghuali, a member of the rosewood family, long associated with fine Chinese furniture. The stools exhibit a square seat frame with an ice-plate or floating edge with a soft mat ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)American Indian and Western Art
Central Plains wool dress, thread-sewn navy wool, ten rows of dentalia create the yoke, sunburst designs on sleeves, 51" long, fourth quarter of the 19th century, $18,000.
Crow beaded hide rifle scabbard, sinew-sewn, beaded using white, dark blue, light blue,red white-heart, greasy yellow, pea-green, and pink beads, red wool strips, 41" ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Historic Firearms and Early Militaria
This original Colt Texas Paterson .36-caliber revolver with a 7½" octagonal barrel and matching serial number 718 on the barrel and cylinder has a folding trigger, and the barrel is marked “Patent Arms M’g. Co. Paterson, N.J. – Colt’s Pt.” The cylinder roll is engraved with a scene of a ... (Read More)
|
(Show)Liberty in the Spring
Old Salem, Inc. staff member Tyler Cox operates Stepback Antiques in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He brought what he called “a make-do” primitive two-door cabinet with white wash. “If you like primitives, it appeals,” said Cox of the $399 cabinet.
With vestiges of its original red paint, this Sky King velocipede was ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)New York Furniture Forum
The intact New York kast in black, white, and blue-gray paint and made of tulip, poplar, and maple, 1700-25, has trompe l’oeil stone-carved niches hung with pomegranates and other fruit, a bold cornice attached to the upper case, and a separate base containing a single drawer, reflecting urban Dutch cabinetmaking ... (Read More)
|
1 (800) 752-8521 • PO Box 1429 • Waldoboro, ME 04572
