Stories for March '13

(Fragment)

New Rules for Deaccessioning in New York
by Betty Flood

New rules for the de-accessioning of objects from New York collecting institutions and regulation of the use of the funds from disposed items are the highlights of legislation being sponsored by Assemblyman Steve Englebright. The bill would require collecting institutions to adopt and publish a binding collection management policy and ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

MADA Provides Grant to Friendship Museum
by M.A.D. staff

  From left: Harry Hepburn, Margaret Gagnon, Gordon Winchenbach, Pat Jameson, and Elizabeth DeSimone. The Friendship Museum of Friendship, Maine, has been awarded a grant of $1500 from the Maine Antiques Dealers Association (MADA). Museum president Margaret Gagnon and treasurer Gordon Winchenbach accepted the check, presented by MADA president Elizabeth DeSimone, endowment ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Black Powder ­Exempt from New York Gun Law
by Betty Flood

 Black powder used in many reenactments is exempt from New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s NY SAFE Act, a new gun control law. “The entire predication of the bill is based on the assault rifle,” according to Rich Azzopardi, deputy press secretary to Governor Cuomo. “One of the key characteristics ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

What Happened in New York City during Americana Week
by Lita Solis-Cohen

  Christie’s deputy chairman John Hays shows the Townsend signature on the bottom of the top drawer of the mahogany block-and-shell bureau table that brought $2,210,500 from a phone bidder. James Buttersworth painted “Flying Cloud”on her record breaking voyage to San Francisco around Cape Horn in 89-days, April 20th 1854. It sold ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Hearing for ­Proposed Sale of Esmerian Folk Art Postponed
by David Hewett

There was no January 29 hearing regarding a possible sale of the folk art assets in the matter concerning Ralph Esmerian and the American Folk Art Museum. That date originally had been proposed by liquidation trustee Jay Teitelbaum, in papers filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of ... (Read More)

(Computer Article)

Tablet Computers
by John P. Reid

 The Maine Antique Digest digital edition is shown being read on an Android tablet computer with a 7" diagonal- measure screen. Computer Column #291 Tablet computers are coming into their own after a decade of false starts. They have a definite place in an antiquer’s computer world, with a few specific limitations. An ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Did Rockwell’s Willie Gillis, Package from Home Sell or Not?
by Danielle Arnet

Willie Gillis, Package from Home. Susanin’s photo. The highly publicized sale of a Norman Rockwell painting for $2.8 million in Chicago may or may not be a done deal. The painting portrays Willie Gillis, a fictional character created by Rockwell, as an enlisted man carrying a food package from home. Close ... (Read More)

(Auction Law and Ethics)

Inside the Bunker
by Steve Proffitt

Auction Law & Ethics “Please Mister Postman, look and see if there’s a letter in your bag for me.” The Marvelettes, 1961. Mr. Postman delivered the following letter from a reader: “Hi, Steve, I am writing about an issue that has bugged me for a while. Sometimes bidders can bid on line in ‘live’ ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

In Connecticut, Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be
by S. Clayton Pennington

Getting a loan against your Lichtenstein or borrowing against your Bricher in Connecticut might require plenty of paperwork and a potential loss of privacy, but the percentage you pay on the loan would be regulated. A little-noticed law, “An Act Establishing a Fine Art Secured Lending License,” passed last year and ... (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. Canadian Folk Art to 1950 by John A. Fleming and Michael J. Rowan ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Exhibitions
by M.A.D. staff

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)

(Issue Story)

Nancy Douglass, Willow Spring Perennial Antiques, Clifton Park, New York
by Frank Donegan

Nancy Douglass has a particular fondness for ceramics and carries substantial amounts of majolica, Roseville, Wedgwood, mochaware, and Staffordshire. The two majolica plates on the top shelf are George Jones and sell in the $800 to $1500 range. Here is an overall view of Douglass’s booth at the Stone Soup Antiques ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Letter from London
by Ian McKay

by Ian McKay, [email protected] Russian pictures and works of art provide the main story in this month’s selection, but a Raphael drawing is the big money lot—by miles. This month’s letter also wonders at the adventurous life and loves of Lady Jane Digby; admires a games board that even on the ... (Read More)

(The Art of Marketing)

Competition and Conversation
by Al Kenney

The Art of Marketing I have received many questions since my first article, so starting this month I’ve selected a question to answer that has broad relevance across the M.A.D. readership (no names will be used). No business question can be answered simplistically as there are always many factors to consider, ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

The Yorkshire Potteries
by Jonathan Rickard

A Book Review   The Yorkshire Potteries by John D. Griffin The Leeds Art Fund, 2012, 440 pages, hardbound Much of the ceramics used in early America came from Staffordshire and other regions of Great Britain. Much has been written and published about the potteries and products of Staffordshire from the 17th through 20th centuries. ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

The Young Collector: Gray Matter
by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond

The Young Collector  We’ve become a sound bite society. Actually, that’s kind of a sound bite itself. The term dates to the 1980’s during the Reagan era, when the nightly news was undergoing a dramatic makeover. Maybe it was residual news fatigue from the constant crisis state of the early 1970’s ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Dolphin Promotions Sells Miami National Antique Show
by M.A.D. staff

Dolphin Promotions, Inc. sold its Miami National Antique Show to U.S. Antique Shows, a division of GLM and organizer of the Original Miami Beach Antique Show, in a deal announced on January 27. The Miami National Antique Show features 150 exhibitors annually. Now in its 36th year, it is one of ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Painting of Fort Macomb in Louisiana Sells in Tennessee
by M.A.D. staff

 This is an oil on panel depiction of Fort Macomb, originally built to defend New Orleans. The painting attracted multiple phone and Internet bidders and sold for $29,250. The artist was George David Coulon (1822-1904) of Louisiana. It measured 15" x 21" (sight 11" x 17"). The painting is signed ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Inaugural Jewelry Show Successful
by Julie Schlenger Adell

  White deer ring, $14,000 from Manya & Roumen Jewelry. Photo courtesy Manya & Roumen Jewelry. JMK Shows and Events held its new jewelry show on January 19 and 20 at the Pratt Mansions on Fifth Avenue, New York City. Signed pieces from Tiffany, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Buccellati were ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

Page County Cupboard Brings $80,000
by Walter C. Newman

  A one-piece walnut corner cupboard was the center of attention at the January 12 sale at Laughlin Auctions, Inc. in Edinburg, Virginia. Family history has it that the cupboard was built circa 1814 and was among the original furnishings of a home built by John R. Bruner. Bruner had served as ... (Read More)

(Feature)

Weiser Collection and More at Pook & Pook
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Fern Isabel Coppedge (1883-1951), oil on canvas,  Autumn From Music Circus Hill, Lambertville, signed lower right, 25" x 30½", sold for $65,175 (est. $20,000/40,000). Berks County, Pennsylvania, pine hanging corner cupboard, circa 1790, with a double-raised-panel door and scalloped two-tier drop, is inscribed on the inside of the door “From Eshelman ... (Read More)

(Fragment)

PADA Makes Grant to Grey Art Gallery
by M.A.D. staff

For the past 19 years, the Private Art Dealers Association (PADA) has made a grant to an outstanding institution in the arts. The 2012 recipient, the Grey Art Gallery of New York University, received its award at the annual dinner of PADA, held at the Lotos Club in New York ... (Read More)

(Auction)

First of Multi-Part Single-Owner-Historical Documents Sale Achieves $6 Million
by Jeanne Schinto

The sale’s top lot, going at $336,000 (est. $200,000/300,000), was this four-page autograph letter in French signed by Vincent van Gogh. Written in Saint-Remy de Provence on January 20, 1890, to “M. & Mme. Ginoux,” the letter discusses illness, the artist’s and Madame Ginoux’s. “Less than seven months before his ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Book and Manuscripts Sale: Paper and Plastic
by Jeanne Schinto

The scarce first newspaper printing of the Declaration of Independence, very likely the second printing overall (preceded only by John Dunlap’s official Congressional broadside), sold for $722,500 (est. $300,000/400,000). It was within a bound full year’s run of the Pennsylvania Evening Post, published in Philadelphia. This is the entire King James ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Radios and 20th Century Decorative Arts
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Shown is a circa 1942 Fada 188 All American in a yellow case with blue knobs and handle with a red wraparound grill and Fada decal, 5½" high x 9" long x 5 ½" deep, that sold for $16,250 (est. $6000/9000). Another Fada 188 (not shown) in an orange-yellow case ... (Read More)

(Auction)

A Document, a Map, and a Song Lead Book Sale
by Jeanne Schinto

This 59 15/16" x 44 3/16" six-sheet manuscript map by Charles Blaskowitz (circa 1743-1823), consigned by Mrs. M. Sharpe Erskine’s trust, sold for $782,500 (est. $700,000/1 million) to Paul E. Cohen of Cohen & Taliaferro, New York City, who was bidding for a client. Another member of the trade, Seth ... (Read More)

(Auction)

A Chicken Shall Lead Them
by Pete Prunkl

Even those unfamiliar with North Carolina’s obsession with these Moravian pottery figures will agree that this little chicken shaker is precious. It is small, old, beautifully glazed, undamaged, and in this part of the world highly coveted. The chicken shaker can rest in its new home in Virginia after ... (Read More)

(Feature)

Arader Galleries Holds Auction to Raise Money for Universities
by Lita Solis-Cohen

  John James Audubon’s Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, 1848, three volumes, Imperial folio (27" x 21½") with 150 hand-colored lithographs, $793,000. “People love auctions,” said W. Graham Arader before he mailed out a catalog for his December 5, 2012, auction conducted by Guernsey’s at his 1016 Madison Avenue flagship gallery in ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Native American Art
by Alice Kaufman

A Navajo Classic child’s blanket sold to a dealer from the Southwest for $60,000 (est. $20,000/40,000). This blanket was originally offered at the Ball collection sale in May 2012, at Bonhams in New York City, with an estimate of $50,000/70,000. Bonhams, San Francisco Photos courtesy Bonhams Bonhams’ Native American art expert Jim Haas ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Jewelry Auctions in Chicago and California
by Mary Ann Brown

Antique Jewelry & Gemology Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago, Illinois, held a jewelry sale on December 2, 2012. John Moran Auctioneers held its inaugural HQ Jewelry and Luxury Goods auction on December 6, 2012, in Altadena, California. Let’s see what the jewelry experts in the Windy City and sunny southern California ... (Read More)

(Show)

Fairfield County Show Survives Second Year
by David Hewett

Stephen White of White & White Antiques and Interiors, Skaneateles, New York, took a lot of ribbing, both from other exhibitors and a reporter, about the late Empire slant-lid desk he showed. White admitted, “This has to be the latest period slant-lid desk I’ve ever seen.” In an interesting aside, ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Turn, Turn, Turn: Holtzapffel Rose Engine Lathe Brings Record $228,000
by Jeanne Schinto

Made in London in 1838, the Holtzapffel & Company rose engine lathe number 1636 and its mahogany bench with drawers containing numbered split rosettes, steel and ivory rubbers, tool rests, brass chucks, and hand tools came with two additional bench-top dovetailed mahogany boxes holding 24 sets of brass split rosettes. ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Treasures from a Tavern
by Mark Sisco

Superb cobalt-decorated J. & E. Norton water cooler, with blue rings and a central panoramic scene, $23,575. This unsigned and unframed oil on canvas portrait, 20" x 30", of a man and his horse is solidly attributed to Maine animal and landscape artist Scott Leighton (1849-1898) because of its style and ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Model Autocar and Toy Chariot Pace Julia Auction
by Mark Sisco

Very rare Ives hippodrome horse racing chariot toy from the 1880’s, one of only a few known extant, $69,000. This scale model of an Autocar military transport vehicle from the World War I era sold for $57,500. From the late 1800’s, this Ives horse-head three-wheeled velocipede had a young boy for a ... (Read More)

(Auction)

The Grand Reopening Sale
by Karla Klein Albertson

Helen M. Turner (1858-1958) of Louisiana was an important American Impressionist noted for sensitive interior scenes featuring women and children. Sold for $92,250, The Moth (27½" x 19½"), signed and dated 1918 by the artist, will be included in the catalogue raisonné being prepared by Kaycee Benton. Among ... (Read More)

(Show)

American Art Week in Manhattan
by Lita Solis-Cohen

John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872), Lily Pond, Newport, Rhode Island, oil on canvas, 10" x 18", monogrammed and dated JFK/ 186 (indistinct). From Kensett’s major Newport series of paintings, it has a rich tactile surface and color chords that create a luminous environment; one can almost smell the sea.  It represents ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Americana Auction
by Don Johnson

Monumental Hopi pot attributed to Nampeyo, having a stylized polychrome bird design around the shoulder, Southwest, second quarter of the 20th century, 11" high x 20" diameter, a small hole and a 2" hairline, $37,600. Pair of pewter lamps by Josiah Warren and Daniel Stocking, Cincinnati, circa 1821, whale ... (Read More)

(Show)

Williamsburg Holiday Show—Brightens Black Friday Weekend
by Walter C. Newman

Robert and Deanna Taylor of Aylett, Virginia, trade as Taylor Antiques and Estates. On this table they displayed a wooden box with inlays of clasped hands and striped shields on the lid (left), $550; a four-drawer miniature chest with turned front feet, $750; a slant-front document chest, $675; and a ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Farrin Pre-Thanksgiving Auction
by Mark Sisco

Two fish portraits by Maine artist Louis C. Ewer sold for $1265 apiece. Two beaded pouches, apparently Plains Indian strike-a-light bags, both in good shape, fetched $1540 and $660. Farrin’s Country Auctions, Randolph, Maine  Rusty Farrin held about 28 auctions in 2012. With the exception of an on-site auction or two, he holds ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Fine and Decorative Art
by Don Johnson

Interior scene by Eugenio Landesio (Italian, 1809-1879), oil on canvas, signed and dated 1863, an original handwritten label identifying the scene as a corridor of the house of the Mine of Mellado in Guanajuato, Mexico, 16½" x 11½" (sight), craquelure, relined with wax method, small amounts of inpainting, $24,000. Dessert service, ... (Read More)

(Show)

The “New” Book and Paper Show—Getman Gets It
by Jeanne Schinto

The show’s promoter, Marvin Getman. A finely bound, unique collection of over 100 pieces of sheet music, 1859-64, was $1500 from Yeoman’s in the Fork, Leiper’s Fork, Franklin, Tennessee. We spent a longer time than usual with Christopher Frey of Frey Fine Books, Rougemount, North Carolina, because he had a display of ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Tiffany Garden Museum Contents Sold
by Alice Kaufman

A Tiffany Studios parakeet and goldfish bowl tea screen sold for $324,500, which was the auction day’s highest price. Michaan called the screen “very special, unique, a small version of a famous Tiffany window.” It is 8" tall including its 18k gold frame and was estimated at $400,000/600,000. ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Exceptional Results at Louisiana Purchase Auction
by Karla Klein Albertson

In the mid-19th century, John P. Weimar modeled a bust of George Washington after the well-known life portrait by sculptor Jean- Antoine Houdon (French, 1741-1828). The Weimar version, cast in bronze in 1852, sold for $14,340. Neal Auction Company photo. Top lot of the November sale was a landscape ... (Read More)

(Show)

Vintage Holiday Show at Craven Farm
by Cathy Aldrich

The venue is small but always well attended. This crowd continued to circle the floor for a good long while at the one-day show. Fabric panels such as this one were once a popular and inexpensive way to have a “Grandma Moses” in one’s home. Nadia Mered of Seattle, Washington, brought ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Tiffany Garden Museum Contents Sold
by Alice kaufman

A Tiffany Studios parakeet and goldfish bowl tea screen sold for $324,500, which was the auction day’s highest price. Michaan called the screen “very special, unique, a small version of a famous Tiffany window.” It is 8" tall including its 18k gold frame and was estimated at $400,000/600,000. ... (Read More)

(Show)

People Were Selling and Deals Were Getting Done
by Jeanne Schinto

Thomas G. Boss of Salem, Massachusetts, offered a number of French books with Art Deco bindings, including this one, Daphne by Alfred de Vigny. Priced at $40,000, it was designed circa 1924 by F.-L. Schmied and executed by G. Cretté. Printed by pressman Pierre Bouchet, it is copy no. 3, ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Edison Reproduces Again
by Mike Fabian

Symphonion Eroica music box, 72" x 28", style No. 37, featuring duplex combs with 100 teeth. Having its original door picture, it was in wonderful condition. Included with the lot was a walnut cabinet with shelves to store the accompanying 32 three-disc sets. Top lot of the three-day sale, it ... (Read More)

(Auction)

The Internet Ruled at Augusta
by Richard de Thuin

Labeled “Doeuillet 18 Place Vendôme Paris,” this one-piece tea gown from 1910 was of fine Russian cream bobbin lace with a bodice insert and deep skirt panels of heavily embroidered cotton lawn with repeats of small flowers surrounded by a swirling vine. It was missing its original green silk sash ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Folk Art Sale in Georgia
by Marty Steiner

A surprise in the sale was a religious banner, the only one in the sale and estimated at $2000/4000. The lot quickly surpassed the estimates with a phone bidding war. The end result was $33,350. The 1920’s paint on muslin banner, 35" x 68", had 13 images and the words ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Southern Pottery Draws Selective Bids
by Marty Steiner

The obvious star of this sale was this monumental four-handle storage jar. Few such large vessels were made because of the skill required. Thomas Chandler boldly incised his mark just below one of the lug handles. Early decoration is of dark iron clay slip and includes loopy swags tied to ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Chicago Rides Tidal Wave to $264,500
by Dick Friz

  Claus’s Part Two: Top Nauticals & Toys Märklin paddle-wheeler Chicago, 1900-02, boxed, 31", $264,500. Märklin battleship New York, circa 1902, 35", $155,250. Märklin ocean liner Deutschland, 1909-15, 28", $149,500. Märklin battleship Mexico, 1915-20, 30", $126,500. Märklin battleship, circa 1910, boxed, 36", $51,750. Märklin ocean liner Rhein, 1919-31, 38", $40,250. Märklin yacht Jolanda, circa 1910, 16", $31,625. Märklin gunboat ... (Read More)

(Show)

Transformation in Time
by Cathy Aldrich

This 1880-90’s crazy quilt attracted customers to the booth of dealer Rebecca Prohorenko of Rebecca’s Antiques. She said it is rare to see such a variation of a crazy quilt, especially one made completely from colorful silk fabrics. Add that it is in pristine condition and nicely sized at ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Quinn & Farmer Offer New Approach to Old Game
by Walter Newman

This redhead duck decoy is attributed to carver B.P. Holland and probably dates from the 1930’s. Holland practiced his craft in the Back Bay area along the Atlantic coast at the Virginia and North Carolina border. The decoy measures 9" x 13" x 7" and exhibits cracks and chips associated ... (Read More)
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