Stories for April '14
(Fragment)Morphy's Moves All Sales to Weekends
Morphy Auctions in Denver, Pennsylvania, is moving all of its auctions to weekend time slots. The first of the company’s sales to make the changeover will be Morphy’s weekly auctions. Previously held on Tuesdays, the weekly auctions will now be conducted on Sundays, starting with the March 23 advertising and ... (Read More)
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(The Art of Marketing)Micro-Targeted Marketing
The Art of Marketing
This month our topic is the utilization of psychographic profiling techniques for delivering micro-targeted marketing. Traditional marketing has been actively targeted and marketed to the different generations. With the current rise of the social Web, these groups of people are getting smaller. They’re so small and fragmented, ... (Read More)
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(Computer Article)Apps for Tablets
A map app on a 7" tablet computer provides turn-by-turn visual and voice navigation to a convention center where antiques shows are sometimes held.
Computer Column #304
John P. Reid, [email protected]
Many of the things antiquers do on smartphones are so much easier on a tablet computer. Here are some examples to whet ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)American Royalties Legislation Introduced
Artwork may cost 5% more if legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Ed Markey (D-MA) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) is passed.
The “American Royalties, Too (ART) Act of 2014” would establish copyright protections for the intellectual property of visual artists.
Under current copyright law, visual artists—painters, sculptors, and ... (Read More)
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(Auction Law and Ethics)Integrity and Courage
Auction Law & Ethics
An old, blind woman went to see a lawyer about having a will drafted. He discussed with her what she wanted to accomplish with her will. Her estate was meager, and the lawyer quoted a fee of just $100 to do the work. As she got up ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Joshua Lane Named Curator of Furniture at Winterthur
Joshua W. Lane has been appointed the Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Curator of Furniture at the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, succeeding Wendy Cooper, who retired in June 2013.
Lane received his B.A. in American studies from Amherst College and his M.Phil. from Yale. He worked at the Connecticut ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Bravo, Senator Linares
Editorial
One politician understands investing in antiques, or rather, investing in the antiques business.
Connecticut state Senator Art Linares, a 25-year-old Republican, has sponsored a bill to boost the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show, the 65-dealer affair that will be held March 22 and 23 in Hartford. Linares’s bill would appropriate $50,000 from ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)H.A. Cooper to Retire From Yale
Dr. Helen Achbar Cooper, the Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale University Art Gallery, will retire in May.
“Helen Cooper has served the field of American art as one of its finest curators for almost forty years, leading the Yale University Art Gallery’s department of ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)A Practical Defense of an Old House
The Young Collector
Hollie woke up in the night recently, because her “out of the covers” arm had cooled to a temperature that made her think the house might be getting too cold. She got up to check the stove, realized that Andrew would be up in a hour, so she ... (Read More)
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(Feature)Preview of the Philadelphia Antiques Show and More
The City of Philadelphia, Currier & Ives, drawn on stone by Charles Parsons and Lyman Atwater, published 1875, color printed lithograph, 22½" x 32 3/8". Arader Galleries photo.
The Philadelphia Antiques Show is in late April this year. The 53rd edition of this spring show will set up at the Philadelphia ... (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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(Fragment)Ivory Law Introduced in New York; Sotheby’s and Christie’s Announce Opposition
Legislation to close New York state as a market for ivory sales to help prevent elephant extinction and to reduce funding sources for terrorists has been introduced by Assemblyman Robert K. Sweeney. The bill was passed 28-0 by the Environmental Conservation Committee.
Following a January hearing in New York City, legislation ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Witherell Buys Grass Valley Old West Antiques Show
Dealer Brian Witherell of Witherell’s Art and Antiques, Sacramento, California, has purchased the Grass Valley Old West Antiques Show from Mike and Sally Butler. It’s a homecoming of sorts. Witherell’s father, Brad, and two partners started the show in 1984. The Butlers bought it in 1999. The price was not ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Two Specialists Shine Light on the Antique Jewelry Market
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Two auctions in February offered prices from the low hundreds to a few hundred thousand dollars, in all manner of styles, and targeted those in the mood for finding a token of love for Valentine’s Day. Sotheby’s, New York City, held its February 6 sale of Important ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London
Ian McKay, [email protected]
With the Winter Olympics in Sochi in full flow as I write, something from the traditional, early year “Ski Sale” at Christie’s South Kensington had to be one option for this month’s selection, and for the big money lots, record breaking London sales of Impressionist and Modern pictures ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Show for Newtown
Barn Star Productions and the Newtown Historical Society will collaborate to produce the Newtown Antiques Market. The new one-day outdoor antiques show will be held on June 21 in Newtown, Connecticut, at the Fairfield Hills Campus facility and will present 100 exhibitors in an informal environment of tents and pop-up ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Two Philadelphia Institutions Name New Leaders
The Board of Councilors of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) announced that Dr. Page Talbott was appointed president of the society, effective February 10, saying that “with more than 40 years of experience as a consultant to museums, libraries, historic sites, and nonprofits, Dr. Talbott was the clear choice ... (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.
The American West in Bronze: 1850-1925 by Thayer Tolles and Thomas Brent Smith ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Susanne Davino of Eustace & Zamus Antiques, Hudson, New York
Susanne Davino.
Davino’s shop at 513 Warren Street in Hudson. Before she took it over ten years ago, it was occupied by dealer Benjamin Wilson.
A partial interior view of the shop.
Davino carries a nice selection of porcelain. This is a sampling.
This maple tall chest with pad feet from Deerfield, Massachusetts, has ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Peter Lang Joins Doyle New York
Peter Lang has joined Doyle New York as a senior vice president and the director of English and Continental furniture and decorations. He will be the specialist in charge of auctions in that sale category and a senior appraiser for estates and collections.
Kathleen M. Doyle, chairperson/CEO of Doyle New York ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Who Made My Clock? Clue: He Worked with Rittenhouse
Fig. 1. The subject tall-case clock. Photo courtesy clock owner.
Fig. 2. Hood detail showing shallow navigational star terminals. Photo courtesy clock owner.
Fig. 3. Hood with absent colonnettes. Photo courtesy clock owner.
Fig. 4. Hood detail showing mitered joint where colonnettes would have attached. Note that the joint is on the side ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Patrick Rooney Discovered Dead, Apparent Suicide
The subject of the document theft report in last month’s issue on page 10-A, Patrick Rooney, 55, was discovered dead in his Colchester, Vermont, apartment on February 11. An autopsy has been ordered, but no further information was available.
Rooney had pleaded not guilty in Vermont Superior Court on January 21, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Cyberstalking Charges in L.A.: A Cautionary Tale for 21st-century Citizens
The computer age has enriched and simplified the lives of many of us, but it also has opened up new opportunities for those with a criminal bent. The ability to engage in nearly anonymous contact may be appreciated by the would-be writers among us, but it’s a dangerous tool in ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)NRA Weighs In on Ivory Ban
Antiques dealers and collectors concerned about the national ban on ivory picked up a powerful partner with plenty of lobbying muscle: the National Rifle Association.
On February 11, the United States announced a ban on the commercial trade of elephant ivory, prohibiting the import, export, or resale within the United States ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Original Semi-Annual York Antiques Show Continues to Impress
Gene Rappaport of Strasburg, Pennsylvania, asked $55,000 for the hanging Haida Northwest Coast blanket.
Dealers Harry Hartman and Oliver Overlander II of Marietta, Pennsylvania, asked $38,000 for their paint-decorated miniature Soap Hollow lift-top chest dated “1856.”
This hooked rug of a horse, chickens, and hearts, dated “1902,” with initials “SG,” was $18,500 ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)R.S. Prussia Tankard Sells for $28,600
Ex-Barlock, a 10½" Spring Season bowl, the only one known, brought $14,300. “Eileen was the only person who had a full set—all four seasons—in that bowl,” Clark said.
The auction listing noted that the tankard had small chips to the base and a red mark. It sold for $28,600, an auction ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Crowded Ferrell Southern Stoneware Sale
“Phoenix/ Factory 1840” is written in fine script on the shoulder of this 19½" stoneware jar. Master potter Thomas Chandler was employed at Phoenix in 1840 and may have turned this jar. Phoenix Factory went out of business in 1850. At $90,000, this was the sale’s top lot (est. $50,000/70,000). ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Bird Hunting on Madison Avenue
Plate 26, Carolina Parrot, aquatint from The Birds of America, Robert Havell, London, 1827-38, was estimated at $90,000/110,000 and sold to a phone bidder for $128,100. The listed retail price was $190,000, and the two previous auction prices listed in the catalog were $119,500 at Christie’s in 2004 and $84,000 ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Bonnie Parker's Pistol Fires National Attention
This item became a story picked up by national media. The .38 Colt Model 1902 pistol had been found on the body of Bonnie Parker at the Conger Funeral Home in Arcadia, Louisiana, after the law caught up with the infamous pair in 1934. Very well documented for outlaw memorabilia, ... (Read More)
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(Show)Winter Weather Fails to Dampen Round Top Show
Gorgeous, rich greens come together in this Haitian painting from the 1970’s. Fred Cain of Naples, Florida, called it Children of Paradise and priced it at $1800.
“Whoever buys it gets to figure out how to open it!” Nancy B. Cooper of Austin, Texas, said of the secret drawer in this ... (Read More)
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(Show)Under New Ownership, the Armory Antique Show Holds Its Own
One of the first things visible to incoming shoppers was this hooked rug offered by folk art dealers Robert Snyder and Judy Wilson of Wiscasset, Maine. The semicircular circa 1930 work was $2850 and provided a graphic picture of Americana. Its eagle is surrounded by stars and stripes.
The first thing ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Winter Antiques Show 2014
Library table and two chairs, Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company, New York City, 1891-93, made of primavera (similar to satinwood) and American ash with elaborate floral carving, varicolored wood, and metal micromosiac inlay; the chairs have glass ball and brass claw feet; $1,330,000 from Associated Artists. David Parker believes Samuel ... (Read More)
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(Auction)$767,000 Decoy Tops Sotheby’s Americana Auction
John James Audubon (1785-1851), Say’s Squirrel, inscribed in pencil: “2 female 1 male April 9 ’43 Female and male facing in long leaves of grass; St. Louis, MO,”watercolor, 14" x 19¾", 1831, tears, creases, and soil, sold on the phone for $137,000 (est. $80,000/120,000). The proceeds went to a nonprofit ... (Read More)
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(Feature)American Silver, Furniture, Folk Art, and Chinese Export Art Bring $10.44 Million
The silver brandywine bowl, one of only two known with the mark of Cornelius Vander Burch, New York, circa 1690, has six lobed panels and a domed center with an embossed and chased flower head. The two cast scroll handles have caryatids and beading, and the body is engraved ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana at Bonhams
The highest Americana price of the day belonged to a carved and inlaid automaton hall clock commissioned from Tiffany & Co. and delivered in April 1901. Estimated at $40,000/60,000, it went at $100,000 to a phone bidder.
A phone bidder on the line with Madelia Ring paid $72,500 (est. $70,000/100,000) ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Metro Show 2014
Ricco/Maresca, New York City, asked $35,000 for renowned palmist Marianne Raschig’s collectionof original vintage palm prints that she collected between 1925 and 1935 in Berlin. The hands are those of leading artists, actors, scientists, and writers. Ink and graphite on paper, it measured 84" x 66".
Hill Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan, asked ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Leigh Keno’s Americana Week Business
The players in the drama of the sale of the Continental Congress document that sold for $912,500 at Keno Auctions on January 26. From left: Leigh Keno, the auctioneer; Dr. James Kerr, president of the Morris-Jumel Mansion board of trustees; Carol Ward, director of the Morris-Jumel Mansion; Emilie Gruchow, the ... (Read More)
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(Show)The New York Ceramics Fair 2014
Cliff Lee (b. 1951) of Stevens, Pennsylvania, asked $40,000 for this piece of porcelain he called a Double Dragon vase. There is an incised dragon on the body of the vase and a dragon with ruby eyes on the lid. He said it was very difficult to put on the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)A Time Capsule of Chinese Export Material
Pair of monumental China trade oil on canvas panoramic landscapes, attributed to Youqua (active 1840-70), circa 1840, $768,000 (est. $150,000/250,000) to collectors in the room. Tibbits collection.
According to the catalog, the first oil depicts “the hongs at Canton with a bustling harbor scene in front displaying hundreds of Chinese boats ... (Read More)
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(Show)Washington Winter Show
Doug and Bev Norwood of Timonium, Maryland, trade as Norwoods’ Spirit of America. Their booth always offers unusual and interesting pieces of Americana. Here are a group of violin-related items. The 19th-century trade sign offering lessons was priced at $2800. The violin on the left has a handwritten fingering chart ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Mixed Bag at Gamage Auction, but Mêne Bags Nearly Six Grand
This bronze sculpture by Pierre-Jules Mêne of a country gentlewoman on her mount sold for $5750.
This sterling silver tea set of two teapots, a creamer, and sugar and weighing in at 55.2 troy ounces sold for $960.25.
This beautiful pair of mahogany knife boxes, probably George III, late 18th or ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Robert Foster Opens the New Year
Two mahogany tall-case clocks produced widely divergent prices. The darker clock above stopped at $550, but the lighter one on the right sailed all the way to $5170.
What made this $550 Native American Shasta basket most interesting was the original Hudson Bay Fur Co. label. A gentleman named Moritz Gutmann ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Native American Art
This 9" tall San Ildefonso sienna and black lidded vase by Tony Da (with a hand-carved wooden finial on the lid) sold to a private collector for $18,750 (est. $8000/10,000).
This 22¾" high Apache olla, decorated with geometric, human, and animal figures, sold for $22,500 (est. $10,000/15,000) to dealer and basket ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Jewelry Show at Pratt Mansions
JMK Shows held its winter jewelry show at Pratt Mansions across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“Pins are coming back,” said Jacob Gipsan of Jacob’s Diamond & Estate Jewelry, Los Angeles. He displayed these Victorian, Art Deco, and mid-20th-century coral and shell cameos of scenes and portraits. They ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Federalist Papers Top Lot at Mebane
The sale’s top lot was displayed in a glass case at the front of the gallery. Although the so-called Federalist Papers were published in two volumes, this lot consisted of two copies of volume one of the 1788 document. One volume was complete, while the other lacked the first six ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Christie's American Art Sale
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), East Wind Over Weehawken, signed “E. Hopper” (lower right), oil on canvas, 34" x 50¼", sold for $40,485,000 (est. $22/28 million). Painted in 1934, it was acquired in 1952 from the Frank K.M. Rehn Galleries in New York by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Sacred and the Profane at Books and Manuscripts Sale
An original typescript of Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit sold to a North American private collector for $485,000 (est. $300,000/500,000). A salesroom notice said: “The present typescript does not correspond in completeness to the 1964 limited first edition of Grapefruit. It is, however, a draft of the work, and includes a typed ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Art
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) painted Girl Choosing Hat in 1931. The 38½" x 30" oil on canvas sold in the salesroom to Judy Goffman Cutler, a New York City dealer and cofounder and director of the National Museum of American Illustration, for $1,205,000 (est. $400,000/600,000), underbid on the phone. The painting ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Sotheby's American Art Auction
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Saying Grace, oil on canvas, 43" x 41", signed “Norman Rockwell” in his block style, lower center, painted in 1951, sold for $46,085,000 (est. $15/$20 million), a record for Norman Rockwell and for any work of art sold at an American art auction.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Norman Rockwell Visits ... (Read More)
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(Show)The American Art Fair 2013
Gerald Peters Gallery, New York City, asked $600,000 for The Old Checkered House by Grandma Moses, 35½" x 44¾", painted in 1944.
Ralston Crawford, The Sails, oil on canvas, 26" x 40", $375,000 from Menconi & Schoelkopf Fine Art, New York City.
This William Hunt Diederich (1884-1953) fire screen was $115,000 ... (Read More)
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