Stories for April '20
(Issue Story)Books Received, April 2020
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 online orders. For other publishers, your local bookstore or a mail-order house is the place to look.
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At First Light: Two Centuries of Maine Artists, Their ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Karen and Ralph DiSaia Recipients of ADA Award of Merit
Karen and the late Ralph DiSaia will be the recipients of the 2020 Award of Merit, an annual award given by the Antiques Dealers’ Association of America (ADA). Karen DiSaia was shceduled to accept the prize on the couple’s behalf at a dinner planned for Friday, April 24, at the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, April 2020
Incorporating a higher than usual number of lots from provincial sales along with the more usual London lots, this month’s “Letter” includes a broken and repaired Roman bust that made a fortune for its unsuspecting owners, not to mention a handsome bonus for the saleroom in which it was offered.
A ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Bucks County Artists Database
The Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, has refreshed the Bucks County Artists Database (BCAD), a free online resource celebrating the artistic traditions of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
With over 400 artists represented in the database, BCAD contains thousands of pages of information and images. The reimagined database is now more accessible ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Oregon Warns of Catfish Scam
The (ODFR) Oregon Division of Finance is warning people about art market catfish scams. (A “catfish” scam lures a victim into an online relationship using a fictional online persona.)
Recently, the ODFR reported that an 80-year-old widower was catfished out of $200,000. An unidentified fraudster stole a Florida woman’s identity to ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)American Furniture
A Book Review
The 2018 American Furniture is all about 18th-century furniture. It is a treat for old-time collectors and should inspire a new generation.
Boston Chairs
Erik K. Gronning calls his study of Boston’s early baroque seating “Luxury of Choice”and presents the evolution of the comfortable and sturdy Boston chair, with ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)Notes from Nashville
The Young Collector
Back in our early days in the auction business, every year in February, and sometimes in October, we would make a trip to Nashville. We see now that we were getting on-the-job logistics training. We would go down with a truck full of deliveries and return with a ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Historical Society Deaccessions Rare Washington Medals and Offers Freedom Box
In a first-page story in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, February 16, Stephan Salisbury, staff cultural writer, questioned the decision of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) to sell a collection of commemorative medals given to the HSP in 1897 by William Spohn Baker (1824-1897), a legendary collector of all ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Book Auctioneer Pleads Guilty to Grand Larceny
Auctioneer David Hall of Freeville, New York of National Book Auctions and Worth Auctions pleaded guilty on February to grand larceny in the second degree. Hall was indicted in August 2019 for not paying $227,000 in auction proceeds for an estate consignment.
He will be sentenced on April 2. The maximum ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Dynamic Duo: Cleopatra and Dave Reign at Brunk Auctions
Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Brunk Auctions
"Was she ever outdoors?” That was the question asked by potential bidders for Cleopatra Morente, a signed Carrara marble sculpture by Pio Fedi (Italian, 1816-1892). Brunk Auctions’ sculpture specialist Laura Crockett could account for roughly half of the life of the elegant 1842 ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Fine Estate Jewelry at Alex Cooper Auctioneers
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Alex Cooper Auctioneers
Alex Cooper Auctioneers’ February 6 auction included 192 lots of jewelry from two prominent Maryland estates. I spoke with Selden Morgan, director of fine jewelry at the Towson, Maryland, company, when I noticed that post-sale results included antique items that had brought good ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 2020 Ceramics Fair
The New York Antique Ceramics Fair, New York City
Eleven dealers set up shop at the New York Antique Ceramics Fair on the third floor of the Bohemian National Hall, January 23-26, and did plenty of business. The fair charges no admission. It opened with an invitation-only preview party for museum ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Art, Design & Antiques Show at Wallace Hall
New York City
The Art, Design & Antiques Show at Wallace Hall, held January 24-26, welcomed a new dealer to its ranks this go-round and drew collectors, curators, and designers in town for January’s Americana Week to its 33 booths.
Americana dealer Jeffrey Tillou of Litchfield, Connecticut, set up a good-sized booth ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Vintage Poster Auction
Potter & Potter Auctions, Chicago, Illinois
Photos courtesy Potter & Potter Auctions
Potter & Potter Auctions took a big step toward its goal of diversifying from magic and circus memorabilia, upon which its reputation was built, with a vintage poster auction featuring more than 600 items on January 25 in Chicago. Hundreds ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Audubons and Maps Sell at Arader during Americana Week
Arader Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Arader Galleries
Arader Galleries’ first sale of 2020, held during Americana Week in New York City, totaled $2,618,047. Of the 247 lots offered, 157 lots sold, for a 64% sell-through rate.
The auction house offered 52 lots of first-edition aquatint engravings from John James Audubon’s The ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Sultanabad Carpet Takes Flight at Wooten Sale
Wooten & Wooten, Camden, South Carolina
Photos courtesy Wooten & Wooten
The CliffsNotes version of the January 25 winter sale at Wooten & Wooten goes like this: Two small collections that were expected to sell high did not, and a large collection that had more modest estimates sold well, especially ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Sale of Folk Art to Benefit MFA, Boston
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
The foreword to Sotheby’s January 25 auction catalog, “A New Dimension of Tradition: Important American Folk Art,” noted that the proceeds of the sale would benefit the folk art initiative at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). The gift “will provide focus and momentum ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Sotheby’s Various-Owners Sale
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
"The Mario Buatta preview was like a cocktail party,” said a longtime collector. “Young and old and middle-aged were having a good time deciding what they wanted.” In contrast, he said, “Walking into the adjoining galleries to see the various-owners Americana, it was like entering ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Solid Results at Two-Day Art Auction
Skinner, Boston, Massachusetts
Skinner has changed up its paintings sales, with prints, multiples, and photographs in the evening of the first day, followed by paintings and sculpture at noon the next day.
American artists were well represented at Skinner’s January 23 and 24 paintings sale, and it brought solid results. The three ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Small Sale of Americana
Keno Auctions, New York City
Small Sale of Americana
In just 21 days, Leigh Keno of Keno Auctions organized a sale of 46 lots of American furniture and folk art. He held the sale at his New York City townhouse on January 24 at 3 in the afternoon, right in the middle ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Winter Show 2020
New York City
There were only a handful of dealers with American furniture and folk art at the Winter Show at the Park Avenue Armory, January 23 through February 2, but they made more sales than most of the other 70. Moreover, the press release sent at the end of the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Shute Portrait Tops Americana Auction
Doyle New York, New York City
Photos courtesy Doyle New York
On January 23 Doyle New York offered a single-owner collection of toys, folk art, and Americana. The roughly 400 lots brought $924,069, right about in the middle of the $787,175/1,247,475 estimate. The sale was 91% sold by lot. The timing of ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Chinese Export Art
Christie’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Christie’s
The January 23 Chinese export art sale at Christie’s in New York City was a small focused collection designed to appeal to American, European, South American, and Asian collectors. Some collectors bid in the room and on the phones; 38% of bidders were online from all ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana, Folk Art, and Textiles Auction
Garth’s Auctioneers and Appraisers, Columbus, Ohio
Photos courtesy Garth’s
It’s not unusual for Garth’s Auctioneers and Appraisers to begin each year with an Americana sale, and the 2020 version on January 18 and 19 in Columbus, Ohio, offered a solid selection of paint, brown furniture, folk art, and smalls. But there was ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Vase Sells for $329,400
Pook & Pook, Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Pook & Pook
In these days of the Internet, not much is overlooked. At Pook & Pook’s sale of American and European decorative arts on January 17 and 18, a Qing porcelain vase, 16¼" tall, picturing two Dutch merchants wearing tricorn hats and frock coats ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Witherell’s Luxury Auction
Witherell’s, Sacramento, California
Photos courtesy Witherell’s
Who says brown furniture doesn’t sell?
Not Brian Witherell, chief operating officer of Witherell’s, a Sacramento auction house. Witherell said the January 16 “Luxury Asset” auction featuring property from the Newport, New Hampshire, home of William B. Ruger Jr. (1939-2018) was “our best as a company to ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Susquehanna Collection
Morphy Auctions, Denver, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Morphy Auctions
After a monthlong preview, the mysterious Susquehanna collection of early Kentucky rifles, Revolutionary War pistols, 18th-century powder horns, and several rooms of 18th- and early 19th-century American furniture, paintings, and accessories sold unreserved at Morphy Auctions in Denver, Pennsylvania, on January 16 for a ... (Read More)
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(Auction)More Carpenter Estate Consignments
Nye & Company, Bloomfield, New Jersey
Photos courtesy Nye & Company
The sale at Nye & Company in Bloomfield, New Jersey, on January 15 included antiques from the collection of Ralph (d. 2009) and Roberta “Bobbie” (d. 2019) Carpenter that did not meet Christie’s minimum $3000/5000 per lot. The sale at Nye ... (Read More)
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(Show)Great Offerings and Interesting Weather Bring Decent Sales to Hudson
Hudson Antique Show, Richfield, Ohio
The 49th annual Hudson Antique Show, organized by show promoter Steve Sherhag, was held January 11 and 12. Though the show’s location has changed several times since its inception, this year the event was again held at the Quality Inn & Suites, Richfield, Ohio.
Again this year ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Two-Day Auction of Folk Art, Fine Art, and Antiques
New Haven Auctions, New Haven, Connecticut
Photos courtesy New Haven Auctions
The gallery at New Haven Auctions was fitted out with the collection of Susie and Richie Burmann for the January 11 auction. The mellow brick walls of the former Erector set factory in New Haven, Connecticut, made an ideal setting for ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Variety Continues to Be a Hallmark at Laughlin
Laughlin Auctions, Inc., Edinburg, Virginia
Laughlin Auctions, Inc., held its first sale of the new decade on January 11 at its High Street galleries in Edinburg, Virginia. A packed house welcomed the unofficial opening of auction season in the Shenandoah Valley, and as expected the Laughlin brothers offered something for everyone. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Rare Bitters from the Ken Fee Collection
American Bottle Auctions, Sacramento, California
Photos courtesy American Bottle Auctions
Color, condition, rarity, mystery, history, and a hefty price. A Cassin’s Grape Brandy Bitters bottle had it all during an absentee auction held by American Bottle Auctions, Sacramento, California, that ended on December 8, 2019. The bottle sold for $155,100 (including buyer’s ... (Read More)
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