Stories for November '23
(Issue Story)Auction Prices Realized, November 2023
Here are a few notable prices of antiques sold recently at auction, as provided by press releases. All prices include the buyer’s premium when charged. We’re always looking for news of prices realized at auctions, particularly unusual or top lots. Send pictures, complete descriptions, and information to A.P.R., Maine Antique ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)New York Requires Background Checks for Antique Firearms
As of September 13 background checks are required for purchasers of antique firearms and ammunition in New York state, according to a press release from Governor Kathy Hochul. The legislation requiring New York sellers of guns and ammunition to perform background checks for firearms and ammunition transfers also mandates that ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Community Watch
Beneath the Surface
You learn things over the life of marriage, and then, or so it seems to us, if you stay married you learn to accept the things you have learned as being immutable. People are just strange, and they are very often consistent in their strangeness. It is best ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Denver Police Seeking Additional Victims of Theft
The Denver (Colorado) Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is asking for the public’s help to identify possible victims of a man who was posing as an antiques broker.
Princeton Wilson. Photo courtesy Denver Police Department.
Princeton Wilson was charged last year with eight felony counts: one count of theft from an at-risk ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Book Reviews
Here are brief reviews of books we’ve recently seen. We have included contact information for books that you can order directly from the publisher or museum. We also encourage you to consider supporting your local independent bookstore.
Migration of Stoneware Potters in North America by F. Robert Treichler (Carlisle Printing, 2022, ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Letter from London, November 2023
When a Sleeper Awakes
From the same August 8 sale held in Colchester by Reeman Dansie Auctioneers & Valuers that saw a bronze figure of Mercury sell for $858,350 (see October M.A.D., p. 86), another spectacular success story was provided by a little ring that came to auction from the same ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Assets of Antiques Mall Seized
On September 20 agents from the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR), accompanied by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, executed tax warrants and seized the assets of Metcalf Antique Mall LLC in Overland Park, Kansas, for nonpayment of sales tax totaling $62,866.38.
Assets seized include all known bank accounts, on-site cash, business ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Fifty M.A.D. Years
Fifty years ago, in November 1973, Samuel and Sally Pennington mailed the first 28-page Maine Antique Digest to five subscribers, who had paid $5 for an annual subscription. Sam, editor, publisher, and photographer, wrote most of the paper’s stories in the early years, sometimes under the pseudonym Lance Poulet, French ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Hanging with Gary R. Sullivan
Gary R. Sullivan spent 15 seasons on Antiques Roadshow appraising clocks and furniture. He recently retired from that gig, noting, “I loved my time on the show and made some great friends. They’re the best and the brightest, and there was tremendous camaraderie.”
Gary spends a good deal of time in ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)The Delaware Show
The annual Delaware Antiques Show at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, Wilmington, Delaware, is a big fall event in the world of American antiques. The preview party is Thursday, November 9, from 5 to 9 p.m., and the show continues November 10-12. The show benefits Winterthur’s educational initiatives. Tickets ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Fifty Years
In 1973 the first issue of Maine Antique Digest was published. The November 1973 issue featured dealer Chris Huntington and a Windsor chair on the cover and was a scant 28 pages. This issue, November 2023, marks M.A.D.’s 50-year anniversary.
When our parents, Sam and Sally Pennington, discussed with Maine furniture ... (Read More)
|
(Issue Story)Exhibitions, November 2023
Diane Arbus in the Automat, New York City, circa 1968. Photo by Roz Kelly/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images.
—Through January 21, 2024 —Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Diane Arbus (1923-1971) produced some of the most memorable photographs of the 20th century. Diane Arbus: 10 Years is a traveling exhibition curated by Catlin Langford from the collection ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Battersea Adapts and Moves Ahead
Battersea Foundation, Petersburg, Virginia
Is it possible for success to present problems? For many years, the energies of the Battersea Foundation have focused on the systematic restoration of the historic Petersburg, Virginia, residence and its grounds. Those energies, including various antiques-related events, have borne fruit, and now the foundation must grapple ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Exploring the World of Old Maps
Old World Auctions, Henrico, Virginia
Photos courtesy Old World Auctions
The high lot of the sale was this 1718 map of Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley. As with most of the early maps, there are some inaccuracies; however, the significance of this map is that it displays the first known reference to ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Nye Gets $10,625 for Grand Harmonicon
The most unusual item in the September 13 sale at Nye & Co., Bloomfield, New Jersey, was a Grand Harmonicon labeled by Francis Hopkinson Smith of Baltimore. It sold for $10,625 (includes buyer’s premium), well above the $3000/5000 estimate.
Smith (1792-1872) was living in Eastville, Northampton County, Virginia, in 1825 when ... (Read More)
|
(Fragment)Busy Autumn at Hindman: Important Jewels and the Winds of Change
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Hindman Auctions
Ruth Thuston, G.G., senior specialist of jewelry and watches at Hindman, Chicago, Illinois, spoke with me after Hindman’s September 12 “Important Jewelry” sale, which featured a plethora of antique pieces from named and unnamed collections. “There was a Miami collection, and there was a ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)A Family Reunion
Poulin Antiques & Auctions, Inc., Fairfield, Maine
Photos courtesy Poulin Antiques & Auctions
It was like a step back in time. On August 29 Poulin Antiques & Auctions hosted a “Premier Major Summer Antique Auction” at its facility in Fairfield, Maine, the old headquarters of James D. Julia Auctions. Nick Poulin, president ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Small Sale in Rockland
Bruce Gamage Jr., Rockland, Maine
When the auctioneer approached the dais to sell the first lot at Bruce Gamage’s small end-of-summer auction August 28 at the Elks Lodge in Rockland, Maine, there was applause.
The auctioneer for the first lot wasn’t Gamage. Instead, it was former Gardiner, Maine, auctioneer Tim Gould, who ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Inness Painting the Top Lot in $2.17 Million Sale
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine
Photos courtesy Thomaston Place Auction Galleries
The three-day sale held by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine, August 25-27 pulled in about $2.17 million for 1335 lots. It was another marathon sale put on by owner and auctioneer Kaja Veilleux and his staff.
George Inness (1825-1894), ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Oversupply, Under Demand
Ledbetter Folk Art Auction, Gibsonville, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Ledbetter Folk Art Auction
Auctioneer Matt Ledbetter takes chances on relatively unknown North Carolina artists. In December 2021 he brought 19 “Creatures of the Night” totems by the reclusive Alton “Otto” Long to his Gibsonville, North Carolina, auction house. All of them sold ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Artists with Maine Ties Dominate
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, Maine
Photos courtesy Barridoff Auctions
On August 19 Barridoff Auctions held its summer art auction under a tent on the lawn right outside the auction firm’s facility in South Portland, Maine. Auctioneer Peter Coccoluto was brought in to wield the gavel. The sale’s top lots were largely by ... (Read More)
|
(Show)MADA Coastal Maine Antiques Show
Damariscotta, Maine
David McLean of North Monmouth, Maine, had four firkin pantry boxes in original paint priced from $295 to $565.
It seemed like one big family August 16 at the 24th annual Coastal Maine Antiques Show in Damariscotta, Maine, under the aegis of the Maine Antiques Dealers Association (MADA). Under a ... (Read More)
|
(Show)A Marathon of Opportunity
Scott Antique Markets, Atlanta, Georgia
Scott Antique Markets at the Atlanta Expo Center, Atlanta, Georgia, has vendors and exhibitors located in two large buildings on either side of an interstate highway and also in an adjacent outdoor area. Just getting around to see everything is a physical challenge. There are dealers ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Americana at Stair
Stair Galleries, Hudson, New York
Photos courtesy Stair Galleries
Pair of Federal carved mahogany and inlaid satin birch side chairs, attributed to John and Thomas Seymour, Boston, Massachusetts, 35" x 19¼" x 19", seat height 18¾", sold for $33,280 (est. $5000/10,000). This pair is an example of the fourth variation of Thomas ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Two-Day Sale of Decoys, Art, and Americana
Guyette & Deeter, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Photos courtesy Guyette & Deeter
A full house was primed for Guyette & Deeter’s two-day sale August 8 and 9 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where deaccessioning from several noted collections brought a wide range of objects to market and a total of $5.38 million (including buyers’ ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Civil War and African American History
Fleischer’s Auctions, Columbus, Ohio
Photos courtesy Fleischer’s Auctions
Fleischer’s Auctions held its Civil War and African American history auction August 5. This summer premier sale featured a wide selection of American historical material, including items from the abolition movement, Civil War, African American history, Lincolniana, and notable examples of historic photography. The ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Norton Crock Leads Americana Sale
Casco Bay Auctions, Freeport, Maine
Photos courtesy Casco Bay Auctions
On August 5 Casco Bay Auctions held an approximately 600-lot Americana sale under a tent in the firm’s back parking lot in Freeport, Maine. The crowd was sparse, and most lots sold to the Internet, phone, or absentee bids. The sale totaled ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)California Art Exceeds Estimates
Bonhams, Los Angeles, California
Photos courtesy Bonhams
“The sale was good,” said Scot Levitt, director of fine arts at Bonhams, Los Angeles and San Francisco, about the August 2 auction of California art in Los Angeles. “There weren’t any six-figure, major works that draw people, but right now there are not a ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Summer Sale at Eldred’s
Eldred’s, East Dennis, Massachusetts
Photographs courtesy Eldred’s
Paintings and other art forms accounted for nearly half the lots at the July 27 and 28 summer sale at Eldred’s at its Cape Cod gallery in East Dennis, Massachusetts. Most lots drew exponentially higher prices compared to their estimates. It was an exceptionally busy ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Decorative Arts Auction
Treadway Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Treadway Gallery
Marine vase by Émile Gallé (French, 1846-1904), engraved cameo glass, marked, 11½" high x 5" diameter, excellent condition, $53,125 (est. $10,000/15,000).
A Marine vase by Émile Gallé sold for $53,125 (including buyer’s premium), well above its $10,000/15,000 estimate, to lead all items during the decorative ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Eclectic Sale and Exponential Prices
Devin Moisan Auctioneers, Epping, New Hampshire
Photos courtesy Devin Moisan Auctioneers
Spread out over two days, Devin Moisan Auctioneers’ July 15 and 16 sale dispersed more than 1100 lots from the 18th century through the mid-20th century with objects from estates and collections in Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Marblehead, Massachusetts, and Woodbury, Connecticut. ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Decoys and Sporting Art
Copley Fine Art Auctions, Hingham, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Copley Fine Art Auctions
He only looks as if he is sleeping. But he was hardly a sleeper; instead, he was the highlight at Copley’s auction and set a new world record auction price for the maker, $594,000 (est. $500,000/800,000). The 24½" long sleeping ... (Read More)
|
(Show)One of the Must-Attend Summer Shows
Pure Country Antique Show, Chrisman, Illinois
The weather was part of it. A large part. But there was something more significant during the Pure Country Antique Show, held July 8 near Chrisman, Illinois. There was the upward trend that epitomizes this gem of an antiques show plunked down in the middle ... (Read More)
|
(Auction)Historical Ephemera and Photography
Hindman, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Hindman
Antique photographs helped give Wes Cowan his start in the auction business, and, years after Cowan’s was acquired by Hindman, images continue to fuel the company’s auctions of American historical ephemera and photography. During the most recent sale, held June 15 and 16 at Cincinnati, Ohio, ... (Read More)
|
1 (800) 752-8521 • PO Box 1429 • Waldoboro, ME 04572
