Stories for June '24
(Fragment)Weinblatt Ceases Exhibiting at Shows
Victor Weinblatt, a specialist in American folk signage, will no longer be exhibiting at shows. According to a press release, “While we no longer will be doing shows, we will actively and enthusiastically maintain our gallery by appointment in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Our Instagram account (@victor_weinblatt), created last winter, is ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)A History of Tiffany Lamps
A Book Review
Scores of books have been written about the designs of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) and his famed studio. This book takes a decidedly technical approach. The author’s perspective comes from a career working with opalescent glass, and here he explains in detail the evolution of Tiffany Studios over ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Witherell Expands
Brian and Donna Witherell of Witherell Luxury Asset Auctioneers & Appraisers, based in Sacramento, California, have launched a satellite auction company, the Wine Country Consignment Center in Windsor, California. The expansion is a return to the company’s roots. Witherell was founded 55 years ago in Healdsburg and relocated to Sacramento ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Art Forgery Trial Finds Business Owners Liable for $50K Fake
On April 22 two Denver District Court employees gently placed a large painting against a wall in the fourth-floor courtroom of Judge Jon Olafson, where it remained all week.
According to a signature in one of its corners, the depiction of a Mexican valley was painted in 1894 by José María ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)$100,000-Plus Book, Listed on eBay for $22,000, Leads to Arrest
A woefully underpriced rare book on eBay has led to an arrest, a charge of felony larceny, and the recovery of a rare 1855 first-edition copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.
According to an April 8 police report, police officers from Brevard, North Carolina, met with three faculty members of ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Connecticut Dealer Pleads Guilty
William Dawson, 52, of Connecticut pleaded guilty April 24 to fraudulently obtaining more than 100 gold coins and then transporting them outside of Massachusetts.
Dawson pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of property taken by fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman scheduled sentencing for June 18. Dawson ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Auction Prices Realized, June 2024
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)
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(Fragment)Damon Granger Buys Indy Ad Show
Damon Granger has purchased the Indy Ad Show from Morphy Auctions. The transaction was completed in May. Partnering with Granger are his wife, Angela, and adult son Zach.
A former dealer at the semiannual Indy Antique Advertising Show (the event’s former name), Granger started his own show when the Indianapolis event ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)The Latest Miller’s Handbook
A Book Review
Author Judith Miller (1951-2023) passed away unexpectedly before finishing the 45th-anniversary edition of Miller’s Antiques Handbook & Price Guide. Her husband, John Wainwright, wrote in the introduction that “Judith’s extensive knowledge of and passion for antiques still runs through the new edition.” It certainly does! The more than ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter to the Past
Beneath the Surface
A little over 20 years ago, Andrew was fresh out of graduate school and ready to launch a career in the antiques business. But the antiques job market for a guy with no experience, student loans to pay, and the ink still drying on a master’s degree was ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Curator of Historic Home Content Named for Connecticut Show
Rebecca Lineberry, a restorer and designer of antique homes in Connecticut, will direct content for the Haddam Historical Society’s Connecticut River Valley Antiques Show and Historic Home Fair, to be held October 19 and 20 in Higganum, Connecticut.
Lineberry, whose ongoing restoration of a 1755 Colonial-style single-family home in Higganum was ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Awe
He...who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Rich Penn Joins Morphy Auctions
Rich Penn, an Iowa auction company CEO and antique advertising specialist, has joined Morphy Auctions in the newly created role of market development officer.
From his base in Waterloo, Iowa, Penn will work in tandem with Morphy’s marketing team and will advise on the latest technological innovations for the auction process. ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Show in Guilford, Connecticut
Debbie Turi of D. Turi Antique Shows has announced a new show: the Shoreline Antiques & Retro Market, to be held on the fairgrounds in Guilford, Connecticut, June 1 and 2.
According to Turi, “We are planning on a varied market with dealers showing folk art, Americana, furniture, decorator art, mid-century ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Hanging with Rob Wolfe
The ability to tell stories through objects is what gets Rob Wolfe out of bed every morning. He grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa, with his older brother, Mike, who is his counterpart on the History Channel’s American Pickers, soon to begin its 25th season. The Wolfe boys constructed forts in ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Free Admission to Those under 18 at Rhinebeck Show
The Spring Antiques at Rhinebeck show on May 25 and 26 will offer free admission to anyone under 18. The Memorial Day weekend show, produced by Barn Star Productions, will be held at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, New York. The entire show will be held indoors. ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Ringing the Warning Bell
On the lawn of a Maine historical society sits a bronze bell cast by the Revere Foundry in Boston. The foundry cast over 900 bells between 1792 and 1843, and 24 of them are in the state of Maine. This particular bell was originally hung in a church, but when ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Boscobel House and Gardens Raising Money to Fix Library Ceiling
During the evening of April 16, the plaster ceiling of the library room at Boscobel House and Gardens, Garrison, New York, collapsed without warning. According to a press release, no one was in the building at the time, but the incident caused major damage to the library, its contents, and ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, June2024
Louise Nevelson, Royal Tide I, 1960, painted wood, 7'2" x 40" x 8". Gift of Peter and Beverly Lipman. Photo courtesy Storm King Art Center by Jerry L. Thompson, © 2022 Estate of Louise Nevelson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
—Through June 9 —Waterville, Maine
The World Outside: Louise Nevelson ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Warhol Silverspot Tops Barridoff Sale
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, Maine
Photos courtesy Barridoff Auctions
On Saturday, April 13, Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, Maine, offered 280 lots of paintings, prints, and photographs to what nowadays would be considered a large crowd of retail buyers and the trade. It was not a sale of high-powered artworks—only 15 lots sold ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Paintings and Prints at Doyle
Doyle, New York City
Photos courtesy Doyle
Doyle held its semiannual sale of American paintings and prints live in its salesroom on East 87th Street in Manhattan Wednesday, April 10. Only a few bidders were present. Most of the sales went to online bidders. The auction also featured American furniture, silver, and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Spring Americana Sale at Doyle
Doyle, New York City
Photos courtesy Doyle
Only at Doyle on Manhattan’s Upper East Side can you buy a sterling silver child’s highchair tray, a silver dog bowl, and a silver terrapin tureen and soup bowls in an Americana sale. The April 10 sale featured paintings, prints, furniture, silver, and decorative art. ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Found Object Show/art without intent
New York City
The Found Object Show/art without intent is a show about patina, said Adam Irish of Old as Adam, an antiques dealer from Providence, Rhode Island, who manages the event.
Found objects were not intentionally made by the maker to be “art.” However, with time, the objects take on beauty, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Natural History, Maps, Books, and Furniture
Arader Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Arader Galleries
More than 50 years ago, in his junior year at Yale University, Graham Arader began selling maps from his dorm room. Eventually he discovered the works of John James Audubon and Pierre-Joseph Redouté, and now he has the world’s largest inventory of rare ... (Read More)
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(Auction)New Era for American Ceramics
Crocker Farm, Sparks, Maryland
Photos courtesy Crocker Farm
“This was our third-highest-grossing sale to date,” stated Mark Zipp of Crocker Farm following the family operation’s spring sale, which made $1,753,470 (including buyers’ premiums). There were 525 registered bidders for the spring auction. The absentee-only sale ran from March 27 through April 5 ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Spring Sale of African American Art
Swann Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Swann Galleries
For its April 4 sale of African American art, Swann Galleries offered 239 lots of paintings, watercolors, prints, photography, and sculpture and featured a special evening session called “Art for Life” of contemporary works sold to benefit the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.
The sale ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Early 20th-Century Design
Toomey & Co., Chicago, Illinois
Photos courtesy Toomey & Co.
The Chicago auction house bearing his name that John Toomey founded in 1987 has traditionally been a source for fine examples of Arts and Crafts design. First based in Oak Park, a Chicago suburb eight miles from the city’s Loop and closely ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Richard Margolis Collection: Part One
Stack’s Bowers Galleries, Costa Mesa, California
The Richard Margolis Collection: Part One
by Lita Solis-Cohen
Photos courtesy Stack’s Bowers Galleries
The John Stewart at Stony Point medal sold on the phone for $900,000 to a collector who needed it to complete his set of Comitia Americana medals. The Comitia Americana series includes 11 medals ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Changes in Collecting
Donley Auctions, Union, Illinois
Photos courtesy Donley Auctions
For the gray-haired stragglers at the preview of Donley Auctions’ March 23 sale in Union, Illinois, it was the stuff of dreams. They had been collecting model trains, die-cast cars, Cracker Jack toys, dolls, and other vestiges of their childhood for years and couldn’t ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Eclectic Estate of John Long
Hilliard & Co., Madison, Virginia
Photos courtesy Hilliard & Co.
On March 23 Hilliard & Co. offered 319 lots selected from the estate of John Long (1932-2023) of Louisa County, Virginia. The sale was held at Hilliard’s gallery in Madison, Virginia. Items were sold in real time using the firm’s familiar format, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana at New England Auctions
New England Auctions, Branford, Connecticut
Photos courtesy New England Auctions
New England Auctions called its March 21 auction in the Branford, Connecticut, gallery “Celebrating Country Americana,” and it featured handmade and beloved objects. Many were made out of love.
Noticeable among the nearly 400 lots was the selection of textiles and related objects ... (Read More)
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(Show)Spring Show Supports Boosters
Duxbury Spring Antique Show, Duxbury, Massachusetts
Duxbury, Massachusetts, a seaside town 35 miles south of Boston, was established in 1637 by settlers of nearby Plymouth. Residents have traditionally been cognizant of the town’s deep maritime and agricultural history.
The 41st annual Duxbury Spring Antique Show, held March 16 and 17, was an ... (Read More)
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(Show)Biggest Gate Yet for Hudson Antique Show
Canfield, Ohio
What makes a great antiques show? Ask ten different people, and you’ll get ten different answers, but Steve Sherhag, who manages the Hudson Antique Show, held at the Canfield Fairgrounds event center in Canfield, Ohio, had a surefire response when asked that question.
“Who knows,” Sherhag said with a smile. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Online American Art Auction
Bonhams Skinner, Marlborough, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Bonhams Skinner
American art from collections across the United States met at Bonhams Skinner’s online auction that ran February 26 to March 6 and brought impressive results.
Falling Arrow is by Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), an Ohio-born artist who trained in Europe before discovering Taos and Santa ... (Read More)
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(Auction)A Dragonfly, a Kas, and a Freak Show Sign
Carlsen Gallery, Inc., Freehold, New York
Photos courtesy Carlsen Gallery, Inc.
He waves a turned-wood gavel at employees and guests. He calls out mounting bids, “nine hundred, ten hundred, eleven hundred.” He remembers when he could sell linen-press brasses for more than he’s likely to get for the whole piece today.
Russell Carlsen ... (Read More)
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(Show)Strong Sales for Single-Day Show
A Gathering on the Prairie, Arthur, Illinois
The fall edition of A Gathering on the Prairie was held March 2 at the Otto Center in Arthur, Illinois. The show featured 57 dealers.
As the only single-day event during the semiannual Antiques Week in Central Illinois, which features three shows (four in the ... (Read More)
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(Show)Country Antiques, Primitives, and Americana
Country Spirit Antique Show, Arcola, Illinois
The spring edition of the Country Spirit Antique Show was held March 1 and 2 in Arcola, Illinois. The show featured 50 dealers from 19 states and was part of the semiannual Antiques Week in Central Illinois, which offers three shows (four in the fall) ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Outsider Art Auction
Christie’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Christie’s
Christie’s annual Outsider art auction, held March 1 to coincide with the Outsider Art Fair (OAF), was a rambunctious affair filled with giddy anticipation. The salesroom was almost at capacity as collectors filed in and embraced or nodded hellos to their fellow collectors. It is ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Marine Sale at Eldred’s
Eldred’s, East Dennis, Massachusetts
Photographs courtesy Eldred’s
Eldred’s brought several fine collections to market at its February 27 and 28 marine sale in East Dennis, Massachusetts. The two-day event kicked off with a backstaff quadrant once owned by Benno Brenninkmeyer (1940-2012), whose collection was sold in a marine auction at Eldred’s in ... (Read More)
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