Stories for May '25
(Issue Story)A Welcome Addition to the Canon
A Book Review
With few exceptions, such as Nina Fletcher Little’s Little by Little: Six Decades of Collecting American Decorative Arts (1984) and Leslie Anne Miller’s Start with a House, Finish with a Collection (2014), most private collections are not published until they appear as hardcover auction catalogs for landmark sales ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Kendra and Allan Daniel Pledge $1 Million for Folk Art Museum Acquisitions
On March 26 the American Folk Art Museum announced that longtime patrons Kendra and Allan Daniel have pledged a bequest of $1 million in support of future acquisitions of traditional American folk art.
This bequest initiates Kendra and Allan Daniel into the American Folk Art Museum’s Legacy Society, which honors friends ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Consider the Context
Beneath the Surface
Humans like permanence and certainty. We carve initials in trees and desks and doorframes. We seal documents in plastic. We enshrine important things in stone. But no matter how we feel about it, things change, and even if they do not, how we feel about them does. We ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Auction Prices Realized
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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(Issue Story)If in Doubt, Don’t Throw It Out: A Paean to Paper, Specifically Diaries and Journals
It’s a little like admitting to being a heretic, but while working for 17 years as a reporter for M.A.D., my favorite items to write about weren’t pieces of furniture. They were pieces of paper. I loved to write about things like rare books and ephemera. Chests of drawers, not ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Rhinebeck Show to Return
Barn Star Productions’ Spring Antiques at Rhinebeck Show is returning. The show will take place Memorial Day Weekend, May 24 and 25, at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, New York, and will feature 125 indoor exhibitors. Last year, the Fall Antiques at Rhinebeck Show, scheduled for Columbus Day weekend, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)2024 Ceramics in America
A Book Review
It is hard to believe that Ceramics in America has been around since 2001 and that the current edition is the 23rd volume. (There was an interruption in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Twelve of the 14 articles of varying length in the 2024 volume answer questions posed by ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Two New Exhibitors for NHADA Annual Show
For 68 years, the annual show produced by the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association (NHADA) has upheld the tradition of bringing fine quality antiques to New England. Two new exhibitors will join the show this year bringing the total to 59 exhibitors. The new exhibitors are Philip Mead of Mead ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Hanging with Heather Karlie Vieira
Earning her chops as an antiques dealer took spunk, luck, and cocktail waitress experience. After 20-plus years, Heather Karlie Vieira, who with her two teenage daughters now calls Georgia home, has her foot in many doors.
Leaving her hometown of Philadelphia in 2002 for New York City to become an antiques ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Getting More by Asking for Less
When asked by someone outside of the art and decorative arts world what museums to see in New York City, I always tell them about the American Folk Art Museum. “It’s fantastic, and it’s free,” is my stock recommendation.
“Access, Scale & Market Share,” a recent report by Remuseum, a think ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, May 2025
Stanley Whitney (b. 1946), untitled, 2020, gouache on paper. The Medford and Loraine Johnston collection, promised gift to the High Museum of Art. © Stanley Whitney. Photo courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.
—Through May 25 —Atlanta, Georgia
Thinking Eye, Seeing Mind: The Medford and Loraine Johnston Collection at the High Museum ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Charleston Show 2025
Charleston, South Carolina
Photos courtesy Donna Prunkl
What began as the Charleston International Antiques Show in 2004 has morphed into simply the Charleston Show. M.A.D. was there for the inaugural international show (see the June 2004 edition of M.A.D., pp. 26-28-D). Keeling Wainwright Associates managed the show for the Historic Charleston Foundation ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Laughlin’s 39th Spring Auction
Laughlin Auctions, Edinburg, Virginia
Photos courtesy Laughlin Auctions
Laughlin Auctions hosted its 39th annual spring antiques and sporting auction March 5-19. The two-week online-only sale provided ample time for potential buyers to sort through the nearly 1100 lots offered by the Edinburg, Virginia, firm. Laughlin uses the HiBid bidding platform.
In addition to ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Vander Sande Collection at Brunk Auctions
Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Brunk Auctions
The entire 211-lot catalog for the March 12 sale at Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina, was devoted to the collection of Marie-Teresa and John (1944-2024) Vander Sande of Newbury, Massachusetts. The couple researched and purchased 17th- and 18th-century Massachusetts furniture and decorative arts. ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Crowntainer Sells for Record $111,150
A rare Chief Oshkosh Crowntainer beer can set a new auction record at $111,150 (includes buyer’s premium) at Morean Auctions, Brimfield, Massachusetts, March 9. (Crowntainers are a style of beer cans that have a funnel-shaped cone top that was sealed with a bottle cap.) The white Chief Oshkosh is the ... (Read More)
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(Show)2025 Outsider Art Fair
New York City
The 33rd iteration of the Outsider Art Fair said farewell to a couple of icons in the field while welcoming a few new players.
The original owner of the fair, Sanford L. “Sandy” Smith, who passed away last year, had sold the fair 13 years ago to Andrew Edlin ... (Read More)
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(Auction)$1.5 Million Three-Day Sale
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine
Photos courtesy Thomaston Place Auction Galleries
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine, held a late winter three-day auction February 21 to 23. When the last gavel came down, the gallery had taken in a cool $1.5 million. Only one lot hit the hundred-grand mark, but there ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Over $3 Million at Copley Winter Sale
Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC, Pembroke, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC
Copley Fine Art Auctions’ two-day online-only auction February 21 and 22 brought in over $3 million, was over 95% sold by lot, and achieved new record prices. The auction house, based in Pembroke, Massachusetts, and entering its third ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Political Memorabilia from the Kimmel Collection
Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
A superb trove of presidential and political memorabilia from the collection of a single owner was sold at Heritage Auctions’ February 21 and 22 Americana and political “Signature” auction.
The Roger H. Kimmel collection featured 916 lots, with an emphasis on political pins from the ... (Read More)
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(Show)National Arts & Crafts Conference and Shows
Asheville, North Carolina
Devotees of the annual National Arts & Crafts Conference and Shows in Asheville, North Carolina, didn’t waste any time once the doors to the show of antiques and contemporary crafts opened on February 21. Bright red sold signs began sprouting throughout the Omni Grove Park Inn’s grand ballroom ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 2025 Heart of Tennessee Antique Show
Lebanon, Tennessee
The Heart of Tennessee Antique Show was held in Lebanon, Tennessee, February 13-15. The event featured 33 dealers and began with a Thursday evening preview party. The ninth annual show was once again part of Nashville’s antiques week, which offered five solid but distinct shows divvied up between Nashville ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Nashville Show 2025
Nashville, Tennessee
The Fairgrounds Nashville had an interesting way of promoting one of its marquee events. Taped to the doors of restroom stalls, where occupants became a captive audience, were fliers for the monthly Nashville Flea Market, described as “The Best Flea Market in Tennessee.”
A flea market was an odd thing ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 2025 Lebanon Antique Show
Lebanon, Tennessee
The guy behind me is tapping his fingers impatiently. Seriously. He’s drumming away like John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Except I’m oblivious to his exasperation—focused instead on photographing a small wool-covered ram. Anyway, sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to raise your blood pressure.
It was Friday morning, shortly after the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana and Historical and Native American Antiques
New England Auctions, Branford, Connecticut
Photos courtesy New England Auctions
Esoteric might be one word to describe Fred Giampietro’s New England Auctions’ February 13 sale in the Branford, Connecticut, gallery. Offerings fell into various collecting categories, including Americana, folk art, military, medical, scientific, Native American, and woodworking.
The double-sided painted wood trade sign, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Canadiana in Demand
Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd., New Hamburg, Ontario
Photos courtesy Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd.
All prices in U.S. dollars
Quebec arbalète (crossbow) butternut commode, 32" x 46" x 24", with the unusual feature of a serpentine paneled door on each side and scrolled brackets on the front posts, sold for $49,656 ... (Read More)
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(Auction)“Boston Collects” at Doyle
Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers, Boston, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers
Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers’ February 7 “Boston Collects” auction in Boston, Massachusetts, sold fine art and decorations with connections to the Boston area by origin, creator, and collection. Silver and artwork pleased bidders enough to boost many of the lots’ ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Franklin Bust Sells for $441,000
Christie’s, New York City
A white Carrara marble bust of Benjamin Franklin by John Michael Rysbrack (Flemish, 1694-1770), 1757-62, inscribed on the reverse “Benjamin Franklin / Michl: Rysbrack / Sculpt:” sold with an associated later marble column for $441,000 (including buyer’s premium) to an online bidder in Connecticut at Christie’s sale ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 51st Wisconsin Antiques Dealers Association Winter Show & Sale
Waukesha, Wisconsin
You’ve got to love a show that makes a big deal about honoring local traditions. In the case of the 51st Wisconsin Antiques Dealers Association (WADA) Winter Antiques Show & Sale, held January 31 and February 1, bragging rights extend beyond a traditional Northwoods fish fry supper on opening ... (Read More)
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