An Imperial Chinese box carved with five dragons sold for $26,450 at an annual Thanksgiving Sale conducted Nov. 28-29 by Kaminski Auctions in Essex, Mass. Also, a 1969 oil on canvas painting of deer in a rain forest by Sri Lanka artist Senaka Senanayake achieved $13,800; a 19th-century woven tapestry panel with Arabic design elements, 55 1/2 inches by 18 1/2 inches, raised $8,625; and a 19th-century gilt bronze sleigh-form vessel made $5,750. Prices include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
MANHEIM, Pa. – They Hershey Museum in Hershey, Pa., is one of several consignors of outstanding pieces to Conestoga Auction Co.’s Antiques and Folk Art sale Jan. 22-23. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
The anticipated top lot in the sale, a Soap Hollow, Somerset County, Pa., blanket chest made by John Sala and dated 1868, which could attain $10,000-$15,000. The chest is decorated with original stenciling marked “MANUFACTURED BY JOHN SALA” and “JS 1868.” On the front between two dovetailed drawers are double heart cutouts. The chest is similar to one featured in the book Soap Hollow, The Furniture and its Makers by Charles R. Muller. The red chest on bracket feet measures 26 inches high by 48 inches wide by 21 inches deep.
A similar Soap Hollow decorated blanket chest attributed to Jeremiah Stahl and dated 1855 chest has a $1,000-$3,000 estimate. It does not have the aforementioned cutout decoration between the drawer fronts.
More than three dozen lots of spatterware china will be offered on the second day of the sale. Highlights include an 8 1/2-inch plate decorated with a blue and green rainbow border with a bluish-red tulip in the center and a handleless cup and saucer in the Two Men in a Raft pattern with red trim. Both lots have $3,000-$5,000 estimates and are in very good condition.
From the Hershey Museum comes a Pennsylvania country Sheraton corner cupboard in old red paint and a fine Pennsylvania paint-decorated dower chest from Lebanon or Dauphin counties. Each has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate.
A Somerset County, Pa., country Federal tiger-maple two-part corner cupboard will also sell on Saturday. It has a single nine-pane glazed upper door, two split dovetailed drawers, two lower paneled doors and continuous bracket feet. It measures 84 1/4 inches high by 48 inches wide by 20 inches deep. The estimate is $2,000-$5,000.
Also in line to sell are Windsor chairs work stands, a Pennsylvania walnut farm table, two Victorian bedroom suites and a three-piece Victorian inlaid parlor set attributed to Jelliff.
Friday’s auction, which begins at 3 p.m. Eastern, has more than 100 antique cast-iron mechanical and still banks.
Saturday’s session begins at 10 a.m. Eastern.
For details phone 717-898-7284.
To view the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Click here to view Conestoga Auction Company’s complete catalog.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
For the past 42 years Terry Kovel has enlightened and informed antique buyers with the incomparable Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide she co-founded with her late husband, Ralph. The new 42nd edition of this indispensable reference, co-authored by Terry’s daughter Kim and published by Black Dog & Leventhal, is an incredible value at $27.95 retail. It retains all of the features we’ve come to rely upon in Kovels’ annual price guide, plus many improvements that keep this title a step ahead of the rest.
As with each successive Kovel’s guide, the book is completely fresh from the ground floor up – you’ll never get a rehash from Terry and Kim, who are known as sticklers for accuracy and detail. We’re operating in a different market than we were 18 months ago. If you’re still relying on a price guide from a few years ago, it’s probably doing your business more harm than good.
The new Kovels edition contains than 47,000 actual retail prices gathered from shops, shows, sales, auctions and the Internet; plus hundreds of factory histories, marks and logos; and expert tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. All of the photos – more than 2,500 – appear in full color, and readers can look forward to more definitions, pattern information, histories and dating clues than ever before. If you’re like me, you’ll love the informational sidebars and comprehensive, computer-generated index.
The user-friendly book is organized into 700 categories that cover a vast range of interests, from pressed glass, pottery and porcelain to furniture, jewelry, photography and sports memorabilia. As useful to the novice collector as it is to the experienced dealer, Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2010 is the book to take to flea markets, garage sales, auctions, antique shops or shows to buy, sell, evaluate and collect with confidence.
Terry Kovel has been a lifelong collector and has written more than 98 books on antiques and collectibles. She also writes the oldest nationally syndicated newspaper column by the original author (Auction Central News is proud to have been the first digital publication to sign up for the column after it went into online syndication.) Kovels’ monthly newsletter has over 60,000 paid subscribers, and a weekly e-zine, Kovels Komments, boasts almost 200,000 subscribers.
Until the fall of 2008, when Terry’s husband, Ralph Kovel, passed away, all Kovel ventures and adventures were the work of this indefatigable husband-and-wife team. Now Terry, who lives in a gracious old house in the Cleveland area, continues to spearhead the Kovels enterprise along with her daughter, Kim.
As one might well expect of the daughter of Terry and Ralph Kovel, Kim Kovel caught the collecting bug as a child. She grew up in a house filled with antiques and traveled regularly to antique shows and flea markets. She manages the Kovels’ Web site and has spent the last 10 years working on the Kovels’ price guides and other Kovel projects. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and her collections in Miami, Florida.
Start the collecting year off right with the book The New York Times calls “the bible of [its] field.” Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2010 (ISBN: 978-1-57912-816-6) retails at $27.95. This is the one you need.
Click here to buy the book through amazon.com.
NEW YORK – On Wednesday, Jan. 27, celebrity auctioneer Kathleen Guzman will preside over Housing Works’ second and final auction of early American prints to fund the charity’s ongoing programs to assist low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
The auction includes dozens of desirable prints by the quintessential American engravers Currier and Ives. All will be available to preview starting Monday, Jan. 25, at the Gramercy Housing Works venue at 157 E. 23rd Street in Manhattan. Eighty lots containing a total of 90 items will be auctioned.
Just in time for President’s Day, the auction will include numerous portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, as well as horseracing prints, pastoral scenes, and events and maps. One noteworthy map, The Battle of Long Island, 1776 by cartographer Samuel Holland, sold through a prominent Philadelphia auction house in 2007 for $14,000.
The first Housing Works auction of early American prints, which was held last October, pointed toward a resurgence of interest in the genre. The inventory of 56 lots earned an astonishing $40,000.
“I was gratified by the response to the first auction,” Guzman said, noting that the current economic climate is an ideal one in which to buy art at below-market prices. “I encourage all collectors who love early American prints to bid in the auction to score great deals while you still can. You’ll be raising money for a fantastic organization at the same time.”
New York’s Swann Auction Galleries and the collectibles Web site Worthpoint.com are contributing support to Early American Prints, Part II. The Works – Housing Works’ catering company – will provide light hors d’oeuvres and beverages.
The Early American Prints auction events were prompted by an anonymous donation of nearly 300 engravings and prints. Many were originally sold by the famed Kennedy Gallery.
Guzman is a world-renowned auctioneer who appears frequently on PBS Television’s Antiques Roadshow, has worked for Christie’s and Sotheby’s, and has auctioned everything from Michael Jackson’s silver glove to Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. She has been volunteering at Housing Works since January 2009. WNYC, New York Public Radio, profiled her last month.
A silent auction of a separate selection of prints will take place on Housing Works Thrift Shops’ auction site, Shophousingworks.com, starting midnight, Friday, Jan. 22 and closing at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Online auction items will be featured in the windows of Housing Works’ Gramercy Thrift Shop on Friday, Sept. 25.
All proceeds from the auctions will go toward proving life-saving services such as housing, medical care, meals and job training to homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. For additional information on any item in the sale, or to learn more about Housing Works, contact David Thorpe by calling 212-966-0466 ext. 1128 or e-mailing Thorpe@housingworks.org.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
BOSTON – Kaminski Auctions, one of Massachusetts’ premier auction houses, has announced details of its Jan. 22-23 Estates Auction, featuring fine art, antiques and a premier selection of fine jewelry from estates spanning Massachusetts to Kaminski’s second location in California. The auction takes place Saturday, January 24, 2010 at Woodman’s Function Hall, Rt. 133 Main Bidding will commence at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on both days, with Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
An unusual 20th-century Baccarat-style cut-glass throne chair (est. $4,000-$6,000) is sure to attract the attention of bidders with an eye for luxury. The lavishly appointed piece contrasts a unique glass construction with plush red velvet upholstery. Faceted finials sit atop two columnar stiles, flanking the piece’s central fan motif. Each upholstered arm is supported by five short columnar supports, and the chair rests on four faceted and tapered glass legs. The chair is closely related to a design in the circa-1880 F&C Osler archives.
Highlighting the auction’s diverse array of fine estate jewelry is a sapphire and diamond ring in a fine platinum setting (est. $15,000-$20,000). The center stone, a hefty 12.3-carat unheated sapphire, is flanked by 12 diamonds of varied cuts with a total weight of 1.30 carats. GIA and AGL certificates accompany the ring, which is one of many fine pieces of jewelry offered at this exciting auction.
Within the auction’s wide selection of fine art is a painting by an unknown artist depicting Judith with the Head of Holofernes (est. $5,000-$9,000). The painting references a story from the Old Testament’s Book of Judith, in which the title figure assassinates Holofernes, an invading general of Nebuchadnezzar. The piece, a framed oil on canvas, measures 39½ inches by 29½ inches, and is indistinctly signed.
A Russian silver enameled egg (est. $4,000-$7,000) is also to be offered. The egg rests on three claw feet and boasts four inlaid cabochon garnets. The egg’s detailed enameled design includes three white birds accented by a blue floral background. The piece is hallmarked 84 H3 with a profile image of a man’s face.
Additional decorative arts offerings include a 19th-century cobalt glass chandelier (est. $4,000-$6,000). The ornate six-arm chandelier is deep blue in color, with intricate gilt ornamentation. Approximately 100 faceted cobalt-glass pendants hang beneath each arm and from the base of the chandelier. The piece, which is not electrified, measures 37½ inches in height and is 30½ inches wide.
“We’ve encountered some very exciting West Coast consignments since opening the doors at our new Beverly Hills location,” commented Frank Kaminski, owner of Kaminski Auctions. “Our status as a bicoastal auction house affords us the opportunity to bring these rare and valuable items before our enthusiastic Massachusetts audience.”
For additional information on any item in the sale, call 978-927-2223. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – When Elias Hasket Derby, a Salem, Mass., merchant and owner of the first New England vessel to trade directly with China, sent his son John off to college, he sent him off in style. Derby hired John Cogswell, one of Boston’s leading cabinetmakers, to build John a chest on chest for his room at Harvard College. That piece of furniture now resides at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.
While not everyone is sent off to school with a piece of furniture like that, college days are not too early to become engaged in the world of antiques, and antiques can find a place in student apartments
For University of Virginia students, the opportunity for learning and finding is coming Jan. 22-24, 2010, when Antiques in Charlottesville opens its doors at the Holiday Inn University Center.
“We’re hoping many students in Charlottesville will take advantage of this opportunity to discover the world of antiques and fine art,” said show promoter Jay Melrose. “One nice thing about coming to a show is the dealers who are happy to share years of experience in the trade.”
Melrose added that while antiques are often perceived as not being affordable to college students, there are a number of entry-level items that can easily find a place in a dorm room. Among them are selected artworks, prints, lamps, photos, linens and books.
More importantly, for college students the experience is one of learning as much as it is for acquiring. “The acquiring can come later,” Melrose said. “The most important part is opening the doors to something that can beget years of appreciation and enjoyment.”
Jay Melrose, of Poland, Ohio, began selling antiques at shows in the mid 1980s and, armed with that experience, has worked to rethink the formula of antiques-show promotion. Today Melrose & Duddy shows feature an exciting array of knowledgeable dealers who are engaging generations of new buyers.
Hours for Antiques in Charlottesville are Friday, Jan. 22, 1 p.m. until 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 23., 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 24, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is $8, or $4 with a University of Virginia student ID. The University Area Holiday Inn is centrally located at 1901 Emmet Street.
More information about Antiques in Charlottesville is available online at www.antiquesincharlottesville.com. Visit Melrose & Duddy’s Web site at www.melroseduddy.com. Contact Jay Melrose at 330-519-5132.
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NORWALK, Conn. (AP) – An interior designer has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing nearly $140,000 from a Connecticut homeowner during a home makeover.
Forty-nine-year-old Shawn Mazzuca of Stamford and Saugerties, N.Y., was sentenced Thursday in Norwalk Superior Court.
Authorities say they arrested Mazzuca in August 2008 for stealing the money during a $209,000 renovation to a home in Westport. Prosecutors say he bilked the homeowner out of $139,500 that was intended for the purchase of antiques, designer rugs and furniture.
Police say Mazzuca admitted to his client, Jane Henderson, that he had charged her for items he hadn’t even ordered. Mazzuca’s lawyer said his client used the money for medical expenses.
Mazzuca was ordered to repay Henderson the money he stole.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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DURHAM, N.H. (AP) – Visitors to an annual bridal show at the University of New Hampshire will be able to see what brides wore as they walked down the aisle many years ago.
An exhibit of antique wedding dresses from the Irma Bowen Textile Collection at the University of New Hampshire Museum will be shown at the annual WERZ bridal show at the Whittemore Center on Sunday.
Bowen taught textile classes, including in the history of fashion and dressmaking techniques, at UNH from 1920 to 1947. During that time, she collected more than 600 samples of women’s and children’s clothing from the 1700s through the early 20th century.
The items on display include a wool designer gown covered with hand-stitched lace and netting and a burgundy long-sleeve silk taffeta. Both dresses are circa 1890.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Leading the fine art is a painting entitled Central Park Skating by African American artist Joseph Delaney (Tennessee/New York, 1904-1991). A Knoxville native, Delaney moved in 1930 to New York, where he studied with Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League, and became known for his often humorous depictions of New York life. Although he did not achieve the level of fame of his brother, Beauford, Joseph Delaney was an acclaimed artist in his own right and is the subject of a newly released book, The Life, Art and Times of Joseph Delaney by Frederick C. Moffatt (University of Tennessee Press, 2009). The painting, purchased directly from the artist by a Knoxville collector many years ago, is illustrated in that book. Three lots of nude figure drawings by Delaney are also included in the sale.
The auction features two significant portraits: an 18th-century depiction of a woman with landscape in the background attributed to the school of Gainsborough Dupont and a portrait of President Andrew Jackson painted in 1836 by William Stewart Watson. Portraits of Jackson painted during his lifetime are scarce. This one, painted during the final years of his presidency, was given to an Alabama supporter and descended in that family.
Highlighting a variety of European and American paintings are a 19th-century painting on ivory of Columbus at the court of King Ferdinand signed Vernet, a landscape by Adolf Shulz, a New Orleans courtyard scene by Colette Pope Heldner, wildlife paintings by Ralph McDonald, and a homestead scene by Rhoda Brady Stokes, who has been called the “Grandma Moses of Louisiana.”
Rare etchings by Renoir, Picasso, Louis Icart and Leon Pescheret, signed lithographs by Dali and Miro, and a set of architectural photographs by Albert Levy round out the fine art offerings.
Southern pottery, a staple at Case auctions, is headlined by an Edgefield lidded crock with slip swag decoration by Thomas Chandler. Both lid and crock are original to each other and marked “Chandler Maker.” Company president John Case said the crock is exceptional because it is the only piece known with a lid bearing the mark of an Edgefield maker.
There is also an Edgefield, S.C., alkaline glazed jar with a broken stem flower decoration, and jars attributed to the Decker and Craven potteries of Tennessee. Pottery from Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina is also included.
Silver is an especially strong category in this sale, with more than 60 lots offered. The category is led by an English sterling fish set with figural ivory handles in the form of mermaids and pierced mermaid blades inscribed to Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war, Simon Cameron. Also featured are several pieces of Southern coin silver including the only known silver calling case by a Tennessee silversmith, a George II silver hot water pot by Isaac Cookson, a set of six Gorham apostle spoons, a nine-piece Art Nouveau dresser set by Unger Bros. and a William Spratling coffee pot. Rounding out the silver is a large selection of early 20th-century hollowware and flatware by Tiffany, Whiting, Reed & Barton (Francis I), Wallace, and other American and European makers.
An outstanding silk needlework mourning picture to the Carnes family of Boston tops the textile offerings. There are also several American and English samplers, and quilts including a signed 19th-century Tennessee quilt in a variation of the Whig Rose pattern.
Jewelry will be prominently featured in the sale, with more than 60 lots including a number of pieces of gold jewelry from the Victorian era through the 20th century. A museum-quality collection of Victorian mourning and hair jewelry is expected to draw attention, along with a rare hair scrapbook. Case says the hairwork items, all from a single collector, are outstanding because of their excellent condition and fine detail.
A circa 1835 Hartsville, Tenn., book or china press with old surface, which descended in the cabinetmaker’s family, is among the furniture standouts in the sale. It is accompanied by a sideboard from the same family and attributed to the same maker. Case said it is unusual to have two such early pieces by the same hand, which have remained together for the past 175 years. A Mississippi Valley linen press, a miniature grain-painted Wythe County Virginia blanket chest, a rare three-drawer walnut table found in Winchester, Va., a Georgia pine postmaster’s desk and other furniture from Southern states will be offered along with an English chest on chest, signed Hunzinger rocker and a cherry Chippendale chest attributed to Connecticut.
Other notable objects for sale include a 19th-century photograph of the USS Kenwood steamboat, later renamed the Cumberland, which exploded in 1869, and a 19th;-century walnut dentist’s case with dental tools and trade sign. A Confederate powder horn and scarce 1904 photograph of Confederate Cavalry veterans of Troop A from Nashville, with each soldier identified by name, including two African American veterans, are among the Civil War related objects being sold.
“This is an exciting time for art and antiques in the South,” said company president John Case. “Thanks to museum exhibits and books and the Internet, people are becoming more educated about what they have. We’re seeing a number of things come on the market that until now have been tucked away in their original families or private collections. Several have come out of homes and estates in the Nashville area, where we now have a second office so we can work with consignors there. And for buyers, there’s a wide enough variety that everyone, no matter their budget, can find something to help them connect with our region’s rich history.”
The auction will be held at Case’s gallery in the historic Cherokee Mills Building, 2240 Sutherland Ave., in Knoxville on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 10 a.m. Eastern. A preview will take place on Friday, Jan. 22. An online auction catalog is available via the website: www.caseantiques.com.
Interested bidders may also call (865) 558-3033 or (615) 812-6096 for more information.
To view the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
NEW YORK (AP) – A marble vase weighing 14,000 pounds will be carefully moved Saturday to a New York City armory for display at the upscale Winter Antiques Show.
A moving team will use a heavy duty rigging machine to carry the crated vase into the Park Avenue Armory. The massive 9-foot tall artwork title Urn will be gently lowered onto a bronze pivot attached to a marble base.
Alice Duncan, director of Manhattan’s Gerald Peters Gallery, says the vase by American sculptor Paul Manship, who also created Rockefeller Center’s famed Prometheus, has a $6 million price tag.
The pink Tennessee marble vase was commissioned in 1914 by Ohio industrialist William Mather for his estate outside of Cleveland.
The Winter Antiques Show runs from Jan. 22 through Jan. 31.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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