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Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart props sale created media buzz for Kaminski Auctions

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Martha Stewart
This 4-foot-long vintage painted wooden potting bench with shelf sold to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $687.50. Provenance: Studio Props of Martha Stewart. Kaminski Auctions image

BEVERLY, Mass. – Fans of Martha Stewart flocked to the Martha Stewart Studio Props sale at Kaminski Auctions May 5-6. Many fans, new to the experience of buying at auction, enthusiastically bid on over 1,000 lots of Martha’s studio props. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

Kitchenware, garden urns and décor items, many handpicked by Martha Stewart were auctioned off in part to benefit the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Hospital.  Seven truckloads, more than 4,000 individual pieces from the lifestyle guru’s television shows were brought to Beverly, Massachusetts, by Kaminski Auctions and organized for the sale.

Stewart graciously signed a few of the more important items on offer and those pieces brought considerably more than they would have otherwise. A vintage painted wooden potting bench (above) sold for $687.50 through LiveAuctioneers.

An antique toboggan used on a Christmas show and signed by Stewart was the top-selling lot fetching $600 plus the buyer’s premium.

Martha Stewart
White-painted toboggan signed by Martha Stewart, from her Bar Harbor estate. Sold for $600 (hammer price). Kaminski Auctions image

A Boo’s butcher block table brought $375 plus the buyer’s premium.

Martha Stewart
Boos butcher block table, 34 in. high x 23½ in. wide. Provenance: Studio Props of Martha Stewart. Sold for $375 (hammer price). Kaminski Auctions image

Two sets of vintage enamel cookware in the classic Martha Stewart blue color sold for $350 each plus buyer’s premium and several signed vintage cutting boards sold in the $250-$350 range.

Martha Stewart
Twelve pieces of vintage enamel cast-iron and steel cookware sold for $437.50 to a bidder utilizing the LiveAuctioneers platform. Provenance: Studio Props of Martha Stewart. Kaminski Auctions image

Owner and auctioneer Frank Kaminski believes Kaminski Auctions was selected in part to handle this auction because the company served as auctioneer for the Oprah Winfrey Collection when she redecorated her home in Santa Barbara, California, several years ago.

Martha Stewart
Group of 17 antique 18th/19th-century pewter items. Provenance: Studio Props of Martha Stewart. Sold for $425 (hammer price). Kaminski Auctions image

Interest in the auction was overwhelming with reports appearing on all local television stations, local newspapers, a radio and television interview on local CBS affiliate WBZ on the day of the auction.  The press release was picked up by the Associated Press as well as on Page Six of the New York Post. Cooking magazines like Food and Wine ran the story as well as numerous design magazines and bloggers.

After Stewart posted the auction on Twitter Kaminski saw a 300 percent increase in traffic to their site and most were new customers. Preview days and online bidding registration were a clear indication of how big this event really would be.

With over 400 new bidders on KaminskiLIVE and many more on LiveAuctioneers, the auction had a 99 percent sell-through on all lots.

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Martha Stewart