MT. CRAWFORD, Va. – President/senior auctioneer Jeffrey S. Evans and his wife, Beverley A. Evans, have relinquished their interests in Green Valley Auctions, the family business in Mt. Crawford, Va., that Jeff inherited in 1979.

Jeff’s brother Gregory L. Evans is now sole owner of the auction house and will continue to offer general estate auctions at the current location, but the specialty/catalog division that Jeff Evans has guided to national and international recognition since 1995 has been withdrawn from the company. Jeff and Beverley are excited to announce that they have established their new business, Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates effective January 1, 2009.

Under this new company, Jeff Evans will continue to conduct the cataloged specialty glass, lighting, antiques, Americana and decorative arts auctions that have produced numerous record auction prices for Green Valley Auctions over the years and brought national acclaim to the auction house, and to Evans himself.

Since successfully entering the world of live Internet bidding in 2007, Evans’ cataloged auctions have received enormous international exposure, with material sold to customers in more than 30 foreign countries. Future auctions will be presented through LiveAuctioneers.com, which will allow Internet buyers to participate “live” in real time during the auction, or by absentee bid.

Stating that he sees this as a “win-win” situation for everyone involved, Jeff Evans explained, “We will be able to add additional cataloged auctions to our schedule and Greg will be able to conduct his biweekly auctions without interruption.’

“The catalog division of Green Valley Auctions has grown tremendously over the past 10 years, so from a business standpoint, the time was right for a separation,” Jeff continued. “We have needed more room to efficiently process the large number of collections consigned to the catalog department for several years now.”

In addition to auction services, the new business will offer appraisal services, private brokering, expert consultations, and a wide range of management services for personal and estate collections. Jeff Evans vows that he and his staff will continue to provide the same special attention to single-owner collections and museum consignments that they have in the past.

“I’ve been a collector all my life and involved in the museum field for over 20 years,” Evans said. “We have always been especially sensitive to the unique needs of institutions.”

In the future, Evans will also be adding a series of lectures and educational symposiums aimed at both collectors and professionals, many of which will be held in conjunction with specific specialty auctions. Evans has wanted to re-establish this educational element for some time, and he believes that the restructuring will finally allow him more time to pursue his research and writings on American glass and Shenandoah Valley decorative arts and material culture.

The Evanses are proud to reveal the new company logo, a white on blue image of a leaping stag, which is representative of the painted decoration found on the piece that achieved the highest bid price in the history of Jeff Evans’ cataloged auctions. The circa-1800 hanging cupboard, decorated by Johannes Spitler with a folk art six-point stag leaping diagonally across the door panel, achieved a record price for American painted furniture when it sold on November 12, 2004 for $962,500.

Construction is now underway on a new 7,500 square foot state-of-the-art auction gallery that is being designed specifically for cataloged auctions. Established customers will be happy to know that the new facility will be within walking distance of the old location in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.

The entire Green Valley customer and client base will be replicated for Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, and the 100,000+ record sales database will be transferred to the new company along with photo files and the complete inventory of past auction catalogs.

Joining Jeff and Beverley Evans at the new company are former Green Valley Auctions staff members Karen Reed, Will McGuffin, Susan Pinnell and Barbara Morris.

Due to a delay in the construction of the new facility, the annual winter glass and lighting auction, normally held in January, will be postponed until late March or April 2009. With an emphasis on Victorian wares, the sale will include the sugar shaker and syrup pitcher collection of Watt and Janet White, the second halves of the Cotting miniature lamp collection and the Liveten milk glass collection, a large collection of Greentown glass, another consignment from the Fenton Art Glass Museum, and a wide selection of art glass and other Victorian wares. The date for this auction will be announced in February.

Jeff Evans’ expertise in Early American Pattern Glass and 18th and 19th century Shenandoah Valley furniture and decorative arts is recognized throughout Virginia and across the United States. He has worked as an appraiser and consultant for Virginia collections at the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace in Staunton, the Stonewall Jackson House in Lexington, the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, the Shenandoah Valley Folk Art and Heritage Center in Dayton, and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester.

In addition, Evans has worked closely with the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY, the Sandwich Glass Museum in Sandwich, MA, the WV Museum of American Glass, and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston Salem, NC, as well as numerous other national institutions.

Beverley Evans serves on the Board of Directors at Fort Harrison, Inc. in Dayton, VA and at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA. Jeff Evans is on the Board of Directors at the West Virginia Museum of American Glass and at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, where he also serves as the Head of the Shenandoah Valley Folk Art & Heritage Center’s Museum Committee.

Over the years, Jeff and Beverley have performed countless hours of antiques research with special interest in material made in the Shenandoah Valley, and they have contributed pieces from their private collection to various museum exhibits.

Jeff has lectured and conducted classes on antiques including American glass and Shenandoah Valley pottery, and in 2004, Jeff’s extensive knowledge of Valley pottery was showcased when he served as guest curator and co-authored the accompanying catalog for the exhibit, “A Great Deal of Stone & Earthen Ware – The Rockingham County, Virginia School of Folk Pottery.”

As a guest speaker at the 2009 MESDA furniture seminar, Jeff will lecture on Shenandoah Valley of Virginia Seating Forms of the Late 18th to Early 20th Centuries. An exhibit on this same subject is scheduled to run from late 2009 through early 2010 at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Va.

Standard office hours for Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates are Mondays through Fridays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. USA Eastern Time. Appraisals are by appointment only. Any written or emailed consignment or appraisal requests should be accompanied by photographs of your item(s) if possible, and emailed to info@jeffreysevans.com or mailed to the attention of Karen Reed at the following address: Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates P. O. Box 2638 Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2638.

Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates is located just two miles east of Mt. Crawford, VA, between Harrisonburg and Staunton. Take I-81 to exit 240 and turn east on Route 682 (Frieden’s Church Road), then proceed 1.5 miles to Route 681 (S. Whitesel Church Road) to Green Valley Lane. The auction gallery is only two hours from Washington D. C. and Richmond, Va., and just minutes from hotels and quality B & Bs.

For more information, visit www.jeffreysevans.com or call 540-434-3939, extension 140 or 141.