Auction Houses Archives - Page 63 of 64

Dan Morphy buys back operating assets of Morphy Auctions

Dan Morphy, image courtesy Morphy Auctions LLC.

DENVER, Pa. (ACNI) – Four and a half years after selling the auction company he co-founded, Dan Morphy has come full circle and bought back the operating assets of Morphy Auctions from Geppi’s Entertainment. The Geppi family of companies is headed by Baltimore businessman Stephen A. Geppi.

In a deal finalized on May 8, 2009, Dan Morphy assumes sole ownership of the company he established in 2004. The new firm will be known as Dan Morphy Auctions, LLC, with all current staff retained.

The purchase package also includes the Adamstown Antique Gallery, the multi-dealer retail venue that serves as Morphy Auctions’ headquarters; and the semiannual event known as Morphy’s York Antique Toy Show. Both properties were part of the original sale to the Geppi companies in 2005.
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Complete dinosaur skeleton a no-sale at NYC auction

NEW YORK (AP) – A rare full skeleton of a 150 million-year-old dinosaur languished on an auction block Saturday, failing to sell despite interest from two museums, the auctioneers said.

Neither museum could meet the less than $300,000 minimum price for the 9-foot-long fossil of a dryosaurus, said Josh Chait, operations director of I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers.

The stumbling block “was a lack of funding, more than the price,” he said.

He said the gallery was still trying to broker a deal and had agreed to waive its commission if the fossil sold to a museum. He declined to identify the institutions that were interested.

The dryosaurus was a long-necked, plant-eating reptile that lived in the Jurassic Period.

The skeleton, unearthed at a private quarry in southern Wyoming in 1993, was being sold by Western Paleontological Laboratories Inc. The Lehi, Utah-based company searches for fossils and keeps some for display and scientific research.

Rising concern as auctions become ‘new battleground’ for cultural objects

LONDON (AP) – A bronze rabbit’s head was the first to go under the hammer, then came Mohandas Gandhi’s glasses and sandals.

Auctions are becoming a new battleground for art dealers, activists and aggrieved countries dueling for plundered antiquities and lost pieces of heritage.

Roger Keverne, a London-based dealer in Chinese art, says the politicization of art has become “inevitable, and unfortunate.”

“Who has a right to the world’s culture?” he said.

Gandhi’s glasses, as well as sandals, a watch and other artifacts belonging to the revered Indian independence leader, were sold to an Indian businessman on Thursday night in New York for $1.8 million – a bid aided by the Indian government.

The owner of the Gandhi objects, American collector and peace activist James Otis, offered to stop the sale and donate the items to India, if its leaders agreed to spend more on the poor. India rejected the demand as an infringement of the country’s sovereignty and the auction went ahead.

The rabbit head and a companion piece depicting a rat, both taken from a Beijing palace in the 19th century, were sold by Christie’s auction house last month over the objections of China, which sees them as stolen antiquities.

The items went into limbo last week when the successful bidder revealed that he had made the $40 million bid as a protest, and had no intention of paying. Chinese art dealer Cai Mingchao, who advises a non-governmental group seeking to repatriate looted Chinese art, said he had bid on the bronzes as a patriotic act.

Christie’s, which sold the bronzes during an auction of items belonging to the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, refused to say what it would do next.

Tennesee auctioneer Ron Ramsey to run for governor in 2010

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – State Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, who is an auctioneer and real estate agent, has told Republicans in Greene County that he will run for governor in 2010.

Ramsey, of Blountville, would become the fourth candidate to seek the GOP nomination. Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen can’t run again because of term limits.

Ramsey, 53, was given a hearty applause at a Lincoln Day dinner for saying: “I am here in Greene County to announce that I am going to be a candidate for governor,” The Greeneville Sun reported for Saturday’s editions.

Ramsey had previously said he planned to wait until the end of the legislative session before making up his mind. Lawmakers are barred from raising campaign contributions while the General Assembly is in session.

Others seeking the Republican nomination are Memphis prosecutor Bill Gibbons, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp of Chattanooga.

The Senate in 2007 elected Ramsey speaker, a position that also carries the title of lieutenant governor. Ramsey became the first Republican to hold that position since 1869.

Ramsey told the gathering that he and his wife Sindy had “thought about this, prayed about this.” They decided to forge ahead “for the right reasons,” he said.

Politically unknown businessman Ward Cammack of Nashville is the only Democrat to officially join the gubernatorial race so far. Former state House Majority Leader Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville, has formed an exploratory committee, while several others have said they are considering running.

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Information from: The Greeneville Sun

http://www.greenevillesun.com/

Oklahoma DA requests probe into $70K auctioneer’s check

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP and ACNI) – State authorities are being asked to investigate ex-Commissioner Brent Rinehart’s office after county officials found an undeposited check for more than $70,000 in the desk of a former employee.

The Oklahoman reported Thursday that Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater sent a letter to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the State Auditor’s office asking for a probe. Prater also wants investigators to look into the disappearance of a computer and two monitors valued at about $2,400.

The check for $71,185 was from auctioneer Mike Graham of Marlow, Okla., for the proceeds of a District 2 surplus property auction in 2007. It apparently was never deposited and sat for nearly two years in the desk of Jim Marshall, Rinehart’s former deputy. At this point there is no allegation of impropriety on the part of either the employee or the auction company, which has an excellent reputation.

According to Mike Graham Auctioneers’ Web site, owner Mike Graham has been in the auction business for more than 22 years, working for prestigious companies throughout the nation. He has managed auctions with values ranging from $50,000 to more than $10 million. In his four years of working with the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma, Graham has sold more than 3,000 pieces of equipment, grossing more than $20 million.

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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com. Auction Central News International also contributed to this report.

AP-WS-02-05-09 1338EST

Sporting auction house Lang’s goes ‘paperless, green and electronic’

Lynn Bogue Hunt oil on canvas of sporting dogs. Sold in Lang’s Fall 2008 auction.

WATERVILLE, N.Y. (ACNI) – Lang’s Sporting Collectables, Inc., the world’s leading auctioneer of antique and vintage fishing tackle, is breaking from tradition and taking a completely “green” approach to its business methods going forward.

Lang’s co-owner Debbie Ganung told Auction Central News that the company will no longer be printing the lavishly illustrated hard-copy catalogs for which they are so well known. Instead, they will produce electronic catalogs exclusively, for CD, DVD or online viewing/downloading through Lang’s Web site (www.langsauction.com) and that of its Internet live-bidding facilitator LiveAuctioneers.com (www.liveauctioneers.com).

Taking it a step further, Lang’s will conserve even more paper and trees by e-mailing auction announcements to its customer list of 30,000 collectors as opposed to mailing out masses of postcards.

“There are several reasons why we made the decision to go paperless, but it started with our own customers urging us,” said Ganung. “We specialize in antique fishing tackle, which is collected by a predominantly male group, almost 100 percent of whom are fisherman. These men are staunch conservationists who donate to wildlife preserves and environmental groups. Some have even made arrangements in their wills to leave property to conservation causes. They had been asking us what we were doing to ‘go green.’ At first it was just a few people, but this last year, we had 20 times the requests from ecologically minded collectors to do something that was good for the environment.”

Ganung said she and her husband, John – co-owner of Lang’s – had also been encouraged by their staff of young, computer-savvy employees to give up their old-school, ink-on-paper methods in favor of Internet-based alternatives. “They had been pushing us in this direction for quite some time,” said Debbie Ganung. “They had been correct with the other suggestions they had made over the last few years, so we said we would trust their judgment and go this route.”

Police say auctioned Wright-designed chair wasn’t stolen

RACINE, Wis. (AP) – Police say a chair designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright for a Racine office building hadn’t been stolen before showing up for auction on eBay.

An investigator reached that conclusion after tracing the chair’s history and learning it was rescued from a dumpster, used as garage furniture and turned down with a $25 price tag at two rummage sales.

The chair was one of hundreds made for the Wright-designed S.C. Johnson headquarters in Racine. The company owner had asked Wright in 1936 to design the furniture.

On eBay, the chair ultimately was purchased for $12,000 by the owner of a design company in California.
The investigation stalled the deal. Wright Auction House owner Richard Wright said the sale now will go through.
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Information from: The Journal Times, http://www.journaltimes.com

AP-CS-01-23-09 1944EST

Former Green Valley president/auctioneer Jeff Evans launches new company

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.”

State revokes well-known Maine auctioneer’s license

GARDINER, Maine (AP) – State regulators have revoked the license of a well-known Maine auctioneer following an investigation into his auction business.

The Department of Professional and Financial Regulation announced Wednesday that it had revoked James Cyr’s license and fined him $4,500. Cyr is the operator of Cyr Auction Co. in Gray.

Officials say Cyr failed to account for a person’s property in his possession, failed to return money and unsold property in a timely fashion, and auctioned property without a written contract. They say he was the subject of past disciplinary action in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Cyr says he didn’t appear before the hearing because he wasn’t properly notified. He says all problems were resolved to his client’s satisfaction and the business will continue utilizing other auctioneers.

AP-ES-01-14-09 1452EST

Bankrupt auction house owes $240K to City of Jackson, Miss.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The City of Jackson may sue to recover about $240,000 in bad checks from Durham Auctions Inc.

The city council this week authorized the lawsuit after it was told checks from Durham Auctions for two August auctions bounced.

Durham Auctions has shut its doors. It filed in November for bankruptcy, citing $18 million in debts.

Some lawsuits already have been filed against the company and its owners, Don Durham and his son, James Durham.
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