Author: Gary Sullivan
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A Parisian apartment left untouched for over 70 years was discovered in the quartier of Pigalle a few summers ago. The owner of this apartment, Mrs. De Florian left Paris just before the rumblings of World War II broke out in Europe. She closed up her shutters and left for the South of France, never to return to the city again. Seven decades later she passed away at the age of 91. It was only when her heirs enlisted professionals to make an inventory of the Parisian apartment she left behind,
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Categories:
Current Events
Curiosities
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We have been very busy the last several months and the blog has been an unintended casualty. Preparing for the only show that we do in January each year is a tremendous amount of work. This year was no different. We brought a number of fine pieces of Americana to the Metro Show which took place during Antiques Week in NY City. This was only the second year for the show, which replaced The American Antiques Show (TAAS), often referred to as the Folk Art Show. Like last year, the turnout
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Categories:
Current Events
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I just read this stunning article from Maine Antique Digest. The New York auction houses must reveal the name of their consignors to auction buyers! This is a shocking development. One that the big auction houses will certainly fight. Apparently the language requiring that the consignor’s name be provided to the buyer has been in the legal language right along, but the auction houses were not complying. They certainly don’t want to loose the element of secrecy that they have been enjoying.
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Categories:
Current Events
Interesting Auction Sales
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Doing business on the web brings a whole new set of issues that we would prefer not to have to deal with in the antiques and fine art business. We had a problem a few years ago when a predatory internet company created a mirror of our web site and was making money by redirecting our visitors to other sites where they could buy $12.00 clocks and junk furniture. It took an attorney to fix that problem.We have at various times, discovered images of our merchandise in use on other sites,
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Categories:
Current Events
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I just spent two days attending the Antiques Week festivities in New Hampshire. I’m happy to report that I bought well at the three shows that I attended. The New Hampshire Antique Dealer’s Show is always a worthwhile venue. I thought I was arriving plenty early when I got in line at 8:50 yesterday morning for a 10:00 opening. I was wrong! There were already 214 people in line ahead of me. I prepaid my entrance fee and was given sticker number 215. I chatted across the tape with Derin Bray who
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Categories:
Current Events
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On a quiet May morning in 1934, the most wanted bank-robbing gangster Clyde Barrow and his equally notorious accomplice Bonnie Parker fatally drove their car into an FBI ambush. The posse of lawmen fired over 130 bullets at the cornered couple, and when the smoke cleared, Bonnie and Clyde were dead. Barrow was carrying his Elgin pocket watch when he met his violent end. That watch along with several other effects from the couple is being auctioned September 30 in New Hampshire and may bring
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Categories:
Current Events
Interesting Auction Sales
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I have never been much of a a baseball card aficionado, but as a dealer and collector, this is the type of story that keeps us hunting for treasure. You never know where that pot of gold is hiding. Thank you to Derin Bray for posting it on face book for me to discover. Here is the story as ESPN reported:DEFIANCE, Ohio -- Karl Kissner picked up a soot-covered cardboard box that had been under a wooden dollhouse in his grandfather's attic. Taking a look inside, he saw hundreds of baseball cards
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Categories:
Current Events
Interesting Auction Sales
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I spent the day wandering the labyrinth of dusty dirt rows cutting through the grass fields of Brimfield, MA. Row after row, field after field of junk! Well, not all junk. Maybe 80% junk. The other 20% makes it worth the trip though. Actually, the entire Brimfield experience, including the junk, makes it worth the trip. Three one week events each year bring thousands of dealers, collectors and curiosity seekers to the tiny town of Brimfield. If you haven’t experienced it as yet, Brimfield
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Categories:
Current Events
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I have recently returned from Antiques Roadshow in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where I worked at the clocks table with Sean Delaney. As always, Saturday was a long day for all the appraisers and crew. Both Sean and I were happy to have been filmed with interesting clocks. He appraised an excellent wooden works antique tall case clock with the best folk art painted wooden dial either of us have ever seen. I appraised a super example of a Victorian figural mantle clock. I worked at the furniture
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Categories:
Antiques Roadshow
Current Events
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The world has a brand new record for the highest price ever paid for a work of art: $250 million! I wish that the new record was for an Early American tall case clock or a piece of Boston Queen Anne furniture. Alas, it was not. The record price was paid for a painting, which is not surprising given the tremendous numbers that fly around in the high end art market. I hope that some day the world will realize that the under appreciated masterpieces of American furniture are every bit as beautiful
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Categories:
Current Events
Interesting Auction Sales