Archive: August 2011
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The popular new television shows on extreme hoarding have recently made more people aware of the problem. Because of this awareness, I’ve begun to hear comments such as, ”can you imagine seeing a place like that?” or “have you ever seen one of those houses?” The sad fact is, I have. Many times. It’s a lot more common than you might think. Between my work for various Boston area auctioneers in my youth and the years that I spent as an estate liquidator, I estimate that I’ve been involved in the
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Categories:
Curiosities
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I met with my colleague and friend Brock Jobe on Cape Cod today. Brock was one of the co-authors on our 2009 release “Harbor & Home”. He is traveling with his students who are enrolled in the Winterthur (Museum) Program in American Material Culture, a highly regarded University of Delaware program. My roll was to assist him in examining and discussing with the students, an exceptional private collection of early American antique furniture. I was thrilled to have had an opportunity to handle
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Categories:
Current Events
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You’ll notice that the blog has a new format. We have listened to your feedback. The photos on new blog posts will now be clickable in order to see a larger image. It is also easier and less confusing to leave a comment, so please do! You’ll notice that we have new thumbs-up and down, like and dislike buttons on each entry. By “voting” for the posts that you do or don’t like, we will know what type of subject to concentrate on. Please vote. We have noticed that much of the interesting stuff
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Categories:
Current Events
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The 2011 Antiques Roadshow season has come to an end. We visited Pittsburgh over the weekend and wrapped up the the season in style. Still another rhinoceros horn libation cup turned up for still another six figure appraisal price! And no, the owner was completely unaware of the recent record breaking appraisal by Lark Mason of a collection of similar cups (see July 29, 2011 blog).It was a good day for me. I had fun appraising an entertaining, memory stimulating and thought provoking 1970s Tiki
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Categories:
Antiques Roadshow
Early American Furniture
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The Skinner Americana sale took place over the weekend and two of the objects caught my eye. First was the Vermont four drawer federal chest. It's a relatively simple country form that was constructed of remarkable figured wood. Kudos to the photographer, who made the figured maple look absolutely electric on the front cover of the catalog. The early 19th century Rutland Vermont cabinetmaker must have saved his best tiger and bird's-eye maple and used it all on this one special piece. With the
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Categories:
Interesting Auction Sales
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I had some friends come by and visit during the Antiques Roadshow appraisal event in Atlanta. They snapped this photo as I was preparing to appraise a 19th century Dutch hooded clock. People always enjoy seeing the set and how the process works. The lights, cameras and buzz of the crowd make it an exciting place to be. Atlanta was a great city for antiques. My fellow appraiser J. Michael Flanagan was taped with a pretty special mid 18th century Chippendale corner chair (or roundabout chair). It
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Categories:
Antiques Roadshow
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I appraised clocks at the Atlanta Roadshow on Saturday, where we saw a nice selection of pretty good clocks. In all, five were appraised on camera plus I was interviewed by Antiques Roadshow Insider Magazine regarding a sixth clock. My fellow appraiser John Delaney went on camera with two pieces from a nice collection of high end reproduction clocks. The two repro clocks that were taped for TV were a girandole and a lyre clock, both made by Elmer Stennes in Weymouth, MA. Elmer was a talented
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Categories:
Antiques Roadshow
Clocks
Current Events
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Every August, antiques nuts such as yours truly flock to Manchester, NH for “Antiques Week”. This year will be no different. As usual, the festivities will center around the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association’s annual show (known within the trade as “the Dealers Show”). The NHADA show has been around since the beginning of time! Actually, for me it has. The first show took place the summer I was born. The Northeast Auctions summer sale is about as big a draw as the Dealers Show. I spoke
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Categories:
Current Events
Interesting Auction Sales
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I'm sure that like me, many of you think that classic and antique cars are extremely cool! This weekend, the coolest of the cool was sold at RM Auctions in Plymouth, MI. Known as the “Ghost Car”, this 1939 Pontiac was produced for the 1939 New York Worlds Fair in order to showcase an amazing new material called plexiglass. The entire body is constructed of clear plexiglass, with all of the structural and internal parts being visible. With it’s bones showing, It’s easy to see why this futuristic
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Categories:
Current Events
Interesting Auction Sales