Gary Sullivan's Antique Clocks and Furniture BlogAntique Clocks and Furniturehttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/BlogDelaware Show 2015 - Continued Successhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/101/delaware-show-2015-continued-successAntique Shows,Current EventsThu, 10 Dec 2015 20:20:51 GMT<p>We began to gear up for the 2015 Delaware Antique show in mid-September. This was close on the heels of a busy Summer and Fall, following the opening of the new gallery.&nbsp; It was a new and far easier experience putting together the show from the gallery. The result was another great show in Delaware.&nbsp; The attendees are intelligent and well informed enthusiasts. The proximity of the show to Winterthur Museum seems to attract them and it is a pleasure to have them in our booth. They were eager to purchase furniture this year, which was good because we had a much larger booth along the back wall.&nbsp; The booth was almost twice a wide and full of nearly 20 clocks of various forms and even more furniture and decorations. <a href="http://youtu.be/fQSoN6hvyIU">Click here to view a brief video showing a portion of the booth.</a></p> <p>Please be sure to visit us at our new gallery around the holidays and definitely join us next year in Delaware.</p> 101Opening Galahttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/100/opening-galaGeneralMon, 24 Aug 2015 15:48:00 GMT<p>Thank you to those who were able to make our opening event. A great night was had by all. It is always great to have such a big group of enthusiast together at one time. It was a thrill to host and a rewarding chance to showcase our extensive inventory. Of course we are glad to receive anyone who did make the event. To give an idea of the space I have posted some of the photos and included a link to some coverage we received from Antiques and Fine Art magazine. Johanna McBrien was kind enough to include a slew of photos. <a href="https://www.incollect.com/articles/gary-r-sullivan-antiques-opens-a-new-gallery">Follow this link to view that story at InCollect.</a> We expect more stories in related press and I will be sure to post them when there are in.</p> 100Gallery Grand Openinghttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/99/gallery-grand-openingGeneralTue, 18 Aug 2015 04:00:00 GMT<p><strong>Update:</strong> The Canton, MA. Gallery is now closed, but we continue to operate the business from the same Sharon, MA. location where we have been for almost 30 years. This location is by appointment only. Please call or email to discuss your interests.</p> 992014 recap bloghttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/97/2014-recap-blogGeneralFri, 16 Jan 2015 21:00:00 GMT<p>I looked at our last blog over the weekend and I was embarrassed to see that it was posted over a year ago. Well that is certainly not due to lack of effort. 2014 was the busiest year I can remember. Now we are headed into 2015, which will be my 40th year in the antiques business. It seems fitting that I start by recapping 2014 and highlighting some of those things which have kept Matt and I too busy to blog. Then I promise to keep up with events and maybe sprinkle in some &ldquo;best of&rdquo; stories from the past 40 years.</p> <p>The last blog was prior to the opening of an exhibit of Early American Musical clock that I curated at the Willard House and Clock Museum. The exhibit was a massive success. The clocks all played their music beautifully and it was impressive to see all these masterpieces together in one space. Thank you to all who participated.<a href="http://www.willardhouse.org/shop/books.php" target="_blank"> The catalogs are still available at the Willard House</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Services/InstructionalVideos.aspx" target="_blank">You can take a video tour of the exhibit here</a>. The exhibit placed a spotlight on the project and on Musical Clocks in general, prompting the discovery of some missing and unknown examples. I have made great progress on the related book and have completed the manuscript. Matt and I have visited almost all of the clocks that will appear in the book, which promises to have nearly 400 illustrations. We are very excited to go to print and hope to be published by mid 2015.</p> <p>I just recently had the privilege of visiting the extraordinary collections at The White House and the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. I was there to examine and photograph two clocks that will be in the book. An amazing Effingham Embree from New York is in the White House collection and a rare Thomas Harland from Norwich, Connecticut is at the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the State Department. What a privilege to be up close to these important examples and to have the opportunity to view such significant collections of early American material culture.</p> <p>I can&rsquo;t believe I am doing this, but I have already begun my next research project. A year ago, I was asked by Patricia Kane, the Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Yale University Art Gallery to write a section on clocks for her forthcoming project. Pat has been compiling information for the Rhode Island Furniture Archive, which is a comprehensive catalog of all known examples of Rhode Island furniture. The culmination of this massive, multi-year project will be an exhibit and related catalogue. I am delighted to have the chance to work with such a talented and dedicated scholar and as Matt put it, &ldquo;When Yale comes knocking, you let them in&rdquo;. So currently, Pat and I have been making selections of noteworthy Rhode Island clocks to include in the catalogue and then I&rsquo;m off to catalog them (in my spare time). Thankfully, Pat has already done much of the legwork. I am very excited, particularly since Rhode Island furniture is near and dear to me.</p> <p>Last January was the first time in many years that I did not do a show in New York City during Americana Week. My focus on the Musical exhibit did not permit it. This was fortuitous because on January 1st, my 2-year-old golden retriever ran into me at full speed, breaking my leg just below the knee. I spent antiques week in a wheel chair. With Matt&rsquo;s help, we managed to view each auction and attend the opening of the East Side show. Some of you may remember the major snowstorm that fell mid-week last year, which added to the drama. All and all it was great though, I got to slow down, look at everything and connect with many people.</p> <p>A highlight of 2014 was examining a tall case clock for Historic Deerfield, with Deerfield President, Philip Zea. This important clock, which was being offered at Sotheby&rsquo;s Auction in New York was made by Boston clockmaker, Aaron Willard and Dorchester, Massachusetts cabinetmaker, Stephen Badlam for Asa Stebbins, one of Deerfield&rsquo;s wealthiest and most respected citizens. Stebbins purchased the clock around 1799, when he built a remarkable home, which is now part of Historic Deerfield and is open to the public. Phil was hoping to return the clock to its original home. I&rsquo;ll save the details of that story for another blog. Hint, it has a happy ending.</p> <p>After an invitation from Winterthur, Matt and I took a booth at the Delaware antique show for the first time. For years I had been encouraged by various colleagues to try the show. It was a complete success. The clientele who visit this show are enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable. The vast majority of the people visiting my booth knew exactly what they were looking at, so the conversations began at a much higher level. We sold great things and had our best show ever. We will absolutely be returning next year. Maine Antique Digest did a nice write-up of the show. <a href="http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/the-delaware-antiques-show-of-2014/4811" target="_blank">Follow this link to view the article.</a></p> <p>Well that&rsquo;s a good start, not all that went on but I will fill in the details over the coming months. I promise.</p> 97Keeping Time exhibit on schedulehttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/96/keeping-time-exhibit-on-scheduleGeneralMon, 23 Sep 2013 04:00:00 GMT<p>We have been working day and night transporting musical clocks and installing the new exhibit at The Willard House &amp; Clock Museum. This has been an all consuming process for the last several months, so if I failed to return your phone call or respond to an email, please forgive me. My antiques business has definitely suffered during this project and Matt is just as busy as I am. We hope to soon get back to locating great pieces and spending the proper amount of time working with our clients to place those things in the proper collections.</p> <p>The exhibit is coming together nicely and most of the clocks are in the building. It is entitled Keeping Time, Musical Clocks of Early America and will include 38 functioning musical clocks (mostly American). &nbsp;The image is a graphic from the table of contents and really gives an idea of how amazing these clocks are. The exhibit will be open on Sunday, October 6th and will run only six weeks, until November 17th. The museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 10-4:00. <a href="http://willardhouse.org/keepingtime/" re_target="_blank">Visit the Willard Museum for more information by clicking here</a></p> 96Early American musical clock project in high gear.https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/95/early-american-musical-clock-project-in-high-gearGeneralThu, 11 Jul 2013 04:00:00 GMT<p>It&rsquo;s been a while since I have given an update on the progress of my American musical clock book and exhibit. Matt and I have been working nearly full time on the project for the past 6 months. Thus far we have visited and photographed about 70 clocks in private collections and institutions and have been welcomed with enthusiasm at each stop. What initially appeared to be a daunting task is proving to be quit rewarding.</p> <p>Due to the extraordinary cost of these rare musical clocks, the original purchasers usually chose exceptional cases that represent the very best examples of their period and form. Not only that, they preserve the recorded music of our ancestors just as they heard it 200 years ago. They have been likened to an original iPod.</p> <p>We have begun to gather the clocks that will appear in an exhibit at the Willard House &amp; Clock Museum in North Grafton, Massachusetts. It will take place this fall from October 6th-November 17th and will include approximately 36 pre-1830 musical clocks. They will all be running and playing their music.</p> <p>Thanks to the generosity of several donors and the cooperation of a number of lenders, the public will have a chance to hear these masterpieces play once again. This will be a unique opportunity to see and hear approximately one quarter of the early American musical and chiming clocks that are known to survive.</p> <p>Some of these complicated movements have not functioned in decades. We are proud that, with the help of some very skilled clockmakers, some of these movements will be returned to a fully functional condition. Their music will be heard once again for the first time in generations.</p> <p>Here&rsquo;s an example of why this is so rewarding. Matt and I recently picked up a very important Aaron Brokaw clock from the Newark Museum in New Jersey. With the help of my colleague, clock specialist, Steve Petrucelli, we were able to coordinate a visit to the New Jersey Historical Society, just around the corner. Steve had tracked down an important Leslie &amp; Williams musical clock, housed in a magnificent case bearing the label of cabinetmaker, Matthew Egerton Jr. The clock had long been in storage and was documented only by black and white photos from the 1940&rsquo;s. We arranged to have the clock moved to the main facility for examination and photography. When we assembled the clock for the first time in years we all gazed in awe at what may be the finest New Jersey clock I have ever seen. It is a monumental clock with perfect proportions, fantastic inlay, a signed musical movement and a cabinetmaker&rsquo;s label. Wow! This is what keeps us searching. Please be sure to join us at the exhibit, so you too can say &ldquo;Wow&rdquo; too!</p> 95Gary interviewed by V & M [Vintage and Modern] at 2013 Metro Showhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/94/gary-interviewed-by-v-m-vintage-and-modern-at-2013-metro-showGeneralWed, 01 May 2013 14:07:00 GMT<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/59017461" target="_blank">Click here to Follow the link to watch a series of video interviews from this year&#39;s Metro Show in New York City.</a></p> <p>The interview was done by V&amp;M (Vintage and Modern). V &amp; M is the leading online source for unique vintage furniture, antiques, art, jewelry, fashion and design from around the world. They have done a nice job, the filming and production is pretty good and it has a very upbeat feel. &nbsp;It gives a good sense of the energy on the floor at this show.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> 94The Paris Time Capsule Apartmenthttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/93/the-paris-time-capsule-apartmentGeneralWed, 24 Apr 2013 13:55:00 GMT<p>A Parisian apartment left untouched for over 70 years was discovered in the quartier of Pigalle a few summers ago. &nbsp;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, that this time capsule was finally unlocked. &nbsp;The team that had the honor of opening what must have been a very stiff old lock for the first time in 70 years, likened the experience to &lsquo;stumbling into the castle of sleeping beauty&rsquo;. The smell of dust, the cobwebs, the silence, was overwhelming; a once in a lifetime experience.</p> <p>There is a further twist to the story. In the apartment a painting of familiar style was discovered of a beautiful woman in pink. One of the inventory team members suspected this might be a very important piece of treasure. Along with the painting, they also found stacks of old love letters tied with colored ribbon.</p> <p>With some expert historical opinion, the ribbon-bound love letters were quickly recognized as the calling card of none other than Giovanni Boldini, one of Paris&rsquo; most important painters of the Belle Époque. The painting was his. The beautiful woman pictured in the painting was Mrs. de Florian&rsquo;s grand-mother, Marthe de Florian, a beautiful French actress and socialite of the Belle Époque. She was Boldini&rsquo;s muse. And, despite him being a married man, she was also his lover. The art world went a bit nutty for the whole story and the painting was later sold for $3 million at auction.</p> <p>What I find so intriguing about this story is not so much the discovered painting and the revelation of a love affair between a great Italian painter and the beautiful actress in an enchanting era, but more the story of Mrs. de Florian and why she stayed away from Paris for so long.</p> <p>What kept her away even after the war? Was she running away from someone or something other than the Nazis? For all those decades, her rent on the elegant apartment in a flourishing city had been faithfully paid, but it was left to freeze in time. It all sounds like the perfect mystery&hellip;<br /> This story was discovered at <a href="http://www.messynessychic.com/2012/05/09/the-paris-time-capsule-apartment/">Messy Nessy Chic</a></p> 93Gary interviewed by syndicated columnist in a series estate antiques. #3 availablehttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/92/gary-interviewed-by-syndicated-columnist-in-a-series-estate-antiques-3-availableGeneralThu, 28 Mar 2013 15:37:00 GMT<p>Gary has been interviewed by syndicated columnist Marni Jameson for an ongoing series on evaluating and managing Estate antiques.&nbsp; Marni has connected with Gary via his appraisal work on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow. &nbsp;Gary offered Marni practical advice, that only an experienced antique expert knows, as she handled her parents estate. Follow each installment here on our blog by clicking each of these links.</p> <p><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/home-garden/ci_22835241/marni-jameson-which-parent-possessions-keep">Third Article: March 22nd, 2013</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.denverpost.com/athome/ci_22801791/marni-jameson-appraiser-conquers-antiques-anxiety?source=rss" target="_blank">Second Article: March 16th, 2013</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_22724540/marni-jameson-antiques-old-doesnt-equal-valuable" target="_blank">First article: March 9, 2013.</a></p> <p>Marni Jameson is a nationally syndicated home design columnist, and author of the best-selling The House Always Wins. Marni&rsquo;s hugely popular syndicated column, &ldquo;At Home With Marni Jameson,&rdquo; appears in more than 30 newspapers throughout the United States and Canada reaching 7 million readers each week. Marni&#39;s column offers advice and guidance filtered through her personal experiences.</p> 92Antiques Week Updatehttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/91/antiques-week-updateGeneralMon, 04 Mar 2013 22:03:00 GMT<p>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 for the Metro Show preview party was tremendous (see photo). At some points in the show, it was about impossible to move through the isles.</p> <p>Metro is a nice venue and the promoters put on a first class show, but it has moved a bit toward the modern-art side for my taste. The show featured some up scale and very edgy art, which is great, but I wish it included a few more American furniture dealers like myself. Despite encouragement from me and in some cases, free passes, a large number of good dealers and collectors just never made it to the show. I think it was a mistake for so many Americana enthusiasts to skip Metro. I realize that it was brutally cold the first few days, and not conducive to moving about the city, but we had some excellent dealers offering some special pieces of Americana.</p> <p>Many of the show goers were twenty and thirty-somethings, which is exactly what the promoters were looking for. It was definitely a happening event! Sadly, the younger crowd did not show my offerings very much love. I was disappointed that the show was promoted strictly as an art fair and that the word &rdquo;antique&rdquo; appeared nowhere in their advertising. That certainly didn&rsquo;t help me. I ended up having a good show, because two of my regular clients bought expensive pieces, but sales were off from recent years.</p> <p>This is where I part ways with the Metro show. I will attend in the coming years, but not as an exhibitor. It is no longer the right fit for my &ldquo;antique&rdquo; merchandise. I wish them and their exhibitors great success.</p> 91The joy of discoveryhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/89/the-joy-of-discoveryGeneralWed, 29 Aug 2012 19:49:00 GMT<p>Discovering and exploring the virtues of a newly acquired antique is the great joy of this industry. Examining the aesthetics of a piece and comparing it against the ideal of the form is an important and subjective aspect of an evaluation. In contrast, investigating the history of a piece to establish a firm provenance contributes in a more concrete manner and lends a more tangible value. Unraveling this history defines a piece beyond its dimensional form, but as a specific portion of history. This is always a gratifying effort, yet once in a great while a discovery is made that elevates a piece to historical significance.</p> <p>I had the great pleasure of linking a tall clock to its original owner who was a major figure in the early anti-slavery movement. The clock was made by the well-known Quaker clockmaker John Bailey Jr. who had gained notoriety in New Bedford for his strong anti-slavery views. Bailey produced the clock for a fellow abolitionist John Anderson Collins of New Bedford. The clock is a monumental example in a rich Classical style and the oversized dial is marked &ldquo;Warranted for John Collins&rdquo;.</p> <p>During the second quarter of the 19th Century, Collins was a primary and radical member of the anti-slavery movement who figures prominently into the inception of the cause. As the general agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, he worked with the likes of William Lloyd Garrison, organizing lectures, editing the monthly periodical and gathering support. He and Garrison attended a convention in Nantucket, at which the recently free Frederick Douglas lectured for the first time about his life as a slave. Impressed by his skill and convictions, Collins urged Douglas to become a full-time lecturer for the organization. Douglass accepted and soon became on of the most prominent orators and leaders of the Abolitionist Movement. This alone can be considered the most meaningful contribution Collins provided to this momentous cause.</p> <p>A true radical, Collins shifted his focus from abolition to more sweeping reforms. He viewed slavery as a symptom of the larger malady of a Capitalist society. He followed these convictions and in 1843 established the Society for Universal Inquiry and Reform for which he purchased a large farm in Skaneateles, New York. This upstate location became the site of his utopian social experiment. The society was founded on an egalitarian communist principle. Although it was an economically viable community, the experiment would eventually succumb to internal struggles. Collins is undoubtedly one of the amazing characters that have contributed to the greatness of our Nation.</p> <p>What a story. The history of these pieces can be so captivating. Remember this is a blog about discovering provenance. It leaves me breathless to be in the presence of such significance. My advice is to carefully document any histories that are tied to your possessions. Also bring them to the attention of your heirs. With a provenance an antique has more than just three dimensions</span>.</p> 89The challenges of selling antiques onlinehttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/88/the-challenges-of-selling-antiques-onlineGeneralFri, 24 Aug 2012 15:47:00 GMT<p>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. &nbsp; 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.</p> <p>We have at various times, discovered images of our merchandise in use on other sites, without our permission. I certainly don&rsquo;t mind our images being used for scholarly purposes, as long as we are credited. It is well known that images are frequently stolen off of Ebay and used by scammers pretending to be offering those items for sale.</p> <p>Now another group has hijacked several images from our inventory and as of today, are &ldquo;offering&rdquo; those items for sale on 3 different bogus websites. I will include the web addresses of the offending sites here in the hopes that anyone considering making a purchase from one of them will search the internet for background information and discover the scam. louismeuble.com is one site. friendsfromistanbul.com is another and the third is lustercoins.com. Beware of these web sites!</p> <p>We have prided ourselves in offering the best possible, professional images on our web site. Unfortunately, we will be looking at water marking all of the images, which is not only a distraction, but a it creates more work. We are all constantly annoyed by email spam and occasionally you hear of a friend having their account hacked. This behavior is too easily perpetrated and it flies under the radar of our law enforcement. I think the world needs some internet police.</p> 88New Hampshire Antiques week well attendedhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/87/new-hampshire-antiques-week-well-attendedGeneralMon, 13 Aug 2012 18:34:00 GMT<p>I just spent two days attending the Antiques Week festivities in New Hampshire. I&rsquo;m happy to report that I bought well at the three shows that I attended. The New Hampshire Antique Dealer&rsquo;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 was rewarded with number 64 for arriving at 7:30 AM. I have to imagine that the very first people in line arrived in the middle of the night! I like antiques, but I like my sleep better. By 10:00, the lobby was full and the line went out the door and up the block (see photo of the crowd in the lobby).</p> <p>Peter Sawyer had advertised that he was bringing a terrific Boston block front chest, so I went directly to his booth. I was the first to see it and after a few minutes of examination, I made the purchase. I haven&rsquo;t seen such a clean Boston block front in a long time. The brass is original and it has a great old surface. Peter sold it over 20 years ago and just reacquired it in time for the show. I&rsquo;ll probably put it away and bring it to New York in January. By mentioning it here, I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m giving away any trade secrets to the 3 or 4 people who read my antiques blog.</p> <p>The other two shows were good as well. Frank Gaglio&rsquo;s Mid Week Antiques Show has always been a dependable source for me and this year was no different. I was very impressed with Karen Disaia&rsquo;s new show, &ldquo;Antiques in Manchester: The Collector&rsquo;s Fair&rdquo;. It was was a terrific show, with an impressive roster of dealers. I bought objects from three of them, including an unsigned lyre clock and a nice Queen Anne Boston wing chair.</p> 87Gary's day at Brimfieldhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/85/garys-day-at-brimfieldGeneralWed, 11 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT<p>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.</p> <p>If you haven&rsquo;t experienced it as yet, Brimfield should be on your bucket list. If you attend the flea markets there enough times you&rsquo;ll grow to hate it just like the rest of us. Spend several days in a row there and you will be afflicted with something that we dealers call &ldquo;Brimfield hangover&rdquo;. It settles in on your way home and lasts for a day or two. It is a state of soreness, lethargy and exhaustion, generally exacerbated by sunburn. There is no remedy, although a large bag of kettle corn purchased on your way out of town has been known to help.</p> <p>As usual, I only bought a few trinkets, scraps of junk that will someday be incorporated into a steampunk sculpture (if you are unfamiliar with &ldquo;steampunk art&rdquo;, please see previous posts on the subject). It has been a few years since I discovered anything good at Brimfield, but we keep looking. It&rsquo;s also a good idea for me to check in with some of my dealer contacts, just so they don&rsquo;t forget me. I try to got out there at least one day every season.</p> <p>For years I set up a booth and sold my own Junk at Brimfield. I no longer do the number of estate liquidations which formerly netted me large quantities of Brimfield-type material, so doing the show now no longer makes sense. The best days I ever had there were when it rained. I always brought a tent and a truck large enough to display my case pieces. Having shelter from the rain always meant the buyers would loiter in my booth and purchase my offerings.</p> <p>The next Brimfield show dates are September 4th to 9th, 2012.</p> 85A new season for Antiques Roadshow beginshttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/83/a-new-season-for-antiques-roadshow-beginsGeneralSun, 08 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT<p>I have recently returned from Antiques Roadshow in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where I worked at the clocks table with Sean Delaney.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>I worked at the furniture table when Roadshow kicked off the season in Boston a month ago. It was nice to host some of the other appraisers in my home city. I was filmed with a pretty interesting 18th century Goddard-Townsend school piece of furniture from Newport, Rhode Island.</p> <p>The Queen Anne form appeared to be a dressing table (lowboy) with a carved shell, but turned out to be the base section from what would have been an important Newport high chest (highboy) with a carved shell. If it survives the cutting room, I hope you will have an opportunity to see the appraisal on the show next year.</p> 83New record auction pricehttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/82/new-record-auction-priceGeneralTue, 17 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT<p>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 as two dimensional art. For now, Early American furniture collectors have opportunities to buy the highest form of their &ldquo;art&rdquo; at much more reasonable prices than do the painting collectors. <a href="http://www.afanews.com/news/qatar-purchases-cezannes-the-card-players-for-more-than-250-million-highest-price-ever-for-a-work-of-art" target="_blank">Here is the story from Antiques And Fine Art News:</a></p> 82Winterthur: Furniture Forum 2012https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/80/winterthur-furniture-forum-2012GeneralWed, 07 Mar 2012 22:30:00 GMT<p>I have just returned from the Winterthur 2012 Furniture Forum, where I lectured on the subject of northern clockmakers trading with the southern market during the 1st quarter of the 19th century. It was entitled &ldquo;Clocks For Corn: Northern Clockmakers Trading With The South&rdquo;. The Forum was called &ldquo;Furniture In The South: Makers &amp; Consumers&rdquo;. It included two days of lectures and a fascinating field trip to Homewood Museum At Johns Hopkins University and Hampton National Historic Site. Both were well worth the trip. Add a tour of Winterthur&rsquo;s Southern Furniture Exhibit on Saturday and it became a four day event. The forum was very well attended and the speakers were excellent. <a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Services/InstructionalVideos.aspx"><strong>We recorded my lecture which you can now watch on my website. Click Here</strong>.</a> Most of the attendees were from the South, so I was one of the few Yankees on hand. We had a lot of fun teasing each other about our accents. The crowd was largely made up of museum professionals and collectors, but there ware also a number of auctioneers, private dealers and restorers.</p> 80Folk Art Museum May Partner With Seaport Museumhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/79/folk-art-museum-may-partner-with-seaport-museumGeneralWed, 21 Dec 2011 15:14:00 GMT<p>The American Folk Art Museum and the Seaport Museum, two New York museums that weathered difficult economic conditions this year, may partner for a series of exhibitions at the Seaport Museum in 2012.</p> <p><a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/20111219/downtown/seaport-museum-may-partner-with-american-folk-art-museum#ixzz1h1Rpx3qA" target="_blank">DNA info reports</a> that the news broke at a city council hearing last week, where interim Seaport head Susan Henshaw Jones announced the museums&rsquo; intentions:<br /> &ldquo;&lsquo;We are very much hoping that the Museum of American Folk Art will do exhibitions in four galleries [at the Seaport Museum] starting in June,&rsquo; Jones said at a City Council hearing last Friday.&rdquo;</p> <p>The Folk Art museum moved out of its building on 53rd Street next to the Museum of Modern Art this July, after selling the building to MoMA. The Seaport Museum suffered similar economic difficulties, though in September, it was announced that it would receive a $2 million Manhattan Development Corp. grant for the post-9/11 recovery of nonprofits.</p> <p>By Dan Duray- <a href="http://www.galleristny.com/2011/12/folk-art-museum-may-partner-with-seaport-museum/" target="_blank">[Read his article]</a></p> 79Accumulating fresh merchandise for “Antiques Week” in Januaryhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/78/accumulating-fresh-merchandise-for-antiques-week-in-januaryGeneralMon, 28 Nov 2011 16:34:00 GMT<p>We have just acquired a few special items that will appear at the opening night preview party for the 2012 Metro NYC Show in January. If you are planning your visit to New York for the festivities, you&rsquo;ll notice one major change in the Antiques Week schedule. There will be no 2012 TAAS Show, at least not by that name. In 2012, TAAS, also known as &ldquo;The American Antiques Show&rdquo;, also known as &ldquo;The Folk Art Show&rdquo; will live on in slightly different form. The venue has been taken over by The Art Fair Company and now goes by the name of The Metro NYC Show. It will be held at the same Metropolitan Pavilion location on on the same dates, as the TAAS Shows were.</p> <p>As in previous years, a preview party will take place on Wednesday evening, January 18th, with the show going from Thursday through Sunday, January 22nd. The core group of antiques dealers who previously did the TAAS Shows will return for this new show. A nice addition will be some exhibitors handling slightly more modern art, such as photography. We are excited to be a part of this event, as The Art Fair Company puts on a very upscale fair. They are well known for their enormously popular &ldquo;SOFA&rdquo; art Shows in Santa Fe, New York and San Francisco.</p> <p>As in years past, the preview party will be to benefit The American Folk Art Museum. One new twist at this year&rsquo;s gala event will be the fact that the first hour of the preview party will be by invitation only. No tickets will be sold for that time slot. Only invited guests and the best clients of the exhibitors will attend that first hour. Tickets for the remainder of the evening will be available for $75. If you haven&rsquo;t made your way onto our preferred client list, you are running out of time!<br /> In the months leading up to the show, we accumulate fresh merchandise and hold it for the show. Our clients know that some of the best pieces that we handle appear for the first time at the show. This year will be no different.</p> <p>We are also planning a &ldquo;booth talk&rdquo; at the show (exact time and date to be determined), where I will disassemble some vintage grandfather clocks and discuss their inner workings and the remarkable art of creating them. I&rsquo;ll also discuss what to look for when considering the purchase of a vintage clock. Hope to see you in New York.</p> 78Unearthing artifacts from a revolting repositoryhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/77/unearthing-artifacts-from-a-revolting-repositoryGeneralFri, 25 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT<p>As a 12 year old interested in all things historic, I devoted a great deal of time to searching for the objects of my passion, antique bottles. I would scour antiques and junk shops and occasionally buy the interesting ones that I could afford. Those being under about two dollars. Being on a limited budget as I was, I preferred the free ones. Free because I would dig them at dump sites. Not the nasty land-fill kind of dump sites we have today, but abandoned 19th and early 20th century trash piles. They were a lot easier to find in the late 1960s than they are today, but they&rsquo;re still out there.</p> <p>In times past, people often disposed of their trash on their own land. The rear corner of an old property, where two stone walls converge was an out of the way location that often became a dump site. Spending portions of my summers in Maine, I found several old dump sites by following stone walls through the woods in rural areas. The tell-tale shards of broken glass and rusting iron usually tip off the location. A metal detector can aid in the search and I logged a lot of hours on mine.</p> <p>Although most of whatever would have been placed in a trash pile 100 years ago has now returned to the soil, the glass bottles have not, and those that survive unbroken can be fascinating. Just a few years ago, while hiking in the woods with my kids near my home, I spotted a corner where two stone walls come together behind a Victorian era estate. Curiosity getting the better of me, I starting kicking around in the dirt and quickly unearthed a couple of circa 1900 bottles. We left them there, but the kids were pretty impressed!</p> <p>Before curb-service provided by diesel powered, hydraulic, trash compacting mega-trucks, popular repositories for trash were often abandoned wells and privies. Generally located fairly close to the house, the artifacts locked up in these abandoned columns of debris, particularly the bottles, can be pretty interesting. Emotionally, one does have to get past the fact that one is digging in what was once the outhouse, but a century later, it&rsquo;s all just dirt and really isn&rsquo;t so bad.</p> <p>&ldquo;Dug&rdquo; bottles tend to have a different look than those that have not been exposed to the elements for generations. Their surfaces are often permanently etched from the exposure and require special techniques to clean them up. Due to their properties, some bottles that were once clear in color take on a highly desirable amethyst color after years of exposure to the sun.</p> <p>The reason for all this reminiscing is that I just found this article about some interesting finds that came out of an abandoned privy in Pennsylvania. Before I get to that, I am burying a message in this post for my friend Mark. He claims to read every one of my blog posts and even tells me that he read the entire blog on hoarders, which is no small accomplishment. Lets see if I hear from him! <a href="http://www.antiquetrader.com/featured/pennsylvania-mystery-tavern-dig-uncovers-more-than-700-artifacts">Here is the story from Antique Trader</a></p> 77I just don’t get some types of art!https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/76/i-just-dont-get-some-types-of-artGeneralWed, 16 Nov 2011 14:50:00 GMT<p>I realize that there are many different types of art and that the people to whom that art appeals are as wide ranging as the art itself. I have to say though, that I struggle to understand some types of modern and abstract art. Take the digital photo that was just sold at Christies in New York for example. I get the fact that it was produced by a highly regarded photographer. I also get the fact that it is thought provoking and interesting. What I don&rsquo;t get is 4.3 million dollars! For one digital image! If you were by chance the buyer, or even the under-bidder, next time please bring your four point three million dollars to Sharon, Massachusetts and I will build you one of the finest collections of Early American decorative arts that you can imagine.</p> <p>Below is the story from Artfix Daily.</p> <p><a href="http://www.artfixdaily.com/news_feed/2011/11/14/9513-photographer-andreas-gursky-unseats-cindy-sherman-in-record-setti">http://www.artfixdaily.com/news_feed/2011/11/14/9513-photographer-andreas-gursky-unseats-cindy-sherman-in-record-setti</a></p> 76First new American art museum in half a centuryhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/75/first-new-american-art-museum-in-half-a-centuryGeneralMon, 14 Nov 2011 18:55:00 GMT<p>Here is a story from Antiques and the Arts Weekly.&nbsp; I find it to be encouraging.</p> <p><strong>First Major Museum For American Art Established In Almost A Half Century Opens </strong><br /> By Stephen May</p> <p>If you are a fan of adventurous museum buildings and great American art, you are going to love the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and its world-class collection. Marking a significant development on the US cultural scene, the institution, the brainchild of Alice B. Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, opened to the public on November 11. It is the first major museum devoted to American art established in almost a half century.</p> <p>Housed in an innovative building designed by architect Moshe Safdie, the museum is located in a 120-acre forest that used to form the backyard of the Walton family home. Crystal Bridges draws its name from a nearby natural spring, which flows beneath the graceful pavilions.</p> <p>In keeping with his commitment to attune his buildings to their internal purposes and natural surroundings, Safdie nestled the 200,000-square-foot museum within a ravine, flanked by two wooded hillsides, surrounding two spring-fed ponds. &quot;We aimed to design a museum in which art and nature are experienced simultaneously and harmoniously,&quot; says Safdie.</p> <p>After entering from the crest of a hill that offers dramatic overviews of the entire campus, visitors circulate through 12 galleries in four separate buildings, crossing the ponds with open vistas of the forested landscape. Liberal use of glass throughout the museum encourages warm light suffusing the galleries and enhances views of mature oaks, dogwoods and pines. In keeping with the architect&#39;s aim &quot;to create a building in the spirit of the Ozarks,&quot; regional materials &mdash; such as Arkansas white pine, fieldstone and limestone aggregate &mdash; help the structure &quot;resonate with the surrounding hillsides,&quot; says Safdie. Walking trails and sculpture link the museum to downtown Bentonville. The beautifully sited museum and its trove of masterpieces are the culmination of a ten-year dream of Alice Walton, who breeds and trains cutting horses on a ranch in Texas, but whose heart remains in northwest Arkansas.</p> <p>Interested in art from childhood but with no art history training, Walton began collecting regional art and then in the mid-1990s started acquiring national American art. By the end of the 1990s, she envisioned an art museum &mdash; lacking in this part of the country. Her plans evolved from &quot;what I perceived of as a gift to the community to what I now think of as a gift to the nation.&quot;</p> <p>And what a gift it is. Aided by such trusted advisors as distinguished art historian John Wilmerding and Christopher B. Crosman, the museum&#39;s founding curator of collections, Walton has acquired top-flight paintings, works on paper and sculpture by America&#39;s greatest artists. They respond both to Walton&#39;s interest in the relation of art &quot;to our history as a nation&quot; and the interrelationship of art and nature. In so doing, they carry out the museum&#39;s mission to &quot;explore the unfolding story of America by actively collecting, exhibiting, interpreting and preserving outstanding works that illuminate our heritage and artistic possibilities.&quot;</p> <p>The inaugural exhibition, &quot;Celebrating the American Spirit,&quot; showcases 400 works by American masters, arranged chronologically to take visitors on a journey through the evolution of American art and history. The works on view are stunning from the outset, beginning with a series of six portraits of the prestigious and prosperous Jewish colonial Levy-Frank family of New York. Likely painted by Gerardus Duyckinck around 1735, they depict fashionably dressed family members in a traditional English portraiture style. According to catalog essayist Carrie Rebora Barratt of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this is &quot;the only large set of early colonial family portraits to survive intact.&quot;</p> <p>Even more elegant is John Singleton Copley&#39;s rendering of &quot;Mrs Theodore Atkinson Jr (Frances Deering Wentworth),&quot; 1765. The leading portraitist of elite Bostonians, his portrait captures his sitter&#39;s beauty, grace and elevated social standing. Not far away, Benjamin West&#39;s romantic &quot;Cupid and Psyche,&quot; 1808, is complemented by Hiram Powers&#39; neoclassical marble bust &quot;Proserpine,&quot; circa 1840, from the museum&#39;s growing sculpture collection.</p> <p>Not to be missed are iconic portraits of George Washington by Charles Willson Peale and Gilbert Stuart and a powerful oil study of a resolute &quot;Marquis de Lafayette,&quot; 1825, by Samuel F.B. Morse. In Richard Caton Woodville&#39;s &quot;War News from Mexico,&quot; 1848, white folks avidly read newspaper reports from the Mexican-American War, while a black man and girl listen, seated subserviently at their feet.</p> <p>The showstopper in this gallery, Asher B. Durand&#39;s &quot;Kindred Spirits,&quot; 1849, depicts Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School, and its literary champion, William Cullen Bryant, standing on a ledge in a wooded Catskills ravine. After noting the dismay among some when Crystal Bridges purchased the canvas from the New York Public Library, Crosman points out that it is &quot;an icon of the American landscape tradition &mdash; not just that of New York.&quot; Nearby, landscapes by Cole and Hudson River colleagues Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey and John F. Kensett celebrate nature&#39;s bounties in the new nation.</p> <p>Other notable works by Thomas Moran immortalize the splendors of the American West, while Eastman Johnson spins narratives of New England, and George Inness&#39;s paean to the serenity of pastoral upstate New York reflects the artist&#39;s spiritual underpinnings. A figurative oil and two watercolors by Winslow Homer demonstrate his skills in these mediums.</p> <p>Landscapes by such titans as Alfred Pinkham Ryder and later Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent, Dennis Miller Bunker, John H. Twachtman, Theodore Robinson, Maurice Prendergast, William Merritt Chase and James McNeil Whistler reflect the influence of European Impressionism and Post-Impressionism on late Nineteenth Century American artists. Portraits by their contemporaries are particularly outstanding, including Sargent&#39;s enigmatic depiction of &quot;Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife;&quot; Bunker&#39;s &quot;Anne Page,&quot; adjacent to Augustus Saint-Gaudens&#39; bust of the same Boston beauty; Gari Melchers&#39; affectionate likeness of his colleague George Hitchcock&#39;s first wife and William Merritt Chase&#39;s magnificent evocation of an aging, white-bearded &quot;Worthington Whittredge,&quot; seated before an easel, palette and paint brush in hand.</p> <p>Best of all is Thomas Eakins&#39; &quot;Professor Benjamin Howard Rand,&quot; 1874, which the museum acquired after Philadelphians raised money to keep Eakins&#39; &quot;The Gross Clinic&quot; in the City of Brotherly Love. &quot;Rand&quot; is a dark and sensitive view of the distinguished faculty member in his study at Jefferson Medical College.</p> <p>Two galleries feature paintings ranging from gritty Ashcan School paintings at the dawn of the Twentieth Century to pre-World War II Modernists. Among the standout early urban realist images are an Everett Shinn theater image, John Sloan&#39;s &quot;Bleecker Street, Saturday Night&quot; and George Bellows&#39; &quot;Excavation at Night&quot; that recalls the huge crater created to build Pennsylvania Station.<br /> Among the early Modernists a highlight is Georgia O&#39;Keeffe&#39;s riveting watercolor &quot;Evening Star No. 2,&quot; 1917, in which the embryonic superstar captured, with a few broad brushstrokes, the brilliant radiance of a sunset over the arid Texas landscape, the pure saturated colors standing out against white paper.</p> <p>aThere are fine examples of work by such celebrated members of the avant-garde as John Marin, Oscar Bluemner, Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, but the best paintings are those of Marsden Hartley. They range from a tapestrylike evocation of mountains in western Maine to a still life of energetically brushed red flowers set against a glimpse of a blue seascape to a heartfelt homage to the chiseled body and expressive gaze of a young boxer from northern Maine.</p> <p>Of more recent vintage are characteristic works by Edward Hopper, Thomas Hart Benton, Arshile Gorky and Romare Bearden. Jackson Pollock&#39;s &quot;Reclining Woman,&quot; circa 1938-41, painted while under the influence of his teacher, Benton, as well as the radical innovations of Pablo Picasso, offers a fragmented, distorted view of his subject, hinting at the drip paintings that made Pollock the leader of the Abstract Expressionists.</p> <p>Norman Rockwell&#39;s beloved &quot;Rosie the Riveter,&quot; a 1943 oil that became a famous Saturday Evening Post cover, is a reminder of the vital role women played in winning World War II and of the artist&#39;s accomplishments as storyteller and painter. A remarkable group of paintings dating to 1948 by Milton Avery, Will Barnet and Jacob Lawrence is highlighted by Charles Sheeler&#39;s cool, poetic and precise approximation of an abandoned textile plant in Manchester, N.H.</p> <p>Colorful canvases by Hans Hofmann, Grace Hartigan and Joan Mitchell usher in the era of Abstract Expressionism that dominated postwar world art, but, alas, there is not yet a Willem de Kooning in the collection. Running counter to the prevailing style, a circle painting by Kenneth Noland and a classic &quot;Homage to the Square&quot; canvas by Josef Albers reflect other aesthetic impulses of the 1950s and 1960s.</p> <p>Other contrasts from the late Twentieth Century include works by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, who created challenging new forms of aesthetic composition, while Fairfield Porter offered warm, Impressionistic views of family and landscapes, and Wayne Thiebaud turned out appealing depictions of food and, in the Crystal Bridges collection, &quot;Supine Woman.&quot;</p> <p>Pop Art, another notable postwar style, is represented by Tom Wesselmann&#39;s enormous, sensual &quot;Smoker #9&quot; and Andy Warhol&#39;s idolizing, silvery &quot;Dolly Parton.&quot; The continuing popularity of Realism is reflected in a snowy landscape by Neil Welliver, two oils by photorealist Richard Estes and a robust lobsterman by Bo Bartlett. Andrew Wyeth&#39;s &quot;Airborne,&quot; 1996, painted when he was 79, demonstrates the delicacy and foreboding tone of his late work, while son Jamie Wyeth&#39;s &quot;Orca Bates,&quot; 1990, shows a vulnerable, naked island lad who is about to leave his way of life for school on the mainland, seated in front of a massive whale jawbone.</p> <p>African American painter Kerry James Marshall explores issues of race, class and community in the large format (100 by 142 inches) acrylic &quot;Our Town,&quot; 1995. More recently, in &quot;A Warm Summer Evening in 1863,&quot; 2008, artist Kara Walker juxtaposes the silhouette of a lynched woman against a Harper&#39;s engraving of New York City&#39;s draft riots during the Civil War.</p> <p>By acquiring work ranging from the Duyckinck portraits of 1735 to the Walker vignette of 2008, Alice Walton and her team have already gone a long way toward assembling the top quality, comprehensive collection she envisioned to tell the story of America through its art. Continued acquisitions will undoubtedly fill gaps in the trove and deepen the roster of American masterworks.</p> <p>With an eye-popping museum in place and a large and growing collection of masterpieces, the future looks bright for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.</p> <p>The 352-page catalog edited by Crosman with essays by experts on the museum&#39;s holdings is published by the museum in association with Hudson Hills Press. It sells for $60, hardcover.</p> <p>The museum is at 600 Museum Way. For information, www.crystalbridges.org or 479-418-5700.</p> <p><a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/tabid/67/Article/65/Default.aspx">READ THE ARTICLE at THE ANTIQUES AND ARTS WEEKLY</a></p> 75Steampunk? What the heck is “steampunk”?https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/74/steampunk-what-the-heck-is-steampunkGeneralMon, 07 Nov 2011 15:44:00 GMT<p>If you have not yet heard of the art-form called steampunk, please permit me to enlighten you. I&rsquo;m a big fan of steampunk sculpture and I&rsquo;m in fact a steampunk artist. By way of a definition, steampunk art asks the following question: What would objects look like if modern technology had existed in the Victorian, stem-powered era? Jules Vern&rsquo;s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, and the contraptions featured in the movie Wild, Wild West (1999, with Will Smith) are perfect examples of the science fiction genre that we call steampunk.</p> <p>Today, the popular steampunk look often includes modern pieces of technology, such as computers, IPods or keyboards that have been modified to look like pseudo-Victorian steam powered machines. The look often includes clock works and industrial steam apparatus. This creative modification of objects in order to create thought provoking and aesthetically pleasing art has been growing in popularity for several years.</p> <p>There are different aspects of the steampunk movement, often with different followers. Post apocalyptic illustration-art, pseudo-Victorian costumes and science fiction fantasy worlds appeal to some, but it is the sculptural aspect of the genre that appeals to me. It&rsquo;s a creative outlet that is just plain fun! Since I was a kid, I&rsquo;ve enjoyed making things from found materials. My interest in tinkering, model railroading and clocks all mesh perfectly with the art of building steampunk gadgets. Here is a photo of a modern digital picture frame that I have &ldquo;steampunked&rdquo;.</p> <p>It has been mounted with lots of vintage brass junk to give the illusion of a steam powered contrivance. I built it to use at antique fairs. We set it up to have images of my inventory scrolling through it at the show. Steampunk artists often give their fabrications whimsical names and concoct far-fetched claims of what their &ldquo;contraptifications&rdquo; can do. In this instance, I call it a &ldquo;transforaminal image perambulator&rdquo;. Steampunk sculptures incorporate recycled bits of vintage hardware, clock and lamp parts and plenty of imagination.</p> <p>There is currently an exhibit of steampunk objects on view at The Charles River Museum of Industry &amp; Innovation (CRMI) in Waltham, MA. (until January 15, 2012). CRMI has become somewhat of a world headquarters for the steampunk movement. <a href="http:///" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://www.crmi.org/">Here is their website: http://www.crmi.org. </a> I think that steampunk art is an important bridge between it&rsquo;s relatively young enthusiasts and the somewhat older collectors of main stream antiques and collectables. Any time we can interest young people in the fantastic world of history, material culture and art, only good things can happen. Some of my clients who are traditional collectors of antiques may think I&rsquo;ve gone a little bonkers. Perhaps so, but I&rsquo;m having fun. <a href="http:///" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W4pRFXD_lE">Here is a video of my &ldquo;steam powered brain wave enhancer&rdquo;</a> This was completed just in time for Halloween and is currently on view at CRMI.</p> 74Matt attends design seminar by David Eastonhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/73/matt-attends-design-seminar-by-david-eastonGeneralFri, 04 Nov 2011 20:02:00 GMT<p>Matt here again.</p> <p>Earlier this week, I had the good fortune of attending yet another great seminar at the Boston Design Center. The speaker was the celebrated designer and architect David Easton. He presented an illustrated discussion of his works that was somewhat of a retrospective of his accomplishments. It is a stunning body of work. I was humbled by both the scale of the projects and his mastery of style and taste. For some time I have admired his work from afar, but an opportunity to be walked through his collections in person will be a life long memory.</p> <p>As an architect, David has a comprehensive understanding of architectural style from the Classical through the contemporary. This coupled with his talented sense of design, enable him to first create a physical space in which he can then successfully translate the tastes of his client. David has championed the elegance of the Neoclassical, creating a number of fine homes and collections from the ground up. He showed several slides of these familiar forms that were opulently decorated with rich fabrics and fine antiques.</p> <p>While I was pleased to see these honored styles still in fashion, I was impressed by the modern designs that David also presented. These spaces he created embody the contemporary mode of open living spaces and efficient layout, but at the same time retained a human scale and a sense of intimacy. David explained how these designs are in keeping with the configuration on our daily lives. Large open spaces that flow from kitchen to dining area to common spaces are more in step with how we live and entertain. Yet at the same time each space retains a partition of sorts, whether it be physical or a visual cue, that enable a more traditional treatment of these spaces. I know that the dinner parties at my home are spent primarily in the kitchen, cramped as it may be. How nice it would be have a more accommodating space.</p> <p>What was most profound to me in these modern spaces, was David&rsquo;s ability to retain the Classical ideal in these new settings. I have always felt that antique forms have a place in contemporary design, but until now had not seen it realized.</p> <p>Imagine the clean lines of say a Clismos chair or a banjo clock set in counterpoint to a present day designs. When the items are chosen carefully, they lend a contrast that strengthens the impact of each style. The sculptural form of tall clock lends a familiar, welcome presence in these sleek spaces. Does this mean I am selling my Federal period home? No! But it does breathe a life into my world, bringing together what had seemed to be two disparate modes of style. I now envision for myself open, efficient spaces decorated with prized antiques; the uncluttered contemporary highlighting the skill and grace of early craftsmen.</p> <p>Thank you David&hellip;</p> 73Research tidbit, pineapples for rent?https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/71/research-tidbit-pineapples-for-rentGeneralFri, 28 Oct 2011 19:03:00 GMT<p>Matt Buckley here this time.&nbsp; I have always held that one of the prerequisites to being an antique enthusiast, is an appreciation for the tidbits of information that accumulate along the way.&nbsp; This minutia is prized in an equal measure to the objects.&nbsp; They become exquisite little nuggets of information that&nbsp; help to color the image of our history and enrich our understanding of our culture.&nbsp; As so often is the case, the origins of our customs can be rooted in absurd nuanced behavior from our past.&nbsp; These are the best tidbits of all.<br /> I encountered just such a factoid recently, while researching a Salem, McIntire school work table.&nbsp; The tops of the legs have wonderful carved pineapples.&nbsp; They are a very rare motif in Salem furniture.&nbsp; I wanted to write a few words on the meaning of the Pineapple as a cultural symbol during the 18<sup>th</sup> and 19<sup>th</sup> Century.&nbsp; I had long understood it to be a symbol of the feast, which had come to express the sense of welcome, good cheer and abundance.&nbsp; After a quick trip to Google, I had my delightful tidbit of absurd human behavior becoming culture.&nbsp; I have included the description below, enjoy.</p> <p>The pineapple has served as both a food and a symbol throughout the human history of the Americas.&nbsp; Originally unique to the Western Hemisphere, the fruit was a culinary favorite of the fierce Carib Indians who lived on islands in the sea that still bears their name.&nbsp; In such a gastronomic milieu, reports and later samples of the New World&#39;s pineapple--whose ripe yellow pulp literally exploded natural sweetness when chewed--made the fruit an item of celebrity and curiosity for royal gourmet and horticulturist alike.&nbsp; Despite dogged efforts by European gardeners, it was nearly two centuries before they were able to perfect a hothouse method for growing a pineapple plant.&nbsp; Thus, into the 1600s, the pineapple remained so uncommon and coveted a commodity that King Charles II of England posed for an official portrait in an act then symbolic of royal privilege -- receiving a pineapple as a gift.</p> <p>Across the ocean, the pineapple took on other symbolic meanings in England&#39;s American colonies.&nbsp; The colonies were then a land of small, primitive towns and settlements where homes served as the hubs of most community activity.&nbsp; Visiting was the primary means of entertainment, cultural intercourse and news dissemination.&nbsp; The concept of hospitality--the warmth, charm and style with which guests were taken into the home--was a central element of the society&#39;s daily emotional life.</p> <p>Creative food display--the main entertainment during a formal home visit--was a means by which a woman declared both her personality and her family&#39;s status.&nbsp; Within the bounds of their family&#39;s means, hostesses sought to outdo each other in the creation of memorable, fantasy-like dining room scenes.&nbsp; At such feasts, tabletops resembled small mountain ranges of tiered, pyramided and pedestaled foodstuffs often drizzled and webbed in sugar, studded with china figurines, festooned with flowers and interwoven with garlands of pine and laurel.&nbsp; Dinners were extravaganzas of visual delights, novel tastes, new discoveries and congenial conversation that went on for hours.</p> <p>While fruits in general--fresh, dried, candied and jellied--were the major attractions of the community&#39;s appetite and dining practices, the pineapple was the true celebrity.&nbsp; Its rarity, expense, reputation and striking visual attractiveness made it the ultimate exotic fruit.&nbsp; It was the pineapple that came to literally crown the most important feasts: often held aloft on special pedestals as the pinnacle of the table&#39;s central food mound.</p> <p>Ships brought in preserved pineapples from Caribbean islands as expensive sweetmeats--pineapple chunks candied, glazed and packed in sugar.&nbsp; The actual whole fruit was even more costly and difficult to obtain.&nbsp; Wooden ship travel in the tropics was hot, humid and slow, often rotting pineapple cargoes before they could be landed.&nbsp; Only the speediest ships and most fortuitous weather conditions could deliver ripe, wholesome pineapples to the confectionery shops of cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Annapolis and Williamsburg.</p> <p>A hostesses&#39;s ability to have a pineapple for an important dining event said as much about her rank as it did about her resourcefulness, given that the street trade in available fresh pineapples could be as brisk as it was prickly.&nbsp; So sought after were the fruits that colonial confectioners sometimes rented them to households by the day.&nbsp; Later, the same fruit was sold to other, more affluent clients who actually ate it.&nbsp; As you might imagine, hostesses would have gone to great lengths to conceal the fact that the pineapple that was the visual apogee of their table display and a central topic of their guests&#39; conversation was only rented.</p> <p>In larger, well-to-do homes, the dining room doors were kept closed to heighten visitors&#39; suspense about the table being readied on the other side.&nbsp; At the appointed moment, and with the maximum amount of pomp and drama, the doors were flung open to reveal the evening&#39;s main event.&nbsp; Visitors confronted with pineapple-topped food displays felt particularly honored by a hostess who obviously spared no expense to ensure her guests&#39; dining pleasure.</p> <p>In this manner, the fruit which was the visual keystone of the feast naturally came to symbolize the high spirits of the social events themselves; the image of the pineapple coming to express the sense of welcome, good cheer, human warmth and family affection inherent to such gracious home gatherings.</p> <p>Whimsical pineapple shapes and interpretations became a ubiquitous form for &quot;fun&quot; food creations and general table decorations throughout the 1700 and 1800s.&nbsp; There were pineapple-shaped cakes, pineapple-shaped gelatine molds, candies pressed out like small pineapples, pineapples molded of gum and sugar, pineapples made of creamed ice, cookies cut like pineapples and pineapple shapes created by arrangements of other fruits.&nbsp; There were also ceramic bowls formed like pineapples, fruit and sweet trays incorporating pineapple designs, and pineapple pitchers, cups and even candelabras.</p> <p>During the last century, the art of food display centered around the pineapple has faded to a quaint craft now largely associated with the making of certain kinds of Christmas decorations. These holiday fabrications are one of the few vestiges of an era when all life literally revolved around the dining room table; a less complicated era that left us the enduring icon of the colonial pineapple, a truly American fruit symbolizing our founding society&#39;s abiding commitment to hospitality as well as its fondest memories of families, friends and good times.</p> 71Discoveries!https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/70/discoveriesGeneralWed, 26 Oct 2011 15:43:00 GMT<p>This is what keeps us going - the thrill of the hunt!&nbsp; As dealers we are always dreaming of making that big discovery, the sleeper that will make a difference. It still happens, as evidenced by the story below. I have made a few through the years, but I&rsquo;m still waiting for the &ldquo;big one&rdquo;.<br /> We did make a nice discovery in an auction box lot last year, maybe not as spectacular as the one in the story, but it was pretty special for us.&nbsp; While previewing a sale at a small auction house, Matt spotted an extremely important piece of Chinese export porcelain in a box lot.&nbsp; The lot had been part of the residue from an excellent Boston area estate, the majority of which had gone to one of the big name auction houses. Here was this obscure five-figure piece, mixed in with common, low value porcelain. We knew we on the trail of a good one, now we just needed to bring it in.&nbsp; Matt sat quietly in the audience at the sale, hoping nobody else had noticed this gem. When it came time to bid he was able to buy the box lot for under $300. The thrill was so intense that later, when he was wrapping up the lot to head home, his hands were still shaking.&nbsp; We were lucky enough to ascertain the provenance, which was important to the discovery. It doesn&rsquo;t happen often at auctions these days, they are so well covered, but with some diligence and knowledge mixed with a good dose of luck it is still possible and incredibly exciting. Keep an eye on those box lots!</p> <p>Here is the related story from Antique and the Arts Online:</p> <p><strong>Box Lot Painting Discovery Brings $164,500 At Clarke&rsquo;s</strong></p> <p>It was a &quot;dream come true&quot; for a local picker at Clarke Auctioneers this past Sunday, October 23, as a rare oil painting on panel by Maurice Prendergast became the star lot of the auction. The picker had dropped off the unassuming and dirty painting among the contents of a box lot at the auction house, according to gallery owner and auctioneer Ronan Clarke.</p> <p>Nelia Moore, art specialist and auctioneer at Clarke&#39;s, &quot;spied a beautifully executed but very dirty painting on panel of a woman in a veil. After dusting it off and studying the painting she spotted the Prendergast signature on the lower right of the panel,&quot; he said. The Impressionistic- style painting was executed while the artist was in Paris.</p> <p>Estimated at $40/60,000, the painting opened for bidding at $20,000 and advanced rapidly between a dealer in the front row and a private buyer in the rear of the gallery. The action slowed as the painting hit $100,000, with the dealer taking his time between advances, while the private buyer continued to bid quickly, until it finally went her way, climbing to $164,500, including premium.</p> <p>Antiques and the Arts Editorial Content</p> 70A blog about Toasters, of all things.https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/69/a-blog-about-toasters-of-all-thingsGeneralThu, 20 Oct 2011 14:05:00 GMT<p>What ever happened to the good old days when you could buy a toaster and use it for say, 25 years? I just found this web site devoted to wonderful old toasters. Vintage toasters are very popular and there are lots of people who collect them. Some of them are such great retro forms! We had The rounded corner Toastmaster in the kitchen for my entire childhood. It was used every day and is probably still working somewhere. I think we have now gone through 3 toasters in the last 5 years, with only half the number of family members that were using the 1950s Toastmaster of my childhood. My personal favorite is the Toast-O-Lator. It automatically advances the toast through the machine, from one end to the other, while you watch it toasting through a little window in the center. How cool is that? Take a look. <a href="http://www.toastermuseum.com/" target="_blank">http://www.toastermuseum.com</a></p> 69Willard clockmakers and Southern connectionshttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/67/willard-clockmakers-and-southern-connectionsGeneralThu, 06 Oct 2011 18:40:00 GMT<p>RESEARCH NOTES&nbsp;&nbsp; BY Paul J. Foley and Gary R. Sullivan</p> <p>John Ware Willard documented a number of special order clocks made by Simon Willard and shipped to various parts of the country. In 1801, Simon made a clock for the United States Senate in Washington, DC and in 1826 he made a tower clock for the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, ordered by his friend Thomas Jefferson. In the first and second decade of the nineteenth century both Aaron Willard and his son Aaron Jr. were also shipping their clocks south to be sold through agents in southern states, primarily Virginia and South Carolina.</p> <p>The Boston, Massachusetts and Petersburg, Virginia partnership of Nash &amp; Munroe (1802-1813) were importing and actively selling Willard clocks in Virginia. This partnership of merchants Paul Nash and William Munroe advertised Willard clocks for sale. In Petersburg they offered a variety of goods including house furniture &ldquo;imported from Boston.&rdquo; In June of 1805 they advertised &ldquo;NASH &amp; MUNROE, Have received from Boston&hellip; Two elegant eight-day Clocks, one handsome Time-Piece,&hellip;&rdquo;. Again in October of 1806 they advertised &ldquo;3 eight day clocks warranted by Aaron Willard&hellip;.&rdquo; In May of 1806 they were purchasing looking glasses from John Doggett in Roxbury undoubtedly to be sold in the south.</p> <p>When the Petersburg, Virginia silversmith and watchmaking partnership of John Bennett and Ebenezer Thomas was dissolved in 1819 one of their listed creditors was clockmaker Aaron Willard Jr. who was owed $500. This significant debt would have been for Willard clocks purchased by them on credit, to be sold in Virginia.. Although dissolved, this business continued as Bennett &amp; Thomas. In December of 1823 they advertised &ldquo;8-DAY CLOCKS / We have received a few Willard eight day clocks of latest patterns, which are offered low for cash &ndash; they will be warranted to perform well.</p> <p>Willard&rsquo;s Clocks are well known to need no recommendation, other than the knowledge that they are manufactured by him.&rdquo;</p> <p>By this date these imported Willard clocks would probably have been patent timepieces (banjo clocks) or shelf clocks. Both signed and attributed &ldquo;Roxbury&rdquo; tall case clocks that were made by the Willards in Boston can be found signed and/or labeled by southern clockmakers like William McCabe and William Mitchell Jr. both of Richmond, Virginia and John McKee of Chester, South Carolina. One Willard tall clock signed by John McKee also has a label inside the case advertising &ldquo;Common House Clocks, Table / Spring Clocks, and Time pieces of different constructions made by Aaron Willard / Boston.&rdquo; A William McCabe &ldquo;Directions&rdquo; label pasted inside an attributed Aaron Willard tall clock is illustrated below.</p> <p>Some of the known Willard tall clocks with southern connections are in later-style mahogany cases stamped by cabinetmaker Henry Willard, another son of Aaron.<br /> These Willard clocks with southern connections are being researched to better understand this trade. If any reader has knowledge of a signed or attributed Willard clock with similar southern connections the authors would appreciate the details.</p> 67The Metropolitan Show NYChttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/65/the-metropolitan-show-nycGeneralFri, 30 Sep 2011 19:17:00 GMT<p>I am happy to share with my readers the news that we are signed up for <a href="http://http//www.metroshownyc.com/Home.htm">the new Metropolitan Show in New York this January 2011</a>. You are the first to know! The show replaces The American Antiques Show (TAAS) which has been held the last ten years at The metropolitan Pavilion in January. Just as previous shows have been for the benefit of The Folk Art Museum, the preview party for the new Metro Show will benefit the Museum as well.</p> <p>The new promoter of the show is The Art Fair Company Inc. They are recognized for their very upscale art shows such as the highly regarded SOFA Shows in Chicago, New York and Santa Fe. Along with the fresh new face of the show, their goal is to preserve the core appeal of the TAAS Show, but to add some more contemporary art to the mix. I look forward to seeing some dealers in new categories such as outsider art and photography. I think this will be an excellent addition.<br /> We want to encourage the collectors of folk art and American antiques who have historically attended the show to return in January, but we would like to see some younger faces as well. By adding some contemporary art to the show, I look forward to attracting more 30 and 40 somethings, who may just find that they like these old things that we call &ldquo;antiques&rdquo;.</p> <p>I&rsquo;ll have to stop calling this an &ldquo;antiques show&rdquo;. I certainly don&rsquo;t want to frighten off any of my loyal collectors of antiques who would be disinclined to attend something called a &ldquo;fair&rdquo;. The fact is, younger collectors of art call these events &ldquo;fairs&rdquo;, and they would be disinclined to attend something called an &ldquo;antiques show&rdquo;. We all need to get together and enjoy the mix of fine art and antiques. So if you are one of my clients, who has never been to a &ldquo;fair&rdquo;, please be sure to visit us in January. No matter what they call the event, you can rest assured that you&rsquo;ll always find some terrific objects in my booth! You&rsquo;ll not be disappointed!</p> 65The Keno Brothers new showhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/64/the-keno-brothers-new-showGeneralFri, 09 Sep 2011 19:46:00 GMT<p>Leigh and Leslie, the keno Brothers of Antiques Roadshow fame have a new show on Fox. It is called &ldquo;Buried Treasure&rdquo;. The new show is similar to, but different than their old PBS show which was called Find!. As with the old show, they travel the country visiting people who have objects that may have significant value. What sets Buried Treasure apart from the old show is the personal component. Leigh told me that they are looking for situations where the value of the objects can potentially make a significant difference in the lives of the owners. The problem with this scenario is that it eliminates a great number of the possible guests and makes it much more difficult to find good houses to visit. I don&rsquo;t know how they accomplish what they do. The twins are just a few months older than I am, but I wouldn&rsquo;t dream of trying to fit what they do into a day. I&rsquo;m tired just thinking about it. In addition to filming the show this summer, Leigh has his auction coming up later this month and Leslie has a sale at Sotheby&rsquo;s. Good luck with the new show guys.</p> 64Fancy diamonds a hot commodityhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/63/fancy-diamonds-a-hot-commodityGeneralThu, 08 Sep 2011 21:00:00 GMT<p>I just came across this story about two extraordinary, multimillion dollar yellow diamonds which are about to be sold. We keep hearing about the hot markets for certain art commodities, particularly those that are of interest to wealthy Asian buyers. They certainly seem like better investments than the stock market right now. Just ask my 401K! We have some pretty good commodities right here, in the form of rare and beautiful clocks and furniture. Hey Asian buyers, take a look, you might like what you see! <a href="http://www.artfixdaily.com/news_feed/2011/09/06/4153-best-of-class-or-dark-past-duo-of-yellow-diamonds-hit-market">Here is the article from ARTFIXdailey....</a></p> 63Willard Clock Museum newshttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/62/willard-clock-museum-newsGeneralWed, 07 Sep 2011 20:56:00 GMT<p>The Willard House and Clock Museum in North Grafton, MA. boasts the largest collection of Willard clocks in the world. The extraordinary clock collection, along with many rooms of period furniture and decorations are housed in the 1718 Willard Homestead, the 1766 Benjamin Willard clock shop and in two modern galleries. The Willards were the most influential family of clockmakers in early America. With over 90 Willard clocks dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries on display, this museum is a must see for clock enthusiasts. The work of Benjamin, Aaron, Simon and Ephraim (among others) can all be found here. Perhaps this is a shameless plug, as I&rsquo;m a trustee of the museum, but I encourage folks who are visiting the area to stop by. It is just minutes off the Mass. Turnpike and a short trip from Skinner&rsquo;s Marlboro location.</p> <p>The Museum has some news, which is that we are welcoming Patrick Keenan, former Museum Assistant as our new Director and are confident that he will excel in his new role. We wish our capable former Director, Cynthia Dias-Reid good luck in her new pursuits in Connecticut. <a href="http://www.willardhouse.org/">The website for the museum is http://www.willardhouse.org </a></p> 62The amazing truth about hoardershttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/61/the-amazing-truth-about-hoardersGeneralFri, 26 Aug 2011 21:25:00 GMT<p>The popular new television shows on extreme hoarding have recently made more people aware of the problem. Because of this awareness, I&rsquo;ve begun to hear comments such as, &rdquo;can you imagine seeing a place like that?&rdquo; or &ldquo;have you ever seen one of those houses?&rdquo; The sad fact is, I have. Many times. It&rsquo;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&rsquo;ve been involved in the dismantling of between 15 and 20 extreme hoarder&rsquo;s homes. The difference is, I was usually dealing with the homes of hoarders who had either died or had gone to a nursing home. It would be unusual for a hoarder to part with their possessions, so antiques dealers are rarely called until after the occupant is gone. I used to attempt to explain the conditions of these houses, describing rooms piled with debris, sometimes up to the ceiling and only isles to walk through. Now people can see these disturbing conditions on television. I remember being called to a home in Newton, Massachusetts many years ago.When the owner opened the door, I was nearly knocked over by the smell. I could see that the place was piled high with trash. I had to excuse myself and leave. I could not enter the house. Another house in Weston, Mass. was loaded with antiques, but they were buried under tons of debris. The owner was crazy and so were her dogs. I didn&rsquo;t get very far. One of the creepier houses that I cleaned out was in Wellesley, Mass. (these are all affluent suburbs of Boston, where one would not expect such chaos). The house was very dark inside and had an unsettling history. One of my crew was unaccustomed to working in places like this and was reluctant to work alone in the basement. He kept half-joking that the place was haunted. While he was downstairs filling trash barrels, I discovered a second stairway leading to the other end of the basement and began making ghostly noises from the top of the stairs, thinking that he would realize it was me. He did not! This hulk of a football player ran screaming from the house and refused to go back, even after I demonstrated that I was the source of the noises. He spent the remainder of the job transferring debris from the door to the dumpsters and never set foot inside again. He eventually saw the humor in it, but it took time. One infamous hording case is the shocking story of Langley Collyer. The photos shown here were taken of his house in Harlem. The following is the story of Collyer, as written by Fred Penzel, Ph.D. It is entitled, &ldquo;Langley Collyer: The Mystery Hoarder of Harlem&rdquo;. It&rsquo;s a remarkable story and is well written. Dr. Penzel even offers some information on the psychology of hoarding. Here it is</p> <p>On March 21st, 1947, at 8:53 a.m., the New York City police department received a phone call from a man giving the name of Charles Smith, notifying them that he believed a man was dead inside a decaying building on Fifth Avenue in Harlem. Officers arrived on the scene by 10 a.m., and cordoned off the house in order to hold back the crowd that had gathered. The police removed an iron grill-covered basement door from its hinges, only to find the entrance completely sealed off by a solid mass of debris. Thus was thrust before the public one of the best-known and most mysterious compulsive hoarding cases of all time.</p> <p>Compulsive hoarding is a form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a neurobiological condition, most likely genetically based. OCD comes in a wide variety of forms, of which hoarding is only one. Compulsive hoarders may collect only certain types of things, or they may indiscriminately save everything. We are not talking here about collecting things that are valuable or important such as art, coins, or stamps. Hoarders generally tend to save things that are of little or no value, or if the things they save do have real value, they tend to save them in ridiculously larger quantities than would ever be necessary. One of the main obsessive thoughts that causes sufferers to do this is their worry that if they throw a particular item away, it will be lost forever, and they may one day be in need of it in order to be able to use it, to be able to remember it, or something connected with it. They seem to have difficulty discriminating between what is or will be useful, and what is not. Some hoarders can freely admit that the things they are saving are currently broken or damaged and unusable. They will stubbornly insist, however, that they will someday repair or refurbish the items and either make use of them or give them away.</p> <p>Another reason for hoarding resembles the type of thinking seen in hyper-responsible obsessions. It is the idea that each thing they save and/or repair might be useful to others (rather than themselves), and that the hoarder would be responsible (and therefore blameful and guilty) for another person not having this vital item should the need arise. They may also rationalize that what they are doing is actually &ldquo;recycling,&rdquo; and are performing a community service by conserving resources. Throwing away something that could possibly be reused is seen as being highly irresponsible. In actuality, there really is no need for what they have saved, there is no one to give the items to, and the only result is that the hoarder is burdened with a house full of junk.</p> <p>Some of the things most commonly saved include newspapers, magazines, lists, pens, pencils, empty boxes, pamphlets, old greeting cards, junk mail, old appliances, outdated books and even assorted labels, string, rubber bands, plastic containers, bottles, and bottle caps. In the most extreme cases, people have been known to save such things as empty matchbooks, used tissues, old cigarette butts, bird feathers, old cars, discarded paper cups, used aluminum foil, paper towels, lint, and hairs. Some of these sufferers will even rummage through other people&rsquo;s trash, and bring home obvious junk that to them, seems quite useful or repairable.</p> <p>Compulsive savers can accumulate large amounts of things, creating storage problems and fire or health hazards. Their houses can take on the appearance of having been ransacked, with floors waist-deep in trash and debris, rooms filled wall-to-wall with overflowing paper bags and cardboard boxes. Many sufferers can only make their way around their homes by creating aisles around and through the trash. Problems with municipal authorities are not uncommon, and hoarders are sometimes evicted or charged with violation zoning or public health laws. Ironically, the majority of people who save things compulsively rarely use or look at these things. Their security comes from merely having the things around &quot;just in case&quot; and in not having to make what seem like difficult decisions about what to discard.Let us now return to our story.</p> <p>Its main figures are two brothers, Homer Lusk Collyer (b. Nov. 6th, 1881), and Langley Collyer (b. October 3rd, 1885). The Collyers were part of one of New York&rsquo;s oldest families, a branch of the well-known Livingstons. Their ancestors had come over to America on the ship &ldquo;Speedwell&rdquo; in 1664, about a week after the Mayflower. The family had been members of the congregation of Trinity Church since 1697. Their father, Dr. Herman L. Collyer was a successful and renowned gynecologist, and his father, William Collyer, was said to have been one of the leading shipbuilders in America. In 1909, Dr. Collyer moved his family from Murray Hill to a fine upper middle class home in Harlem. It was a three-story brownstone located at 2078 Fifth Avenue (at 128th Street). Beyond his fame as a physician, the doctor was known to be a bit eccentric, paddling a small canoe to work each day at City Hospital on Blackwell&rsquo;s Island in the East River. He would subsequently paddle home at the end of his day, and then carry the boat on his head back to his house.</p> <p>Dr. Collyer&rsquo;s two sons seemed destined for successful lives of their own. Both attended Columbia University, where Homer earned a law degree, and his younger brother graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and chemistry. Homer went on to practice admiralty law, but Langley, so far as is known, never held employment, and spent his time playing the piano. He is reputed to have won prizes as a concert pianist, but this cannot be verified. Perhaps Langley&rsquo;s inability to establish a career was an early sign of personal difficulties he may already have been experiencing.</p> <p>It was probably a warning of things to come when in 1917, the brothers had their telephone disconnected, after being billed for long distance calls they claimed to have never made. This may have been the beginning of what would become a growing isolation from the outside world. Six years later, in 1923, Dr. Collyer died. Several years prior to his death, for reasons unknown, he had moved from his Fifth Avenue home to one at 153 West 77th Street. His sons remained at the family home with their mother. It is possible that a family breakup may have occurred. Life seems to have taken an abnormal turn for the two brothers in the year preceding the death of their mother in 1929. It appears that their gas was shut off in 1928, and they also seemed to have given up the convenience of running water and steam heat, and began using kerosene to light their home and to cook with. Water was obtained from a public fountain four blocks from their home. This was all clearly out of step for people of their education and social status.</p> <p>Despite all this, nothing appeared out of the ordinary to those in the outside world. The brothers were said to be courteous, cultured, and shy. The only sign that something might be amiss was that no one was ever permitted to enter their house. Around 1928, Homer worked for another attorney, John R. McMullen, who later became the family legal advisor. Homer next worked for City Title Insurance doing research in the New York City Hall of Records. He was described, at the time, as being courtly, and dressing in 19th century attire, presenting a rather Victorian appearance. He was said to resemble a gentleman of the 1880&rsquo;s.</p> <p>In 1932, Homer purchased a building across the street at 2077 Fifth Avenue for $8,000. He planned to divide it into apartments and to rent them. This plan was never realized, as he suffered a stroke in 1933, becoming blind as the result of hemorrhages in both of his eyes. With one exception, he was reportedly never seen outside of his home again. Langley then gave up his music to take on the job of nursing his brother back to health. No physician was ever consulted. Langley apparently believed that the cure for his brother&rsquo;s blindness was for him to eat 100 oranges a week, and to keep his eyes closed at all times, in order to rest them. The brothers possessed a large library of medical books, and it would seem that Langley felt he had the information and knowledge necessary to treat his brother.</p> <p>At some point in the 1930&rsquo;s, the West 77th Street home where their father had lived was sold, and the new owner, a Mrs. Peter Meyer, discovered an intact Model T Ford in the basement. It is not clear how it got there. Mrs. Meyer is said to have paid a workman $150 to disassemble the car and put the pieces in the street. This somehow came to Langley&rsquo;s attention, and for reasons known only to him, he carried the car piece-by-piece back to the basement of his Fifth Avenue home. It would appear that along with the loss of their other utilities, the brothers had no electricity, as Langley apparently tried to connect a generator to the car&rsquo;s engine in order to provide power, but was unsuccessful.</p> <p>The brothers eventually came to the attention of the general public when they were mentioned in an article written by Helen Worden, a reporter for the World-Telegram. A real estate agent named Maurice Gruber was attempting to buy some farmland in Queens that belonged to the brothers. Their refusal to respond to his letters or to answer the door when he tried to see them in person resulted in Gruber keeping a vigil at their home. In her article, Worden referred to Langley Collyer as &ldquo;the mystery man of Harlem,&rdquo; and included in it, a whole range of sensational rumors that had been circulating about the brothers and their home. It was said to contain all sorts of rich furnishings, a vast library of books, and huge amounts of money that Langley would not trust to banks.</p> <p>Worden, herself, kept a watch on the Collyer&rsquo;s home, and finally caught up with her elusive quarry one night, as he was leaving the house to go on what was one of his regular after dark shopping trips. She questioned Langley about a boat (his father&rsquo;s) and the Model T Ford said to be in their basement. Langley confirmed these stories. Rather than clearing up the mystery, Ms. Worden&rsquo;s article seemed to have only increased the speculation and rumors about the brothers, and during the 1930&rsquo;s other articles were written about the brothers in the New York papers. The brothers were depicted as wealthy hermits, living in a storehouse of money and valuables. People visited the house, banging on the doors or attempting to see them, while neighborhood children committed various acts of vandalism that included breaking windows. As windows were smashed, Langley systematically boarded them up instead of replacing them.</p> <p>Throughout this time, and most likely the result of a case of compulsive hoarding, Langley was hard at work filling the once attractive home with huge amounts of newspapers, cardboard boxes, barrels, metal cans, tree branches, scrap metal, and other assorted trash. In the case of the newspapers, it is said that he believed that his brother Homer would someday regain his vision, and would then want to catch up on the news he had missed. He was known to prowl the streets at night, gathering items from curbside trash piles and bringing them home. No one knows how many years he had been actively engaged in this collecting. His foraging resulted in all three floors of the house being filled with literally tons of things he had collected. Perhaps it was his knowledge of engineering that enabled him to arrange the boxes and packing cases in interlocking arrangements that concealed a maze of tunnels that only he knew. Langley was said to harbor fears of being burglarized, and there had, in fact, been several attempted break-ins over the years by those perhaps lured by the tales of stockpiled riches. The home became a sort of fortress for the brothers, with booby-traps constructed of great piles of debris rigged with the aid of trip wires to fall on unsuspecting intruders. This, of course, only served to increase the brothers&rsquo; growing isolation. If their goal was to keep the world out, they were succeeding.</p> <p>Although the brothers were by no means poor, Langley is also said to have regularly rummaged through garbage cans seeking food. He went begging at butcher shops for scraps, and was known to have walked as far as Williamsburg, in Brooklyn to purchase stale bread at the lowest possible cost. The Collyers again appeared in the newspapers in April 1939, when, armed with a court order, a city marshal together with representatives of the Consolidated Edison Company entered the brother&rsquo;s two Fifth Avenue buildings and removed the gas meters, which had been in a state of disuse since 1928. A crowd said to be as large as 1,000 people gathered outside their home to see what was happening.</p> <p>Homer&rsquo;s last appearance outside the house is said to have occurred a number of months later on January 1st, 1940. Sgt. John Collins, a city policeman from the 123rd Street station who was familiar with the Collyers, spotted the two brothers carrying a large tree limb from across the street into their basement. Langley guided the branched end, while Homer held up the other end.</p> <p>Although the brothers did everything they could to avoid public scrutiny, it had its own way of intruding into their solitude. Ironically, it was their reluctance to encounter the outside world that continually brought the world to their doorstep. It appears that not paying taxes and other bills was a symptom of their reclusiveness, and it caused them no end of trouble. The most highly publicized example occurred in August of 1942, when the Bowery Savings Bank foreclosed on a mortgage that amounted to $6,700 plus interest (no interest had been paid since 1940). After going to state Supreme Court, the bank obtained permission to evict the brothers from their home. The very same day, however, the Collyer&rsquo;s attorney, John R. McMullen, met with bank officials with an offer by his clients to repurchase the property. As the house was seen to be in very poor condition, it appeared that the Bowery Savings was not all that eager to repossess it. Mr. McMullen had never actually been allowed in the brothers&rsquo; house, so instead, Langley, who almost never appeared in daylight, had walked all the way to his attorney&rsquo;s office on Park Row to discuss the matter. Mr. F. Donald Richart, vice president in charge of real estate for the bank, consented to give the brothers &ldquo;a generous amount of time&rdquo; so that they could work out the details of the repurchase.</p> <p>There were growing rumors on the street, around this time, that Homer had died and that his body was still in the house. Sgt. Collins of the 123rd Street station (mentioned earlier), took it upon himself to look into the matter. He encountered Langley, and somehow got his permission, despite some reluctance, to enter the house through the basement door. In a surreal journey through a labyrinth of tunnels in the trash and homemade booby-traps that lasted a half hour, Langley led the officer to the bedroom where Homer was to be found. What happened next is told in Sgt. Collins own words. &ldquo;I switched on my flashlight, and there was Homer sitting up like a mummy. He was on a cot, a burlap bag beneath him and an old overcoat on the foot of the cot, and he spoke directly to the officer. &ldquo;I am Homer Collyer, a lawyer. I want your shield number. I am not dead. I am blind and paralyzed.&rdquo; Langley subsequently made a complaint to the police department about the incident, but no action was ever apparently taken on the matter.</p> <p>In the matter of the Bowery Savings Bank, it seems that no repurchase offer was ever worked out, so in October, Supreme Court Justice Bernard Botein signed an order permitting the City Sheriff to evict the brothers from their brownstone. This same judge&rsquo;s decision, which had been issued in August, was now about to be carried out. The bank, still trying to not have to resort to force, repeatedly mailed eviction notices to the brothers, who never responded.</p> <p>The Bowery Savings Bank was not to be put off indefinitely. As the new owner of the building, they were required by the city to make repairs to the property according to the city&rsquo;s building and sanitary codes. At the end of September, they dispatched a crew of workmen to the house to begin carrying out the repairs that had been ordered by the Department of Health. A number of police officers and patrol cars were sent to the scene to manage the inevitable crowd that had gathered, as it always did whenever any activity took place at the Collyer home. As the workmen went about repairing a falling stone cornice, replacing missing window panes, and removing piles junk from the rear of the property, Langley Collyer called out to them from an upper story window, demanding to know by what right they were trespassing on his property. The contractor was then forced to stop work and obtain a copy of the city order, in order that the repairs might continue.</p> <p>On November 19th, following the brothers&rsquo; repeated refusal to respond to various notices, the bank requested that the city sheriff carry out the eviction order and enter the house by force, if necessary and remove the brothers. In short order, at 10 o&rsquo;clock, there showed up at the Collyer&rsquo;s door two deputy sheriffs, Herman A. Murray and Gillespie Anderson, police captain Christian Zimmer of the 128th Street Police Station, Dr. Marshall Rose, sheriff&rsquo;s physician, John Redfield of the Bowery Savings Bank, and Joseph and Herman Cohen, a father and son, respectively, who were both locksmiths. Mr. McMullen, the Collyer&rsquo;s attorney, met them there. The group took turns pounding on the door for over an hour, but the only answers were echoes. A crowd collected on the sidewalk, hoping to get a glimpse of what was going on at the &ldquo;haunted house,&rdquo; as it had come to be known in the neighborhood.</p> <p>The locksmiths then tried for another hour, in vain, to force the lock on the large wooden front doors, but were unsuccessful because of all the rust and corrosion. Going to the rear of the house, they were able to remove an iron grille-covered door leading to the basement with the help of the two deputies. Here, they found themselves stymied again, as they found their way barred by a mass of wire netting, behind which was a solid mass of crates, barrels, and large tin canisters from floor to ceiling. Seeking another entrance, they next moved on to another rear door, and tore away its rotted boards, only to find a further wall of garbage cans, trunks, crates, and pieces of rusted iron. Breaking in yet another rotted door next to this one, they were met with a similar obstruction.</p> <p>Covered with dust, and feeling frustrated, the team returned to the front of the building to form a new plan of action, and decided to now make their way into the building via a window. One of the locksmiths, Joseph Cohen, swung up from the top of the front stoop and made his way to the ledge of one of the building&rsquo;s high north windows, where he forced open the shutters. He then broke a windowpane with a hammer, and climbed in through the now empty frame. His son Herman stood outside the window on the ledge and peered in at his father, who by this time was half-choked with dust. As with the other parts of the house encountered thus far, the room was filled to overflowing with various and sundry items &ndash; heaps of old sheet music, gilded picture frames, Christmas ornaments, broken plaster cherubs, piles of books, garden baskets, etc. Joseph Cohen finally managed to work his way downstairs to the front entrance where he and deputy Murray were able to open a path near the door. Clouds of choking dust enveloped them, making the going difficult, and breathing an effort. They eventually opened a parlor door and made it into a hallway where they encountered further barricades. Suddenly, they were greeted by a weary voice from out of the gloom, asking, &ldquo;What is the meaning of this?&rdquo; Deputy Murray replied, &ldquo;I have an eviction notice.&rdquo; Langley then asked him, &ldquo;Is Mr. McMullen here?&rdquo; McMullen, who had by now worked his way to the barricade called out to his client, &ldquo;They will put you out, Mr. Collyer, unless your keep the agreement.&rdquo; Langley replied, &ldquo;Do what you think best.&rdquo; Following his attorney&rsquo;s advice, Langley then borrowed a pen from the deputy, and signed a check for the full amount, thus ending the invasion.</p> <p>But the Collyer&rsquo;s troubles were not yet over. They came in for some further unwanted attention in February 1943, but this time from the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS was now pursuing Homer for what it claimed was $1900 in income tax arrears plus interest that had accumulated over the previous twelve years. Homer was notified that unless this sum was promptly paid, the house he owned at 2077 Fifth Avenue would be sold at auction on February 3rd. This was the building across the street he had purchased with the intent to divide into rentable apartments. The ever-patient Mr. McMullen hoped his client would come through at the last minute, as had happened previously, although the attorney had been unsuccessful in his attempts to contact the brothers. On the day of the auction, the IRS representatives waited for over an hour beyond the scheduled auction time, and finally, the property was put up for bid. When no bids were offered, and with Mr. McMullen present, the government took possession, although it was not eager to do so due to the poor condition of the property. It was so rundown, that it hardly seemed worth the effort. Beyond the building being of little worth, there were also the problems of the cost of the auction itself, not to mention the $3,000 in back taxes on the property owed to the City of New York that had been unpaid since 1938. According to the rules, the government would have to hold onto the property to allow Homer the chance to pay what he owed and get his property back. He never paid, and it does not appear that the government ever went any further in the matter of taking possession of the building, as will be seen.</p> <p>Over three years later, the Collyers once again found themselves in the news. On July 23, 1946, two police officers, Daniel Pesek and John Killoran, while on radio car patrol, heard noises coming from 2077 Fifth Avenue. Upon further investigation, the officers discovered two men stealing plumbing and electrical fixtures from the building. The two patrolmen tussled with the vandals, capturing one of them, a homeless man named George Smith, aged 25. Officer Killoran hurt his leg when he fell through a hole in the floor. The officers then attempted to contact Langley in order to get him to swear out a complaint against the thief, but speaking to them through his locked door, he refused to do so. Despite his lack of cooperation, Langley was named as the complainant, and notified that if he did not appear in court, the city would issue him a subpoena. He still refused to cooperate, but after officer Pesek tried several times to serve him with the subpoena, he relented. It seems that time and again, only the threat of legal action could pry loose the reclusive Langley from the decrepit building he and his brother called home. On July 27th, dressed in turn-of-the-century garments, he appeared in the city&rsquo;s Felony Court as complainant against Smith. What was particularly unclear about all this was that technically, the Collyers no longer owned 2077 Fifth Avenue. Langley clearly did not accept all this, and prior to signing the complaint, he stated, &ldquo;My invalid brother, Homer Lusk Collyer, and I still own that house and we have the keys to it.&rdquo; He added, &ldquo;The government seized the property on the contention we did not pay income taxes, but we are going to sue and get that property back, because the government can&rsquo;t demand income taxes from us when we had no income.&rdquo; The brothers had, in fact, never surrendered the keys to the building. He went on to relate that this was the third incident in which he had had to go to court to swear out a complaint against criminal intruders at his home.</p> <p>The last time either of the Collyer&rsquo;s was seen alive, was the result of yet another tax problem with New York City. It seems that the brothers owned two land parcels in Queens County, which they had inherited from their father. The city had wanted this land for new streets and other purposes, and Langley, together with Mr. McMullen, had had a meeting about this with the city&rsquo;s Corporation Counsel the previous October. After Langley refused two summonses to testify before Supreme Court Justice Charles C. Lockwood, the land was condemned by the city, and the brothers were awarded $7500, which was substantially less than its appraised value.</p> <p>Unfortunately, they would see none of this award, in any case, as the city claimed the brothers owed it $27,000 in back taxes. Interestingly, a news article about this in the New York Times mentions that the brother&rsquo;s only regular means of contact with the outside world was a crystal radio set.</p> <p>Which brings us back to the beginning of our story on the morning of March 21st, 1947, with the police receiving the phone call from the mysterious Mr. Charles Smith. The police had received a number of such calls over the years, but as usual, they were obliged to respond. An officer was dispatched to the scene, but was unable to open the front door. He then put out a call to Police Emergency Squad 6, which arrived on the scene at 10:00 a.m. They began by cordoning off the Collyer&rsquo;s house in order to hold back the crowd of curious onlookers, which grew as large as 600 people. The officers began their search by using crowbars and axes to try to force an entrance into the house. They broke their way through an iron grille-covered door to the basement in the front of the house, but as had happened in the past, they immediately found themselves confronted by the usual floor-to-ceiling wall of crates, newspaper, furniture, and odd pieces of junk.</p> <p>For their second attempt to gain entry, the officers obtained ladders from the Fire Department and tried the windows on the upper floors. Unfortunately, many of the shutters on the windows couldn&rsquo;t be opened, and it wasn&rsquo;t until 12:10 p.m. that a patrolman William Barker was able to make his way through a second story window. Patrolman Barker was not seen for several minutes, and on his return to the window, called to his fellow officers, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a DOA here.&rdquo; In response, Detective John Loughery made his way up the ladder in order to view the body, as other officers began to batter in the wooden front doors with axes. They were again faced with another massive obstruction of neatly tied bundles of newspaper, as well as cardboard boxes filled with assorted contents. Although they tried to tear down the wall of debris, they were forced to admit defeat. Meanwhile, Detective Loughery related what he had seen &ndash; the emaciated body of a white-haired man dressed in a tattered gray bathrobe, sitting upright, and tentatively identified as Homer Collyer. The medical examiner, Arthur C. Allen, arrived at 3:45 p.m., and declared that the individual had been dead for approximately ten hours.</p> <p>The next order of business was to locate Langley, who was nowhere to be found on the premises. It was reasoned that if he were within the house, he would have made an appearance by this time, as he usually did. Police were perplexed about how Langley was able to enter and leave the building, but neighbors stated that he regularly entered and left on his daily shopping trips via the front basement&rsquo;s iron-bound door. After their own struggle to enter, the officers refused to believe that this was possible. According to the New York Times, the entranceway past the basement door contained &ldquo;&hellip; an old stove, several umbrellas, numerous packages of newspapers, a gas mask canister, an old stove pipe, and a broken scooter.&rdquo; There were also numerous rats seen darting around and through the piled trash. An inspection of the rest of the premises through various windows and around the second floor where they had entered revealed that the entire house was packed with debris of various kinds. It appeared that the building was riddled with a maze of tunnels through which Langley had moved, pulling bales of newspaper in behind him, to prevent intruders from entering. The police also found tin cans and piles of heavy debris wired together to form booby traps, in which the cans would sound an alarm, and a mass of junk would fall on the unsuspecting invader.</p> <p>Homer Collyer&rsquo;s body was taken away in a body bag to the police van that would transport it to the morgue. An autopsy was to be conducted to determine the cause of death, although foul play was not suspected. The crowd, milling around on the sidewalk hoping to see what was going on inside, and trading stories about their unusual neighbors, and the fabled wealth that was rumored to be hidden in the house. Some believed the numerous cardboard boxes that filled the house were stuffed with cash. As they searched further, police found newspapers lying around that dated from as far back as 1915. Strewn everywhere were such things as hats, boxes of Christmas cards, a folding chair, a broken sled, and automobile seat, part of a piano frame, etc. The police were careful to put everything back in place, including the materials they had removed to be able to enter the building. They then boarded up the house at 5 p.m., at which time, Attorney McMullen arrived on the scene. He took charge of all papers, notes, and letters discovered there by the police, and stated to the press that he was sure his elderly client would soon be in touch with him. He also quoted Langley as having said that they were entitled to live their own lives.</p> <p>The next day&rsquo;s papers puzzled over the missing Langley. No one had any idea of where he might be found, with the exception of Mr. McMullen, who told reporters, &ldquo;Your guess is as good as mine, but I think he is in the house, myself.&rdquo; Detectives from the 123rd Street station thought that he might still be out on one of his shopping trips to Brooklyn. These were sometimes known to last as long as twenty-four hours, because he made the trip on foot. Deputy Inspector Christopher Salsieder announced that if Langley did not show up by 1 p.m. on March 24th, a missing person&rsquo;s alarm would be issued. In the meantime, it was decided to not perform an autopsy, as the cause of death was believed to be the result of &ldquo;ateriosclerotic heart disease,&rdquo; which, it was said, could be determined by external examination. Later reports seem to indicate, though, that an autopsy was finally performed.</p> <p>Of course, the usual publicity-seekers were quick to come out of the woodwork. William Rodriguo, a sometime Democratic politician from Harlem, came forward, claiming to be the &ldquo;Charles Smith&rdquo; who had phoned the police, touching off this latest incident. He stated that he had used a false name due to not wanting to get involved, but had later changed his mind. He added a further touch of mystery to the story, telling police that he had been told of the Collyers&rsquo; deaths by an unknown man he had met in front of their house the morning of his phone call.</p> <p>The next day, on the 23rd, the crowd outside the decaying brownstone had grown to several thousand people. Langley had still not appeared, and the curious were hoping for a glimpse of him, or failing that, his remains. One man showed up with a shovel and began digging in the building&rsquo;s front yard, but was removed by the police. A stream of autos from as far away as New Jersey and Connecticut crawled by the building in a regular procession. The daily papers thirsted to know about the contents of the house, rumored for years to contain numerous grand pianos, a Model T, and a boat. Inspector Joseph Goldstein of the Tenth Division speculated that a thorough search of the entire house would occupy a police emergency squad for three weeks. They were to begin work later that day, following an inspection by the Department of Housing and Buildings and the Board of Health. The strategy would be for police officers to begin with a search of the top floor, dumping the contents into the backyard. It was decided that the items removed would not be taken away until the Public Administrator or an heir of the Collyers gave approval. A relative of the brothers, William Collyer of Yonkers, turned up at the house that day, relating to reporters that his mother and sister had visited the brothers in 1928, and noted that the house, at that time, contained no furniture, but was already filled with quite a bit of debris.</p> <p>The clearing of the building began the next day on the 24th. This first stage of the operation, the clearing of the top floor, began that afternoon, headed by Inspector Goldstein. After Mr. McMullen declared Langley missing at 1:15 p.m., and after officials from the two city departments declared the building safe to enter, the officers of Emergency Squad 6 began their task by sending over a ladder from an adjoining rooftop. After climbing across, they broke open several skylights and a roof trapdoor, through which they entered the building. Once inside, they smashed windows in order to get some badly-needed ventilation. A large crowd, whose numbers now ran as high as 2,000 watched the spectacle from the street, windows, fire escapes, and rooftops, cheering each time a sizeable object was thrown into the yard below. Among these items were a gas chandelier, the folding top of a horse-drawn carriage, a rusted bicycle, a child&rsquo;s chair, an automobile radiator, dressmaking dummies, a sawhorse, a rusted bedspring, a kerosene stove, a doll carriage, a checkerboard, and numerous bundles of newspapers. A team of sixteen men inspected each object as it was thrown out, looking for valuables and important papers to be saved. They found enough ledgers, correspondence, and legal documents to fill eight crates which were taken to the West 123rd Street station to be looked over by someone from the Public Administrator&rsquo;s office.&nbsp;</p> <p>At 3 p.m., Inspector Goldstein called off the search for Langley for that day, and sent his men to check out the basement. They found the walls lined with ceiling-to-floor bookcases containing over 2,000 dust-covered volumes, among them numerous books on the law and engineering. Reporters and a family member were allowed to have a look around, and among the newspapers and cardboard boxes there were as many as five pianos. With much effort, the officers cleared a path to a stairway, but were unable to open up the stairway itself. While clearing this area, they stumbled on a generator, which may have been used to produce electricity. Some of the debris removed was piled in the front areaway, and included a kiddy car, three women&rsquo;s hats, a box of curtain rings, a green toy bus, some lead pipes, and a Metropolitan Opera program from 1914. At 4 p.m., the Emergency Squad forced their way into the first floor. Aided by searchlights powered by a portable generator, they made out a mahogany mantelpiece containing a large cracked mirror resting against a wall, an old RCA radio in a corner, and a large pile of furniture covered with dust standing in the middle of the floor. The windows were covered with a filthy green drapery. At this point, the search was ended for the day, with the police boarding up the windows, and piling the collected debris in a section of the yard surrounded by a tall iron fence. Langley had still not been found, but the police were determined to return and finish their search.</p> <p>The following morning at 10 a.m., the officers resumed their search. It was now March 26th, with still no sign of the missing brother. The day was particularly windy, blowing some of the old newspapers down the street, where they were snatched up by the ever-present crowd as souvenirs. The overwhelming mass of debris the police removed from the house consisted largely of old newspapers, cardboard boxes, magazines, and pieces of wood. Among the other assorted things uncovered that day included a nursery refrigerator, a beaded lampshade, a box of toy tops, and a toy airplane. In the basement, they found the chassis of the fabled Model T Ford, thus confirming one rumor. Important documents and papers continued to turn up, and these were removed to the 123rd Street station. Any useless material that could be combustible was carted away in two truckloads by the Department of Sanitation, to be burned in its incinerators. The first load weighed 6,424 pounds, and the second a bit less. One rumor that was put to rest was the existence of a secret basement tunnel connecting the brother&rsquo;s two buildings. In addition to discovering a further maze of tunnels, several new booby-traps were found, consisting of things such as cans, or large tree limbs (as large as twenty inches in diameter), set to drop on unwary intruders. The police were becoming increasingly convinced that Langley was not to be found alive on the premises, but they were determined to continue their search of the entire house. Inspector Goldstein stated that the work would continue, &ldquo;&hellip; until we are sure Langley Collyer is not in there, dead or alive.&rdquo; One theory was that his body might yet be found stuck in one of the booby-trapped tunnels. Assistant Chief Inspector Frank Fristensky, Jr. told the press that it would take them several more days before they had a clear picture of what the interior of the building contained. Attorney McMullen had already become concerned about the brother&rsquo;s tangled finances and their numerous bank accounts. He estimated their worth to be in the six-figure range, not including the real estate they owned.<br /> Work continued on the 26th, much as it had the day before. The Emergency Squad began work at 10:00 a.m., halting briefly at noon when some confusion arose over whether proper legal authorization for their work had been obtained. At 2:30 efforts to clear the top floor resumed, with the searchers tossing large amounts of material from the windows. Relatives watching the operation from the street complained to the police that they were being less than careful in discarding things, and risked discarding items of value, as well as important papers. This resulted in the officers being somewhat less energetic in clearing things out. One particular item that attracted attention was the discovery of a .22 caliber pistol and holster, along with ammunition of various types. This was turned over to the Police Ballistics Bureau. A report submitted to the Public Administrator of New York County by Deputy Chief Inspector Conrad Rothengast stated that it was believed that Langley Collyer was dead based upon the facts that the brother had never been away from his home for more than twenty-four hours, and that the death of Homer would certainly have been cause for him to have at least contacted his attorney or his relatives.</p> <p>The next day, the New York Times reported that the Surrogate, a Mr. James A. Delahanty, was unable to appoint Francis J. Mulligan, the Public Administrator as temporary administrator of the Collyer brother&rsquo;s estate. While everyone in the case agreed that Langley Collyer was most likely dead, Mr. Delahanty felt that definite proof was required for such a move to be made. Various affidavits from such people as John R. McMullen and William Rodriguo were due to be submitted to Mr. Delahanty. As of the 27th, police searchers still had been unable to turn up any trace of the missing Langley, although they did turn up a cigar box containing three more revolvers, a sixteen-gauge shotgun, a .22 caliber rifle, a .30 caliber rifle, a two-foot long bayonet, and a three-foot long cavalry saber. Near the spot where Homer&rsquo;s body had been discovered, they found another old cigar box containing thirty-four bank books from various savings banks. Eleven of them had been canceled, and they showed savings totaling $3,007 dollars.</p> <p>By March 28th, the police were having their hands full following up on numerous tips they were receiving, concerning the whereabouts of the missing Langley. Officers were dispatched to the Borough Hall-Jay Street Station in Brooklyn after a conductor reportedly saw him board the subway there. They also searched a group of boarded-up summer hotels and bungalows in Asbury Park, New Jersey; a place where the brothers had spent time between 1901 and 1907, and where it was thought Langley might be hiding. In the meantime, Surrogate Delahanty finally appointed Francis J. Mulligan as temporary administrator of Langley&rsquo;s estate, in addition to being made administrator of Homer&rsquo;s. Following these appointments, police halted their intensive search for Langley in the Fifth Avenue home, and decided, instead, to begin shipping the contents to an unused school building at 67 Rivington Street on the 31st, where they would be inspected for valuables and important papers. Items of obvious value were to go to this location, while things that were obviously trash would be removed by the Department of Sanitation.&nbsp;</p> <p>On the following day, Mr. Mulligan, as administrator, visited the city morgue to claim the body of Homer. Funeral arrangements were set for April 1st, to be held at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Queens, where the family owned a plot. Police were still hard at work tracking down various leads. Their latest took them to New Jersey. A waitress in Tuckerton reported to police that she had served food to a customer who appeared to fit Langley Collyer&rsquo;s description, which by then, had been widely distributed. She added that the man had subsequently boarded a bus headed for Atlantic City. Police in that city then proceeded to make a sweep of hotels and rooming houses.</p> <p>Police recommenced their search on the 31st as planned, beginning at 8:30 in the morning. It appeared that they would be able to clear about one room per day, and there were an estimated twelve rooms in the building. The workforce at the house now consisted of two detectives and five laborers hired by Mr. Mulligan. Their work concentrated on the front basement room, which was found to hold 3,000 books, numerous telephone directories, a Steinway piano, a horse&rsquo;s jawbone, a Model T Ford&rsquo;s engine block, numerous campaign buttons, and large amounts of newspaper, as usual, tied up neatly in bundles.</p> <p>Homer Collyer&rsquo;s funeral was held on April 1st, but of the fifty-three people who were present, only two actually knew him. Both were neighbors. Seventeen cousins of the Collyers were also in attendance. John R. McMullen also attended, hoping that perhaps that Langley would appear at last. Said Mr. McMullen to the press, &ldquo;I had hopes until the last minute that Langley would be here if he were alive.&rdquo; When questioned if he believed Langley was still alive, he replied, &ldquo;One guess is as good as another.&rdquo; The police search for the missing brother continued. They sent out 500 pictures of him to every New York City police precinct, and also to the police in eleven states. Efforts to clear the house were now in the second day. The detectives and laborers continued their methodical work. By the end of that day, nineteen tons of trash and objects had been removed. The bulk of this came from the first floor hallway. It was decided by the Public Administrator that Langley&rsquo;s estate would pay for the use of a school building where valuable items from the home were being stored. The Department of Housing and Buildings, meanwhile, ruled that the house would eventually have to be repaired or demolished.</p> <p>On the 3rd, it was thought that the mystery of Langley&rsquo;s whereabouts had been solved when a body resembling his description was discovered floating in the East Bronx in Pugsley&rsquo;s Creek, but the excitement ended abruptly when the body was identified as an elderly man who had recently disappeared from a houseboat.<br /> By the 7th of April, workers had removed approximately 103 tons of rubbish from the home, with twenty-two tons having been removed on that day alone. Among the more interesting items found at that point were five violins that were to be sent for appraisal. It was estimated by the supervising detectives that it would take another week to ten days to clear out the structure. Down at the Missing Persons Bureau, Detective Charles Meyers offered the theory that &ldquo;Everything points to Langley being dead in the building.&rdquo; He added that the results of an autopsy on Homer indicated that there had been no food or liquid in the invalid&rsquo;s stomach. Detective Meyers concluded that, &ldquo;Homer died for lack of care.&rdquo; It simply did not add up that Langley would have allowed his brother to die unattended, or simply not show up at his funeral.</p> <p>It would ultimately turn out that Detective Meyers was correct, as on April the 8th, Langley&rsquo;s body was finally discovered, pinned by one of his own booby-traps in that same room on the second floor where Homer&rsquo;s body was previously found. The work of clearing the house that day had proceeded as usual, with workers from the Public Administrator&rsquo;s office and police working their way through the second floor. By 3:30 that afternoon, about seventeen tons of material had been removed and loaded onto Department of Sanitation trucks. Shortly afterwards, a detective, Joseph Whitmore emerged from the building and asked reporters waiting on the scene to follow him. He led them to a corner drugstore. Placing a call to his headquarters, he reported, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got him.&rdquo; He went on to explain that he, and detective John Loughery, had located Langley&rsquo;s body. Loughery added, &ldquo;We were scraping around in the rubbish when we saw a foot sticking out.&rdquo;</p> <p>Within an hour, as word spread of the discovery of the body, a crowd of around 500 locals who had gathered to watch the day&rsquo;s work at the house, swelled to over 2,000. Police higher-ups, including Commissioner Arthur W. Wallander, soon arrived on the scene. The commissioner commended detectives Whitmore and Loughery for their work in the investigation.</p> <p>Thomas A. Gonzales, the medical examiner, spent a half hour examining the corpse. He estimated that Langley had been dead at least two weeks, and possibly as long as four, and that the cause of death was either starvation or suffocation. Langley&rsquo;s body lay on its right side, inside one of the two-foot-wide tunnels that was part of the maze he had created, his head turned toward the area where his brother&rsquo;s cot had been, only eight feet away. The room, itself, was filled with piles of newspapers, books, old furniture and tin cans. The materials that had apparently trapped Langley were a suitcase, three metal bread boxes, and bundles of newspapers. One particularly unpleasant detail was that the numerous rats that infested the house had gnawed at his partially decomposed body. Jacob Iglitzen, who also happened to be the druggist from whose store the phone call had been placed, subsequently identified the body. He stated that he was able to recognize Langley&rsquo;s face, although it was somewhat decomposed. He also identified Langley&rsquo;s clothes. Overall, the evidence appeared to indicate that Langley had been killed by falling debris, and that his invalid brother, Homer, died from dehydration and malnutrition. Attorney McMullen, told the press that he planned to confer the next day with Joseph A. Cox, an attorney for the city&rsquo;s Public Administrator, concerning the handling of the brother&rsquo;s assets, which were now estimated to be in the range of $100,000 distributed among various bank accounts and real estate holdings. This finally laid to rest the popular notion that the brothers were multimillionaires.</p> <p>The next day, on April 10th, the medical examiner concluded that Langley Collyer had been smothered by the debris, which had collapsed upon him, and had been dead for at least a month before his brother, Homer. A funeral was held the next day on the 11th at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn. The Reverend Dr. Charles T. Bridgeman, the assistant pastor of Trinity Church presided. There were forty persons in attendance, including many cousins.</p> <p>The saga of Langley Collyer was not quite finished, however. A month later, the Commissioner of Housing and Buildings, Robert F. Wagner, Jr., announced that the house at 2078 Fifth Avenue still contained substantial filth and garbage, and that it remained &ldquo;a distinct menace to health.&rdquo; He requested that the public administrator in charge of the brother&rsquo;s estate, Francis J. Mulligan, clear out the building, in order that the property could be surveyed. Findings would then be sent to the state Supreme Court so that the city could receive permission to demolish the building. On June 30th, Supreme Court Justice J. Edward Lumbard signed the order for demolition. An inspector from the Department of Housing and Buildings had noted that the &ldquo;roof beams were water soaked, rotted, and defective,&rdquo; and that all the floors throughout the entire building are sagging and defective.&rdquo; The city would next seek bids on the demolition of the building, and sometime after, the Collyer mansion was no more. As a final chapter, the lot at the corner of 128th Street was publicly auctioned on March 1, 1951.</p> <p>Unfortunately, Langley Collyer lived in an era when problems such as compulsive hoarding were regarded as eccentricities; something to be laughed at or ridiculed. Assuming that even had he been able to come to grips with the fact that he had a serious problem, there is little that would have been done for it at that point in history. Back in the first half of the 20th century, problems such as OCD were treated with psychoanalytic-type talk therapies, which produced little in the way of results. Even today, we still read reports of individuals whose trash-filled properties have been condemned, or who were forced by law to clean up dwellings, which have been declared public nuisances or even health risks. Municipal governments and the media still seem to not understand what is going on in these situations, and that these are individuals in serious need of help.</p> <p>Sufferers of O-C disorders can be found to have varying degrees of insight. They may differ in their ability to recognize that they have a disorder, or that their behaviors are not those of the average person. It would appear that Langley Collyer, if he in fact had OCD, might have been one of those with a lower level of insight into his problem. It may well be that he believed his hoarding behaviors served a valuable purpose of saving money; an ironic notion, considering that the brothers were relatively well off for the era they lived in. It would also seem that in terms of reclusiveness, Langley and his brother became caught in an insidious loop. That is, as their behavior moved further and further away from the norm, and people&rsquo;s reactions to them became more critical and judgmental, they pulled in their boundaries and cut themselves off even more. This, in turn, would most likely have served to make them seem even more abnormal to outsiders, resulting in even more harsh treatment by the outside world.</p> <p>Nowadays, compulsive hoarding is regarded as treatable via behavioral therapy and medication. Sufferers can learn to clean up their dwellings, and to keep them that way. In behavioral treatments for OCD, individuals are encouraged to gradually confront situations that cause them to feel anxious, while at the same time, resisting the performance of the compulsions they ordinarily use to relieve their anxiety. This approach is known as Exposure and Response Prevention. In the case of hoarding, we are talking about gradually sorting out and discarding things that have been accumulated. This may be done under the direct supervision of a therapist working on the scene, or by giving the individual weekly or daily homework assignments.&nbsp;</p> <p>Before the actual work of therapy begins the therapist makes a thorough behavioral analysis in order to determine what is being saved, how it is being saved, and where it is being saved. This may involve either a home visit by the therapist to directly observe the scene, or the patient may bring in photographs showing views of all areas of the home. Clutter and trash may be dealt with either by location or category, and in either case, is approached by first working on things that are easiest, and then working towards those that are more difficult. For instance, the therapist may pick a particular room, closet, or area for the individual to begin clearing out, and then, over time, assign tasks designed to accomplish this. Alternatively, as some people tend to save only certain types of things, therapy may start by earmarking these particular items for removal, wherever they may be found. One example would be people who save excessive quantities of newspapers, magazines, etc. having to bundle and put out a certain amount of them each week. Or in the case of those who have accumulated large amounts of clothing (old or new), having to throw out or donate a set number of articles between therapy sessions. In addition to this activity, the therapist will work with the individual to establish a set of rules for what can and cannot be saved, and in the case of saved items, how to store or arrange them in a neat and organized fashion. Some therapists will set up a rule governing how long an item may be kept without being used, before it is considered in need of disposal. With my own patients, I have always used what I refer to as my &ldquo;Three Year Rule.&rdquo; Under this rule, any item that has not been used in any way during the previous three years must be discarded. There can be exceptions, of course, as in the case of family heirlooms, antiques, valuable collections, family photos, or useful tools, etc. Where people&rsquo;s lives and dwellings have been disorganized for long periods of time, these rules are necessary to establish some kind of order, and to prevent the person from falling into chaos again. In all cases, the ultimate goal is to get the sufferer to take personal responsibility for the state of their dwelling, and to accept that they really do have a problem.</p> <p>Some people seem to think that the ultimate solution should be to descend upon a sufferer&rsquo;s home, and forcefully clean the place out. While this might remedy the immediate problem, nothing else really changes, and within a period of time, the dwelling will fill up with things again in the same way as before. In addition, the anger and anxiety on the part of the sufferer that would result from such a remedy would probably only push them away from seeking help in the future.</p> <p>The story of Langley and his unfortunate brother remains as a cautionary tale &ndash; an example of just how serious hoarding can become when left untreated. With appropriate therapies, however, such extremes of behavior can be prevented from engulfing the lives of otherwise intelligent and potentially productive human beings.<br /> Dr. Fred Penzel is a licensed psychologist who has specialized in the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders since 1982.</p> 61Brock Jobe’s latest researchhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/59/brock-jobes-latest-researchGeneralTue, 23 Aug 2011 18:44:00 GMT<p>I met with my colleague and friend Brock Jobe on Cape Cod today. Brock was one of the co-authors on our 2009 release &ldquo;Harbor &amp; Home&rdquo;. 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 the great clocks in the collection. Brock is working on a new project, an in depth study of early furniture from Boston. The project is just getting underway and sounds like it will be quite extensive, with multiple institutions being involved. We could certainly use some scholarly research on Boston furniture. Brock is the Pied Piper of American decorative arts, so any research that he is involved in will certainly be well received. As the facts become clearer, I&rsquo;ll share them.</p> 59Unusual southeastern Massachusetts Federal games table.https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/57/unusual-southeastern-massachusetts-federal-games-tableGeneralTue, 16 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>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).</p> <p>It was a good day for me. I had fun appraising an entertaining, memory stimulating and thought provoking 1970s Tiki bar that could have some serious value to the right collector. Who knew that there were so many serious collectors of Tiki culture? I certainly didn&#39;t until I did some research. I don&#39;t quite understand it, but trust me, there are! (please do not contact me to buy, appraise or admire your Tiki furniture! It is not my area of interest)</p> <p>I was surprised to see a circa 1810 Hepplewhite demi-lune card table (or games table) that seemed to be made right in my area of southeastern Massachusetts. It has lots of naive inlay that is reminiscent of some of the Federal furniture that we see around here. The table has a family history from Massachusetts, albeit a little further north. The heavy band of floral inlay around the perimeter of the playing surface is very unusual. I certainly didn&#39;t expect a quirky local table to turn up in Pittsburgh.</p> 57Noteworthy objects from Skinner salehttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/60/noteworthy-objects-from-skinner-saleGeneralMon, 15 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>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&#39;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&#39;s-eye maple and used it all on this one special piece. With the exception of the mahogany banding around the drawers, the exceptional woods were all native; Tiger maple, bird&#39;s-eye maple and flame birch. I&#39;m a wood freak, so exceptional wood like this really impresses me. This stuff was not easy for the maker to get hold of. Anyway, it sold for $65,175., which translates to about a two thousand dollar chest, with sixty thousand dollars worth of figured maple! I actually expected it to bring a little more, but I think the few imperfections that it had kept the price from reaching its full potential. It had a good history, having been sold by the Liverants and illustrated in the Vermont furniture book.</p> <p>The other piece that caught my eye was an exceptional miniature wooden bucket made in Hingham Massachusetts in the mid 19th century. The bucket, or firkin as they are often called, retains it&#39;s stunning original blue paint. Miniature Hingham buckets are rare as can be and are highly desirable to collectors, but to find one in this paint is an absolute prize. The impressed initials of Cotton Hersey, a well known Hingham craftsman, could be seen on the bottom of the piece. Hersey, born in 1792, was the earliest documented toy and miniature maker in Hingham, a community that went on to become the center for production of wooden toys. It was bought for a collector by Derin Bray, a new Hampshire buyer&#39;s agent and researcher who is conducting an in-depth study of the early Hingham woodenware makers. I have more than a passing interest in the subject, so I was glad to see that a number of bidders recognized how special this piece is. It set a new auction, if not a world record for a firkin, selling for $16,590. Be sure to keep in mind that this piece is only 2 1/2&quot; high! What a great find.</p> 60Terrific Chippendale “roundabout” chair turns up.https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/56/terrific-chippendale-roundabout-chair-turns-upGeneralThu, 11 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>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.</p> <p>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 was made in New York and survived in exceptional condition. Formal Chippendale corner chairs often have a single cabriole leg in the front, while the other three are more simple turned legs. This chair was rare and desirable for having three cabriole legs with ball and claw feet, rather than one. Not surprisingly, Michael placed a six figure value on it.</p> 56The clocks of a murderer appraised at Atlanta Roadshowhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/55/the-clocks-of-a-murderer-appraised-at-atlanta-roadshowGeneralWed, 10 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>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.</p> <p>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 cabinet maker who specialized in creating excellent reproductions of the best and rarest early American clocks. He was also a murderer and died in a hail of bullets at the hand of still another murderer! active in the 1940s through his death in 1975, he produced what are today, some of the most valuable and sought-after reproduction clocks. In 1968, during an argument with his wife, he grabbed his .357 magnum and shot her dead. He admitted to shooting her, but amazingly, while awaiting trial he was released on bail and continued to make clocks. In addition to his name, he branded these clocks &ldquo;O. O. B.,&rdquo; for &ldquo;out on bond&rdquo;.</p> <p>He served only 28 months of an 8 to 10 year sentence, but continued to make clocks while in prison. These clocks were branded &ldquo;M.C.I.P.&rdquo; for &ldquo;Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Plymouth&rdquo;, or with his strange sense of humor &ldquo;made clocks in prison&rdquo;.</p> <p>Stennes was released in 1972 and he married again in 1973 (who would marry a guy that had killed his previous wife??). &ldquo;live by the sword, die by the sword&rdquo;, Elmer had made enemies and he met his sword in October of 1975. Two gunman bypassed the alarm in his home and executed him in his own bed. The intruders shot him five times and his wife seven. She actually survived and claimed that Stennes&rsquo; son had been one of the shooters. Many believed he had good reason, between Father murdering Mother and being written out of the will in favor of a new wife. There is also the question of how the intruders knew how to bypass the alarm.</p> <p>The killings didn&rsquo;t stop! Elmer&rsquo;s Daughter took her own life the following year by stabbing herself. Her employer was murdered as well and a man who sold clocks for Stennes killed himself. I&rsquo;m just glad not have been born into that family.</p> <p>The legacy of Stennes and his clocks lives on. Collectors pay thousands of dollars to own his work. Watch the show next year to see if this appraisal makes it to television.</p> <blockquote>* Much of this information was taken from Jeanne Schinto&rsquo;s article &ldquo;Murder on Tick Tock Lane, an Account of Elmer O. Stennes&rdquo;</blockquote> 55Antiques Week in New Hampshire is upon us again!https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/54/antiques-week-in-new-hampshire-is-upon-us-againGeneralThu, 04 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Every August, antiques nuts such as yours truly flock to Manchester, NH for &ldquo;Antiques Week&rdquo;. This year will be no different. As usual, the festivities will center around the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association&rsquo;s annual show (known within the trade as &ldquo;the Dealers Show&rdquo;). 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.</p> <p>The Northeast Auctions summer sale is about as big a draw as the Dealers Show. I spoke with auctioneer Ron Borgeault the other day and he&rsquo;s happy with his offerings this weekend. His sale includes lots of folk art and country furniture, with some more formal things thrown in. I&rsquo;m chasing a few objects on commission for my clients, but I&rsquo;m certainly not planning to share those with you here.</p> <p>There are nearly 200 dealers exhibiting between Frank Gaglio&rsquo;s two shows, Manchester Pickers Market and Mid Week in Manchester, both of which are worth a visit. I&rsquo;ve had good luck at both shows. There&rsquo;s even a new 35 dealer show opening close by in Goffstown at the &ldquo;From Out of the Woods Antique Center&rdquo;.</p> <p>Thousands of people come from all over the country to attend the auctions and antiques fairs. We have to start calling them antiques fairs, rather than shows, because that is the way the young and hip refer to them. Not that I&rsquo;m young or hip, but I&rsquo;m trying.</p> 54Amazing new record find at Antiques Roadshowhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/53/amazing-new-record-find-at-antiques-roadshowGeneralFri, 29 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>A new record was just set for the highest appraisal ever recorded on an Antiques Roadshow episode. It happened at the Tulsa, Oklahoma event on July 23rd, when Appraiser Lark Mason appraised a collection of five carved and decorated late 17th or early 18th century Chinese libation cups. These are not ordinary cups though. They were fashioned from rhinoceros horn that were intricately carved and shaped into drinking vessels. Apparently, the Chinese favored rhinoceros horn as a material to form into cups for drinking rice wine. The natural horn is hollow at the base, which makes it conducive to forming into the shape of a cup. The Gentleman who brought the cups in to the show, is an art collector who had no idea of their extreme value. He had purchased them in the 1970s for a few thousand dollars, long before the market for important Chinese artifacts went crazy.</p> <p>Lark appraised the set at $1 million to 1.5 million. That&#39;s in U.S. Dollars my friends! The episode will air sometime after January 1st. I&#39;m still waiting for that seven figure object to show up at my table.</p> 53Rarely seen objects from the White House Collection to be on view at The Smithsonianhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/52/rarely-seen-objects-from-the-white-house-collection-to-be-on-view-at-the-smithsonianGeneralMon, 25 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Back in 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy had the vision and sense of culture to begin forming a collection of American decorative arts at the white house. What she started 40 years ago has grown into an extraordinary repository for some of the finest examples of Early American furniture and decorative objects. It&#39;s a show place, where foreign dignitaries as well as Americans can get a sense of the craftsmanship that defined early America. A number of the pieces from that collection will be on view at the Smithsonian Museum starting this fall. I don&#39;t know about you, but I haven&#39;t gotten any phone calls from the president lately, inviting me to stop by and check out all the cool old stuff in his house. This could be our opportunity. <a href="http://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/5648-a-rare-look-at-objects-in-the-white-house-collection">Click to read more of the story at ARTFIXdailey.</a></p> 52Tintype photo of outlaw Billy The Kid sold for WHAT?https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/51/tintype-photo-of-outlaw-billy-the-kid-sold-for-whatGeneralFri, 15 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>The only authenticated photograph of legendary outlaw William H. Bonney, more commonly known as Billy The Kid, was recently sold for $2.3 million, but that&#39;s not the most interesting part of this story! The tiny 2&quot; x 3&quot; tintype image set a new record for an original photograph when it was sold to a collector at a Denver auction.</p> <p>Decades ago, based on this image, Billy The Kid became known as the left handed gun. A movie by that name was produced in 1958, starring Paul Newman as Billy. Only problem was, he wasn&#39;t left handed! But wait, he can clearly be seen here holding an 1873 model Winchester rifle in his right hand and wearing a revolver on his left hip. Confused? Apparently those who assigned him the left handed gun moniker were not students of early photography. It seems that the process of creating a so called tintype photograph generally produced a reverse image, so it appears as a mirror of the actual subject. Close examination of this image, with the help of National Firearms Museum Curator, Phil Schreier, holds the key to Billy&#39;s actual right handedness. The images shows the rifle&#39;s loading gate on the left side of the rifle, when it is actually on the right. Reverse the image so the rifle is correctly oriented, and Billy transforms into a righty.</p> <p>Legend has it that the young outlaw, who&#39;s true name was William H. McCarty, killed 21 people, one for every year of his short life. The actual number was likely much lower. Regarded by those who knew him as charismatic and fun loving, Bonney met his demise at the hands of the equally legendary lawman Pat Garret. After being sentenced to hang for murder, Bonney escaped from prison by killing his two guards. In July of 1881, Sheriff Garrett, following a tip, entered the house where Bonney was hiding out and shot him once in the chest.</p> 51Today’s random unrelated thoughts for the antiques bloghttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/50/todays-random-unrelated-thoughts-for-the-antiques-blogGeneralFri, 08 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>We recently bought an interesting Federal chest on chest from the Salem, MA school of cabinetmakers and wood carvers. We have just begun doing a little research on it. Matt was pretty excited to find that the carved rosettes are a nearly identical match to some attributed to the McIntire workshop by Dean Lahikainan in his book entitled, Samuel McIntire, Carving an American Style. It&rsquo;s nice when the research supports our initial impressions. The carvings still show remnants of original gilding on the berries. It must have looked amazing when the surface was bright gold leaf.</p> <p>I made a visit to Nantucket last weekend. Walking on Main Street there is like stepping back into the 18th century. It&rsquo;s always a pleasure to walk around, taking in the architecture. Stopped into the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) and checked out the new Exhibit of objects from their collection. Wish I had time to see the new Rick Burns film on the history of Nantucket. It just opened at the NHA on July 1st. Have to go back soon to see it.</p> <p>We&rsquo;ve had great response to posting the prices of some of our inventory on the website. I think this system is here to stay. We are still tweaking the website and will be making changes and adding content in the coming months. There are a number of instructional videos that we plan to produce and post on the site, but finding the time is difficult.</p> <p>Brimfield is next week. I&rsquo;ll probably go one day. The July show is always very hot. I hope the tornado didn&rsquo;t put any of the venues out of business. I don&rsquo;t think it did.</p> 50Skinner July 16th Science and Technology sale is onlinehttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/48/skinner-july-16th-science-and-technology-sale-is-onlineGeneralThu, 30 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Robert Cheney has once again assembled an impressive selection of clocks, scientific instruments and mechanical devices for Skinner&rsquo;s July 16th sale. Poking through the catalog of a sale like this is fun for those of us who like vintage mechanical oddities and such. The sale includes a pretty impressive grouping of Connecticut shelf clocks too. Be sure to spend plenty of time on our website before taking a look at theirs!! Nice work Robert.</p> 48Prices now posted on much of my inventoryhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/49/prices-now-posted-on-much-of-my-inventoryGeneralThu, 30 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>For some time I have debated in my mind whether or not to post our inventory prices online. Historically we have followed the antique dealer convention of not posting the prices, but after a recent experiment resulted in increased activity, I&rsquo;ve reconsidered. You&rsquo;ll now find the price listed on select objects. Take a look and let me know what you think. Better still, find an object that you can&rsquo;t live without!</p> 49Stolen Thomas Claggett tall case clock repatriated after 34 yearshttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/47/stolen-thomas-claggett-tall-case-clock-repatriated-after-34-yearsGeneralMon, 27 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>On Friday I hung the weights and started the pendulum in motion on an extremely rare Thomas Claggett tall case (grandfather) clock that has finally returned home. Made in Newport, RI circa 1740-60, and housed in a classic blocked-door Newport case, It was stolen from a family homestead just outside of Newport in April of 1977. My involvement in the recovery started about a year ago when I was asked to render an expert opinion as to whether detailed photos of a Claggett clock owned in Mississippi could be positively identified as the same clock seen in family photos taken in the 1960s and 70s before it was stolen. The brass dial (face) of the clock incorporates a rare rocking ship feature in the arched top. A small painted ship (currently missing) bobs back and forth with the motion of the pendulum. Behind the ship is a wonderful and unique painted scene of Goat Island, off of Newport. The details in the two sets of photos were clear enough to make a positive connection. They were one in the same.</p> <p>Happy to play a roll in returning the clock to the front room of the family homestead where it had resided since it was originally purchased about 250 years ago, I put my opinion in writing. Three other antique clock/furniture experts did the same. Allegedly purchased for $650. at the Brimfield MA. flea market in 1975 (two years before it was actually stolen) The intrigue, subterfuge, bazaar coincidences and twists and turns that took place over the last year and a half would fill a book. The circuitous rout to recovery began with a failed attempt to sell the clock on Ebay in early 2010, and is said to have included a falsified bill of sale, incompetent police work, a &ldquo;fascinating&rdquo; Mississippi legal system, the astuteness of a Massachusetts auctioneer who &ldquo;smelled a rat&rdquo; and the pure dumb luck of the theft coming to the attention of a distant family member who happened to have an interest in Claggett clocks.</p> <p>This is such an interesting business. Not too many other lines of work offer such a varied an interesting menu on a day to day basis.</p> 47Blogging about antiqueshttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/46/blogging-about-antiquesGeneralFri, 24 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>My antiques blog is a new adventure and I&rsquo;m really enjoying it. I hope you are as well. The new website, and particularly the blog are still largely undiscovered, so please tell your friends to visit the site and check it out. There don&rsquo;t seem to be too many antique furniture blogs, particularly not with a slant toward the Early American furniture and clocks that we handle, so I think there is a need. Please give us feedback in the form of email or by posting comments on the individual blogs. Tell us what you like to read and what you don&rsquo;t. That&rsquo;s the only way I can determine what type of blogs to write. Do you like short, casual blogs, day-to-day antiques business discussions, or more in depth scholarship. Thanks for reading, I look forward to hearing from you.</p> 46El Paso Roadshow triphttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/45/el-paso-roadshow-tripGeneralTue, 21 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Spent Friday and Saturday in El Paso for Antiques Roadshow. It&rsquo;s hot there! Went to a great rib joint Friday night and in the process tested the limit of how many antique appraisers can fit into a rental Camry. It was pretty quiet at the clocks and furniture tables, but I was taped with a nice 19th century French portico clock made of alabaster. I heard that a first edition of &ldquo;The Hobbit&rdquo; came in and was appraised for big bucks.</p> 45Important new reference book for collectorshttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/44/important-new-reference-book-for-collectorsGeneralSun, 19 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Attention clock and furniture collectors: A Terrific new book on American wood movement tall case clocks has just been released and every serious collector of folk art, furniture or clocks should have one. American Wooden Movement Tall Clocks 1712-1835 by Philip Morris has instantly taken its place as an essential reference book in my library. Philip has compiled a remarkable assemblage of tall case clocks, spanning several sub-categories that will be of great interest to clock and furniture collectors alike. Whether your interest is in early brass dial clocks, decorated folk art examples, or the work of specific craftsmen or regions, you&rsquo;ll find it all in this scholarly publication. The quality and variety of the clocks is Stunning and the photography is exceptional. As a researcher, the previously unpublished biographical information will be invaluable to me. Even if you are not a clock collector, but have an interest in folk art or furniture, you should make this book part of your library. It is only available from the author: <a href="http://www.heritageparkpublishing.com/" target="_blank">www.heritageparkpublishing.com</a>.</p> 44Marilyn Monroe’s “subway dress” sets record at auctionhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/43/marilyn-monroes-subway-dress-sets-record-at-auctionGeneralSat, 18 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>The iconic dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the famous scene from &ldquo;The Seven Year Itch&rdquo; just sold for a steamy price! Made famous in the shot where Monroe is standing over a subway grate as a train passes and billows her dress, it was expected to fetch one to two million dollars. When the dust had settled at an auction of objects from the Debbie Reynolds collection., it brought about 6 times the previous record for a costume. The new owner paid five and a half million dollars (5,520,000.00) for a pretty cool piece of movie history. Audrey Hepburn&rsquo;s little black dress from &ldquo;Breakfast at Tiffany&rsquo;s&rdquo; held the previous record at $923,187.</p> 43The new website, one month since launch.https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/42/the-new-website-one-month-since-launchGeneralTue, 14 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Well, it has been just a little over a month since we launched our &ldquo;new&rdquo; website. I have been hard at work updating and creating new content and that all seems to be paying off. The site now has much richer and more interactive, searchable descriptions for our merchandise with far more images available. Among the improvements to this aspect, my favorite is the Related Items feature. This allows Gary and I to directly communicate which other items on the site pertain to one another. We can include items that are from the same region, similar in form or any criteria we choose. Most importantly, it offers visitors a quick means to learn about related items and compare the various forms.</p> <p>This level of information is what the current Web requires and we are glad to be able to meet this demand. The site has a number of other great features, which provide useful and interesting content. The <strong><a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/NewsMedia.aspx">News &amp; Media</a></strong> section and <strong><a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog.aspx">Gary&#39;s antique furniture blog</a></strong> gives us an opportunity to convey the interesting things that go on here on a daily basis. The world of the antique dealer continues to be exciting in many ways and these stories are now being related.</p> <p>Our <strong><a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Research/AmericanClockmakers.aspx">Research</a></strong> feature provides the same great free information but with a more slick and functional interface. Be sure to check out the interactive map in the Clockmakers section.</p> <p>And last and certainly not least, is <strong><a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Services/HowToVideos.aspx">Service</a></strong>. Within this feature we have begun to create some &ldquo;how-to&rdquo; videos. Gary has been giving lectures and lessons on clocks, including care and maintenance, for some time. Just recently I have begun capturing some of them on video. Our maiden video discusses how to properly dismantle a tall case clock. This was no small feat. This procedure is something we each perform a dozen times a week without a second thought, but breaking that down into a clear and easily understood video took some preparation. We are steering the website toward a more video rich format. We plan to create a number of videos on various topics, even including descriptions of new merchandise. Please let us know of any ideas or requests that you have for videos, and we will try to incorporate them.</p> <p>So all-in-all, the upgrade has been worth the work. Our site is now more relevant and content rich with plenty of room for expansion as the demands of the Web grow and change. Gary and I can better convey who we are, what we are doing and what we have to sell. And the ultimate answer, yes, site traffic is up quite a bit, thank you.</p> 42Marking the passing of Albert Sackhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/41/marking-the-passing-of-albert-sackGeneralFri, 10 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>As I sit here thumbing through <strong>Fine Points of Furniture</strong> by Albert Sack, researching a games table, it occurs to me just how often I turn to the many reference books created by Albert Sack. His recent death at 96 marks the end of the Sack Era of Americana, a century long period when the Sacks were king. From Israel Sack&rsquo;s early days in Boston, to the dominance of the sack firm in New York during the second half of the century, the breadth of Early American material culture that passed through the Family is staggering. Any piece of furniture with a Sack provenance is just a little more saleable and in many cases a bit more valuable than those without. At least one antiques dealer even goes so far as to advertise that he is looking to buy objects that have previously been sold by the Sack firm. The contributions that Albert made to the scholarship of these objects that we so highly prize can not be measured. He was unquestionably the most prominent American antiques dealer in history. I for one, am most appreciative of his willingness to share his great knowledge with the rest of us.</p> 41Returning from Eugene Oregon Antiques Roadshowhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/40/returning-from-eugene-oregon-antiques-roadshowGeneralSun, 05 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Waiting in Eugene, OR. for a delayed flight to San Francisco after doing the Roadshow on Saturday. Looks like I&#39;ll miss the flight back to Boston once again. If anyone is aware of a dependable airline, I would love to know about it.</p> <p>I&#39;m Happy to report that I had good success in Eugene. I appraised a superb tiger maple Chippendale Chest-on-chest, made in Massachusetts or RI, circa 1795-1800. It was in great condition, with a terrific old surface and nice Chippendale brasses. It&#39;s amazing how many important new England antiques have migrated to distant corners of the States. Look for it on PBS next year.</p> <p>Eugene was the first city where I appraised furniture for the show and I really enjoyed it. Twelve hours of standing, examining one piece of furniture after another is tougher than I thought, but being part of the Roadshow is well worth it.</p> 40The American Antiques Show (TAAS) cancelledhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/26/the-american-antiques-show-taas-cancelledGeneralThu, 26 May 2011 14:30:00 GMT<p>The American Antiques Show, held in New York during antiques week will no longer be the place to find us in January. In the midst of financial difficulties, The Folk Art Museum has chosen not to continue with the show that has come to be known as TAAS. The museum has turned the show over to The Art Fair Company, an organization that runs high end art shows. Under the new management, it apparently will be quite a different show. Karen DiSaia has done a great job of managing the show for the museum, but based on what I know about The Art Fair Company, I&#39;m sure the new show will be terrific. Even though the name and ownership of the show will change, the Folk Art Museum will still benefit from the gala preview party. I&#39;m looking forward to learning more about the show and the possibly of being an exhibitor.</p> 26I need help locating northern clocks sold in the south 200 years agohttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/39/i-need-help-locating-northern-clocks-sold-in-the-south-200-years-agoGeneralMon, 16 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>I am currently researching the adventures of Hanover, Massachusetts clockmaker John Bailey Jr. In the 1815 to 1825 period, he was making regular trips to the south (Murfreesborough and Edenton, NC.), where he would temporarily set up shop to sell and repair clocks. He actually advertised his services in the Edenton Gazette. To date, I have located 5 clocks that he sold in NC. They each bear the name of their original owner on the dial. I know that there are more out there, so all of you collectors and dealers in the south, please keep an eye out for clocks signed, John Bailey Jr. / Hanover.</p> <p>This is pretty interesting new research and I know there is more to the story. So far, I know that Bailey was bartering his clocks for commodities such as corn, cotton and feathers. He placed clocks on consignment with agents in North Carolina and possibly Virginia. When they sold, he preferred to receive payment in the form of bartered merchandise, so he could make an additional profit on the trade. On one of his visits to NC, he decided at the last minute to make the return trip overland, but sent his tools ahead by boat. That vessel never made it to Boston and his clock making tools were lost at sea along with most of the worldly belongings of his young apprentice from Murfreesborough.</p> 39Appraiser’s Seminar hosted by Brunk Auctions.https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/38/appraisers-seminar-hosted-by-brunk-auctionsGeneralSat, 14 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>I just spent two days in Ashville, NC for a Appraiser&#39;s Seminar hosted by Brunk Auctions. What a terrific idea, for Brunk to host an event where appraisers earn continuing education credits from The International Society of Appraisers while attending lectures by experts in various specialties. I was there to speak on methods of evaluating and appraising antique clocks. I didn&#39;t prepare very much, had about 15 slides in a Power Point presentation, and was a little nervous that I wouldn&#39;t have enough material to consume the hour and 15 minute slot. My fears were all for not, as I ended up rushing to include critical information after speaking for an hour and a half. Brunk had several clocks that are slated to be sold in future auctions, so I had plenty of material to refer to. I brought some examples of reverse painted glass panels from banjo clocks and a few clock dials (faces) to illustrate original verses restored paint.</p> <p>The questions from this group of experienced appraisers were excellent. They kept me on my toes. The turnout was quite good, I think there were over 100 attendees. Hopefully some of them will contact me if they run across an important clock that needs appraising.</p> 38A busy day spent at the Brimfield, Mass flea market todayhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/37/a-busy-day-spent-at-the-brimfield-mass-flea-market-todayGeneralThu, 12 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Spent the day at the Brimfield, MA flea market today. Crowds were pretty heavy despite the cloudy/drizzly day. Didn&#39;t make any great discoveries this time, although I have done very well at various times in the past. For anyone who has not had the cultural experience of visiting Brimfield during one of their events, it is a must see. Held three separate weeks per year, the entire town is taken over by thousands of antique and junk dealers, collectors and enthusiasts. The people watching is terrific and you might even find a hidden treasure.</p> 37Ultra rare John Goddard games table acquired.https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/36/ultra-rare-john-goddard-games-table-acquiredGeneralMon, 09 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>We bought a superb Newport demi-lune games table at CRN Auctions last weekend. It was made in Newport, RI., and has a wonderful cabriole front leg with carved ball &amp; claw foot and carving on the knee. The table dates to the 1760s and has the classic Newport style undercut carved talons on the Chippendale front foot and Queen Anne style feet in the rear. The semi-circular top flips open to reveal a storage well for the card-playing supplies of the day. The table came from a Newport family in the 1970s and was handled by noteworthy antiques dealer John Walton. It has been in a private collection ever since. A friend who happens to be a scholar on Goddard-Townsend Newport furniture remembers the house it came from and will be sharing the family history with me.</p> <p>A nice bonus was the discovery that the table is illustrated in <em><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-family: georgia;">Master Craftsmen of Newport</span></em> by Michael Moses. He associates the table with the workshop of John Goddard. Who am I to argue?</span></em></span></em></span></em></span></em></p> 36Winterthur Museum Furniture Forum, 2011.https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/35/winterthur-museum-furniture-forum-2011GeneralWed, 04 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>I&#39;m heading home from this year&#39;s furniture forum, which was terrific. The subject of the conference was the furniture of southeastern Pennsylvania. It was accompanied by a new book entitled Paint, Pattern &amp; People: Furniture of Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1725-1850. The book and exhibit represent several years of research and hard work by Winterthur Senior Curator of Furniture, Wendy Cooper and her assistant, Lisa Minardi. For the exhibit, they assembled an amazing collection of 18th and early 19th century furnishings. The exhibit includes some super Pennsylvania German pieces with excellent original painted decoration. I was thrilled to see that the exhibit also included quite a few tall case clocks.</p> <p>With the maker&#39;s name and location often inscribed on the clock dials (faces), they are excellent documents in determining local cabinet making styles. When researching regional furniture, we don&#39;t have the luxury of reading the place of origin right on the face, as we can with clocks.</p> 35Gary has received recognition for 30 years with the NAWCChttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/34/gary-has-received-recognition-for-30-years-with-the-nawccGeneralSun, 24 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>I just received a gift in the mail from the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (N.A.W.C.C.). They sent a cute tie tac in the form of a bracket clock, for 30 years of membership. Where did 30 years go? Yikes! Those were the days. Excellent clocks used to turn up at the regional meetings and great things could be found at the National Convention each year. If only I had the knowledge and capitol to take advantage of those opportunities. &ldquo;I could have been a contender!. I used to look up to the clock experts, the ones who had the knowledge to buy a great clock. It didn&rsquo;t take anywhere near as much money as it does now to buy something great.</p> 34Highboy Rescue at Wyoming Auctionhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/33/highboy-rescue-at-wyoming-auctionGeneralTue, 19 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>We have just purchased a &ldquo;$650.&rdquo; highboy for $60 thousand! Although I wish the numbers were reversed, I&rsquo;m thrilled with the discovery and acquisition. Situations like this are what make the antiques business so fascinating and have certainly helped to hold my interest through the years.</p> <p>What happened is this: In mid February I received a letter from a panicked beneficiary of a trust, who informed me that several antique objects from her stepmother&rsquo;s estate had been under-valued by an appraiser and were slated to be sold in 9 days by a remote Wyoming auctioneer. Fearing that the antiques would sell for a fraction of their value, she was bringing the auction to the attention of qualified dealers that she found on the internet.</p> <p>The key object, an eighteenth century Massachusetts bonnet-top high chest had been valued by an appraiser for the trust at $650. According to the heir, the high chest was a valuable Queen Anne piece and had been part of a fine furniture exhibit at the highly regarded Western Reserve Historical Society in 1969. She sent me an image of it from the exhibition catalogue. She had my interest.</p> <p>The auctioneer, who customarily sells farm equipment, store fixtures and bric-a-brac, had a sense that the highboy had some value, but was unaware of how much. After some phone conversations, I learned that the sale of the important pieces had been postponed until April 9th and arranged to bid by telephone. By sale day, there were 14 phone lines on the high chest, which likely necessitated borrowing cell phones from everyone in town. I guess that at least on some level, word was out.</p> <p>To my horror, the woman who called to execute my phone bid explained through a garbled signal, that the cell service at the county fairgrounds was dreadful and she hoped that we would not be disconnected. I pleaded with her not to let the auctioneer knock down the piece unless I was on the line. I wasn&rsquo;t sure if she heard my pleas when we were disconnected for the first time. After a few agonizing minutes and multiple attempts, she reached me again just as the piece was hitting the block. Somewhere around 20 thousand, we were again disconnected. She was able to temporarily halt the auction while I was called back. It seemed like an eternity! Bidding resumed. Some of the other phone bidders must have dropped out, because the next time the line went dead, I was called back by a man on a different phone. The final person that I spoke to was still a second woman. She told me that she was standing outside in the snow because the signal was better. I can picture all those friends and family of the auctioneer, standing out in the snow on their cell phones. The bidding finally stopped at 60 thousand. I assume that the audience applauded, but I didn&rsquo;t get to hear it, what with the sound being muffled by falling snow and all.</p> <p>Rewind to a few days before the auction when I received a phone call from a long time business associate, Frank Levy of Levy Galleries. Frank had also received correspondence regarding the piece and eagerly asked if I was aware of a Hingham, Massachusetts high chest coming up for sale. Aside from myself, (and maybe the under bidder) Frank is one of a relatively few people who would recognize the obscure and surprising origin of this high chest. A few years ago, during my research on early Southeastern Massachusetts furniture for Harbor &amp; Home, Levy Galleries had been very helpful in sharing information with me. They had owned a similar high chest made by the same cabinetmaker which helped me uncover his identity. He turned out to be Elisha Cushing Jr. (1746-1829), who made clock cases and furniture on Main St. in Hingham, MA. Some of the design characteristics of his pieces, such as steeply pitched pediments and fluted pilasters have a strong Connecticut influence, but they were made in Massachusetts.</p> <p>You can see an almost identical high chest, <a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Portals/0/antiques509.pdf" target="_blank">read about his furniture and the attribution in an article that I wrote</a> for Magazine Antiques with Brock Jobe. <a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Inventory/tabid/66/ProdID/115/Default.aspx"><strong>You can view that high chest on our site too.</strong></a></p> 33Have you noticed an uptick in the antiques business this year?https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/32/have-you-noticed-an-uptick-in-the-antiques-business-this-yearGeneralFri, 15 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>It seems as if all of the dealers that I speak to lately are pretty happy with the level of business that they&rsquo;re doing lately. Sure, we all complain about the lack of available merchandise, but that will never change. The fact is, most of the active dealers that I know have noticed an uptick in their businesses this year. I say &ldquo;active dealers&rdquo; because there are plenty of dealers who don&rsquo;t rely on this business for their actual income and are not aggressively beating the bushes every day to pay the bills. I am certainly one of the the later. What outside force do we attribute the increase in business to? I&rsquo;m not sure. Perhaps people are feeling better about their portfolios, or real estate is moving again. Maybe we&rsquo;re all tired of sitting on the sidelines.</p> <p>Our office has seen a dramatic increase in the number of calls or emails from designers who need to fill orders. We can&rsquo;t seem to keep up with requests for specific objects. I don&rsquo;t attend too many auctions, particularly not the smaller venues. I get my auction reports from my friend and Colleague Phil Zexter, who is about the most active, plugged-in picker/dealer I know. He tells me that the prices on entry level pieces at auction, although still way down, have taken a jump. I believe we have hit the bottom of the market. There are opportunities to be had, so don&rsquo;t wait too long.</p> 32Philadelphia Antiques Showhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/31/philadelphia-antiques-showGeneralFri, 08 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>I&#39;m on an airplane returning from my annual pilgrimage to The Philadelphia Antiques Show. As always, the dealers showcased a nice selection of early American decorative arts. Among my favorite pieces were a great William &amp; Mary dressing table, circa 1730 from Rhode Island and a fantastic painted wall cupboard with a facade in the form of a Federal house, complete with elaborate doorway. Arthur Liverant had the dressing table and Courcier Wilkins was offering the wall cupboard. The preview party was packed with people, which is always a good sign. I always enjoy this show because there is so much Americana to see.</p> 31Campion Platthttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/30/campion-plattGeneralTue, 05 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>Matt and I attended a luncheon and lecture by designer Campion Platt at The Boston Design Center. His power-point lecture was terrific. Taking a photographic tour of some of the high end homes and apartments his firm has decorated was worth the trip. Most of his work has a contemporary flavor, but some of the homes are traditional, or have some antique pieces sprinkled in. If only I can convince him to use more early American antiques in his plans, the world will be a better place. More and more, we&rsquo;ve been working with designers and individuals who are using a few fine antiques as signature pieces in contemporary homes.</p> 30Changing my roll at Antiques Roadshow this seasonhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/29/changing-my-roll-at-antiques-roadshow-this-seasonGeneralTue, 22 Mar 2011 04:00:00 GMT<p>My roll as <a href="http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/wgbh/roadshow/archive_search.cgi?appraiser=Gary%20Sullivan" target="_blank">appraiser on Antiques Roadshow</a> will change slightly this season. As I have done since 2006, I will visit three new cities in search of treasures. I&rsquo;ve been to several great places and met many wonderful people. I&rsquo;ve even seen some great clocks along the way. I have always appraised strictly clocks on the show, occasionally helping out with furniture behind the scenes. This year, as per my own request, I&rsquo;ll be appraising furniture at one of the venues, which should be an exciting new twist. Wish me luck.</p> <p>Sadly, the best clock that has ever been brought in for me to appraise did not get on the air. It was a superb example of a French figural mantle clock made by Dubuc for the American market. Clock enthusiasts will be familiar with the model depicting a full bodied George Washington. (for you horologists, it was the large size, with mint original gilding, an original bill of sale and exceptional provenance). The appraisal was not taped for television because the owner already knew everything about the clock, including it&rsquo;s six figure value. Our goal is to educate people about their objects. If the owner knows everything about what they have, it does not make for good television.</p> 29Exceptional dwarf clock by Joshua Wilder of Hingham, MAhttps://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/28/exceptional-dwarf-clock-by-joshua-wilder-of-hingham-maGeneralThu, 17 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT<p>We were thrilled to purchase an exceptional clock at the March 6th Americana sale at Skinner Auctions. The circa 1822 dwarf clock, standing about four feet high is an exact miniature of a tall case (grandfather) clock. Early 19th century dwarf clocks from the Hingham/Hanover area, on the South Shore of Massachusetts, are highly prized by collectors. We purchased the clock for $189,600. on behalf of a private collector. Although not a record for a dwarf clock, this is one of the highest prices paid at public auction.</p> <p>Two of the reasons why it sold for so much more than what dwarf clocks typically bring are the combination of remarkable condition and superb form. <a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Research/AmericanClockStyles.aspx">Dwarf clocks were produced with various case styles</a> and some command higher prices than others. Most dwarf clocks with a high degree of originality sell in the $10,000. To $50,000. Price range, but great examples can easily go higher.</p> <p>This model, with works made by Joshua Wilder (1786-1860), incorporates a case which is attributed to Weymouth Cabinetmaker Abiel White (1766-1844). It has French feet, quarter columns in the case, and a removable hood just like a full size clock. The cases with all of these features are the most highly sought after of all the dwarf clocks.</p> <p><a href="http://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Portals/0/SullivanDwarfClocks.pdf" target="_blank">To learn more about Dwarf clocks be sure to read my article in Antiques &amp; Fine Arts on the topic. Click here to down load a copy of that article.</a></p> 28“Antiques Week” in New York, 2011https://www.garysullivanantiques.com/Blog/PostId/27/antiques-week-in-new-york-2011GeneralTue, 01 Feb 2011 14:30:00 GMT<p>&ldquo;Antiques Week&rdquo; in New York was once again the event of the year for antiques enthusiasts. We exhibited at T.A.A.S. (The American Antiques Show) and had a terrific show. Thank you to all of our friends and clients who came by to see our booth.</p> <p>Every January, hundreds of the country&rsquo;s most serious dealers and collectors of early American antiques descend on Manhattan for &ldquo;Antiques Week&rdquo;. Both Christies and Sotheby&rsquo;s auction houses hold their premier Americana sales as part of the event. Two of the country&rsquo;s most prestigious antiques shows, T.A.A.S. And East Side also take place.</p> <p>We accumulated pieces for several months leading up to the show and furnished our booth with a number of nice clocks and some very special furniture. Sales of tall case clocks included a circa 1815 New Hampshire clock by James Cole, a diminutive example by Simon Willard of Roxbury, MA. and a rare eighteenth century New Jersey clock with works by Aaron Lane and a case labeled by cabinet maker Matthew Egerton of New Brunswick.</p> <p>Rhode Island furniture seemed to be in demand, particularly the Goddard-Townsend school pieces. Pat Kane&rsquo;s furniture study at Yale University seems to be generating even more interest in early Rhode Island furniture.</p> 27