Here Be Old Things

New York City auctions: January 21–27, 2008

Lot 1030, Feu De Joie, Winner of the Oaks Race by Harry Hall, at Doyle 

New York City Auctions: January 14–20, 2008

lot 2280 Akragas, Silver Litra: Stack's The Kroisos Collection

 

New York City Auctions: January 5–13, 2008

lot 428 Russia Semi-Postals, 1921 Volga Famine Relief: Cherrystone

All the big auction houses are still sleeping off their New Year's hangovers, so this weekend is the perfect time to check out Tepper, or next weekend take a twenty-minute train ride up to Larchmont for Clarke's.

New York City Auctions: December 24–30, 2007

In New York, everything is expensive, even Santa: this Norman Rockwell illustration sold in November at Christie's for $2.17 million. But thank goodness, there are still no wild Day-After Thanksgiving auctions, with bidders clawing over each other for paddles. Tepper Galleries is back in business January 5th, but most of the houses are closed until mid-January. That's civilized. Time is the most valuable asset of all.

New York City Auctions: December 17–23, 2007

Starting today, I'm losing the previews list and listing auctions a full week ahead of the event. Please click through to the appropriate sites for this week's previews. (My fingers thank you.)

Lot 405 Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne 'Petite Carpe,' Sotheby's Property from the Estate of Robin Roberts

• Tuesday December 18
  • Christie's 10 am: Important Works Of Art By Tiffany Studios
  • Christie's 11 am and 2 pm: Important 20th Century Decorative Art & Design
  • Christie's 5 pm: Property From The Estate Of Robin Roberts
  • Sotheby's 2 pm:  Israeli and International Art
  • Sotheby's 7 pm: The Magna Carta

• Wednesday December 19
  • Bonhams 10 am: The Mark Woolley Collection of Vintage Radios
  • Bonhams 1 pm: 20th Century Decorative Arts
  • Bloomsbury 11 am and 2 pm: Books, Photographs, Drawings and Prints
  • R.A. Siegel 10:30 and 1:30: United States and Confederate States Postal History
  • Sotheby's 10 am: Judaica
  • Swann 1:30 pm: Rare and Important Art Nouveau Posters

• Thursday December 20
  • R.A. Siegel 10:30 and 1:30: United States and Confederate States Postal History

New York City Auctions: December 10–16, 2007

Tiffany lamps were once so considered so outdated, their owners used to set them out for the trash. One antique dealer in NYC got her start by picking them up off the curb. I think about this whenever I throw something out ... is my Ikea piece the next Tiffany lamp?

Lot 208, "Wisteria" table lamp, Tiffany Studio: Sotheby's Important Tiffany Lamps.     .

New York City Auction Previews: December 8–14, 2007

Things are changing here at Old Things. Up until now I've been posting previews on Fridays and then auction listings for the coming week on Sundays. But it felt redundant, and I'd rather have the time free to concentrate on actual stories. Next week I'm going to eliminate the previews and on Mondays, a full week prior, post coming auctions. If you want to preview, just click through to the pertinent site.

Lot 10, "A New Lottery Book of Birds and Beasts for Children to Learn their Letters by as soon as they can Speak," by Thomas Bewick at Bloomsbury's Memories of Childhood auction.

New York City Auctions: December 3–9, 2007

Lot 59 Gustaf Tenggren for Little Red Riding Hood; Illustration House auction

New York City Auction Previews: December 1–7, 2007

Lot 0558, Christie's Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, First Edition

New York City Auctions: Nov 26–Dec 2, 2007

Your TV here? Balfour & Bankston Framefinders Inc. is the only antique frame brokerage and auction house in America,and they're on the auction list this week. People are beginning to buy antique and reproduction frames to hang around their super-sized flat panel televisions.

Lot 97 Balfour & Bankston: American, 20th Century, Taos style Arts & Crafts frame, with label for Milch

• Tuesday November 27
  • Balfour & Bankston Framefinders: Antique Frames

New York City Auction Previews: November 24–30, 2007

After the big business and high stakes of the last few weeks' Impressionist and Modern Art auctions, the bigger houses are hosting some more ecclectic sales, and the smaller houses have gained some elbow room to showcase their specialties, including antiques frames and Judaica.

lot 117 Christie's Rock and Pop memorablilia: original logo T-shirt worn by music journalist Greg Shaw ; one of the earliest known rock T-shirts.

New York City Auctions: November 19–25, 2007

              
Lot 11, Fernando Botero "Bird," Sotheby's Latin American Art Sale

This Thanksgiving week, there are only four auctions, all about Latin American art.

• Monday November 19
  • Christie's 6:30:  Latin American Sale Evening Session

• Tuesday November 20
  • Christie's 10:00: Latin American Sale Day Session
  • Sotheby's 7:00: Latin American Art

• Wednesday November 21
  • Sotheby's 10:00: Latin American Art

New York City Auction Previews: November 17–23, 2007

The only game in town next week is Latin American art. The Rufino Tamayo masterpiece found in the trash and now valued at 1 million dollars will be on the block at Sotheby's. Below, another Tamayo painting.

lot 19, Rufino Tamayo "Trovador," Christie's Latin American Sale

• Christie's Latin American Sale
  • 17 Saturday 10–5
  • 18 Sunday 1–5
  • 19 Monday 10–2

• Sotheby's Latin American Art
  • 17 Saturday 10–5
  • 18 Sunday 1–5
  • 19 Monday 10–5
  • 20 Tuesday 10–noon

New York City Auctions: November 12–18, 2007

Everyone was shocked by last week's lackluster results at the Impressionists auctions, and Sotheby's stock took a nose dive. Now, those who follow these things are watching this week's big Contemporary Art sales to see if the auction market–and by extension the entire U.S. economy–will recover.

• Monday November 12
  • Christie's 7 pm: Selections From The Allan Stone Collection
  • R.A. Siegel 10:30 am and 1:30 pm: United States Stamps
  • Swann 1:30 pm: Rare & Important Travel Posters

New York City Auction Previews: November 10–16, 2007

Lot 0616: Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Aviary). Christie's Selections from the Allan Stone Collection
 

New York City Auctions: November 5–11, 2007

Poster by T. Laforet at Poster Auctions International, lot 356

• Tuesday November 6
  • Christie's 6:30 pm:  Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale
  • Doyle 10 am:  Rare Books, Photographs and  Autographs 
  • Doyle (follows Rare Books):  Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints

New York City auction previews: November 3–9, 2007

Lot 30, Christie's Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale, Edouard Manet: La jetee de Boulogne

The houses are putting on Impressionist sales next week. Why go to the museums when you can just preview auctions?

New York City auctions: Oct 29–Nov 4, 2007

Know what's sad? That the houses don't preview wine auctions. There are two sales this week, one at Christie's and the other at Sotheby's.

photo by Sharon M Leon

• Monday October 29
  • Sotheby's 7:00 pm: An Evening of Exceptional Wines

New York City auction previews: Oct 27–Nov 2, 2007

Lot 41, Christie's Mary Cassatt Collection sale: On the Balcony

This week the big auction houses are previewing their prints sales.

• Christie's Prints And Multiples
  • Saturday 10–5
  • Sunday 1–5
  • Monday 10–2

• Christie's A Mary Cassatt Collection: Prints and Drawings from the Descendants of Robert Hartshorne
  • Saturday 10–5
  • Sunday 1–5
  • Monday 10–2

New York City auctions October 22-28, 2007

Lot 1020 at Doyle sale 07CN03: William Strutt English, Reclining Lions (2)

This Friday, collectors will be bidding on the Williamette Meteorite, which the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, consider sacred. The Times had a good article on Sotheby's Ariane Dandois sale, Direct from Paris, an Out-of-Business Sale Like No Other. And I like the drawings above, which are at Doyle on Wednesday with a reserve of $2-300. Even Manhattan auctions hold some affordable gems.

New York City auction previews: October 20–26

The Princess Grace Tribute continues at Sotheby's; besides the usual suspects, Poster Auctions International is holding a sale, as well as Richmond Galleries over in Staten Island. Read NY1's review.  Best, after the "magnificent jewels" of the past weeks, we have another type of rock on view: meteorites, at Bonham's.

Bonhams sale 15648: lot 8, , The l'Aigle Meteorite Shower-One of the Most Important Meteorites in History

New York City auctions: October 15–21, 2007

Lot 66 at Swann, photo by Jacques Henri Lartigue

The auction theme this week in Manhattan is photographs, jewels and watches.

• Monday October 15
  • Sotheby's 6 pm: Photographs
  • Swann 2:30 pm: Important 19th & 20th Century Photographs 

New York City auction previews: October 13–19, 2007

The other auctions houses seem to be taking a breather, but Christie's and Sotheby's rampage on. Get your Halloween pumpkin picking done early with this nice tureen (by Nardi, lot #2 at Christie's Magnificent Jewels). Sotheby's pulls out the stops with a two week tribute to Princess Grace; will there be clothes you can mix and match with your new Kempner threads?

• Christie's: Magnificent Jewels and Magnificent Jewels from a Distinguished Private Collection
  • Saturday 10–5
  • Sunday 1–5
  • Monday 10–5

New York City auctions: October 8–14, 2007

• Wednesday October 10
  • Doyle 10 am: Doyle+Design

• Thursday October 11
  • Christie's, 10 am: Important English Furniture & Ceramics
  • Doyle 10 am: Important Estate Jewelry
  • Swann Galleries 1:30 pm: Autographs

• Friday October 12
  • Christie's 10 am: Fine and Rare Wines
  • Christie's 10 am: Musical Instruments
  • Sotheby's 10 am and 2 pm: English Furniture

• Saturday October 13
  • Sotheby's 10 am: Important English and Continental Silver and Objects of Vertu
  • Sotheby's 10 am: Important Silver Silver-Gilt, and Russian Works of Art from the Estate of Charles and Yvette Bluhdorn

Doyle+Design lot 4020, Attilio Salemme, "Abstract Figures."

Auction Previews October 6–12, 2007

There's a full week's worth of running around town, if you're inclined, with six previews at Sotheby's, three at Christie's, and two each at Doyle, Stack's, and Swann Galleries.

• Christie's, Important English Furniture & Ceramics
  • Saturday & Sunday 1–5
  • Monday & Tuesday 10–5
  • Wednesday 10–noon

• Christie's, Important Pocket Watches & Wristwatches
  • Thursday & Friday 10–5
  • previews continue over the weekend into next week

• Christie's, Musical Instruments
  • Saturday 10–5
  • Sunday 1–5
  • Monday & Tuesday 10–5
  • Wednesday 10–5
  • Thursday 10–2

New York City auctions: October 1–7, 2007

Monday October 1

• Christie's 10 am and 2 pm: The House Sale

Tuesday October 2

• Christie's 10 am and 2 pm: The House Sale continues

Wednesday October 3

• Christie's 10 am: The House Sale continues
• Christie's 2 pm: Important American Furniture, Folk Art & Prints
• R.A. Siegel 10:30 am and 1:30 pm: The John F. Odeneal Collection of United States Stamps
• Sotheby's 10 am and 2 pm: Fine French & Continental Furniture Including  Furopean Works of Art and Tapestries Ceramics and Carpets

Thursday October 4

• Christie's 10 am: Old Master Paintings
• R.A. Siegel 10:30 am and 1:30 pm: United States Plate Blocks
• R.A. Siegel 6 pm: The Scarsdale Collection Part Five
• Sotheby's 10 am: Important Americana
• Swann Galleries 2 pm: The Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company African-American Art Collection
• Tepper Galleries 10 am: Estate Jewelry and Designer Clothing, Couture and Accessories

Friday October 5

• Christie's 10 am: Anatomy as Art: The Dean Edell Collection
• Sotheby's 2 pm: Magnificent Ornithology from The Collection of Brooks McCormick sold for The International Crane Foundation

Saturday October 6

• Tepper Galleries 10 am: Fine and Decorative Arts Estates Auction

New York City auction previews: September 29–October 5, 2007

• Christie's, The House Sale
  • includes clothing from the late Nan Kempner's collection
  • Friday and Saturday 10 am–5 pm
  • Sunday 1 pm–5 pm

• Christie's, Anatomy as Art: The Dean Edell Collection
  • Saturday 10 am–5 pm
  • Sunday 1 pm–5 pm
  • Monday–Wednesday 10 am–5 pm
  • Thursday 10 am–2 pm

• Christie's, Important American Furniture Folk Art & Prints from the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia
  • Saturday 10 am–5 pm
  • Sunday 1 pm–5 pm
  • Monday–Tuesday 10 am–5 pm
  • Wednesday 10 am–12 pm