Here Be Old Things

"The Magical Grasp of Antiques" in The New Yorker

Back in July, Glenn Eichler wrote a Shouts & Murmurs piece that poked fun at the collecting passion:

How to describe the sensation of walking into an antique store? That first moment, so pregnant with possibility, when you exchange the tiresome sunlight and fresh air of the street outside for the musky, dark, crowded aisles where pleasure awaits? There’s the initial blindness, of course, and the stumble over the uneven floorboards and perhaps a sharp howl of pain as the hand you put out to steady yourself ends up in a basket of awls. But then your eyes adjust and you see the riches laid out before you: the headless dolls, the nibless pens, the shadeless lamps. And the zithers. Dear God, the zithers.

Zithers. Well said. Check out the full piece here.

New York City auctions: February 4–10, 2008

lot 0396 Japanese Wood Brazier with Applied Bronze and Mother-of-Pearl Decoration at Christie's Interiors

Tuesday February 5

• Christie's 10 am and 2 pm: Interiors
• Richmond Galleries 10 am (Staten Island)

Wednesday February 6

• Christie's 10 am and 2 pm: Interiors
• Sotheby's 10 am and 2 pm: Important Jewels

Thursday February 7

• Christie's 10 am and 2 pm: Prints & Multiples
• Swann 2:30 pm: Fine Photographs 
• Tepper Galleries 10 am: Valentine Estate Jewelry and Related Items

Friday February 8

• Christie's 10 am and 2 pm: Prints & Multiples

Foreign auction lust: Lauritz in Scandinavia

When I visited Copenhagen in 2000, a traditional show-room style auction house named Lauritz Christensen was making its internet bid. "How quaint," I thought. "Poor little Danes, eBay is going to squash them like a bug."

Boy, was I wrong. It seems every time I check their site they've bought another Mom and Pop auction house and marched further across Scandinavia. One of the oldest auction houses in Denmark, Laurtiz is now also the biggest, and has expanded into Sweden, Norway and Germany.

high/low auction prices: Americana week sales

Christie's Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Prints And Decoys, January 17

• hi: $10,625 lot 220: Robert Havell (Jr.) engraving, the bird of Washington or great American sea eagle
• lo: $625 lot 225: same artist, engraving of Republican cliff swallow; also lot 247, same artist, engraving of American water ouzel

Christie's Property From The Collection OF George & Lesley Schoedinger January 18 (details pictured above)

• hi: $29,800 lot 546: Ammi Phillips, portrait of Mr. Dilbee of Pine Plains (oil)
• lo: $5,250 lot 762: American School, portrait of a cat with a ball of yarn (oil)

Christie's Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Prints And Decoys January 18

• hi: $157,000 lot 549: attributed to John Sherburne Blunt, Willard Family portrait (oil)
• lo: $500 lot 708: Richard E(dwin) Brooks, a portrait medallion of Edgar Junior

Sotheby's Property from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. George Fenimore Johnson, January 18

• hi: $31,000 lot 18: American School, Boston and the harbor from Donald McKay's shipyard (oil)
• lo: $1,250 lot 85: Curt Walters, rock study of Inner Gorge, Grand Canyon (oil)

Sotheby's Important Americana, January 18

• hi: $1,833,000 lot 168: the McMichael-Tilghman Family "Acme of Perfection" Chippendale carved and figured mahogany tea table
• lo: $625 lot 192: a Chippendale carved mahogany side chair circa 1785

All prices include buyer's premium.

Mantiques Modern: manly 20th Century Design in Chelsea

Mantiques Modern
146 w. 22nd St.
212-206-1494

When I asked the guy at the register if Mantiques is a man's antiques shop, and then stood cursing myself inside for asking such a dumb question, he seemed genuinely surprised that I would suggest such a thing. "It's somewhat geared," he said, "towards the masculine edge."

Uh, somewhat. I'd say that if I were shopping for an ultra-sophisticated, antiques-loving male relative, this shop would be my first choice. It's one of those eclectic, satisfying stores that inside its doors has created its own world.

New York City auctions: Jan 28–Feb 3, 2008

Lot 54: a 19th century double octagonal sailor's valentine at Christie's

Wednesday January 30

• Christie's 10 am and 2 pm: Maritime Art Including Fine Paintings, Nautical Antiques, Scrimshaw And Ship Models

Thursday January 31

• Phillips 10 am and 2 pm: Photographs
• Swann 1:30 pm: Vintage Posters

Saturday February 2

• Tepper 10 am: Fine and Decorative Arts Estates Auction

Phyllis Sauter of Stonehedge Antiques mounts stealth attack on New York's Americana week

Phyllis Sauter, Stonehedge Antiques
right next door to Antiques Manhattan (this weekend only)
26 Roscommon Road, Newtown Square, PA
610-356-9636

I was walking down West 18th Street Friday night, and passed The American Antiques Show and Antiques Manhattan, when I saw a sign for . . . Antiques Show Chelsea? How had I missed that?

Inside I found Phyllis Sauter, a Pennsylvania Americana dealer, wrestling with a wine bottle opener and getting ready to siphon passing buyers from the big name shows next door. A friend owns the space, so Phyllis can set up shop without paying huge exhibition fees.

Stealth dealing. Gotta love that.

This weekend, and coming up next week . . .

Elle Shushan's booth at the Winter Antiques Show; photo from the New York Times.

The New York Times has a good booth-by-booth blow-by-blow of the Winter Antiques Show and New York Ceramics Fair: For Collectibles, All Road Lead to New York.

Also, an article on the Aesthetic Movement, and where you can find examples at this weekend's Americana shows: A Movement That Brightened Victorian Lives.

Movie night at Sotheby's? That's this Sunday. Such a high-class outfit better be putting real butter on their popcorn: Special Screening of The Rape of Europa.

And coming up on Tuesday at Sotheby's: Special lecture, in honor of the sale of The Jeffrey E. Horovitz Collection of Italian Drawings.

Next weekend: the Outsider Art Fair. Check Show + Fairs for details.

Foreign auction lust: Auktionshuset in Denmark

While New Yorkers are anticipating Americana week, I have to admit it, I prefer looking at foreigner's old things. Thanks to the internet, we can surf auction houses all over the world, and the best ones don't even co-list on eBay yet. I'm starting this feature by introducing Auktionhuset in Horslom, which is somewhere north of Copenhagen (thank you, Google). I found them a few years ago by doing a search for an obscure Danish artist that I collect. I can't make much sense of their website–although I can guess what "naest auktion" and "under hammeren" mean–which is part of the fun. If you see something you really want, make very sure of the commission and shipping charges before you bid, and get ready to deal with a lot of international confusion. In my case, it was over a month before Auktionhuset let me know I'd won the auction. But every time I look at my Vilhelm Th. Fischer ducklings painting, I think: totally worth it.

high/low auction prices: December Tiffany sales

• Christie's, Important Works Of Art By Tiffany Studios, December 18, 2007
  • hi: $1,665,000 favrile glass and wrought-iron fire screen
  • lo: $1,875 glazed pottery vase

• Sotheby's Important Tiffany Lamps: The John M. Fowler Collection, December 14, 2007  (lamps pictured above)
  • hi: $881,000 wisteria table lamp
  • lo: $55,000 poinsetta border table lamp; also, favrile glass and patinated bronze arrowheads fern dish

Both  inclusive of buyer's premium

Obscura, ecclectic antiques in the East Village

Obscura Antiques and Oddities
280 East 10th Street (near Avenue A)
Everyday 2–8:30 pm, earlier on weekends
212-505-9521

I took these photos last year on a walk through the East Village. Obscura sells "antiques and oddities," heavy on the later. It's a visual treat, although in shops like this I often wonder if the items would look quite as great in my own home. Does a stuffed frog on a hand mirror need a hatted boar mounted nearby to really, you know, resonate?

New York City auctions: January 21–27, 2008

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

Flea scene...

By AnnieBee

Coming up . . . Americana Week in New York City

photo by Grufnik

Next week starts Americana Week in Manhattan. The New York Ceramics Fair gets things started on Thursday, followed by The American Antiques Show, Antiques Manhattan, and on Friday, the Winter Antiques Show, "probably the most prestigious antique show in America." (See shows and fairs for details.) All the auction houses are holding Americana-themed sales, as well.

Hell's Kitchen Flea Market: vintage clothes shopping destination

Annex/Hell's Kitchen Flea Market
39th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue
Saturday and Sunday 10 am–6 pm

Oh, the drama.

The Annex/Hell's Kitchen Flea Market is a destination for vintage clothes fanatics, and on a warm day in December, a sliver-sequined, hand-stitched, pearlescent trench coat was drawing a lot of interest. Especially from one blond actress.

She tried it on–it was made for her, of course–then forced herself to walk away. She circled back, tried it on again; she walked away, wandered back.

Antiques Roadshow announces '08 tour: tiptoes past NYC

Is Antiques Roadshow steering clear of NYC for a reason?

Yesterday the Antiques Roadshow announced which cities it will be visiting in 2008. The closest they're coming to NYC is Hartford, CT. Maybe they fear they'd be barred at the bridges and tunnels by rioting antiques dealers: Antiques Roadshow is one of the main reasons dealers blame for the deminishment of their business. Antiques Roadshow has not just legitimately educated people as to the value of their antiques–it's also inflamed people's imaginations as to the value of their illegitimate junk. When dealers can't get a break at a garage or estate sale, their margins shrink. But if you've been wondering about any of your own old stuff, Hartford is only two hours north. Tickets are free but must be obtained in advance: check online for rules or call 1-888-762-3749. Just don't let a mob of angry dealers catch you sneaking out of town.

Antiques Roadshow 2008 stops and dates:

• Palm Springs, California: June 7
• Dallas, Texas: June 28
• Wichita, Kansas: July 12
• Chattanooga, Tennessee: July 19
• Grand Rapids, Michigan: August 9
• Hartford, Connecticut: August 23

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.

Giving and getting: Bard considers gifts

"Thomas Jefferson remained deeply troubled by the practice of giving and receiving presents throughout his years in Washington, though it was a conventional aspect of diplomatic protocol."


photo by earthdog
Yeah, sounds like Christmas. While you're pondering intra-familial gifting inequities, and bitterly slashing names from next year's list, it might be heartening to consider gift-giving in the historical context. The Bard Graduate Center is presenting two lectures about gift-giving next week, and in the same theme, a concert. See the complete schedule here.

7–8:00 pm Monday January 7:
Negotiating Gifts: Thomas Jefferson’s Diplomatic Presents and Counter-presents

6–8:00 pm Wednesday January 9:
Fragile Diplomacy: Meissen Porcelain for European Courts

6–9:00 pm Thursday January 10:
Instrumental Offerings: Music as a Diplomatic Gift in 18th-Century Europe (concert)