It seems now that Islamic art is absolutely everywhere, and the amount of money that it's fetching - congruent with the amount of ire it's raising in some instances - is pretty amazing.

I've already written about it a few times this week and last week.

It started the attempted sale of some armor once, possibly, belonging to a revered Sikh Guru. Then a 12th century key to the holiest pilgrimage site in Mecca, and now, just yesterday, a dagger once belonging to Shah Jahan - arguably the greatest of India's Golden Age Mugal emporers - the man who built the Taj Mahal, and raised Islamic art and architecture to amazing levels in his reign, sold at Bonham's in London for nearly $3,000,000.



You have to admit, looking at it, that it's a thing of extraordinary beauty, made even more important by its provenance of having belonged to Shah Jahan, a man from whom very few personal relics survive. $3M seems like alot to spend, but as I wrote about the Hajj key yesterday, reclaiming cultural history is an expensive game, and them that have the bucks don't necessarily think of it as a numbers game. Face it, if you have all the bills in the Monopoly game, there's nothing on the board that's out of range.

Again, it went to an anonymous bidder who didn't wish to be identified. Who knows who it is, but most likely it was someone who was unhappy almsot 20 years ago when the Shah of Iran sold it to Jacques Desenfans, along with a lot of other things in the sale, on a visit in 1969, when the Shah's empire was just starting to wobble. That bit of its history has been more downplayed in the hubbub over its sale, but it's all part of the history of such a remarkable piece.

I'm not sure if the dagger is considered a holy relic, so I have no feeling on it being sold. If it is considered such, along with much of the other Islamic "art" that's been coming on the block, then I do have to take issue. Pieces of spiritual significance, whatever the faith, shouldn't be made available for a price. I have to think, though, the Shah Jahan dagger isn't considered spiritually important for Muslims, because there was no outcry, such as the one over the Sikh armor.



Shah Jahan's buildings and his name dot India, most notably the Taj, which he built as a masoleum for his wife, Mumtaz, when she died. I've seen the Taj Mahal, and it's an amazing site, especially if you can get there very early in the morning before the touts, the cars, the tourists and the choking, nasty smog from the copious cars the swarm Agra all day. There are few buildings in the world that can match it, or its creativity.

Wrote about this a few weeks ago. A dealer in NYC sold a box of pics he found in a box lot for $3500. Turns out there was a trove of unknown Diane Arbus photos in there - very interesting ones, to be sure - and they're worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.



The dealer who sold them is suing the dealer he says duped him out of the find of his life. The sale was supposed to have happened yesterday, I think. Turns out it was abruptly canceled. Both the New York Times and our friend Kristi Roberts at Here Be Old Things have been covering this pretty well, so I'll leave it to them. Kristi was going to the sale, and even went by the showroom to get a sneak peak.

I know that a lot of times it's buy and sell at your own risk in this business, and that they seller should have known that he was giving away a fortune at such a small price - the first clue should have been when the buyer who bought the box said, "there's nothing in there worth much at all, but I'll give you $3500 right now for the whole thing, no questions asked. 'kay?"

Money is money, I suppose, and there are no rules that say you have to play fair. Or are there? The speculation is that the original seller may just hve succeeded in his lawsuit. We'll see later.

It's a bit strange to call religious artifacts "art," but the things are beautiful.

A sale of Islamic art at Sotheby's sold roughly $20M in 282 lots, smashing the previous records for a similar sale. It's a good bet that most of the lots, including a very expensive and revered 12th Century key to Mecca's most holy pilgrimage site, are going to the area of their origin. There's so much wealth focused in the Middle East these days, I'm actually surprised that those items on the block didn't go for much much more.

This, though, hearkens to the same discussion I've been having - with myself, that it - over countries reclaiming cultural heritage. I don't know that the pieces of Islamic art that Sotheby's sold didn't come from a seller in the region already, but it also wouldn't surprise me if they were Colonial spoils from centuries and exploits past.

This has been very interesting to watch - somewhat obscure, perhaps, bubt a lot of fun.

Sotheby's claimed some armor being sold belonged to a very important Sikh guru. Sikhs got angry, and Sotheby's claims that the armor is not actually the Guru's, but one of several sets he had made, as he was involved in many wars and military campaigns.

The post linked to above is from a post to WorthPoint.com out of India.

The whole thing is interesting, as I have always associated Sikhism with dervishes and mysticism, a la the sublime poetry of Rumi ("Dissolver of sugar, dissolve me."), not necessarily with warring kings. I'd love to see the armor, but no pics have been released. Check it out if this sort of thing interests you, which it does me, which I bet you've already figured out.

And to think that I was willing to take a triceratops over this, if given the choice...



I love Honest Abe, but I stand by my decision. Besides, I just spent that last $3.4M on a new yacht. I'm a bit tapped at the moment.

This is the Yahoo story, just breaking. Pretty cool, I have to say.

Seems a rare early Picasso - a saucy one of the artist and his then lover in a clinch on the bed - was found in Scotland, propped against a wall, alongside two other valuable works of art. They are all going to be on the block on April 10 at a house called Duke's.



I don't know about you, but I only hand fresh, hand-cut roses over the Picasso paintings I have propped against the wall in my two year-old daughter's room, right next to her crayons and scissors.

"Go ahead, honey, it's only a Picasso."

This is possibly from a royal family of some country, and the seller is part of that family. Don't you have to pass a decency test of some kind to be called royalty? I mean, they all know how to drink with their pinkies up, and spend money like drunken sailors... But this is a Picasso, and one from his early 20s, before he became Picasso with a capital "P."

Royal families of the world: teach your children to pick up their art when they are done playing.

Really, aren't we all suckers for monkeys?



This massive and very cool King King poster recently brought $345,000 at a Profiles in History auction, and it's a real beauty. At 81-inches x 81-inches, it's also about the size of the big simian himself.

I love the detail on this poster, and Kong just looks like he's about ready to rip everyone a new smile. What I don't like is that they have Fay Wray running in terror with Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot. We all know that Kong and Fay shared an unforbidden love that the world wasn't ready for back then. the studio could have, at least, put a hint of empathy in her eyes as she watched Kong destroy Manhattan. I still say the humans deserved it...

The new owner of the poster isn't mentioned, but I'd be willing to bet it's a heavy hitter, if not Steve Geppi himself, who has the greatest collection of rare movie posters in the world at his museum in Camden Yards in downtown Baltimore, MD.

Wow.

This an awesome sculpture, but - perhaps, jus' a l'il bit - overpriced. $14M? That's Monopoly money, right? right? Of course, it was a t Christie's, so I'm betting the bid wasn't all about the piece itself.

I couldn't imagine spending that kind of cash on something, plus, I can't help but think that spending that kind of money on a piece of sculpture - a relic of the material world, which - according to The Buddha - doesn't even really exist, except in the constructs of our minds as determined by karma - that is completely contrary to the teachings it represents...

Hmmm... Have to mediate on that one.

Oh, and I really love the blog that I pulled this story from - Bad at sports - which is an often humorous look at the world of contemporary art...

This doesn't say anything about whether the whiskey's any good, but the bottles most certainly aren't.

This comes via a Chicago Web site called The Chicago Syndicate. It's a fun Web site, but the story is real, and serious.

There are a lot of folks out there that take their antique whiskey bottles - and their whiskey - seriously. If you are buying bottles online, and it's coming from Europe, especially Scotland, caveat emptor!

Um... I'm... I'm just not sure what to say about this, or why I'm even posting it...

I feel a little confused, and fragile... Somebody hold me...

I wrote about this a few weeks ago, as a native of Dallas, about my mixed feelings about Ruby's gun going on the block as part of a truly superb Pop Culture antiques auction last weekend.

At the sale, as reported here at the Dallas Morning News - only appropriate, don't you think? - the sale featured a mess of great stuff that sold for big bucks, any of which I would have loved to have myself, especially the suit that John Lennon wore on the cover of Abbey Road (the greatest album from the greatest rock band ever, n'est pas?) or Sally Field's habit from the Flying Nun (not really...).



Ruby's gun, however... I just don't know. The Kennedy assasination is still raw in this country, especially in Dallas, and I can't say I'm sorry it didn't sell for big bucks. The guy who owned it, who paid more than $200,000 for it, would accept no less than $1M for it. He came close, with the highest bid reaching $900,000, but he wouldn't part with it for less than the big $1M. Oh well.

It will be sold, I reckon, to a private bidder, outside of the sale, and we'll see it again someday soon. I wonder what the folks in Big D think about - I mean really think about it.

Any Texans out there want to sound off? Anyone? Anyone?

Tom Schroder, one of the editor's of the Washington Post, posted this editor's note yesterday and I found my self moved by it's insight, and impressed with its ability to convey such depth with such brevity.

I'm not quite at the point where my life has become an antique, but the things I loved as a child sure as heck have become collectible, especially the beloved stand-up first gen arcade games I wasted so many hours as a pre-pubescent boy playing on Satruday afternoons at Prestonwood Mall in Dallas.

Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong, Jr., Tron, Red Baron, Pole Position, Jack the Giant Killer, Red Baron, Jungle Hunt, these were just a few of the games I ruled... Now they're being collected at big bucks. Much like Mr. Schroder, when I see these things now at shops or shows, priced too high, or undervalued, I simply have to walk away...

Here's some sage advice on cleaning out the house/estate of a loved one when they've passed. It comes from the Times of London and contains excellent suggestions.

I printed this one out and pinned it to my bulletin board...

I like what Daryle is getting at here in his blog post from yesterday. The sporting and hunting art market is overlooked by a large segment of antique and art collectors - there are, of course, those whose bread and butter it is...

As a side note, AT is not suggesting to people who read Daryle's blog that they join the 31 club, or that we endorse it. The plain fact of the matter is that I like the blog, and Daryle is a smart guy who has good advice and strong opinions on the market, and that AT - meaning me, today - thinks that is a very good thing in a market and a business that can be publicly very vague and privately very passionate...

It's worth a read.

The untold 10s of you - 10s, I say - that read this blog regualrly, might remember earlier this week when I posted about competing antiques auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's between a letter from Abe Lincoln and Triceratops.

Like the child of the 1970s that I am, raised on countless episodes of Land of the Lost - remember the slestaks, anyone? - I shamefully chose the triceratops over Honest Abe's historical letter. I'm still carrying the shame with me, oh yes, but check this out:

A family in the san Francisco area is selling the fossil of a complete Mastadon, found on their property, on eBay(!) for a starting bid of $115,000. This is a rather humorous article from the SF Chronicle on it; an entertaining read for a few minute distraction.

I have to agree with the writer's point: You can get mastadon bones on eBay for anywhere from .99 cents to $10, which is probably enough to satisfy the type of person looking for mastadon bones on eBay.

Still, if I could afford it, I'd do it in a second, and along with my triceratops, I'd rule the playground!

Interesting little twist out of NYC, courtesy of Here Be Old Things.

A guy bought a box of photos, with a bunch of Diana Arbus photos in there. A dealer paid him $3500 for them. They're expected to auction for multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Name of the game? Dishonest dealer? You decide.

Hunt Auctions sold a rare signed letter by a young Hank Aaron for more than $22K over the weekend.

I only use the glib headline because it came across the google alerts on the Canadian Press.

All I'll say, Mr. Bonds and Mr. Clemens, is that - above all with fans - class still counts.

Here's a first look at our March 19 issue, a special for the Atlantique City Antiques Show, which is owned by Trader's parent company, F+W Publications.

It'll be a glossy front with an extra 5,000 copies distributed at AC on March 29-30, 2008 at the Altantic City Convention Center.

I'll be there. If you are around and want to say hi, please do...

I should probably preface this with saying that I spent the first 18 years of my life in Dallas.

The days of my youth were spent in downtown Dallas, in Deep Ellum and all around the Texas State Fairgrounds. I went to high school right down there, and it was a great landscape for young minds.

I drove that city for all those years, at all hours of the day and night, and worked at The West End Marketplace, a stone's throw from the book depository building where Oswald made his shot.



It was not, however, until the week before I left for college that, driving through Dealey Plaza with some friends that I realized that this was the road where Kennedy was killed, and there was the grassy knoll. Hundreds of times, I drove that road, used it as a landmark. Never, though, did I make the JFK connection.

It it thus that I've been reluctant to report on Jack Ruby's gun being on the auction as part of Guernsey's superb Pop Culture Auction, March 15 and 16, in Vegas - only appropriate somehow.



Here's a link to a story from the Dallas Morning News , via Denton - which used to take 45 minutes to get to and was nothing but open fields on either site of the expressway - about the gun and the sale.

I grew up in Dallas in the 70s, when the city was still smarting from the assasination and, really, nobody talked much about the JFK assasination, and your certainly never ever joked about it. I still wouldn't.

All the same, it is an important piece of history, and it's probably going to bring a fair amount of cash.  And that's what's important, isn't it?

APPROXIMATELY 175 PIECES OF AMERICAN ART POTTERY STOLEN

HILLARD, OH - Between 3:15 P.M. on Monday, February 25, 2008, and 8:30 A.M. on Tuesday, February 26, 2008, approximately 175 pieces of American Art Pottery were stolen from Belhorn Auction Services, LLC in the Columbus suburb of Hilliard, Ohio.  Also stolen was a cargo trailer in which the pottery was loaded, which was secured and locked at Belhorn Auctions’ office.

Pottery stolen includes various examples of Weller, Roseville, Rookwood, Owens, Van Briggle, Hampshire, Pillin, Fulper as well as others.  Also stolen was an exhibit of fake and reproduction pottery assembled by the American Art Pottery Association for educational and presentation purposes.  The trailer is an unmarked, white American Hauler cargo trailer with fold-down rear ramp and a system of shelving on the inside.

“We are working closely with law enforcement and our property management company to review security tapes covering the area during the time of the theft,” said Belhorn Auction Services, LLC President Greg Belhorn. “All consignors affected by this incident are fully covered and will be reimbursed for any financial loss.  However, I do remain hopeful that the items will be recovered.”

Nearly all of the stolen pieces were slated for the American Art Pottery Association’s 2008 Auction to be held in conjunction with the organization’s Annual Convention on April 23-27, 2008, in the Greater Philadelphia area.  Belhorn Auction Services, LLC donates its time and resources to conduct this auction, which benefits the Association and its endeavors.  The full  commission and buyer’s premium generated from the auction serve as an important revenue source from the American Art Pottery Association.

A general list and photos of the stolen pottery will be made available at Belhorn Auction Services, LLC’s website at www.belhorn.com.  Anyone with information regarding this incident or who is approached by an individual with pottery for sale matching the description of stolen items should contact the Hilliard (Ohio) Police Department at (614) 876-7321 or Belhorn Auction Services, LLC at (614) 921-9441.  A reward is being offered for any information leading to the recovery of the stolen property.

Just wondering, as I negotiate the explosion of sales and sites that have sprung up in response to eBay's "changes," what sites, exactly, are you going to either to supplement your eBay sales or to use as a whole other alternative?

I'd like to check them out, possibly start offering some reviews and interviews.

Anyone? Anyone?

Let me know in the comments section here, preferrably, or at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com (as long as email's working by today...)

I know there are a lot of bargain hunters out there, and this sale looks like it could have some hidden gems. It's a big one, sent my way by a colleague here in the building, about a massive estate sale from AAA Estate Specialists out of Shreveport, LA.

It came our way too late to get into print.

Surprise, surprise: They have no Web site and no pictures, but this is going to be a wide and varied sale. If you're an interpid antiquer, and don't mind a bit of a chase, you could give them a call and see exactly what't on the block.

My thanks to Susan Sliwicki.

MASSIVE ESTATE SALE IN LOUISIANNA

A massive estate sale in Robeline, La., promises to offer something for nearly every collector’s tastes.

Everything from movie theater equipment and cotton gins to  glassware, toys, books and furniture are among the items up for sale from the historic W.W. Page Jr. estate, said Cindy Wilkinson of AAA Estate Specialists, the Shreveport, La.,-based firm handling the sale.

The sale is set for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 7 and 8. To learn more about the lots and details of the sale, call AAA Estate Specialists at 318-393-0239 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. CST, Wilkinson said.

It will feature a variety of lots from the family’s businesses, which included the Sabine Theater, Vernon Theater and the Page Store.

A variety of scales, including ones used for cotton, meat and candy, are part of the sale. A water fountain and the general store’s oak counter/seed bin also are part of the sale.

“From the candy store there’s the concrete top, it’s a big rectangle, and they would pour the fudge on that and cut it. That’s pretty neat,” Wilkinson said. “I think it’d be a great island top in a kitchen.”

Movie lovers will appreciate the lots from the theater, which range from the Art Deco era up through the late 1950s to early 1960s, Wilkinson said.

“There’s lots of parts still in the box that were never used,” Wilkinson said.

Collectors of general store and movie theater type memorabilia will definitely want to see what they can see about this one.

For more info, call 318-393-0239.

That record collection - easily the best record collection in one single place - was being sold by Paul Mahwinney out of Record Rama in Pittsburgh, PA (is there ay other?), which sold for $3M to an a buyer in Ireland on eBay last week?

Fraud.

I can't imagine that eBay, who has suffered so much bad press lately, can be terribly happy about this.



The "buyer" said that he was the victim of identity theft and that he got the invoice and couldn't believe it. I reckon that's possible, and a terrible email to get from PayPal, which is already such an unpleasant system.

Furthermore, it's reported that a rare Stones album, that Mahwinney has valued at $10,000, can be bought elsewhere on eBay for $599. Ouch.

Here's your weekly sneak peak at the upcoming Trader, that literally just went to press.

Bad things do happen, even to antiques people and even in the South.

 

This is a story from a Nashville TV station - Newschannel 5 - about a guy whose rental was broken into, in Nashville, and who had $3,000 worth of antiques stolen from his house. A few months later he finds a listing for his property - as someone else's property, of course - on Craigslist.

The address associated with the sale ended up being on the same street!

The police, however, do not think the seller knew he was selling stolen goods, let alone stolen goods from a house on the same street he lived on. I guess the thief, or thieves, took off that piece of yellowed and peeling masking tape with "In case this valuable antique is stolen please return to..." written in Sharpie on it.

"What? This stuff is stolen? And it belongs to you? And you live next door? Man, do I feel stupid..."

Chances are that stuff like this happens quit a bit, really.

The report does contain the rather ambiguous statement from the police that: "We're hopeful this incident will get us to a major player in antique business in the area."

For what, exactly?

Maybe the police are simply looking for some vintage posters to decorate the precinct...

I like this story about eBay after Whitman on the Forbes Magazine Web site, even if it is a bit too much re-hash and a bit too much corporate speak.




The writer, from Wharton College, outlines some interesting options that eBay and CEO-elect James Donahoe might take to shore up some of the problems it has right now. The article is, however, stictly from a business perspective and fails to approach the human side of the story, which is what we all know is going to drive the future of the business.

There still seems to be a disconnect between the corporate side of eBay and Wall Street to the nuts and bolts dealers who live and die in the trenches of online auctions.

One of the main thing I took away from the above article was thatr eBay will be looking to make inroads into Asia in order to beef up its revenue and return to the glory days of bazillions of dollars. Interesting philosophy, but if a bucket is leacking water from a hole, and you simply fill it at the same rate, there's certainly no net gain and - eventually - you're going to run out of water.

Given that most of the reports Trader gets coming out of NYC are of super-high priced sales, where the glamorous and the flfthy rich - not to mention the beautiful - can afford to go an play while the rest of stubbornly soldier on, paying $3 or more for gas and wondering when that suitcae of money is going to fall from the sky. We snag what we can at auction, when we can. Or, if you're a dealers, then going to sales, auctions and shows, many many of them, is simply your job. It would be nice to know what it's like sometimes to simply be a journeyman antiquer...




The link here is to a blog in NYC called Here Be Old Things, and its proprietress faithfully charts the whole spectrum of NYC antiques, from the big shows and auctions they wouldn't even let me in the door to, to the weekly sales and shops, like Hell's Kitchen (formerly Chelsea) and some of the day-in day-out auction houses that aren't the monopolizers. It doesn't hurt that she's a fan of Trader's blog, as well.

Living in Manhattan for a dozen years, I had more than one occasion to go through many NYC fleas, and they were always interesting, and you could always tell who had the really good stuff because their booth was basically an empty spot on the ground.

Check out the blog and let me know what you think. We'll be linking to it from time to time to check out the coverage.

This was sent to me too late to get into the print version of Trader, but sounds like a good sale for a good cause, from Motley's, in Richmond, VA.

Richmond Auction House Sells Jewelry Seized In City Drug Bust.
Proceeds Help Police In Fight Against Drugs



RICHMOND, VA — Motley’s Auction & Realty Group will auction on Feb. 20, a large quantity of jewelry seized recently during a Richmond drug bust. All of the seized jewelry, including a diamond-encrusted man’s watch by Benny & Company, will be offered to the highest bidder, with no minimum price or reserves. The proceeds from the sale will be returned to Richmond law enforcement in an effort to help fund their continued fight against drugs.

Nearly 100 lots of jewelry, including those from numerous estates, will be offered starting at 3 p.m. at Motley’s galleries at 4402 West Broad Street in Richmond, VA.

All lots are viewable at www.motleys.com or are available for personal inspection on Monday, February 18, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesday, February 19, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Items can also be previewed on February 20, the day of the sale, from 10 a.m. until all lots are sold. Motley’s offers online (eBay Live), absentee and phone bidding for those unable to attend the auction in person.

Motley’s next auction, on April 2, 2008.

For more information on any upcoming Motley’s auctions or their comprehensive appraisal services, visit motleys.com or call 804-355-2100.

There'll be some interesting stuff in this sale, sure enough...

As we like to do around here, just a li'l sneak peak at the 2-27 cover.

If you've been living under an anti-auction rock for the last week, then it'll be news to you that Philip Weiss Auctions in Oceanside, NY, recently sold a very rare inverted stamp for a record $1.2M. The stamp is one of a handful printed in 1869 with an upsidedown repro of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on it.



It's an expensive stamp, for sure, and a mighty pretty one. Good for Anonymous for snapping it up. He or she seems to be buying a lot of good things lately.

There was also an inverted Jenny stamp, the Honus Wagner baseball card of the stamp world, that also brought healthy interest and almost $300,000. Seriously, a Jenny comes up for sale with the same frequency these days as a Wagner, and each time.

The stamp is one of only four known to exist. Whatever you do, Anonymous, don't lick it...

I've always wanted to use the words exodus and booty in a headline, and today was my chance. Just look at it... Marvelous in its simplistic complexity... Or maybe I just need another couple of hours of sleep - my two-year-old daughter has been up sick for most of the last two nights, so my mind is a little hazy...

Anyway...

I like this story from over at CNN Money, talking about how a lot of other online sites are already picking up the pieces of the shattered eBay buying coalition. Hardcore eBay-ers will stick with the compnay through thick and thin, but many others are leaving, or simply cutting back and "diversifying," if you will, in other online markets. Certainly a good idea given looming economic issues and a highly unorthodox presidential election.

The article also contains links to all of the Web sites it discusses, giving you a good chance to check them out and decide what, if anything, you like.

I have been criticized for reporting the negative before, but I'm a journalist first and the story is the thing. To ignore this news, and not analyze what it might mean for our business, would be irresponsible.

The overall January sales figures, as reported on Yahoo, by Reuters, were not too good.



That includes a lot of factors, especially big box stores like Wal-Mar and Target, and a lot of the items people aren't buying are things that they shouldn't be buying there anyway - art, furniture, etc...

A January lull is no big surprise to the antiques business; after the holidays and the lull in mid-level and flea market shows - a lot of high-end happens in the Winter, and you can't really count the health of The Winter Antiques Show or The American Antiques Show as truly reflective of the real health of the antiques economy - there is a lot of space. General line buyers are going online to auctions, or checking out shops or small shows nearby.

There are schools of thought that will consider an economic slowdown healthy for antiques, and I don't disagree with them. I do also know that when the economy gets bad - remember 2001? - the antiques business is one of the first to feel the lack of discretionary income, and one of the last to benefit when people come out of the stupor.

The above report, along a reported and well-documented contraction of the jobs market last month, don't add up to prosperity. No one wants to say recession, but the laws of economics are fairly immutable.

Anyone going to any good shows or auctions this weekend?

I'm curious to know, and curious to see if anyone cares to mention it in the comments below...

Come one, you know you want to try it...