Interesting, but probably not as rare as we'd like to think.

This St. Louis dealer in supposedly antique wood is going to be paying a hefty fine and maybe seeing the inside of Club Fed for a while. It just goes to show that you have to be wary of who you buy from, and alays do you research, even if your next antique is going to be your floor.

This story comes via the St. Louis Business Journal.

Good for the authorities that busted this ring, and good for fine art lovers!

Just goes to show that you should always know your source, and know their reputation! Nowhere is a dealer's rep more important than in antiques and 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!

How, exactly, does one decide that this is the course they are going to take in life?

Me, I became an editor and journalist because I had spend years laboring - unhappily - to be a playwright in NYC. I had some small success, but was miserable. I then became an advertising creative, which made being an unsuccessful NYC playwright look like a day at the beach. Woof.



But the guys mentioned in this story from the AP, a couple of Mummy Smugglers, must've had to dig really deep to decide on this career path, but... I know smuggling antiquities is an old profession, but I'm just assuming that selling ancient bodies, wrapped in linen, dessicated, and decorated with heiroglyphics has got to be a rough way to make a buck... Not to mention the bad karma that must come with it...

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.

There's always been debate in the pursuit of antiques as to whether or not the business should be federally regulated, i.e., official government oversight provided by a dedicated federal agency.

This is obviously too big a discussion to have in this small space. Suffice it to say, there are plenty of people who have plenty top say on both sides of the issue. Antiques is a huge business, all told, at all levels, and there are a lot of bucks changing hands.

In my experience, it has come down to what, exactly, someone deals or collects in. If your business or hobby is dependent upon small items, sold at relatively low prices, at large volumes, then regulation could be a problem.

If you deal, however, in rare and one-of-a-kind pieces of art, furniture and accessories, etc., then some oversight might be good thing for safety back-up and to make sure no false merchandise would get peddled.

Either way, it would probably, hopefully, stop scammers from passing off fake goods - at least that's my take. I know there is a movement to get some help - see the good work of show promoter Dordy Fontinel, et al. - but I wonder what Trader readers think.

Should the business and/or hobby of antiques be federally regulated? Let me know at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or post a comment here.

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.

Disgraced former Antiques Roadshow appraiser Russ Pritchard entered a guilty plea in a Bucks County, PA court yesterday, and is now on the hook for $6,800 to a woman he bilked when he sold her heirlooms and never paid up.

The sad thing - besides Pritchard's agonizing fall from grace - is that the amount he owes Sandra Udinson of Plumstead, is just a drop in the bucket of the hundreds of thousands of dollars he owes in civil damages already and which will probably be leveled at him when he faces similar charges to those in Bucks County in Montgomery County next month.

The article linked to above tells the story of his sentencing, the juiciest bit being the judge telling pritchard, "The most important thing is that the victim be made whole,” Heckler told Pritchard. “You will pay her, or you will end up in jail.”

I don't know Russ Pritchard, and he brought this on himself - for sure - but I can't help but find this whole thing a bit sad as it drags on and on...

Pictured below is Pritchard from his Roadshow days. The pic is from WGBH, so I'm not sure if it's one of his fake Civil War appraisals.

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.

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...

Eric Bradley, the Show Manager of Atlantique City - which is owned by Trader's parent company, F+W Publications - was in Miami Beach over the weekend at the big show there - lucky man to be away from Midwest cold and snow. Evidently there was a scammer passing bad checks on the floor, and thanks to the actions of some dealers, the guy was picked up and a most- if not all - of the merch found.

Here's what Eric wrote from the floor:

Miami police arrested a man on Sunday suspected of passing bogus checks proportedly worth at least $10,000 at the Miami Beach Antiques Show. The man is suspected to have been working with an accomplice.

The cops nabbed him after our good friend Howard Roberts spotted a guy who fit the description of a man who passed a phony $4,400 check to one of his friends the day before. The man - who claimed to be from Philadelphia but spoke with a Russian accent - was identified while he was browsing some jewelry in the booth of dealer Michael Weinstein (who also does Atlantique City). After interrogating the man, police sought search warrants for three Miami-area hotel rooms. Not sure if any were in Miami Beach proper.

Police were able to recover items stolen with the bad checks on Sunday. It's not clear if they were unable to secure some, or all, of the merch purchased on Saturday.

The Miami police should have a report shortly. It will be in the local press soon!

Eric

Trader will keep an eye on this in the next few days, but thanks Eric!