Antique Trader Blog with editor Noah Fleisher - Antiques News

Question of the week - Most reliable antiques subset?

Noah — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:35:53 GMT

I’m asking readers to take few moments and think before they respond to the question this week, just a few deeps breaths and then respond.

It’s too easy to say, if you’re a collector of glassware, that glassware is then the most reliable. Or whatever segment you happen to participate in.

I also want to shy away from making generalizations about the business. “If you buy what you love, then it never loses value.”

This may be true, and I readily acknowledge that you shouldn’t start buying solely as an investment, but we all know it’s happening.

For my part, I’ve always seen good jewelry and good folk art sell, no matter what, a make good on a return. Whether I like these forms or not is irrelevant.

So when you stop and think about it, looking at all the things you come across at shows, shops and auctions – or rummage sales and flea markets, I don’t care – what do you see that, in your experience, reliably sells and holds or increases its value?

Let me know at noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com, or post a comment here.

A synchroncity of antiques - Islamic antiquities dominate

Noah — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:07:33 GMT

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.

Auction of recently uncovered Arbus photos abruptly canceled

Noah — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:34:52 GMT

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.

Records for Islamic art

Noah — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:11:21 GMT

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.

As changes near, eBay debate encore

Noah — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:56:04 GMT

Rob Pegoraro, a blogger at The Washington Post, gives the eBay issue a look from both sides of the issue and concludes that eBay is a ~~Monolith~~ Marketplace, and that it's 80M+ users think of it as a community. It's a nice little examination of the debate that the eBay antiques... uh... sector has been having for a few months now.

This conclusion has resulted in the weird disconnect from reality that has emanated from eBay HQ high on its magic mountaintop in the mist, where it's suspected that a few remaining regular human beings actually may say hello now and then as they pass in the hall on the way to bathroom in the basement.

It's also now thought that the great ancient demon Cthulhu might be the real replacement for Meg Whitman. That's just what I hear, though...

Antique Trader 4-23 preview - Comin' at ya

Noah — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:56:30 GMT

We just got this out the door and off to the press. Here's a sneak peak at 4-23, and a look at our changed cover. Enjoy!

Search still on for looted Iraqi antiquities

Noah — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:54:12 GMT

This is from the L.A. Times. It's all about the amount of antiquities still missing after being looted when Baghdad fell. That was five years ago today, btw.

At first it was thought the damage done by theft was much much greater, and anyone who loves art and history looked on in horror as numbers like 150,000 were bandied about when those reports mentioned numbers of missing artifacts.

They were talking about the beginings of human civilization - ancient, ancient stuff - that carried with it priceless provenance and importance. Many of those pieces, it turns out, had long ago been hidden by smart curators, well out of harm's way, and that initial massive number dwindled to 15,000.

Of those 15,000 known artifacts, 7500 have been recovered. That still leaves half, and an amazing amount of history still floating around black markets or destroyed and trashed.

The good thing is that these pieces are rare enough that, when one surfaces at auction or on the market, it is usually quickly recognized and taken back to its proper home. This is further heightened in an age when national museums around the world are demanding back priceless antiquities that were looted in past ages of imperialism. Greece is doing it, so are Italy, India and China, among many. This seems to have hit western museums hard. The culture flowing out of Iraq, home to the fertile crescent where it's thought so much life firt streamed out of, is older by millenium than most other countries. It bears direct links to stories in the Old Testament. Of anywhere that deserves its history back, then surely it's there.

When a penny ain't worth a penny, it's an antique!

Noah — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:07:53 GMT

I believe this originated with the Chicago Tribune, and seems to be an editorial, but it came to me via The Valdosta State Spectator in GA, certainly one of the more obscure sources I've dug around on. I worked on my college paper and, let's face it, a lot of them are pretty bad.

It is, actually, an argument you can dig up most anywhere. I just couldn't resist a link with something from Valdosta State.

This, however, I happen to agree with. When it costs more than a penny is worth to make one, then it ain't worth it, plus the good, collectible ones that are out there will become that much more valuable, which is good for the business of coins.

Numismatics and antiques unite! Down with the penny!

The Guru and the Auction House

Noah — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:28:24 GMT

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.

Historic preservation is green

Noah — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:57:35 GMT

This shouldn't even be up for debate, but it is, and I agree with this article. Historic preservation is good for the environment, as are antiques in general.

The gentleman I used to work with, one John Fiske of Vermont, is a strong advocate for the cause of antiques as a green movement. He's 100% right, and I promise more from the Green Antiques movement very soon.

This is out of London, yet again today, from Richard Moe, president of National Trust for Historic Preservation. Very cool.

What the Dickens?! Antique desk on the block

Noah — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:24:06 GMT

Christies will be auctioning of the desk at which Charles Dickens sat to write "Great Expectations."

It's a beautiful antique and its provenance is untouchabe.

It should fetch a pretty penny, and goes to a good cause. I can't imagine any writer wanting to buy it, let alone be in the same house as it. The great author was found dead at the desk and wrote possibly his greatest work in the very same seat, as well - Pip chasing Estella, while she acts coy and plays him off her other suitors... Go Pip! Go! - those are some serious ghosts to contend with.

Still, it is a beauty, and I had the cash, and an extra room, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

A conversation over caviar about architecture

Noah — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:38:37 GMT

This is a link to an interview with the winner of The Pritzker Prize for Architecture, Jean Nouvel.

The prize is the top award given to modern architects, and is normally the crowning achievement of a glorious career, rather than something that plucks an obscure designer from the mist of anonymity.

Nouvel is an interesting guy, and who am I to say who should and should notbe given what they're given. I have to say that, as interesting as his ideas are, and sound, man-oh-man is this a pretentious interview. I was waiting for the interviewer to ask if he could give him a kiss, or put a polish on that done... (As you can see by my pick above, I need a polist too, now and then...)

Anyway... Check it out. The pic here, though you can't see it too well, is Nouvel's proposed design for the Abu Dhabi Louvre Museum.

Lincoln letter goes for more than $3M

Noah — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:16:45 GMT

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.

Antique Trader 4-16 preview - Comin' at ya

Noah — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:19:49 GMT

Just gone to the press - yesterday, that is... Here's what you can expect for the 4-16 issue...

Papa's Brand New Bag on the auction block

Noah — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:57:43 GMT

When James Brown died on Christmas Day 2006, he left behind a lot more than one modern music's greatest catalogs of work, he left behind a life filled with turmoil and an estate that has been the subject of constant wrangling between his family, his adult children, his ex-girlfriends and his ex-wives.

Finally, Christie's has stepped in and said, "That's enough!"

I actually don't know if that's what Christie's did, but either way, the venerable auction house will be auctioning of the possesions of the Godfather of Soul sometime this summer. This sale will include Brown's awards, instruments and all kinds of various posessions.

No matter what you think of the man personally, his influence on music was, and is, undeniable. He blended together many sounds and came up with something that was totally original, and musically, in his prime, there was absolutely no one more important. The interlocking parts of his songs were pure genius and made countless millions of people understand not only how music worked, but that they too could follow a few simple rules and enjoy playing music. For that, I do have to say, I miss Brown greatly.

To see him covered with a jacket and walked, exhausted, off stage accompanied by one of his crew, only to ruh desperately back to the mic for one last chorus, or word - then to hear the crowd shriek with delight - makes you understand that he truly was... the hardest working man in show business.

And I'd love to get me one them guitars...

Modernist Architecture Icon Ralph Rapson dies

Noah — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:59:40 GMT

A giant of Modern Architecture has died. Ralph Rapson designed a lot of important structures, including the Greenbelt House and the Guthrie Theater in Minnesota. A true icon of the form.

Tom Wallace / Star Tribune

Rest in peace. And thanks for the buildings.

Word to the wise: Do not hang clothes on your rare, early Picassos

Noah — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:27:25 GMT

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.

This wood's no good! Dealer in fake antique wood busted in MO

Noah — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:11:22 GMT

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.

Who can resist a rampaging ape? King Kong poster rages to $345K

Noah — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:01:38 GMT

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.

Look out in FL for stolen Masonic items

Noah — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:56:22 GMT

Seems a Masonic Lodge in Lee County Florida was broken into and lots and lots of antique stuff taken, to the tune of $50,000.

This story, from the NBC affiliate down there, doesn't list what was taken, or show pictures, which is strange, even mysterious... Just like the Masons themselves. I think I smell another Masonic conspiracy. We all know, after all, that they are really running the country, and the world... I saw those National Treasure movies with Nicholas Cage and his bad wig...

Anyway. If you're in the area buying antiques, and one of your things is collecting Masonic-themed items, then know you might be a few bucks away from becoming part of the conspiracy, unwittingly drawn into the throws of global intrigue.

All kidding aside, be on the lookout in the South...

Atlantique City Day 2

Noah — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:04:22 GMT

Howdy folks. We made it through Day One of the March 2008 Atlantique City Antiques Show and, if I may speak for the staff and crew of Atlantique City - and I reckon that I can - Day one was pretty fantastic.

By the 9 a.m. early opening we had at least 2000 people lined up outside the door, many of them grabbing copies of Antique Trader and our various publications at the show, and the trafic flow was steady all day. While official numbers aren't available yet, I'd say we had at least 5,000 people come through the convention center and they seemed interesting. Quality is high, and uniform, and we heard some good comments from dealers.

The appraisal event went very well, too, highlighted by a superb Judy Garland dress, straight off the MGM lot, that ended up in - of all places - Milwaukee, WI. We have to wait and see if the pics cvame out, but I'll post them if I will.

At the end of the day we also hosted a gathering to fete Ellen Schroy and thank her for all her hard work - 28 years worth - on the Warman's Price Guide. Nice stuff, and Ellen is a great lady. She'll be missed on Warman's, but it's a good opportunity for Trader to get her byline in the paper, as we did with the 4/9 issue.

Sunday is usually a bit slower at shows, but there can be some serious buying going on, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for our dealers and ourselves, for a good day today, a smooth load-out tonight, and a nice easy flight home tomorrow morning. Last October we got delayed in Philly for 12 hours. Yuck.

Looking forward to getting home, getting back to work and regular blogging, and seeing my family. I love the East Coast, and have a lot of good memories from these shows and my childhood summers spent here, but I want to get back to Stevens Point, WI - wide open spaces, nice people and great beer - and get back in the swing of day-to-day life and work.

See you there.

Atlantique City - At last!

Noah — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:52:14 GMT

Howdy!

After a long week of vacation last week - agonizing, as you can imagine, spending so much time with my lovely wife and daughter in Phoenix and Las Vegas - I got into Atlantic City last Wednesday night. Travel was 13 hours from Vegas, with a few nighmarish waits in TSA lines at all airports.

It's time for good antiques and the Atlantique City Antiques Show.

We have spent two exhausting days getting the show ready, but as I write this morning, the show floor at the Atlantic City Convention Center looks beautfiul, there is a crowd of 2000 people waiting outside the door and we are hoping for a good show. We know it looks good, and quality is ubiquitous. Now we are waiting for the buyers.

The weather here is a bit chilly and overcast, which means good weather for antique buying, and the attitude seems to be optimistic, which is half the battle when there are such problems with the economy. I don't, however, have to tell any Trader readers that.

What I can tell you is that I'm excited for the opening of this show, proud of the hard work we've done and ready to see this thing come off a success.

If any of you out there are coming today or tomorrow, or go this weekend and read this later, give me a holler and let me know what you think.

I'll post more later today, hopeufully with some pics, but no promises...

Antique dealers say law may make them history

Noah — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:24:34 GMT

Karen here.

It looks as though antique dealers in Reno who display in antique malls are in for trouble ... lots of trouble. You don't want to miss this story...

In September, the Reno business license division sent letters notifying antique mall owners that vendors must have privileged business licenses. Under state law, they are subject to greater scrutiny because they deal in secondhand goods that could be stolen, according to city lawyers.

A staggering fine art find in England - painting worth 700 times what a 20-something slacker paid for it

Noah — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:46:10 GMT

Wow. Just wow.

Suitcase of money falling from the sky...

Find a painting in a shop, pay about $700 bucks for it, find out it's worth about $500,000... NOt a bad days work for an umemployed 23 year old in England.

Not a bad life's work, actually. No pic, so I don't know what it looks like. Thing is, too, the guy is going to keep it probably... How un-American...

Even with so much uncertainty, Iraqi antiquities continue to amaze

Noah — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:35:02 GMT

Here's one more reason to love the Internet. This came from a news feed out of Thailand and India.

It's about an ancient Babylonian town found by Iraqi archeologists.

With such a steady stream of bad news coming out of the region, it is good to know that scholarship and the unearthing of the past continue to go on. This is indeed an interesting read, especially if you're like me and you love anything that relates back to the ancient world circa B.C., where so much human societal culture dawned.

Pretty cool.

Awesome Japanese Buddha sells for $14M

Noah — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:45:43 GMT

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...

Seven charged with selling fake fine art prints internationally

Noah — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:35:32 GMT

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.

Beware fake antique whiskey in Scotland... and online!

Noah — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:14:09 GMT

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!

Just what I've always wanted! A corn flake that looks like Illinois...

Noah — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:19:13 GMT

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...

No go for Guernsey's for Jack Ruby's pistol in Vegas

Noah — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:57:14 GMT

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?

Be on the lookout for stolen antiques in Mid-state Pennsylvania

Noah — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:46:20 GMT

Heads up here for a theft in central PA. Here's the link, as well as the text, below.

Antiques stolen in Monroe Twp. barn burglary

by MATT MILLER, Of Our Cumberland County Bureau
Monday March 17, 2008, 11:14 AM

An array of antiques were stolen during a burglary at a barn in the 200 block of Martin Road in Monroe Twp., Cumberland County, between March 11 and Friday, state police said.

The stolen items included an antique wooden sofa and chair made in 1875, two 1930s floor model radios and 25 pieces of grain processing equipment made between 1905 and 1950, police said. A lawn mower, a drill press and two extension ladders also were taken.

Anyone with information can call police at 717-249-2121.

Retiring eBay CEO Whitman joins McCain campaign...

Noah — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:52:35 GMT

This is posted, from the AP Wire, with absolutely no bias either way on behalf of Antiques Trader. It's just simply an interesting bit of news about that dear friend of all online antiques... Meg Whitman.

Retiring eBay CEO Whitman joining McCain campaign
Source: AP - AP Wire Service

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Outgoing eBay chief executive Meg Whitman is joining Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign as national co-chairperson.

The McCain campaign said Friday that she will help raise money and policy development and travel the country on his behalf.

Whitman also helped former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney during his bid for the Republican nomination.

She announced in January that she would retire from the online auction company after a decade at the helm.

She is leaving as eBay Inc. faces slowing growth.

Like I said, Trader has no opinion. It's just interesting...

When your own life becomes an antique...

Noah — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:57:08 GMT

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...

Contemporary, Modern and Classic architecture mix?

Noah — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:38:27 GMT

Not so sure I agree with the blog author on the post here aboue modern houses in old neighborhoods, and how new architecture should mix.

I do, however, respect the opinion and love the debate.

Personally, I like a bold statement in an old neighborhood, especially if it's meant to be so and if - if - it's well done. If it's hideous, then torch the sucker!

Check it out.

Quick hit on Victorian antiques - a steal at Cowan's and meager pickings at Stella Pier

Noah — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:30:01 GMT

Here's a nice little post from a Victorian antiques lover about a couple of events over the weekend - an auction in Cinci at Cowan's and the Stella Pier show.

There was a great deal on the chair below at Cowan's, but not a whole lot a thte Pier show. I've been to Stella's Pier show many times and love it. I love any chance to go to Manhattan, though I have no need to live there ever again, but that's a different story.

A divergent tale of Modern architecture: the classic and the... um...

Noah — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:09:53 GMT

Okay, so indulge me my love of architecture. A great building that has survived the test of time - structually and philosophically - carries the value of a great antique, in my book. And then some.

Two stories came across my path at the exact same time and they tell a very interesting story.

One is a story from the NYT on the sale of a houe designed by Louis Kahn - truly an amazing masterpiece of "Modern" architecture - being auctioned later this spring by Wright auctions in Chicago. Richard Wright is one of a handful of guys that knows Modernism,

Image by Ezra Stoller

The other is a story circulating across the AP wire and beyond - all around the blogosphere - about a famous Chatanooga, TN house shaped like a flying saucer.

Image by Greg Brown

There's something here, in the connection between these two structures, that speaks to the deep love Americans have of their personal space and their once-upon-a-time penchant for personal architecture.

On one hand, we have the Esherick house, which Kahn designed, and which is - simply put - a masterpiece. It's a one bedroom in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, that represents only one of three - THREE - homes that one of the 20th century's most famed architects ever designed and built. Look at the NYT story, see the pics; you can feel the excitement of Mid-Century America and the need for redesignation of personal space. It's small-ish, but wide open, with big windows and that undeniably classic Modernism look and feel. It's expected to go for a few million buck. A steal, I'd say, given what the house means philosophically.

Kahn made no efforts to hide the structure, weight or design of his buildings. They are wide-open, honest and inspiring in the way that the best of American modern architecture is/was. Kahn wanted inhabitants of his buildings, and the appreciating looks of passersby, to be totally immersed in the fullness and "heaviness" of a structure. You cannot help but be sucked in by such simultaneous ideas, such disinterested interest, if I can go a little Zen on it...

The Flying Saucer house in Tennessee? Well, while maybe not a "classic" in the sense that classic means "judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind," but it's a real eye-catcher, huh? I mean, you're not likely to see a house that says so clearly, "HEY! I WAS BUILT IN THE LATE 1960s/EARLY 1970s!" anywhere.

This thing came about, evidently built by two quite normal folks, about the time that Star Trek was cancelled and just as the U.S. was dominating the space race and putting its flag on the moon - which, if you didn't know, means that we own it. Somebody put enough thought and time into this place to make a decent enough house to stand almost 40 years now, which means it will soon be eligible for historic preservation. Let me tell you, if the thing could actually take off, I'd buy it in a heart beat. I'm still waiting to hear back from the realtor if it has booster jets somewhere underneath there...

You can bid on both, you could own both, you could be the ultimate post-modern homeowner.

If I had to choose though - and I know this will surprise those of you who know my penchant for kitschy 1970s stuff that makes me feel like a kid eating cheerios to the 6 a.m. glow of Saturday morning cartoons as our Standard Poodles, Chauvinist and Nischi, wait for the few that would inevitably drop (was that really worth the time it took to write?) - I would go for the Kahn house in a second. Just look at it. What a beauty.

I would, though, love to get a look inside the Saucer house, and to see if the warp drive is fully functioning. That could change things quite a bit...

Awesome Henry Darger exhibit at U of Chicago's Art Museum

Noah — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:53:29 GMT

There's not a lot of room to talk about Outsider Art in Antique Trader, but I happen to be very passionate about the form.

I love the anti-academic feel of Outsider Art, and the untrained lines that reveal an artist's obsessions.

In Outsider Art there are so many talented living artists I wouldn't know where to start, not to mention the dead ones. There is one name, however, that reigns supreme above them all, and that is of Henry Darger.

This exhibition at the Unioversity of Chicago's Smart Museum just came to my attention. It's a great exhibition of Darger's Vivian Girls work - bizarre, twisted and entirely compelling stuff - that, sadly, closes this weekend!

If you're in Chicago, and can get there and check it out, or have already seen it, drop me a line and let me know how it is or was. There's no way I can get four hours to Chi-town this weekend, plus I think my daughter would be a bit weirded out by Darger's take...

Dealing with the possesions of a passed loved one...

Noah — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:32:24 GMT

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...

Another battle at Antietam? Can't we all get along?

Noah — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:27:39 GMT

The Baltimore Sun is reporting about the attempts to put up a cell phone tower - disguised as a barn silo - on the edges of the Antietam battlefield.

It's hard for me to have a professional opinion on this, because I'm supposed to be an objective observer. We all know how much of one I am...

There are alot of preservationists up in arms about this, because Antietam is such an important and well-preserved battlefield, a stirring moument to the bloodiest day in American History.

I've been to Antietam, and the place is still full of ghosts, and is a very moving place to be. You can see the proximity that the Rebels and Federals fought each other, and you can imagine how frightening and bloody it was. It's been largely spared any sort of commercial encroachment, and I can't help but think that once the flood gates are opened, a strip mall and a Kwik-E-Mart can't be too far behind.

Check out the story and decide for yourself. In my personal opinion - not professional, mind you - no value can be placed on a site like Antietam... Isn't that what putting up a cell tower would be doing?

Despite it's corporate blindness, good ephemera deals on eBay still exist

Noah — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:48:09 GMT

For some reason it was very hard to write the headline to this post and not sound like I was trying to speak like Yoda...

"Hmmm... On eBay good ephemera buys still there are... Blind is eBay corporate... they must unlearn what they have learned..."

But I digress.

Marty at Ephemera Blog has posted this about another post he read and enjoyed about eBay still being the place to get good buys on ephemera, and he's right. Put aside your feelings about eBay corporate acting like a bunch of dolts in hurting it's dealer base and you can see, just by reading Marty's post, and the post he links to, that they're right.

As Master Yoda might say, "By your anger blinded be not... Good buys on ephemera there still are..."

An overlooked antiques area?

Noah — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:38:28 GMT

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.

Oh man, if I could get this mastadon and that triceratops... No one would mess with me!

Noah — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:00:42 GMT

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!

An unfortunate career choice - Mummy smuggler

Noah — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:44:06 GMT

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...

Antique Trader 3-26 preview, comin' at ya'

Noah — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:36:12 GMT

Yesterday was so busy I forgot to post the preview of the upcoming issue of Trader.

Another good one, we think... Enjoy!

This would make me sick, too: Man says he was cheated on Arbus photos

Noah — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:33:46 GMT

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.

Ellen Schroy and Warman's call it a day

Noah — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:24:16 GMT

This is breaking news inside the building where I work, and where the Warman's title is based, edited and published. I have it on good authority that Warman's and longtime writer, appraiser, antique-lover and all around cool lady, Ellen Schroy, have decided part ways. I understand an official announcement will be forthcoming.

I want to say on a personal note, and as a fan of Ellen's prolific body of work over the decade - almost three of them - that she is one of the most knowledgable and personable folks in the business. Most of all, she's honest with her opinion, which is invaluable. It was my pleasure to work with her on the Atlantique City Antiques Show last October, and it will be a pleasure again to emcee the appraisal event this coming March 29 and 30. We will be able to properly fete Ellen at the show. Get her to sign those books if you got them.

Ellen is a class act. I hope I will be able to tempt her to write some things for Trader in the months to come. As many have said to me about her, Ellen has forgotten more about antiques than I'll ever know.

Fine Art still, like omg, SO HOT in Europe...

Noah — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:30:57 GMT

Here's a report from one of my favorite modern art blogs, Modern Art Obsession, on the recent Dutch TEFAF Antqiues Show, probably the most high-end show in Europe, if not the world.

The post focuses mostly - and glibly, so don't be offended - on the sale of a Jackson Pollock for something like $8M, then references a Bloomberg post on the show.

Here's a link to that.

This is also the show where at least $2M in diamonds were stolen, along with a handful of other very valuable things.

And with your antique glassware, a little foul play anyone?

Noah — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:56:17 GMT

Unfortunately, it's not too uncommon for an antiques shop to catch fire. Gather so much old stuff together in a small place, old itself, with old wiring and not a lot of maintenance, and, well, it can go up like a mob-owned restaurant in Jersey (sorry, I've been watching alot of Sopranos reruns on cable late at night as I troll for blog content...).

It all gets a little more interesting, and sinister - Sopranos again? - when, after a fire, a body is found in the debris.

This is a story out of a TV station in South Carolina about just such a thing. It happened at The Old Mill Antiques Mall, and, as far as this report goes, there is a suggestion it could either be murder or a thief who broke in and started the fire. The report says nothing about cluthcing a piece of Red Wing to their charred body, so a pottery dispute is probably not the motive...

Seriously, though, I hate to see a place destroyed, and I hate to think about the cultural value of the material that burned with the building.

The fashion of the "Queen of Mean" at Leslie Hindman Auctions

Noah — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:50:36 GMT

In about two months, Leslie Hindman Auctions will auction off the clothing collection of one Leona Helmsley, may she rest in peace... Hopefully somebody in her new location will sport her a glass of ice water now and then.

Helmsely's clothes are sure to be very fashionable, all very well made and all simply reeking of the bad vibes the woman made her bread and butter.

I lived in NYC when she went to prison, and can tell you that she was, easily - and still may be - one of the most reviled characters in the history of the city.

I'm a big fan of Leslie Hindman and her auction house, and would want to auction off this collection if the chance came my way - it interesting to note that it's not a NYC firm doing the sale - but I just can't say I would want anything that touched Helmsley's skin, or her closet or one of her houses, to be anywhere near me. The woman simply emanated meanness. I wrote about her after her death at the end of January after Christie's announced it would auction her furniture:

A ‘Queen’s’ legacy on the block

It was a bittersweet moment.

This morning, without ceremony, the e-mail from Christie’s Auction House entered my inbox. I get several a day from the venerable shop, so it was a good hour or so before I actually clicked on it and opened it up.

There it was. Throughout 2008 Christie’s, over the course of several sales at its Rockefeller Center location – conspicuously not saying it was proud to announce – will auction off the estate of Mrs. Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean. The legacy of one of the most reviled figures in the history of New York City will finally be dispersed to the four corners.

Helmsley once was famously quoted as saying, “We don’t pay taxes. Little people pay taxes.”

She denied ever saying it.

She never, however, denied smashing a teacup at a lunch with lawyer Alan Dershowitz. It seems a bit of hot water had spilled from cup onto saucer. This so enraged Helmsley, Dershowitz related, that she threw it to the floor and demanded the waiter fall to his knees and beg for his job.

She also famously fired one employee, with a casual flip of a hand, while being fitted for a dress. She fired hundreds of employees for the slightest indiscretion.

The stories about her in the city were myriad. She was endlessly lampooned on television, harangued by the paparazzi and the tabloids and mocked by comedians in nightclubs and comedy shows. It was a bonanza to any “little person” when, in 1989, under the prosecution of then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Guiliani, Helmsley was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 16 months in prison, plus another two under house arrest.

Legal observers speculated that Helmsley’s personality and wealth alienated the jurors.

Hmmm… You think?

A woman worth well in excess of $2 billion – at the time – who routinely stiffed contractors, never tipped at restaurants and sued her dead son’s wife until she was broke… Sounds like a peach to me. Why would the jury be alienated by such sweetness?

The year that she was convicted, 1989, I can remember that the most popular NYC costume that Halloween was Leona in black and white stripes. In the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade there were probably more than 200 Leona’s re-enacting her famous collapse in front of the Manhattan courthouse. It drew hearty cheers each time.

I don’t need to pile on. In fact, I’ll even point out that she was actually quite generous in her contributions to hospitals and that she established a fund of well more than $5 million to aid the families of firefighters killed in the 9/11 attacks.

Now the epic possessions of Queen Leona’s empire – mostly high-end fine art and furniture – will go to the highest bidder. All those things that she so highly coveted, that surrounded her to the bitter end, will go back onto the market.

Will they be worth more, or less, for having belonged to her? We’ll see. Let’s just say that I wouldn’t want to sit my daughter’s picture on a desk she once used, or my keister on a couch where she once snoozed.

Good thing I can’t afford any of it anyway. “Little people” rarely can.

A Getty official comments on museum's antiquities "giveback"

Noah — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:46:03 GMT

Culture Grrrll, aka Lee Rosenbaum, is simply one of the best out there, and has posted an interview with Michael Brand of the Getty Museum on life after some very well publicized givebacks.

It's one that will take a few minutes and will require some thought, because the discussion gets a little esoteric at points. Still though, after two years of following this story in the news and watching as priceless antiquities have gone back to their countries of origination after being scattered by Colonialism, it's quite cool to hear from some one at the Getty itself.

I do have to say, however, Brand comes off a lot like a politican in this interview.

Rosenbaum doesn't hesitate to ask a few questions, and to try and pin down Brand on the minutae of the agreement(s) that sent some prized Getty posessions back to Italy.

Good stuff.