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...

The Cape Cod Times - daily sentinel to a place that is always fun to be smack dab in the middle of February, right on the ocean and facing some of the stiffest winds you can imagine - is reporting about a guy who shot himself in the leg with an antiques black powder colt.



Seems he was cleaning his gun when the thing went off. Police received a 911 call at 6 a.m., which means he was doing his business somewhere around 4 or 5 a.m.

Um...

First, I don't think anybody's going to set the alarm for 3 a.m. to get ready for a good gun cleaning, and second, I reckon the first thing I would do would be to make sure that the gun I was about to clean wasn't loaded. Just saying...

Methinks this guy was loaded himself, and thought it'd be fun to clean his gun by the soft glow of some 24 hour cable tv news. The comments attached to the article are pretty good, too.

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...

This is about an exhibition of mid-20th century American Roadside architecture - pictures of it, at least - making its way across... are you ready?... Macedonia.



Yes, one of the most ancient places on the globe is getting a good look at how American represented itself architecturally in the era of post-war business hedonism.

Personally, I love this kind of architecture and remember fondly many roadtrips as a kid in Texas and in my 20s - during those blissful summers when i had nothing to do and a car to take to do it - when my friends and I would literally set out for a few days at a time and seek out these places. The more dated the better. I truly believe that America's rapidly dissapearing roadside architecture is replete with gems and they should be saved, if only for the enjoyment of the world and the throngs of Macedonian tourists that are bound to be flocking to our rapidly decaying rural highways...