Antique Trader Blog - Antique Mystery Item

If you can't get enough Warhol just check out his junk

Karen — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:08:04 GMT

This article had me at "tucked away for years."

The Andy Warhol Museum has finally hired staff to begin sifting through the artist's "belongings" which are stored inside, get this:

610 cardboard boxes
filing cabinets
a large shipping container

What?

True.

Most of the stuff has been packed way since 1987, after Warhol died from complications from gall bladder surgery. The man was a compulsive hoarder who saved everything form taxicab receipts to restaurant menus to fine antiques found in malls and fleas across NYC.

Larry Koon of The Marietta Register wrote a captivating article on the subject today. You can read it here. An excerpt:

"In the 18 months since the project began, archivists have opened 177 boxes, each with an average of 400 items tucked inside and some containing many as 1,200 items. One box that was opened was said to have contained over $17,000 in cash, including antique jewelry appraised at over $1 million, and an autographed picture of a naked Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis."

Stories like this make me wonder if artists are great because they are unusual, or are they unusual because they're great?

-posted by Eric Bradley

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Here’s to the antique misfits

Karen — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:08:59 GMT

At first they looked like elaborate toothpicks or something from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. They were all different shapes and sizes and – one was even in the shape of a hand, while others were decorated with elaborate carvings.

The curiosities were part of a diverse collection of bride sticks. The 100 or so sticks are a part of the famous Joseph and Lilian Shapiro Collection, and featured in an Oct. 8 Dan Morphy auction. Skillfully hand-carved and painted, the rarely seen decorative objects date from the early 19th century to around the turn of the 20th century. Each was a custom design, to be given as a gift to a new bride. While not meant for practical use, they replicate the plainer forked sticks that women used for pushing down laundry into tubs of boiling water.

It’s the offbeat and obscure items, such as the Shapiros’ bride sticks, that are my favorite part of learning about antiques. Usually, the items are not particularly valuable; the bride sticks are expected to sell for between $50 and $100 each. Don’t get me wrong, I have a strong appreciation of antique furniture, prints, coin operated machines and advertising. However, there’s just something alluring (maybe even charming) about those oddball items most people don’t much care for.

Much to the dismay of my wife, my wallet seems to be a magnet for these misfit antiques. On a recent shopping trip, I spotted a curious machine in a vendor’s booth: it was cast iron and sported seven different pulleys.

“It kind of looks like a circus wagon,” I told my wife, both describing its original paint and doing my best to get her remotely interested in yet another of my weird purchases – this one even larger than usual. The seller told me it was a hay trolley. They were used in the time before elevators to lift bailed or loose hay up into barn lofts. The trolleys are large, weighing about 35 pounds and are sometimes decorated with ornate cast iron.

They are offbeat, for sure, but are gaining some respect. A few farming museums devoted to antique farming technology have recently opened in the Midwest and all feature the decorative and trusty hay trolley. The one I found has a new home as a sculpture on our kitchen desk, which for us is really the base of a Hoosier cupboard.

Learning about new things is the most important benefit of being a collector. Everyone who ventures out in search of antiques always brings their curiosity. Expanding your experience of the rich and diverse world of antiques helps you better spend your money. Plus it’s also a neat trick whenever you can pull a little-known fact out of your noggin at precisely the right time.

So go out and look for those unusual items no one else seems to notice. Just remember, it helps to decide where you’re going to put your misfit before you bring it up to your spouse.

— posted by Eric Bradley

From Sept. 30, 2009 issue of Antique Trader magazine

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Question of the Week: Weird collections

Karen — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:58:27 GMT

In this week's Editor's Note, I wrote about off-beat collections such those offered by Dan Morphy at his upcoming Oct. 8-10 auction. I have known Dan for years and he is a consummate professional who is deeply passionate and driven to learn more about about high-quality antiques and collectibles. He, too, is drawn to the rare and curious.

That's probably why Joseph and Lilian Shapiro picked him to sell their wonderful collection of Americana and folk art and which includes an interesting collection of bride sticks.

This leads us to today's question of the week:

"What are some of the most strange and unusual antiques or collectibles you’ve ever seen people collect?"

Send your experiences of weird collections to Question of the Week, eric.bradley@fwmedia.com, ATnews@fwmedia.com or 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54945. Or post your reply HERE on the Antique Trader message board.

Question of the Week: Tell us about your favorite rummage sale find

Karen — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:16:18 GMT

Big or small – what is your favorite rummage sale or yard sale discovery?
Send the story behind your most memorable find by Labor Day, Sept. 7, and our judges will award the best story a copy of the 2010 Warman's Antique & Collectibles Price Guide, with bonus DVD.

Send your stories to eric.bradley@fwmedia.com or to Found Treasure, c/o Antique Trader magazine, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54945.

The Great Unknown: matte cutter?

Karen — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:01:53 GMT

Every week, “Ask Antique Trader” receives scores of inquiries from readers, seeking more information about a recent find, a gift from a friend or relative, or an oddity that’s been sitting on a shelf for years.

We pass all of these questions along to our panel of experts, but once in awhile, we get a question about an object that stops us in our tracks. We want to share these unusual treasures with readers in the hope that they’ll offer their opinions and perhaps enlighten us all.

“Ask Antique Trader” will feature these oddities on a regular basis in the print and online editions of the magazine.

Send your comments to AskAT@fwmedia.com.

I have attached a photo of a vintage cutting tool I found when cleaning out my father’s garage. I have no idea what it is to be used for although someone thought it might be a photo matt cutting machine. Through any of your venues, could you help me identify this item, please?

The box is approximately 18 inches long and has a slide closure lid. Inside are three cutting blocks with blades at varying angles, three triangular pieces the same length as the blocks and a long slender piece with holes drilled in it.

There are attachment screws and extra blades in the box.

Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated. If you can’t help, perhaps you could refer me to someone else who could.

Thanks so much.

What do you think this is? Post your reply here on the blog and let us know.

Antiques Roadshow find shatters value record

Karen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:28:33 GMT

One lucky woman's find shattered the previous record for an item appraised during an Antiques Roadshow stop in Raleigh, N.C. last weekend. A collection of Chinese jade was valued at possibly more than $1 million.

Show publicist Erika Denn says the four pieces of jade from the period of 1736 to 1795 was valued at $710,000 to $1.07 million. That breaks the previous record of $500,000 set last year in Palm Springs, Calif., for a painting by abstract expressionist Clyfford Still.

An unidentified woman from eastern North Carolina owns the jade, which she brought to the show early Saturday morning.

The show also drew 34,000 requests for tickets, besting the previous record of 29,000 tickets for a show in San Jose, Calif., that will be held later this summer. Denn says 6,400 tickets were distributed in Raleigh.

Antiques Roadshow is scheduled to make four more stops this summer in Madison, Wis., July 11; Denver, July 25; Phoenix, Aug. 1 and San Jose, Calif., on Aug. 15.

-AP

Mystery antiques: The Great Unknown

Karen — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:51:36 GMT

The Great Unknown

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Can you help identify this item?

I bought this item at an auction. No one there knew what it was. I searched through all my furniture books and took it once to a local appraiser, and he was also stumped. The pyramid shape is just decorative. The inside is a square box. The feet have felt-like material attached. Would you be able to tell me what it is and what it’s worth? — J.M., Cape May, N.J.

Post a reply here on the blog or e-mail your replies to AskAT@fwmedia.com.

The Great Unknown: Wood bunny

Karen — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:47:50 GMT

"I bought this little box in the form of a rabbit several years ago in Illinois. It’s about 6 inches by 6 inches and all hand carved, with a small storage area hollowed out. At first I thought it was walnut, but now I’m not sure. Can’t seem to find any information about it. It appears to have some age."

The Great Unknown

Karen — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:20:28 GMT

I found this cast-iron duckling in a Minnesota antique shop several years ago. He’s about 10 inches tall. My wife thinks it’s an architectural fragment but I say it’s the remains of a sprinkler. Do you know where it may have come from?

— Posted by Karen

More antique features

Karen — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:32:33 GMT

Warman’s features perfume containers

The Russian connection: Fabergé silver at M.S. Rau Antiques

Khokhloma: Russian folk art

Scents and sensibility: Collecting perfume bottles

Ask Antique Trader: Collapsible cup and holder could be worth $100

Ask Antique Trader Mystery Item

Karen — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:15:59 GMT

Ask Antique Trader wants to put you to work

Every week, “Ask Antique Trader” receives scores of inquiries from readers, seeking more information about a recent find, a gift from a friend or relative, or an oddity that’s been sitting on a shelf for years.

We pass all of these questions along to our panel of experts, but once in awhile, we get a question about an object that stops us in our tracks. We want to share these unusual treasures with readers in the hope that they’ll offer their opinions and perhaps enlighten us all.

“Ask Antique Trader” will feature these oddities on a regular basis in the print and online editions of the magazine. Post a reply here or send your comments to AskAT@fwmedia.com.

This little fellow is about 4 inches tall, cast iron and appears to be a contortionist. His hat comes off and we think he’s a match holder, but the rest of his lineage is a bit cloudy.

Any thoughts?