UAA Team | February 1, 2012
There is no more enduring symbol of how the Old West became part of the New World than the American railroad, with its steam-powered “iron horses” that linked East to West. It is the lifelong fascination with early trains and the culture that surrounded them that inspired the late Roy Gay’s 65-year collection of railroadiana. [...]
UAA Team | January 19, 2012
With all the brouhaha over the Duncan Phyfe show at the Met, you don’t expect you could find a attributed Phyfe sideboard for sale in the price range of a ten year old used car. If you’re visited the show, or even if you haven’t, you may want to watch this auction. Thomaston Place is offering a New [...]
ewmiller | January 17, 2012
A fancy painted card table, by Thomas Seymour, a blown flask, a winter painting by Walter Palmer and two sofas in a classical form provide additional highlights in a an auction featuring a broad spectrum of American art and decorative arts. Keno Auctions’ Important Americana, Paintings, Furniture and Decorative Arts kicked off Americana Week activities. The Boston [...]
UAA Team | January 12, 2012
A ladies’ Cartier Art Deco diamond wristwatch realized $21,000 in Cordier Auctions’ Two Day Antique & Fine Art Auction, the inaugural auction in their new Harrisburg, Pennsylvania salesroom on November 5 and 6. Watches especially saw several strong results including the top lot of the two day auction, a lady’s Cartier Art Deco platinum, 18K [...]
UAA Team | January 6, 2012
“Brown furniture” and “Victorian”are not words you commonly hear in the same breath with “auction records,” but there are welcome exceptions now and then. A rare, museum-quality mechanical rosewood drop-front secretary desk, made around 1860 and attributed to the renowned American furniture maker Thomas Brooks, recently sold for $21,280 at only the second auction held [...]
UAA Team | December 27, 2011
A Trademark Barkhouse Bros. & Co. Gold Dust Kentucky Bourbon bottle, one of the most popular western fifths and one of the finest known to exist, sold for $28,000 in an Internet and catalog auction held Dec. 9-18 by American Bottle Auctions. The bottle was the top seller of the 144 western whiskeys and historical [...]
UAA Team | December 20, 2011
An exceedingly rare, ancient Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty solid nephrite jade bear, made between 475 B.C.-220 A.D. and exhibiting extensive calcification due to centuries of extended burial, sold for a little more than $8 million at a multi-estate auction held Dec. 10 by Florida’s Elite Decorative Arts. The nephrite (greenstone) bear was by far the [...]
UAA Team | December 18, 2011
A nude sketch of Lady Gaga by crooner Tony Bennett has gone viral (like much of what Lady Gaga is involved in). The Vancouver Sun reports that the 85-year-old Bennet released the portrait after they recorded “The Lady Is a Tramp.” The original charcoal drawing is being auctioned as a benefit for Gaga’s anti-bullying foundation, Born [...]
UAA Team | December 12, 2011
A gelatin silver print of Robert Mapplethorpe’s sultry Shoe (Melody), 1987, was the top lot in Heritage Auctions’ Nov. 19 Vintage & Contemporary Photography Signature® Auction, easily beating its pre-auction estimate of $30,000+ to finish the auction with a final price realized of $47,800. The auction, which realized $521,588 on 213 lots, took place at [...]
ewmiller | December 6, 2011
There’s a growing consortium of folks out there, dealers and promoters included, who say that antiques can be sold purely for their looks without reference to the intrinsic value. Buyers today, they say, don’t care what a thing is, only what it looks like. In that case, I ask, what’s so great about antiques? Take [...]
