After auction this week, I was going through a tray of small items and came across what innocently looked like a No. 2 pencil. Yellow with narrow red bands, unsharpened and inscribed. A gold…
Month: April 2010
Disinvited to a condo auction
Posted in Home
When I bought my house seven years ago, I was looking for a place with a yard so I could get my hands dirty, enough rooms to roam around in and a separate laundry space…
A house full of women
Posted in Art, Carvings, collectibles, and Gallery
I was walking through my house one day, and looking around, realized that I have a lot of women in here. I didn’t notice them because they were chattering among themselves or bumping into each…
Almost missed: A Samuel J. Brown painting
Posted in Art
I was sitting there at auction reading an antiques newspaper, not paying much attention, waiting for my next item of interest when I glanced up to see a painting being offered for bids. It looked familiar, with…
I was reading the food section of my local newspaper recently and came across a story about retro food. A restaurateur was offering what the article called golden oldies, dishes from the 1961 “New York Times…
Every now and then, one particular item at auction grabs your attention. This week, it was a sweet little dark-wood handmade chair for a child named Richard. It sat alone atop a table in the…
Stealing from auction tables
Posted in camera
As I made my rounds at one of my favorite auction houses this week, I didn’t find much to marvel at. The pickins’ were truly slim, many of us agreed. It’s been that way for…
Abuzz over Bricher $92,000 art sale
Posted in Art
Folks at one of my favorite auction houses were exceedingly excited a week or so ago over the immense sale of a painting by landscape artist Alfred Thompson Bricher. They showed off the painting and the price…
A sorry fight over black artist’s works
Posted in Art
I’m always on the lookout at auction for works by African American artists whom I’ve never heard of before. And I’ve been lucky to have picked up a few pieces from time to time. It’s always a…
About a month ago, two Lane mini cedar chests came up for auction at one of my favorite auction houses. They were lovely little trinket boxes no longer than 9″ that likely held someone’s treasured keepsakes. When…