I’ve always liked the movement and vibrant colors of the works of Charles Searles but had not loved them. That’s probably because I had not come face to face with a piece of his abstracts that spoke…
Month: April 2013
A box that holds more than just recipes
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, food, and Kitchen
The small box was nondescript – plastic with a black and chocolate brown-muddled grain – and looked like many of the others that turn up in box lots at auction. It was a recipe box,…
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some…
From where I sat slightly behind her, I could see that the woman had crossed off items on her “dolls I want” list. Her sheet looked much like mine as we watched one male bidder snatch up…
A different view of the back of a chair
Posted in furniture, Home, and Uncategorized
When I’m walking among the furniture at an auction house, something lovely and unusual always catches my eye. Sometimes it’s the color of an upholstered chair or the curved feet of a table or the…
G.A.R. grave markers of Union soldiers
Posted in Death, flea market, history, and Military
You can’t sell those on eBay, the man told the dealer, referring to two cast iron Civil War grave markers that she was selling at a flea market over the weekend. The two markers were…
The first photo among the black and whites showed the proud stoic face of a Native American man. He wore two long braids on either side of his head, a pompadour framing his forehead, eyes…
Readers ask about African mask & shadow puppets
Posted in Art, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, Performers, and Reader questions
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of the items that they own. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but…
When I enter an auction house and see documents and papers, I immediately head to them. I love flipping through the old stuff to see what bit of history is embedded in them. Who knows,…
I was so fixated on the wide backside of the gray elephant that I didn’t even see the snake. I don’t often come across a life-size baby elephant – real or otherwise – at auction so…