The old building looked stranded, left alone and neglected at the bottom of a street teeming with ice cream shops, a burger joint, restaurants, and stores hawking T-shirts and other stuff that tourists buy but do…
Month: June 2016
Striking filigree balconies on Martha’s Vineyard cottages
Posted in Architecture/Buildings, history, and Religion
We were walking along a paved path bordered by petunias near our hotel, leaving behind momentarily the white wooden rocking chairs overlooking a lovely view of Oak Bluffs Harbor and anchored boats. It was mid-morning and…
My auction colleague Sly was incredulous. He had watched as a gilt painted wall sculpture sold for $14,000, and he couldn’t understand why. Maybe it was made by a named artist, I said, trying to calm him.…
What’s with the love for cast iron pigs
Posted in Animals, collectibles, and Figurines
That will sell well, I overheard a woman say to her male companion. My back was turned to them so I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. I turned slightly to see this magnificent…
Peering through the lens of a Magiscope
Posted in Art
I first came upon a Magiscope sculpture about five years ago when an auction house was selling five small tabletop pieces. They were new and different and beautiful with their irregular metal stands and round…
Reader seeks value of Angela Davis FBI wanted poster
Posted in Black history, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Politics
From time to time, I get questions from readers about the items they own. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, the results…
I was on my way out of the auction house, having seen nothing I wanted to buy, when I decided to stop and browse at three tables near the door. The last table held flat…
Little girl’s dresser set with a sweet little note
Posted in Children, collectibles, Home, Trinket box, and Uncategorized
How cute, I thought when I saw the small porcelain dresser set on a tray inside a glass case at the auction house. There was nothing fancy about it: It was gilt-trimmed like many of…
I was surveying the items on the top shelf of the glass case at the auction house, looking for something of interest when out of the corner of my eye I saw it. The “it”…