I came across the artist James M. Washington Jr. by chance. I was searching for artwork by Philadelphia ceramicist Frances Serber among 1970s photographs of public art compiled by the Fairmount Park Art Association. That’s when I saw the…
Category: Art
I’d seen clean sun-bleached skulls of cows and steers at auction, so I was not surprised to find some laid out on a table at this auction house. What surprised me were the plastic cartons…
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a lithograph of a quartet that bore the illegible signature of the artist. I’m usually good at deciphering handwriting, but this one stumped me. So I asked for…
Help me identify the artist’s name on this lithograph
Posted in Art, Music, and Uncategorized
I often stumble across artwork that speaks directly to me, and as a result, have built a collection of well-known and not-so-well-known artists. I was at an auction house recently when I saw a jumble…
When I first saw the tin pieces in the furniture room at the auction house, I thought of the seed pods from the 1956 sci-fi movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” There were two of…
The last house where Paul Robeson lived
Posted in Art, history, Music, Performers, Plays, Sports, and theater
Arcenia McClendon was telling a story about the time she met Paul Robeson: She was a young school teacher in her early 20s and she passed the house at 50th and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia on her…
A counter jar full of colorful cigar bands
Posted in Art, collectibles, and Personal items
The big glass jar was chock full of colorful cigar bands, all looking as if they’d just been delicately removed from too many cigars. Individually, they were about size of a man’s swollen ring finger. I…
Friday at Auction Finds is a day I answer readers’ questions. 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…
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.…