I was surprised to see so many Betty Boop figurines at auction again. The week before, tons of them were spread out on more than a half-dozen tables at the same auction house but in another room.…
Category: Figurines
From Jackie pearls to Marilyn dolls to coins at Franklin Mint sale
Posted in collectibles, Dolls, Figurines, and Uncategorized
One auction-buyer paid $1,300 for a set of silver coins. Another practically bought the entire lot of Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, Scarlett O’Hara and Gibson Girl bisque dolls in fabulous outfits. One guy did the same…
After a while, the woman’s words became a chorus. “It’s overwhelming,” she kept saying as she walked among glass cases of Disney collectibles in the auction-house room. Every now and then, she’d stop to observe…
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…
Retablo carvings on mirror tell stories of life in Peru
Posted in Art, Carvings, collectibles, and Figurines
From where I stood, staring across rows of heavy furniture at the auction house, I could barely make out the carvings framing the mirror. I could see that they were colorful and a little crude,…
The antiques shop was in a lovely brownstone on one of those venerable old streets much like the venerable old place that it had become. Its front hallway was narrow, partially blocked by an oversized mahogany cabinet…
When I first saw the small metal replica of a horse’s backside, the vulgar epithet that one antagonist hurls at another came to mind. The item was lying on its side on the auction table, its third of…
Readers ask about Underground Railroad eatery matchbook & liquor decanters
Posted in bottles, collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Figurines
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…
So I’m sitting in the audience at the auction, my hands and feet freezing because the owner has not fired up the furnace for the season, when I noticed that the auctioneer kept mentioning the…