The cows were peeking from behind life-sized stone Roman figures. One sheep stood between two metal tractor-seat bar stools, while another seemed to be grazing on concrete. Nearby was a crocodile that looked much too real. The…
Tag: auction
The unfolded papers were rather undistinguished, so much so that I had laid them to the side as I rummaged through a box of photos. They were old family photos in those lovely paper frames…
Reader asks about black Georgia ancestors named Jarrell
Posted in Black history, Family, and slavery
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
Isn’t it beautiful, the woman said rather than asked as she walked up behind me at the auction house. I was staring at the bold white images at the top of a tall gold-leaf mirror, not…
Cotton boll is soldier’s 1941 gift from South
Posted in collectibles, and Medicine
Not another wad of handpicked cotton, I thought to myself, cringing at the sight before me as I approached the auction table. It seemed that unprocessed cotton was becoming a staple at auctions, but perhaps…
Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
The auction-house staffer mentioned something to the auctioneer helper that I could not hear. Atop a stand on wheels, the auctioneer had just ended the sale of another item in his rapid-fire cadence, watched and waited. “A piece of…
I watched as Jonathan Demme, in royal blue sneakers and looking a little thinner and a little grayer than I expected, walked breezily up to a man staring at a painting by Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite. Demme is…
Trying to biblically justify slavery in face of reality
Posted in Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and slavery
“The Duties of Servants.” On the surface, the broadside didn’t conjure the word “slavery” in my mind. But there it was among the slavery and abolition documents up for auction this week at Swann Auction…
I don’t usually stop to check out the costume jewelry at auction, but I had some time to waste while the auctioneer was selling paintings, none of which had enticed me. So I combed through…