I came looking for the coffins, the shellac boxes that cost too much money but we all feel obligated to bury our loved ones in, anyway. These were supposed to be African coffins, so I didn’t…
Tag: auction
Stereotypes in old mags & children’s books
Posted in Books, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, 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 their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
Simple tables with an unusual touch
Posted in furniture
I was on my way out of the front door of the auction house, my arms heavy with a box of stuff I’d just bought but likely didn’t need when I spotted the table. The…
The wrought iron garden bench and chairs were the color of pastels, and their appearance forced me to acknowledge them first among the other furniture that spoke of summer. They had been placed in a…
The envelope seemed too flat-pressed to be holding anything at all, much less anything of value. It had been weighted down by other papers on top of it, and you could practically hear it screaming…
Reader asks about Lois Mailou Jones’ Paris art book
Posted in Art, Books, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, 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 their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do…
Little Jasper African American pull toy
Posted in Toys
My auction buddy Janet and I immediately noticed Little Jasper when we approached the glass case at the auction house, which was holding a special doll sale on this day. We’d never heard of or…
“You don’t have to worry about anyone stealing that,” the man said as he walked up to me. That thought hadn’t crossed my mind as I stood there looking at the massive concrete garden seat…
A theater troupe’s African American marionettes
Posted in Art, collectibles, and Performers
At first glance, I could not tell what was in the row of cardboard boxes that filled the long tabletop at the auction house. There appeared to be about a dozen of them, with strings…