The terracotta figurine was decidedly a black woman. Full lips, wide nose, fashionable tip of the head. I spotted her almost hidden among some larger items on the auction table recently. The skirt of her…
Black women, voiceless no more
Posted in Art
Tag: auction
Toy trains and Pullman porters
Posted in Black history, civil rights movement, and Toys
For some reason I can’t figure, I love model trains. So, when I saw tables of them at auction a week ago – Lionels, Tyco and other brands in original boxes, and some with no…
The organ sat there against a wall in the auction house like a grand dame – big, bulky with a little dust caked on the keys. It drew the attention of many of us as…
Are you feeling down, emotionless, lacking ambition and self-confidence? Well, have I got the cure for you! Tucked inside a box lot I got at auction this week was a small ziplock bag with a…
Do you remember Rickie Tickie Stickies? I didn’t when I first found a bunch of them in packages while inspecting a box lot from auction a couple weeks ago. I was going to toss them until…
Cups that are too sweet for tea
Posted in China, and collectibles
The tea cups and saucers were beautiful sitting there on the table, all very elegant and poised. They obviously had been someone’s collection – they appeared to be well-cared-for, with no chips and not a…
Furniture at too cheap a price
Posted in furniture
Sometimes when I’m sitting at an auction waiting for an item to come up, I’ll saunter over to the furniture sale. The stuff sells so cheaply that the auction house might as well give it…
I first learned about Dave the Potter when Winterthur, the former DuPont estate that is now a museum, held an exhibit of his stoneware pieces. The exhibit was called “‘I made this jar’ The Life…
Belated look at sale of Louis Sloan’s art
Posted in Art
Back in April, I wrote about a tug-of-war within the family of the late Philadelphia artist Louis B. Sloan over his artwork. At age 75, the artist died in 2008 on his way out to…
It’s pretty hard for me to pay retail these days. Not after seeing how little items go for at auction. The key is knowing when these items are up for sale. You can find that…