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Maine Antique Digest — (01/04/11)

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Next Advertising Deadline: March 7

Maine Antique Digest — (11/10/10)

The next advertising deadline for Maine Antique Digest is Wednesday, March 7, for the April issue that mails on March 17.

Next Color Advertising Deadline: February 29

Maine Antique Digest — (11/10/10)

Color ads in Maine Antique Digest are available by reservation only.

February Issue Mails on January 14

Maine Antique Digest — (11/16/09)

The February 2012 issue of Maine Antique Digest will be mailed on January 14.

Low-Key Auction Still Breaks $1 Million Mark

Maine Antique Digest — (01/31/12)

There were five to six phone bidders when this pair of Paris porcelain vases came up for bid.

Another New York County Charges Auctioneer Timothy Conroy

Maine Antique Digest — (01/31/12)

by David Hewett
On December 14, 2011, auctioneer Timothy Conroy appeared in Madison County Court and pleaded not guilty to one count of third-degree grand larceny, stealing of consignors' funds, a felony in the Empire State.
In the sealed indictment handed up by the Madison County Grand Jury, Conroy was charged with the theft of $8500 owed to a consignor from a May 2007 auction.

Variety Marks Farmer's Fall Sale

Maine Antique Digest — (01/31/12)

This cast-iron toy bus from the Arcade Manufacturing Company, Freeport, Illinois, is a souvenir of the 1933-34 A Century of Progress International Exposition, commonly referred to as the Chicago World's Fair.

Cataloging Software

Maine Antique Digest — (01/31/12)

NM Collector JE is a simple, inexpensive, versatile collection cataloging program that will run on a Windows, Linux, or Macintosh computer.
Computer Column #278
by John P.

The American Art Fair 2011

Maine Antique Digest — (01/31/12)

The American Art Fair filled three floors of the Bohemian National Hall November 27-December 1, 2011.

More Questions Than Answers

Maine Antique Digest — (01/30/12)

Relief carving of the goddess Minerva by Bozanico, inscribed on the reverse, Continental, under glass, 19¾" x 15½", $58,750.
The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories by John James Audubon (1785-1851), seven-volume set, New York and Philadelphia, Roe Lockwood & Son, 1860, royal octavo, full embossed leather, title embossed on front and rear boards, five spine bands, gilt spine lettering and all edges gilt, includes 500 colored lithographic plates with tissue covers, 10¾" x 7½", some wear to outside covers and even toning to pages, Volume V front free endpaper detached and with a nonprofessional taped repair, small tear to upper part of front free endpaper in Volume II, $10,575.
Still Life in Faces Vase by Henry Faulkner (1924-1981), signed, oil on board, 13" x 9" plus artist-rendered frame, $8225.
Ivory candy dish, American, hexagonal form on three legs, rotating bowl with scalloped edges, riveted handle, 7¼" high x 7½" wide, staining, $1410.
Queen Anne high chest in cherry, Massachusetts, 18th century, 73½" high, refinished, brasses replaced, missing drop pendants and a spur, $2350.
French Cathedral by Elizabeth Nourse (1859-1938), signed and dated 1901, oil on canvas, 22½" x 22", $19,387.50.
Demetre Chiparus, Amis De Toujours, bronze, French, 1914-33, Art Nouveau woman with an ivory face, flanked by borzoi, mounted on a marble base, signed, with impressed foundry seal for Edmond Etling of Paris, 17" x 16½", two cracks to ivory at neck, crack to marble base, with some repairs, $18,800.
Cowan's Auctions, Cincinnati, Ohio
by Don Johnson
Photos courtesy Cowan's Auctions
It was largely a buyer's market during the fine and decorative arts sale held October 8, 2011, by Cowan's Auctions in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Op Art Options at Rachel Davis

Maine Antique Digest — (01/30/12)

Julian Stanczak (b.

The Tailgate Antique Show in Nashville Merges with Music Valley

Maine Antique Digest — (01/30/12)

Rick Norton of Noblesville, Indiana, called his diverse display "Merch 1." A standout item at the center was this swan fountain for $6500—perfect for a New Orleans courtyard.
Antiques & Beyond, Atlanta, Georgia, had set up a display designed to appeal to private and commercial decorators.

Fine Art Show Gives Boston's Art World "Critical Mass"

Maine Antique Digest — (01/30/12)

This 14" x 21" watercolor on paper by Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was $100,000 from Sunne Savage Gallery, Winchester, Massachusetts.

In the trade: Benjamin Wilson and Kathy Pakay, Hudson, New York

Maine Antique Digest — (01/30/12)

Kathy Pakay and Ben Wilson.
Wilson's and Pakay's shop at 529 Warren Street, Hudson, New York.
An Adirondack desk chair in a nice dark old surface is $675.
An early 19th-century Connecticut cupboard with raised panel doors in cream and yellow over red (this is the type of surface Ben Wilson loves) is $3400.

Benefit Auction Breaks Records, and Mystery of "Daguerreian Holy Grail" Revealed

Maine Antique Digest — (01/30/12)

A daguerreian brooch encasing a 1¼" x 1" image of a child with a curl and a toy trumpet brought $1100.

Stories of Three Collections: Key West, Jack London, and Bookends

Maine Antique Digest — (01/30/12)

One of several panoramic photographs of Key West in the 1870's, taken from Tift's Tower, a lookout for wreckers searching for distressed ships.

Dara Mitchell Leaves Sotheby's after 26 Years

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

by Lita Solis-Cohen
In June 2011, Dara Mitchell, head of Sotheby's American art department and one of eight executive vice presidents of Sotheby's North and South America, decided to retire by the end of 2011.

The 75th Augusta Armory Show

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

A well-painted $550 Tammany nodding bank sat next to a square Columbian Safe Deposit bank at the booth of Doug and Tania Carnrick of Odds 'N Sodds, Winslow, Maine.

Bidders Go for "Safe Bets"

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

Arizona Twilight by Dale Nichols (1904-1995), a 30" x 40" oil on canvas, brought $72,000 (est.

December Jewelry Auctions

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

Platinum and diamond ring.

Tricks and Treats at York Show

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

Jewett-Berdan Antiques, Newcastle, Maine, asked $5500 for the architectural blanket chest with scalloping in original green paint decoration.

The World of Duncan Phyfe

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

by Lita Solis-Cohen
Stuart Feld of Hirschl & Adler Galleries imparted his passion for the furniture of Duncan Phyfe to his daughter, Elizabeth, and together they have put together a selling exhibition, The World of Duncan Phyfe, at their stunning new galleries on the fourth floor of the Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Crowell Standing Redhead Drake Highlights Sale

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

An important full-size standing redhead drake by A.

Letter from London

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

by Ian McKay, ianmckay1@btinternet.com
The emperor Qianlong is said to have been very taken with this form of Buddhist alms bowl when visiting a temple at Jiannan in 1758 (on one of his "Southern Grand Tours") and to have subsequently requested, or perhaps ordered, that examples of such bowls be carved from precious jade.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

Approaching the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, visitors immediately perceive the unity of art, architecture, and nature.

Editorial: Sign of the Times

Maine Antique Digest — (01/25/12)

During Memorial Day weekend 2011, Cincinnati, Ohio, landlord Jamie Hein banned a young African-American girl who was visiting her father from swimming in the pool at the duplex Hein owns.

Getman Buys Boston Book Show; New Venue Found

Maine Antique Digest — (01/23/12)

Marvin Getman of Impact Events Group, Lexington, Massachusetts, has acquired the Boston Book, Print and Ephemera Show from promoter Bernice Bornstein.
Bornstein started the Boston Book, Print and Ephemera Show 15 years ago as a satellite show to the fall Boston Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) International Book Fair.

American Furniture and Decorative Arts Auction

Maine Antique Digest — (01/23/12)

Hermann Ottomar Herzog (1832-1932), Sunset in the Florida Everglades, signed, oil on canvas, 17 1/8" x 24", $74,500 (est.

American Paintings Auction at Christie's

Maine Antique Digest — (01/23/12)

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), The Piazzetta with Gondolas, executed 1902-04, watercolor with pencil on paper, 10" x 14", $842,500 (est.

What a Crock!

Maine Antique Digest — (01/23/12)

This stoneware jug, stamped "E.H.

The Fall Fox Valley Antiques Show

Maine Antique Digest — (01/23/12)

This realistic copy of a mid-18th-century fireplace stopped us dead in our tracks.

Auction Law and Ethics: The Lowdown on Underbidders

Maine Antique Digest — (01/23/12)

by Steve Proffitt
The modern world is fast turning the bedrock concept of individual privacy into a relic that will be remembered only in history books.

A Book Review: Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence

Maine Antique Digest — (01/23/12)

by Lita Solis-Cohen
Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence: Selections from the Jane Katcher Collection of Americana, Volume II
Editors Jane Katcher, David A.

A Book Review: William Birch: Picturing the American Scene

Maine Antique Digest — (01/23/12)

by Lita Solis-Cohen
William Birch: Picturing the American Scene
by Emily T.

Inaugural Sale for Cordier in New Facility

Maine Antique Digest — (01/12/12)

David Cordier took turns auctioneering with colleague Ellen Miller.

Bid-Rigging Charges Dismissed

Maine Antique Digest — (01/12/12)

by Elizabeth Dinan
A judge has dismissed the charges that Portsmouth, New Hampshire, auctioneer Stephen Bennett rigged the bidding for a nautical painting.

19th-Century Maritime Art

Maine Antique Digest — (01/12/12)

The inset is Buttersworth's "Madeline" and "Sappho" off Sandy Hook Lightship, oil on canvas, 30" x 40".

Amendment to California's Secondhand Dealers Law Would Allow Seizure of Dealer's Inventory

Maine Antique Digest — (01/12/12)

by David Hewett
"California is very much into getting income from everyone and anyplace it can find it now.

Daughters of Mary Lose in Bouguereau Painting Lawsuit

Maine Antique Digest — (01/11/12)

On Monday, January 9, jurors in the Albany County (New York) Supreme Courthouse, hearing assertions that two art dealers conspired to defraud a group of nuns and their bishop out of a painting that was worth upward of $4.8 million, brought in their verdict.

The jurors chose not to believe that the dealers, Mark LaSalle and Mark Zaplin, conspired to scam the nuns at St.

Baby, It's Cold Outside: The Joe Loprete Collection

Maine Antique Digest — (01/06/12)

This is the living room of the Lopretes' home before 85 people squeezed in.

Highlights of Americana from Two Estates

Maine Antique Digest — (01/05/12)

Once again, a powerful piece of music memorabilia was top lot at a Case auction.

Americana Week 2012: The Met's New Wing Opens, Phyfe in Focus, and James L. Kochan's Exhi

Maine Antique Digest — (12/30/11)

Ogden family satinwood worktable, 1810-15, attributed to Duncan Phyfe, satinwood and burl satinwood, partially ebonized, and mahogany, with gilt-brass paw toe caps, casters, and drawer pulls, baize writing surface, and mirror plate, 31" high x 21¾" wide x 14¼" deep.

Americana Week 2012: The Shows

Maine Antique Digest — (12/30/11)

by Lita Solis-Cohen
The New York Winter Antiques Show spawned Americana Week more than 30 years ago when auctions began scheduling Americana sales while collectors were in town.

Americana Week 2012: Auction Highlights

Maine Antique Digest — (12/30/11)

by Lita Solis-Cohen
Americana Week in New York City is a long tradition that grew up around the Winter Antiques Show.