An important and rarely-seen masterpiece by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) sold at Christie’s June 21 for $21.8 million. Having resided in just two private collections since it was painted, "Jeune fille endormie," 1935, was given to the University of Sydney by an anonymous donor on condition that it would be sold and that the university would dedicate the proceeds to scientific research.
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Speaking of Dolls columnist Sherry Minton advises all buyers of vintage and antique dolls to inspect a doll’s body before it is purchased. There’s no telling what repairs, swaps and new parts that could have been added to the doll – all of which can change the doll’s value.
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At Talk & Trade Live buyers and sellers are doing that for items ranging in price from $8.99 on up to thousands. For a flat monthly fee sellers use an Internet video chat system and a feedback system to sell items to buyers from their booths, like those offered at shows and fleas. A mix between craigslist, eBay and Skype, the site, launched by an antiques dealer and part-time eBay seller, is gaining ground fast.
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BOUCKVILLE, N.Y. – This year marks the 40th anniversary of Madison-Bouckville Antique Week, slated for Aug. 15-21 in Bouckville, a town located in central New York state, not far from Syracuse and Utica and right on State Route 20. The event will play host to over 2,000 dealers and vendors and is expected to attract 45,000 people or more to its many fields.
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Christie’s announced this week it is has scheduled a series of public exhibitions and special events leading up to the sale of the collection of Elizabeth Taylor, who passed away March 23. The tour will culminate in New York in early December with a special ten-day, museum-quality exhibition of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry, fashion, accessories, decorative arts and memorabilia, followed by four consecutive days of auctions.
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Starting July 1 through Sept. 30, 2011 you may submit your own stories of auction scores, heartwarming yard sale surprises or antiques show discoveries to the Third Annual Antique Trader Favorite Finds Contest. Since your stories keep getting bigger and better, so has this year’s prize. This year’s winner will receive the Antique Trader Yard Sale Survival Kit, a free subscription and a whopping 10-volume reference library! Read More +
Collect rare and unusual? How about a "heart-attack chair," used during initiations and private ceremonies of secret orders and societies? The chair is so-named because when a person sat in it and a mechanism was triggered, a .32 caliber blank fired. If the person in the chair got spooked and jumped, they were kicked out of the group. It could be yours July 16-17, 2011 at Red Baron’s annual summer extravaganza.
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A subscriber writes that despite so many criticisms leveled at online auction giant eBay, his sales are increasing. In fact, even during the worst of the recession, his sales on eBay stayed consistent. "While we are certainly not fan of eBay’s feedback system that gives far too much power for the occasional unreasonable customer to affect a seller’s search position and fee discounting, it seems that much of the discontent that we read in your Letters to Editor indicates that eBay somehow owes its sellers something."
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Jewelry expert and author Kathy Flood marvels at an unsung hero of the antiques trade: the inventory shipper. From trophy buffalo to Hershey’s Kisses sent to Afghanistan, the shipper knows all and sees all … maybe a little too much.
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ROUND TOP, Texas – American Antiques at Rifle Hall for the fourth year with Ralph Willard as owner and manager of one of the original antiques shows in Round Top Spring opened Friday, March 25 and ran through Wednesday, March 30, 2011.
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