Expert Kathy Flood offers a candid update on the often-fickle jewelry market, listing what’s selling and what’s sitting. "Recently I purchased an enameled base-metal pin clip for $15 and sold it for $1,500. If that doesn’t get your juices flowing for jewelry, I don’t know what will. Why, you could even pay for a week of your ungrateful child’s college tuition with such a sale."
Two fine examples of early California landscape art, fresh on the market, blew away pre-sale estimates March 19. Estimated at $40,000 to $60,000, a Hanson Puthuff oil painting titled ‘Blue Hills and Winding Rivers,’ sold after a round of competitive bidding for $103,500. The sale again shows the market’s appetite for work from California painters is hitting a new level of appreciation.
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Les and Sue Fox, professional art brokers with West Highland Art Brokers, have developed a method of partnering with consigners to sell art, which touts benefits of both selling directly and consigning with an auction house: the husband and wife team will buy original paintings by listed artists, then partner with the art’s owners to sell at auction and, get this, split the profits.
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More than 1,700 bidders registered for a March 18-19 Leland Little auction to purchase a Berlin (KPM) Painting on Porcelain Plaque for $7,250, a Philip & Kelvin LaVerne "Chan" Cocktail Table for $6,000 and Edouard Cortes’ oil on canvas, titled "The Pantheon," for $25,000. The fine wine session, which was held Friday March 18th at 6PM, was the highest grossing wine auction for Little to date. Top achievers include 11 bottles of 1969 Richebourg, which sold for $8,500.
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The estate of the late Dr. Tanja B. Tarsey – a chemist and philanthropist who died in 2009 and collected fine art, Asian objects, porcelain pieces, better furniture, estate silver, fancy jewelry and more – will be sold the weekend of April 29-30, 2011.
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A discovery auction coming April 8-10, 2011 features 1,000 unreserved lots of stylish and practical property from traditional through the 21st century. Tucked inside the sale are several sleeper lots of famous 20th century design including pieces by George Nakashima, Mies Van Der Rohe and Charles & Ray Eames. Many more lots include furniture, rugs, pottery, metal, lighting, fine art, Asian, sports memorabilia and more. An unmarked, walnut art deco side table, standing 23 1/2 inches high by 24 inches in diameter, is expected to bring $700 to $900.
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Holy Redeemer Hospital in the Philadelphia suburb of Meadowbrook received a welcome windfall of approximately $20,000 thanks to a consignment of 15 pieces of Kittinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) furniture in a January sale. Learn how the furniture went from a thrift store donation to a major donation.
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The estate of the late Mrs. Flossie Stallworth, who accumulated many antique and beautiful items over the course of her 101 years, will be sold on-site March 5, 2011 in Quitman, Miss. A pair of Belter chairs is certain to wow the crowd – one being an armchair in the Spring Meyer pattern, the other a beautiful example in the Rosalie pattern. Two etageres are also expected to juice the crowd, one a rosewood Victorian bonnet-top piece by Thomas Brooks, the other a walnut Victorian etagere.
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More than 400 cataloged lots of coins, rare antiques and fine collectibles from two estates are expected to result in a banner sale for the James Peterson Co. of Edina, Minn. Among the discoveries include French gilt bronze clocks, a leather bound edition of Adolf Hitler’s "Mein Kampf," an 1802 Liberty gold coin, an Italian carved marble bust, diamond rings and a rare $1,000 greenback.
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Jewelry author, collector and dealer Kathy Flood lists her favorite types of blue costume jewelry as a side to her look at the 2011 trend of hot blue vintage jewels.
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