Monthly Archives: August 2009
The road to knowledge is filled with potholes, part I
Marc Bell asked “How did you avoid the pitfalls in the antique lighting business?” Well, Marc, I didn’t. I hit my share of potholes along the learning road. (Do you have an antiques questions? I’ll try to answer them in … Continue reading
Beware of Tiffany Studios fakes, especially on eBay
Thanks to Hank Hancock for the idea for this blog and the photos. The problem with fake Tiffany Favrile glass items is not widespread, but you certainly want to avoid becoming one of the people who gets stuck with one. … Continue reading
We were already in California, so…
We looked on the Internet and checked northern California tourism and discovered the Napa Valley Wine Train. What a treat! There are several options, but the one we chose was the lunch trip. Arrive at 10:30 AM to check in … Continue reading
How I got started in the antiques business
Joe Mollica wrote to me with the following question. How did you get started in the business? The route I took to becoming an antiques dealer is similar to many others in the fact that I was a collector first. … Continue reading
One of the perks of the business – a visit to the Blacker House
The Blacker House was named after the lumber magnate, Robert Rue Blacker. It’s an original Greene & Greene house that dates to 1907. It was magnificently appointed with custom furniture, lighting, doors and windows, all in the finest Arts & … Continue reading
So-so results at the Pasadena Antiques Show
It’s really tough work sitting at a show when there’s very little to do. Kinda like Chinese torture. The show opened on Friday. I wish I knew why. There were very few people and of those who showed, there seemed … Continue reading
Tiffany Studios numbering explained
Tiffany Studios numbered their vases. Each number is a unique registry number that corresponds to that vase only. The earliest vases from 1892-3 had numbers and no letters. In 1894, the prefix A was introduced with the first vase being … Continue reading
Setting up at the Pasadena Antiques Show
The Pasadena Convention Center has been undergoing near total reconstruction for the last couple of years. The last two times I exhibited there in August, it was in a temporary tent on the grounds of the center. You know the … Continue reading
The Charles Martignette collection of American Illustration Art
My wife and I first met Charles Martignette in the 1970s, when we traveled to Miami Beach to exhibit at the big Miami Beach Convention Center Show. He came into our booth because we had a few American illustration paintings … Continue reading
Celebrity encounters in the antiques business, part VI
One day in the mid 1980s, my wife, Lia, was at our street level shop in the Manhattan Arts & Antiques Center on Second Avenue in New York City. “Big Bob” was one of the security guards on duty that … Continue reading