Philip Chasen Antiques » Antiques Road Show

Tiffany Studios lamps soar at Skinner’s sale of the Richard Wright Collection

Philip Chasen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:00:48 +0000

On October 24, 2009, Skinner, Inc. sold part II of the Richard Wright Collection. Overall, the sale was a barnburner, but today I’ll only discuss the Tiffany Studios lamps and glass. Yesterday, I reviewed a few of the results and tomorrow, I’ll discuss the Martin Brother ceramics and Zsolnay pottery results.

Tiffany Elaborate Peony table lamp, Skinner lot #305

Richard didn’t collect too many Tiffany lamps, but the ones he did were special. The most important lamp of his collection was a 22″ elaborate Peony. It was estimated at $300-500,000, one of the more aggressive estimates in the sale. The lamp sold within the estimate, for $435,000, including the buyer’s premium. The photos in the catalog and on their website do not do the lamp justice, as it was more colorful and beautiful in person.

A Tiffany 20\

A 20″ Dragonfly lamp on a mock Turtleback base was estimated for $25-35,000 and quadrupled the high estimate for a final price of $148,125, including the buyer’s premium. Lot #291 was a rare Daffodil Jonquil table lamp. It sold to a dealer for $112,575, against a pre-sale estimate of $30-50,000. A Tiffany 10-light lily did not fare quite as well, as it was sold with one reproduction shade and one cracked shade. It was estimated for $7-9,000 and sold for $22,515.

A rare Tiffany Favrile orange vase, Skinner lot #583

A small, but rare and interesting Tiffany Favrile vase, deep orange with a zipper decoration, was estimated for a silly low price of $4-600. It sold for $10,665, in the range one would expect for a vase of this quality.

It was a good day for Tiffany Studios items at auction, but that was to be expected. The items were high quality, fresh-to-the-market, estimated low, and sold into a market where superior Tiffany items have been strong for quite some time.

Please send me your suggestions or questions about art glass, lamps, Louis Icart, shows, auctions, etc. If it’s interesting, I’ll answer your question in a future blog entry.

Call or write and let me know what you would like to buy, sell, or trade. philchasen@gmail.com or 516-922-2090. And please visit my website. chasenantiques.com

Skinner’s auction of the Richard Wright Collection is a barnburner

Philip Chasen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:00:22 +0000

Richard Wright

Richard Wright died on March 1, 2009 at age 62. He was best known as the expert doll appraiser for the Antiques Roadshow. He was also the owner of Wright Antiques & Dolls, in Birchrunville, Pennsylvania. I used to see him regularly when we both exhibited at the Atlantique City show. Skinner Inc. was the lucky auction house to sell his collection. They divided it into two parts, with the dolls being sold first on October 10, 2009 and the rest of his eclectic collection on October 24, 2009, with spectacular results. I’ll only cover the second session, which was so diverse and so exciting that I’ll divide my coverage into three parts.

Skinner’s knows how to market a sale. They let the public know that everything was there to sell by putting estimates that were so low, that everyone thought they were in the game. There is nothing better for a stellar auction than high quality, fresh-to-the-market items at low or no reserves. Stuart Whitehurst was the supervisor in charge. He and his staff did a great job and the results show it.

Bruno Zach, 'The Riding Crop', Skinner's lot #85

A large Bruno Zach bronze entitled “The Riding Crop”, 33½” tall, was estimated for $12-15,000. It sold for $94,800, including buyer’s premium.

Gallé side table, Skinner lot #306

Richard had a few pieces of Art Nouveau furniture in his collection and the auction results for them were fantastic. A Gallé two-drawer side table with mother-of-pearl butterfly inlays was estimated at $6-8,000. It brought an astounding $136,275, including buyer’s premium. A Gallé marquetry hall tree for coats and umbrellas, was estimated for $3-4,000 and sold for $31,995, including the buyer’s premium.

The results for Tiffany glass and lamps, Martin Brothers ceramics and Zsolnay pottery were equally tremendous. Tomorrow I’ll cover the Tiffany and the next day the Martin Brothers and Zsolnay.

Please send me your suggestions or questions about art glass, lamps, Louis Icart, shows, auctions, etc. If it’s interesting, I’ll answer your question in a future blog entry.

Call or write and let me know what you would like to buy, sell, or trade. philchasen@gmail.com or 516-922-2090. And please visit my website. chasenantiques.com

An interview with David Rago

Philip Chasen — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:00:10 +0000

David Rago

David Rago is the owner of the Rago Arts and Auction Center, in Lambertville, NJ, specializing in 20th century design. He also appears on The Antiques Roadshow as an appraiser, specializing in ceramics, porcelain, 20th century furniture, and vintage wine.

I submitted several written questions to him.

Q. How has the recession affected your business?

Tiffany Studios Venetian table lamp, lot 409, June, 2009

A. The recession has affected our business in several ways. Most prominently, securing good consignments at reasonable price levels has become the most challenging part. We don’t believe we can BEGIN to evaluate pieces (in the form of estimates, which are driven by reserves) at 2008 or maybe even 2007 levels, which discourages many consignors from giving up pieces. I try to balance our and their expectations by saying that we often get prices at or above levels of a few years ago, but the approach now is to let pieces seek their prices through competitive bidding, NOT by starting at strong prices. We’ve found that buyers/bidders simply don’t want to be told that, to get their hands in the air for an opening bid, they have to be willing to pay anything near what used to be accepted retail. The old auction belief that, to get a record price you have to risk getting a record low price, has never, ever, been more true than now. We sold a Tiffany Venetian lamp in our last major sale (June 09) with an estimate of $27-32k.

Tiffany enamel on copper box, lot 393, June, 2009

It was a rare version with strong glass in pristine condition, fresh from an estate. It brought $81k, a record for the form. In the same sale we had a Tiffany enamel on copper box, almost as clean as the lamp, also fresh to the market, with a fairly strong estimate of $45–55k. Even though we had six “players”, I mean real bidders, on the phone, no one hit it once. We ended up selling it after the sale for under the low estimate. My contention was that, if the estimate were $30–40k, we’d have gotten the $50k for it.

Q. What areas show strength? Weakness?
A. Good things, in good condition, at reasonable prices, seem quite strong. Middle range things with condition issues, offered at regular prices, seem to languish. We just sold the estate of an old school New Hope dealer. The material had been off the market for 25 years and the family put no price restrictions on estimates and reserves. The sale was 100% sold and hammered near the high estimate plus the buyer’s premium of 20%. There was almost no glass in the collection, so this is relevant only in how it informs the marketplace. But we had a room full of active bidders, plus 100 people on the phone, plus 500 people on the Internet, for two solid days. It was like nothing had changed. But one thing HAD changed seriously, and that was the expectation of the seller.

Q. What do you foresee for the coming year?
A. The coming year is at the mercy of the economy, which is at the mercy of I don’t know what. Right now people (at least the ones buying art) mostly have more money than they did five years ago but they feel like they have less because they aren’t as rich as they were a year or two ago. Whether you own stock or real estate or middle range art, you in fact have less. Until people begin to feel comfortable with both their level of wealth AND the state of the economy, I don’t see great changes in the marketplace.

Please send me your suggestions or questions about art glass, lamps, Louis Icart, shows, auctions, etc. If it’s interesting, I’ll answer your question in a future blog entry.

Call or write and let me know what you would like to buy, sell, or trade. philchasen@gmail or 516-922-2090. And please visit my website. chasenantiques.com