The road to knowledge is filled with potholes, part I

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Philip Chasen

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 future posts. philchasen@gmail.com)

A Tiffany 3-light lily lamp with Quezal shades, similar to my first purchase

I remember the first time I bought a signed lamp. The year was probably 1973. We were at an auction and the auctioneer was explaining that the next item for sale was a Tiffany 3-light lily lamp with Quezal shades. We were the successful bidders and paid $600 for it. My wife and I were really nervous about this huge purchase. I told my mother and she told me I was nuts. Thanks, Mom. She just couldn’t conceive of a lamp costing that much money.

Now I had my first antique lamp and I was eager to try and sell it. I took good photos and advertised the lamp in Hobbies magazine. Hobbies was an important monthly publication for both collectors and dealers. (All of you old-timers should remember the good old days when it was possible to sell items by advertising in magazines. For you younger collectors, there really was an antiques world prior to the Internet.)

I waited for over a month until the magazine was published. I got a few calls and one was long-distance from a collector in Iowa. (How many of you remember when everyone would stop whatever they were doing because someone was calling LONG DISTANCE? It was exciting!) He told me the lamp was a marriage – the lamp base was from one company and the shades from another. Apparently a marriage in a lamp was a bad thing. I didn’t know that! I had assumed that the word Quezal was a Tiffany word, like Favrile. Pssssssssss. The air just zoomed out of my bubble! But it didn’t end badly. This caller was willing to buy the lamp as is. I learned a big lesson that didn’t cost me a penny, in fact I earned a small profit. I was lucky because most lessons in the antiques business are much more costly.

And that, folks, was the ignominious beginning to my education as a lamp dealer.

Tomorrow you can read lesson #2, which took place a few years later. It’s much juicier than this one, guaranteed!

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

Beware of Tiffany Studios fakes, especially on eBay

Posted on August 14, 2009 by Philip Chasen

Tiffany fake #1

Tiffany fake #3

Tiffany fake #2

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. The following examples have all been for sale on eBay recently. It’s hard to say whether the sellers are nefarious and know they are selling reproductions or just ignorant, but my experience tells me a fair percentage of them know the truth.

Tiffany fake #4

Tiffany fake #6

Tiffany fake #5

So how can you tell? Sorry, but there’s no easy answer. Familiarity with the shapes, colors and decorations of authentic Tiffany Favrile glass is the best way to tell. To the trained eye, these items stick out like sore thumbs. It’s not necessary to look at fake signatures if you already know the item is fake just by looking at it. But there’s the rub. It takes quite a bit of time and effort to train one’s eye.

So what do you do? You have to buy from reputable dealers, collectors and auction houses that will absolutely guarantee the authenticity of the items they sell. Anyone can make a mistake, but only an honest person will make good on correcting a mistake, should one occur. This advice may be self-serving, but nonetheless, it’s absolutely true. Remember the old adage “If you don’t know your art, know your dealer”.

Fake Tiffany counterclockwise signature

Also look at Tiffany signatures. 99% of the time, an authentic signature is counter-clockwise. Many fake signatures are clockwise. The forger for this vase knew to make it counterclockwise, but it’s still an awful fake. After looking at enough signatures, it gets increasingly easy to recognize a genuine one.

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

We were already in California, so…

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Philip Chasen

The Napa Valley Wine Train

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 and listen to a short lecture with wine tasting. The white was a Pinot Gris, the French equivalent of Pinot Grigio, using the same grape — quite tasty. I liked the syrah that followed but Lia didn’t.

A view of some vineyards from the train

Then on to the train for an 11:30 AM departure and a 3-hour trip through several towns of the Napa Valley, starting in Napa, traveling to St. Helena and returning to Napa. The trains are restored 1915-17 Pullman dining cars with air conditioning and compressed natural gas engines in some of the locomotives. It’s a delightful relaxing ride.

Philip and Lia in the dessert car

I was quite surprised by the quality of the food and the service. Michell was our fine waitress and tour guide as we passed various wineries. I expected cafeteria food but got gourmet, restaurant quality food. The special was ribeye steak, which was excellent. The pork chop was almost as good. I misread the details of the trip, so I thought the wine pairings were included in the cost, but unfortunately, they were additional. My wine, a Zinfandel blend, called “The Prisoner”, was excellent. I’ll be looking to buy more when we get back to NY. After lunch, we proceeded to another car where we got dessert and coffee. My brownie was delicious.

A stop at the Grgich Winery is possible on another tour

So, if you find yourself in the San Francisco area, looking for a day’s entertainment, I highly recommend the Wine Train. For $15 additional, there’s even a boat that takes you to the train directly from San Francisco. That would have been fun, had we actually started our journey from there.

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

How I got started in the antiques business

Posted on August 12, 2009 by Philip Chasen

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. You can open a card shop or a franchise without much experience, but not an antiques business. Collecting first gives one the time to gain the requisite knowledge to be successful.

Rare Handel Elk lamp

In the early 1970s, my sister bought a country house in upstate New York. One day she asked me to go to an auction with her to buy some items to furnish her house. I was more than a little bit reluctant, but she was convincing. So I went with my wife and my sister to my first auction. It was an old-fashioned estate sale where everything was there to be sold without reserve. We had no idea what we were doing, but we bought a few items — a rocking chair, a small rug — and had fun. We started attending auctions and bought without a plan, but antique lighting was especially interesting to me. I liked the idea that I could buy an antique that was functional. Handel, with its beautiful reverse-painted lamps, was the first company I gravitated to. I became knowledgeable quickly and was off to the races.

At the time I was teaching chemistry, physics and math in the NYC high school system. I’d never wanted to teach, but the army wanted me to become a private in Vietnam or teach. Hmm, tough choice. So for the 8½ years that I taught until 1978, I juggled both teaching and the antiques business. Because of the Women’s Liberation Movement, men could now apply for paternity leaves, so I took a leave for a year. My wife continued teaching, while I helped to take care of my young daughter. It allowed me to spend more time in the antiques business. The year was successful, so I resigned from the New York City Board of Ed and haven’t looked back. For me it was a good decision.

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.

One of the perks of the business – a visit to the Blacker House

Posted on August 11, 2009 by Philip Chasen

Harvey and Ellen Knell in front of their home, the Blacker House

The entry hall of 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 & Crafts manner. The Blackers lived there until 1944, when Robert Blacker’s widow Nellie, died. Subsequently, the house was owned by several people — one of whom sold all the furniture and the fireplace surrounds. Later in its history, the property was subdivided, but the main house remained intact with all of its light fixtures, windows and doors.

The next owner was Marjorie Hill and her husband, who lived there for about 35 years.

In 1985, a Texas collector, Barton English, purchased the home from Marjorie Hill for approximately $1,000,000. Without ever living in the house, he started stripping everything he could, including about 60 light fixtures, the magnificent stained glass entry doors and most of the stained glass windows. After selling just a few of the light fixtures, he recouped all of the money from his purchase of the house. The Pasadena locals became enraged and referred to this travesty as a “rape”. They forced the city to pass an emergency ordinance, which stopped English in his tracks. Had he been allowed to continue, the tile fireplaces would also have been removed, as well as the wood paneling, etc.

One more family owned it before Harvey and Ellen Knell bought it in 1994. Since then, the Knells have spent considerable time, effort and money in lovingly restoring it to its former glory, including faithfully reproducing the missing light fixtures and furniture.

The dining room of the Blacker House

The Knells were kind enough on this trip to Pasadena, to invite us to view their magnificent home. What a treat! They did extensive research to uncover the original details and hired today’s finest craftsmen to recreate them. Whatever had been ruined by neglect, earthquake or other disaster, both natural and man-made, was reversed. In some cases, the Knells were able to buy back the original furnishings or architectural elements and restore them to their original places in the house. Unfortunately for the Knells, some of the items, like the octagonal lighting fixtures in the living room, have become prohibitively expensive, making it nearly impossible to restore all of the items to their original locations.

The living room of the Blacker House

So a big thank you to the Knells for their gracious hospitality.

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

So-so results at the Pasadena Antiques Show

Posted on August 10, 2009 by Philip Chasen

The Pasadena Antiques Show, August 9, 2009

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 to be even fewer buyers. 8 hours of sitting. It’s easy when people are asking questions and making purchases, but not this Friday.

Irene Stella seems to have it right. She’s the promoter of the Pier Show in NYC. It’s a 2-day show. The public comes en masse and everyone makes their decisions quickly whether to purchase or not. It’s good for the public and good for the dealers. I would like to see the Pasadena show shortened to 2 days, but it’ll never happen.

Saturday was much more lively. Attendance was good, interest was good, especially in Tiffany Studios desk set items, and sales were decent. Now if only Sunday would be like Saturday, the show would have been good, but alas, no dice. Attendance wasn’t very good and interest was poor.

In my opinion, the main problem is that there isn’t just one important show in the LA area that everyone MUST attend. There’s one little show here and one little show there and as a result, LA is a difficult city in which to do well. It doesn’t matter how wealthy the residents are if they don’t show up. I say that because I’m always amused by show promoters when they try to convince me that I should do a new show in some city. “Do you know what the average income is within a 50-mile radius of the show?” I couldn’t care less, because that’s not what’s most important. It’s getting those people to attend the show that’s most important and that’s way tougher than it sounds.

On to Chicago in a couple of weeks and then Baltimore over the Labor Day weekend. That’s the one I’m looking most forward to. It’s big and important, so everyone shows up. It doesn’t guarantee I’ll do well, but at least I’ll have a fighting chance.

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.

Tiffany Studios numbering explained

Posted on August 7, 2009 by Philip Chasen

A typical Tiffany Studios numbered signature

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 A1. Each subsequent vase received the next consecutive number until A9999 was reached and then the next letter, B, was used. When the entire alphabet was completed, the prefix letter was changed to a suffix letter, so the next number after Z9999 would be 1A, followed by 2A, etc. After 9999A, the next number would be 1B, until the entire alphabet would be used up.

Tiffany vases can be dated according to a chart in the Robert Koch book, Louis C. Tiffany’s Glass Bronzes Lamps, on page 56. Prefix A corresponds to 1894, suffix A to 1906, etc.

A typical Tiffany Studios unnumbered signature

Items without numbers were generally utilitarian items like bowls or glasses that came in sets. These were part of general production and usually unnumbered. The signatures might be “L.C.T.” or “L.C.T. Favrile” or “L.C.Tiffany Favrile” or some other variation.

A typical Tiffany Studios signature with a shape number

Later items, especially pastel ones, have numbers that do not include a letter. These are shape numbers, not registry numbers. For example, 1881 is a trumpet vase and is repeated on all trumpet vases of the same size and shape. (Credit Gordon (Hank) Hancock for this information. Hank is writing a book on Tiffany pastel glass that will be very useful.)

A typical Tiffany Studios late production compound number signature

Compound signatures include the shape number first and then the serial number. This system was developed late into Tiffany production, so it will not be found on earlier vases. The example pictured shows that the vase is shape 1525, with serial number 9008M. To the best of my knowledge, this has never been explained before in writing.

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

Setting up at the Pasadena Antiques Show

Posted on August 6, 2009 by Philip Chasen

Setup at the Pasadena Antiques Show, August 5, 2009

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 kind of white bubble you see for indoor tennis courts? Well that’s what we were in. Major construction was going on all around us.

I’m happy to say that the construction is over and the new facilities are quite an improvement. The exhibition hall is very modern with all the amenities one would expect of a new facility.

We spent the day setting up, with one more day tomorrow to finish. Walking around the show, I can report that it’s small to moderate in size, with several new high-quality dealers who did not exhibit a couple of weeks ago in Redondo Beach. Overall the quality of the show is very good.

It’s interesting doing shows on the West Coast and comparing them to East Coast shows. Most noticeable is the pace of setting up — it is veerry slooww. California dealers arrive when they feel like and that’s not usually early in the morning. Many take only the second day to set up and don’t bother with the first day. Ultimately it all gets done and the shows always look nice by the time the doors open to the public.

In the east, the pace is much faster and the dealers are much more intense. Competition is much greater. Decisions get made quicker. There’s much more action and electricity. I like it, but I can see how some people would object.

I’ve got a good feeling about the show and the business in general. Everything seems to be almost returning to normal — and that means no fear. I’ll be posting on Monday about the results.

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

The Charles Martignette collection of American Illustration Art

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Philip Chasen

Charles Martignette

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 for sale. At the time, American illustration art was not very popular. It wasn’t recognized yet as the art form it is today. I was attracted to it very early and always tried to have a few paintings for sale. Charles invited us to his warehouse where he had already started to assemble a formidable collection. It was quite an experience seeing all the paintings stacked on shelves and in crates. I wish I had been able to do more business with him, but I always found his prices to be just a little out of range. Too bad I didn’t have the foresight to buy and hold some of his paintings, but as we all know, hindsight is 20/20.

The next year, Charles bought Norcross’ entire collection of 90,000 original illustrations for their greeting cards. He convinced us to buy several hundred of them for $3000. He was a smooth talker and a very good salesman and unfortunately I fell for it. It was a lot of money for us in the 1970s and selling them turned out to be tough. I think I’ve still got quite a few stashed away someplace. After that, our opinion of Charles soured and we did very little business. Each year when we returned to Miami, he would come into our booth, as friendly as could be, but we kept him at arm’s length.

Gil Elvgren, A Near Miss (Right on Target)

In the meantime, Charles was putting together the finest collection of American illustration art ever assembled. He was passionate and had a one-track mind. Ultimately he amassed a collection of thousands of paintings, stored in multiple warehouses. He had an eye for the best and collected works by Rolf Armstrong, Earl Moran, Alberto Vargas, J.C. Leyendecker, Gil Elvgren, N.C. Wyeth, Harvey Dunn and Norman Rockwell, to name just a few.

Unfortunately, Charles died young and suddenly at age 57 in 2008. I found out by reading the obituaries in The Newtown Bee. I was shocked and saddened by the news.

What would become of his fabulous collection? His family inherited the collection and chose to sell it to a group of investors. They, in turn, have decided to sell the entire collection at auction at Heritage Galleries, the Dallas auction house. Heritage is a growing auction house, specializing in coins, but expanding into many other categories, including American illustration art. The collection is so vast, that Heritage has decided to divide it up into six sessions over the next few years. Session I, called the Glamour & Pop Art Signature Auction #7015, just took place in July, with great results. More on the results in a subsequent post.

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. http://chasenantiques.com

Celebrity encounters in the antiques business, part VI

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Philip Chasen

Michael Jackson

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 day. He came into our shop and told Lia that Michael Jackson was in the antique center, shopping on the floor below street level. Many of the street level shops have windows that face the street, so privacy was an issue.

She left the shop and went to the floor below. Michael Jackson was there, just coming out of one of the shops. Lia was a bit shy of approaching him, but his bodyguard assured her that she could talk to him with no problem. Lia told Michael (can I keep using first names?) that our kids like his music. He was very gracious, friendly and humble. He permitted photos to be taken with everyone who asked and signed many autographs. By the time he left, there was a crowd of approximately 15 people around him. Hard to reconcile the Michael from that day with the one who just passed away.

It seems to be a pattern, but the Polaroid photo Lia took of Michael, that he also signed, has been misplaced. Maybe we’ll find it one day, but it doesn’t look good.

Pleeeeaaase write to me with suggestions and/or questions. If they’re interesting, I’ll write a blog entry. If you like my blog, please recommend it to others.

Please let me know what you would like to buy, sell or trade. philchasen@gmail.com

Philip Chasen Antiques

The blog for chasenantiques.com

Monthly Archives: August 2009

The road to knowledge is filled with potholes, part I

Beware of Tiffany Studios fakes, especially on eBay

We were already in California, so…

How I got started in the antiques business

One of the perks of the business – a visit to the Blacker House

So-so results at the Pasadena Antiques Show

Tiffany Studios numbering explained

Setting up at the Pasadena Antiques Show

The Charles Martignette collection of American Illustration Art

Celebrity encounters in the antiques business, part VI