Monthly Archives: May 2017

Patrick Nagel and Gil Elvgren led Heritage Auction’s Illustration Art sale, May 12, 2017

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

Heritage Auction held its Illustration Art sale on May 12, 2017, with some superb results. Three works by Patrick Nagel and seven works by Gil Elvgren led the sale.

Patrick Nagel Seductive Female in Profile, Heritage lot #71136

Leading the sale was lot #71136, a large (48″ x 40″) Patrick Nagel acrylic on canvas painting entitled Seductive Female in Profile. It realized $125,000, including buyer’s premium, against a pre-sale estimate of $60,000 – $80,000.

Gil Elvgren Fire Belle (Always Ready), Heritage lot #71071

The second highest price of $112,500 was achieved by a Gil Elvgren painting entitled Fire Belle (Always Ready) from 1956. It sold below its low estimate of $100,000 (without buyer’s premium). The seller took a bath as he paid $191,200 in October, 2011, in another Heritage Illustration Art sale.

Hy Hintermeister Rocket Pad Keep Out, Heritage lot #71097

Nagel and Elvgren dominated the top four spots, with Hy Hintermeister in 5th place, with a lovely painting Rocket Pad Keep Out selling for $37,500, against a pre-sale estimate of $8,000 – $12,000.

For the complete results of the sale, click here. You will have to sign in (free) for the results.

Our next show is the Denver World Wide Antique Show in mid-July, so we’ll take some time to smell the roses. I’ll be buying and selling in the meantime, so be in touch if you’re doing either.

I recently listed some new items on my website and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

The results of the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show, May 19-21, 2017

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

The Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show ended yesterday after a three-day run from May 19-21, 2017. Most dealers were pleased enough with the show that they will be returning for next year’s edition. A few exhibitors did poorly, but that always happens at any show.

We sold this rare and beautiful Daum Bee vase at the preview party

The show started off with a dud of a preview party on Thursday night. The sponsor of the party, the Illinois Executive Mansion, failed to turn out enough people, so the party was very lightly attended. Additionally there was only cheese and crackers, bad wine and no liquor. Ugh! We were able to make a nice sale to one of our best clients, but that had nothing to do with the party. I already spoke to the promoter who said she will have a new sponsor for next year’s preview party.

Saturday afternoon in our booth

Attendance was moderate for most of the show and business was more or less steady. Each day started out very slowly, and picked up as the day went on. We made sales every day, so we’re pleased. French glass sold best (so what else is new?).

We sold this special Tiffany Studios Pine Needle double frame on Saturday

We’re looking forward to next year’s edition of the show. Surely there will be some changes in the exhibitors, with a few dropping out and a few replacements, but the overall quality will continue to be very high. The city of Chicago can be proud of the show.

Our next show is the Denver World Wide Antique Show in mid-July, so we’ll take some time to smell the roses. I’ll be buying and selling in the meantime, so be in touch if you’re doing either.

I recently listed some new items on my website and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Setting up at the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show, May 16-17, 2017

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

We finished setting up yesterday at the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show. We were given plenty of time from Tuesday through Thursday, but it went so well that we finished a day early. Yay! We now have today to play, so we’ll probably go to the Art Institute of Chicago to see their fabulous collection of French Impressionist art before tonight’s preview party (where I hope there’s plenty of free alcohol!)

We’re very pleased with our booth

The show is really great with high quality dealers from all over the world, including the UK and Argentina. I hope that attendance is fabulous and the dealers do well so it becomes a fixture on the show calendar. Tune in Monday for the results.

Only Authentics, New York, NY

Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques, York County, PA

Jayne Thompson Antiques, Harrodsburg, KY

Greenwald Antiques, Cleveland, OH

Ophir Gallery, Englewood, NJ

The show opens to the public tomorrow, Friday, May 19th, at 11 AM, and continues until Sunday at 5 PM. You won’t regret the trip to the show, so I hope to see you this weekend.

I recently listed over 15 new items on my website and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

The Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show at the Chicago Merchandise Mart opens to the public this Friday, May 19, 2017

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

I’m thrilled the revived Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show will return to the Chicago Merchandise Mart, after an absence of four years. It opens to the public this Friday, May 19th, at 11 AM, and continues until Sunday at 5 PM, with a preview party on Thursday night.

The Chicago Merchandise Mart

I thought an antique show would never return to the Mart after the show closed in May, 2013. The Palm Beach Show Group forced the closing of the show by making dealers decide between exhibiting at the Mart or the Navy Pier. Dealers chose the Navy Pier, which hosted one show and then failed. I hoped the Merchandise Mart show would be revived the following year, but it didn’t happen until this year. Click here for the details from my blog post of January 6, 2014.

The new edition of the show will have a new promoter, Dolphin Promotions, headed by Rosemary Krieger. If the show goes well, it will become a permanent fixture, a result I’m hoping for.

We’ll have this wonderful Daum Nancy tumbler at the show

As usual, we’ve brought a fabulous inventory of French and American glass and lamps. I know you’ll enjoy the show and my display in particular. This fabulous show is one you should attend, no matter the distance. Please stop into my booth and say hello.

I recently listed over 15 new items on my website and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Tesla is taking pre-orders for solar tile roofs

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

A Tesla solar roof

I know this subject has nothing to do with antiques, but it’s so cool, I decided to write about it. Tesla is taking pre-orders for solar tile roofs. Click here to find out all about it. You have to scroll down. It includes a calculator for the approximate cost and savings. All you have to do is put in your address and answer two simple questions about your home. It’s not cheap, but it’s the future.

Now why don’t they put them on the roofs of their cars? Then the cars would recharge just by sitting in the parking lot on a sunny day.

The revived Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show at the Chicago Merchandise Mart opens to the public next Friday, May 19th. I was quite sad when the original show folded a few years ago, as it was always one of my favorite shows. The new edition will have a new promoter, Dolphin Promotions, headed by Rosemary Krieger. There hasn’t been an antique show in downtown Chicago for several years, so I’m hoping this one will be met with a lot of enthusiasm. The show runs from May 19-21, 2017, with a preview party the night of the 18th.

I recently listed over 15 new items on my website and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Let’s examine a reproduction Gallé marquetry vase

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

Reproduction Gallé marquetry vase

In my duties as a consultant to various auction houses, I was asked to authenticate a “Gallé” marquetry vase. Following are some photos of it and an authentic Gallé marquetry vase.

The marquetry technique involved applying molten glass to a vase and then pressing the applications into the vase. After the vase cooled, the applied glass was detailed by wheel-carving, except for some Gallé study vases marked Étude. The marquetry technique also refers to wood, where a veneer was cut into shapes and glued to the surface to create a design. Marquetry decoration in both glass and wood is neither raised nor depressed, but flat. The term inlaid is appropriate.

Gallé marquetry table

The reproduction vase signature

Let’s examine some of the details of the reproduction vase (first photo above). Observe the primary colors. Authentic Gallé colors are more refined and subtle. Then notice the acid-etched leaves on the vase. Authentic marquetry vases do not have any acid-etched design. The fancy Oriental signature (above) is just a trick to throw a potential buyer off the track. After all, how can a reproduction vase have such an impressive signature? Then examine the photo below of the real McCoy. Notice the beautiful colors and the fine detail from wheel-carving. To the trained eye, the differences are huge. This lesson should help the untrained eye.

Authentic Gallé marquetry vase

The contemporary glass market is alive and well, which is where the maker of this vase should have used his/her talent.

The revived Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show at the Chicago Merchandise Mart opens to the public next Friday, May 19th. I was quite sad when the original show folded a few years ago, as it was always one of my favorite shows. The new edition will have a new promoter, Dolphin Promotions, headed by Rosemary Krieger. There hasn’t been an antique show in downtown Chicago for several years, so I’m hoping this one will be met with a lot of enthusiasm. The show runs from May 19-21, 2017, with a preview party the night of the 18th.

I recently listed over 15 new items on my website and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

How to spot a fake Argy-Rousseau moth paperweight

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

Reproduction Argy-Rousseau moth paperweight

A colleague/dealer from California was suspicious about an “Argy-Rousseau” pâte-de-verre moth paperweight he had purchased, so he emailed me photos for authentication.

The signature on the fake paperweight

The easiest way to tell a fake is the signature. Take a look above at the poorly hand-engraved letters of different thicknesses and matte finish. Now take a look at the photo below of an authentic signature. Each letter is shiny, with even width and depth. The signature was in the mold and not hand-engraved.

An authentic Argy-Rousseau signature (from a vase)

An authentic Argy-Rousseau moth paperweight

Now go back to the first photograph and take a look at the rest of the fake paperweight. It has a dull semi-matte finish with a grainy texture to the moths, unlike the shinier, smoother authentic paperweight. If you could hold both of them in your hands, the differences would be even more striking. And now you know the rest of the story. (Spoken slowly and with emphasis by Paul Harvey.)

Monday’s blog will be another lesson on French glass fakes. This time the subject will be a “Gallé” marquetry vase.

It’s almost time to travel to Chicago for our next show, the revived Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show at the Chicago Merchandise Mart. I was quite sad when it folded a few years ago as it was always one of my favorite shows. The new edition will have a new promoter, Dolphin Promotions, headed by Rosemary Krieger. There hasn’t been an antique show in downtown Chicago for several years, so I’m hoping this one will be met with a lot of enthusiasm. The show runs from May 18-21, 2017.

I recently listed over 15 new items on my website and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

A few lamp results from Pook & Pook’s International & Americana auction, April 29, 2017

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

Pook & Pook, Inc., Downingtown, PA, held their International & Americana auction yesterday, April 29, 2017. Included in the sale was a fine Handel reverse-painted scenic floor lamp and several very good Tiffany and Handel lamp bases.

Handel scenic floor lamp, Pook & Pook lot #428

The Handel scenic floor lamp was sold as lot #428. Most Handel floor lamps have simple shades, making scenic shades of this quality moderately rare. I thought the lamp was fairly estimated at $3,000 – $4,000, but it did not sell, failing to reach its reserve.

Tiffany Studios decorated junior floor base, Pook & Pook lot #430

Lot #430, a Tiffany Studios decorated junior floor base, was the best lamp base for sale at the auction. With six sockets and an excellent original patina, it carried a fair estimate of $15,000 – $20,000. Decorated junior floor lamp bases are more valuable that undecorated ones as they are better suited for 20″ – 22″ diameter floral shades. Undecorated floor bases have smooth surfaces with no ribbing or onion decoration and are good for geometric shades. The base sold under the low estimate, realizing $15,860, including buyer’s premium — a really good price for the buyer.

Also included in the sale were one more Tiffany Studios floor base, lot #429, and several very good Handel bases, lots #431-433. Two sold within their estimates, but one Handel harp floor lamp failed to reach its reserve.

Click here to view all the items in the sale. As of Tuesday morning, May 2, the prices realized have not yet been posted.

I’m really looking forward to our next show, the revived Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show at the Chicago Merchandise Mart. I was quite sad when it folded a few years ago as it was always one of my favorite shows. The new edition will have a new promoter, Dolphin Promotions, headed by Rosemary Krieger. There hasn’t been an antique show in downtown Chicago for several years, so I’m hoping this one will be met with a lot of enthusiasm. The show runs from May 18-21, 2017.

I recently listed over 15 new items on my website and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.