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As I predicted, the Palm Beach Show Group had to cancel the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show this year. It had already been rescheduled to November from its usual time in August because of the pandemic. Until there is a safe and effective vaccine, the pandemic will continue to be a major problem. After that we can talk about going back to shows. I also have little hope for the Miami shows this winter. I think most exhibitors and attendees will not risk traveling, which will cause the show promoters to postpone or cancel their shows this year. Personally we will not exhibit until we’ve been vaccinated.

Following is the email I received from the Palm Beach Group addressing the rescheduling of the show.

“The 2020 Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show, postponed from August to November, is officially rescheduled to 2021. Recent updates from Government officials regarding the use of the Baltimore Convention Center will prevent the show from taking place throughout the remainder of 2020.  

In April, the Baltimore Convention Center was transitioned into a field hospital to help elevate the abundance of COVID-19 cases. Although they have seen light use of the medical facilities, the hospital will remain open at the convention center through December 2020 as a precaution.

Over the past few months, the Palm Beach Show Group team has been planning for a safe, socially distanced show working diligently on procedures and protocols to ensure the safety of clients, collectors, partners and staff. Despite these efforts, it is not possible to host The Baltimore Show this year.”

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This post may sound like a post from August 15, 2020, but it’s not. This time I really thought I had a chance to sneak up on a very nice Tiffany lamp at a reasonable price.

Donny Malone Auctions held a TIFFANY LAMP – ART – UNIQUE TREASURES sale on August 3, 2020, with one good Tiffany Studios lamp, a 17″ diameter Poppy. So I spent a day with my wife driving up to the auction house in Saugerties, NY, a 3-hour drive, to view it in person. The estimate was $10 – $1,000, meaning there was no reserve. It was going to sell for whatever it brought. That’s always a plus.

Since it was the only good lamp in a country auction, there was a possibility I could buy it at a reasonable price. But I couldn’t risk buying the lamp without seeing it in person. The lamp could have been a fake, or repaired, or with extensive damage. The only way to know for sure was to hold the lamp in my hands. Sure enough it turned out to be authentic, with minimal damage of 2-3 hairline cracks. It was a very hot day, but I didn’t go inside to a dark corner to see the true color because of the pandemic, so I had to do my best in bright sunlight. I rated the color a 7.5 on a scale of 1-10. Certainly not the best example I’d ever seen, but nice enough. There was money to be made if I could buy it at the right price.

The auction was being held the following week on a Monday night. Lot #398 was three lots from the end, so it wasn’t going to sell until after 10 PM. So while watching TV, I also kept a constant eye watching the sale on my mobile phone. My goal was to buy the lamp for $35,000 or under, hammer price, or $43,750, including buyer’s premium. I thought I had a pretty good chance, but come auction night, another buyer had the same idea. It was just the two of us, back and forth. I bid beyond my maximum, to $37,000 ($46,250 with buyer’s premium), but had to stop at $38,000 ($47,500 with buyer’s premium). I thought I could sell the lamp in the $55,000 – $65,000 price range, but it was too close for comfort. Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’ve had my share of good deals over the years, but not that night.

Every single item in the sale was estimated at $10 – $1,000, so it was all there to be sold, with commensurate results. The last lot of the sale, #400, a 19th century painting of American Indians by Alfred Jacob Miller, was also the top lot. It sold for $102,500, including buyer’s premium.

For the complete results of the sale, click <a href=”https://www.cottoneauctions.com/prices-realized/auction/fine-art-antiques-5?view=grid&PricesRealizedForm%5Border_field%5D=%60t%60.%60lot_number%60&PricesRealizedForm%5Border_direction%5D=ASC&PricesRealizedForm%5Bnum_per_page%5D=200“>here</a>.

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Andrew Jones Auctions, Los Angeles, CA, held a very diverse sale on July 26, 2020 entitled Design For The Home and Garden. There were a few lots that I tried to buy and others that I would have liked to bid on, but didn’t because of condition problems.

The sale went amazingly well, with many items selling for well above their high estimates. The quality was good throughout and the response was commensurate.

Lot #111 was first on my hit list. It was a high quality, Tiffany Favrile, fully wheel-carved 7″ diameter desk lamp. For whatever reason, the auction house listed it incorrectly as follows. Condition: Shade unmarked. Associated and of a later date. Not Tiffany. Good condition overall. Base with a nice verdigris patina. General marks, scratches, some spotting and wear commensurate with age and use. Re-wired. Wiring should be checked by a qualified electrician prior to use.

I have no idea what led them to that conclusion, but it was quite obvious to me that it was authentic and very fine quality. I hoped to steal it, but unfortunately other bidders knew better than the auctioneer. It sold for $8,750, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $1,500 – $2,000. It was a good price for a collector, but not a dealer. I was the underbidder.

I wanted to buy lot #107, a very fine Daum Nancy wheel-carved trumpet vase, but never bid because of the condition problems explained below. Regardless, it sold for $2,750, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $400 – $600. That’s really good, considering its condition.

Condition: Appears to have been restored where the base of the vase joins the socle. This area, as well as a section of the spreading foot fluoresces under UV light. The area has a high sheen polish. Roughness to the edge of the foot rim. A few scattered pinpricks overall. Some patches of sticker residue. Some staining to the interior.

Lastly I tried to buy lot #212, a beautiful, large, 15½” x 13½”, KPM plaque of a young maiden with flowers accompanied by Cupid, signed C. Mlt. The estimate was low at $2,000 – $3,000, so I thought I had a chance of buying it, but that wasn’t to be the case. It sold for $7,500, including buyer’s premium.

For the complete results of the sale, click here.

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I guess I have to admit that I didn’t think business would be good during a pandemic, but I was wrong. Surprisingly my online business has been quite good and auctions have been through the roof. People have not lost faith in the economy, so they’ve redirected their energies online.

Following are a few of my recent sales, including Tiffany lamps, French cameo glass and bronze.

I’ve only had the pleasure of owning a Tiffany 10″ red Favrile lamp two or three times over almost 50 years of business. Recently I bought and sold one of the best I’ve ever had. The heavily ribbed shade had truly fabulous color. The base was a special example with accessories for a magazine and a drink. You won’t see anything of this quality or rarity for another 20 years. I never advertised it, but sold it immediately to one of my best clients.

Daum Nancy sometimes did on-demand custom work, such as Marriage cups. Sometimes they were individual with the intertwined initials of the bride and groom. Sometimes they were pairs, with each cup having an individual initial. The example pictured above has intertwined initials. The color, detail and workmanship are just fantastic and the condition is amazing, with virtually no wear to the extensive gilding.

Leo Laporte-Blairsy, (1865-1923), is one of my favorite French sculptors. Sometimes he worked together with Daum Nancy to produce bronze lamps with a Daum shade. They’re all spectacular, including the large, 29″, Peacock lamp pictured above. The eyes of the feathers are glass and light up when the lamp is turned on. It’s a sight to behold.

It’s debatable who was the best maker of French cameo glass, but Burgun & Schverer certainly was one of them. Their internally decorated vases are ultra-sophisticated because so many techniques were used to make them. And they’re SO… beautiful. We recently sold this gorgeous example with yellow irises.

Let me know what interests you, even if you don’t see it on my website. I’ve got lots of items that I haven’t listed yet and I know how to locate what you desire.

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Sotheby’s New York held an Important Design sale on July 30, 2020, beginning with 20 Tiffany Studios lots, mostly lamps. The timing of the sale was quite unusual, at the end of July, but nothing should be surprising in this time of pandemic. Regardless, the results were solid, with 17 of the 20 lots selling. Sales totaled $20,153,000 for the entire sale with 114 of the total of 146 lots offered selling. Four lots by François-Xavier Lalanne sold for multiples of their high estimates realizing from $1,700,000 to $3,980,000, including buyer’s premium.

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It was no surprise that lot #13, a vividly colored Wisteria table lamp, was the top lot of the Tiffany group. Estimated to sell for $450,000 – $600,000, it realized $716,000, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $450,000 – $600,000.

I loved lot #19, a 22″ diameter, fiery red Tulip table lamp. It sold for $162,500, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $100,000 – $150,000. I thought it would sell for considerably more. I had just the right table in my living room, but it wasn’t meant to be.

I wanted to buy lot #14, an attractive Tiffany Favrile 8″ diameter blue Damascene counterbalance desk lamp. It was a nice example, but not great, because the blue faded considerably when the light was turned on. Additionally, the base was nothing exceptional. I hoped to buy it for $10,000 or so, all in. Guess what? It sold for $35,000, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $8,000 – $12,000. I love it when that happens, because it’s great for my considerable Tiffany Favrile lamp business.

In possibly the single biggest shocker of my career, lot #28, a 6¾” tall Grueby oat-colored vase, from the private collection of Robert Kaplan of Maplewood, NJ, sold for an astonishing $431,250, against a realistic estimate of $7,000 – $9,000. The bidding was fierce between two determined phone bidders who would not quit for 45 minutes of bidding. The usual increments of $10,000 or more were thrown out the window by the auctioneer who allowed the two bidders to bid in increments of $2,000 up to $200,000. After that the increments increased to $5,000. I have never, ever, ever seen anything like it among the thousands of auctions I’ve participated in over the years. I’m at a loss for words!!

For the complete results of the sale click here.

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