I will do my best to publish a new post every Monday.

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Paolo Sparano Vitelli, Florence, Italy, sent me an unsolicited email earlier this month offering me a very fine Daum Nancy Dutch Winter 14″ scenic vase. I made an offer, we negotiated and then he responded “I appreciate your fair offer but I already receiving a lot of heat (the good one) regarding this piece and had already higher better offer, not enough honestly. I do not want to transform this in a online auction between parts and keeping in mind you should be able to do your profit but for less than 7500€ + PP commissions (2.4%) + shipping cost (around 90$ thru DHL professionally packed) for this pristine piece with the right presentation and really good size i will certainly keep it and probably pursue/offer for the final collector. First dealer/gallerist reaching my fair premisses (sic) will got it, it’s my commitment.” Please note my commitment.

I answered “It hurts me to pay so much, but I love it, so I will take it at €7.500 + fees.” (approximately $8,500) I went to pay immediately with PayPal when I saw that their bad exchange rate + fees would cost me another few hundred dollars, so I advised Paolo that I would pay by wire transfer immediately after the weekend. In the meantime, I wanted proof that Paolo really possessed the vase, so I asked for a photo. He also sent me a photo of his identity card and driver’s license (which I will not publish here).

We had a few more email exchanges. Here’s mine on Saturday, Jan. 22nd. “I’ll send you a wire transfer from my international account on Monday. As soon as it’s done, I’ll send you a copy. You should receive the funds before the end of the week.” He replied 3 minutes later “Just keep me updated please.”

I initiated the wire transfer on Monday morning, as promised, when I received the following email a short while later. “I’m calling this deal off. I have a long line of dealers and collectors trying to have it and i’m (sic) waiting your response / funds for too long. Maybe it’s not your priority, but this is not the correct way to do business in my humble point of view. Thanks again but DO NOT send any transfer anymore.”

Paolo couldn’t have been more transparent. It’s clear he received a higher offer. No one goes from sweet to indignant in a flash without an ulterior motive. Apparently he’s quite disreputable and dishonest. Shame on you, Paolo. To keep his honor, he should have rejected any competing offer, no matter the amount, since our deal was mutually agreed upon. Luckily I was able to stop the wire transfer because the money wasn’t going to be deducted from my bank account until the next day.

I haven’t had a bad deal like this for decades and hope not to have another one like it. Fortunately for me, most people I deal with are honest, not unscrupulous like Paolo. You can deal with him at your own peril.

On the other hand, I just did a deal with a couple of gentlemen in Canada. They shipped me a collection for my inspection before I paid for it, just on my word. The deal couldn’t have gone smoother. Thank goodness for the honorable people in this business.

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.

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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.

I listed some of the new items on my website and will list more every week. Click Philip Chasen Antiques to take a look. I will make every effort to actively list new items as often as time permits. 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.

I will do my best to publish a new post every Monday.

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I assume you would like an explanation. Fair enough. I sold a phenomenal number of items and did very well. So the show was fantastic. But I didn’t sell these items to the public. I sold them to my own clients via email, texts, photos and phone calls. I only made two sales to the public. If those were the only sales I had made, the show would have been a disaster. So the show was terrible.

I really had no idea how Covid would affect the show. The answer is that many clients did not come. The best clients are the ones who fly or drive in from wherever. They’re serious clients who make the effort to travel long distances, in some cases. Local people who stroll in from a leisurely drive have very little invested. Many of them are not serious. As a result, attendance was lighter than usual and interest was way down.

We gave out lots of business cards — a very bad sign. People take business cards in a disingenuous attempt to leave gracefully. It’s just a ruse, as most of the time they’re not really interested. If that’s the case, they should say so and not ask for a card. One old-timer many years ago told us he doesn’t give out cards for this exact reason. He seemed like a curmudgeon at the time, but insightful in retrospect.

Both of my sales to the public were Daum Nancy. One was a gorgeous Birch Tree scenic vase and the other was a fantastic box with padded and wheel-carved poppies.

Of course I’ll do the show again next year, but my expectations will be different. If Covid is still important in a year, it will continue to have negative consequences. If it fades in importance, I suspect many more people will be willing to make the long distance trip. Got my fingers crossed, not just for me, but for humanity.

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.

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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.

I listed some of the new items on my website and will list more every week. Click Philip Chasen Antiques to take a look. I will make every effort to actively list new items as often as time permits. 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.

I will do my best to publish a new post every Monday.

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The Original Miami Beach Antique Show opens to the public this Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 11 AM and closes Sunday, January 23, 2022, at 6:00 PM. It will be our first show in two years, so we’re really excited about it.

Just this week I was able to buy several additional Tiffany Studios lamps, including a 20″ conical, dichroic glass, geometric lamp with fantastic color and mottling. Also a 14″ diameter Turtleback lamp with a great base and a couple of Linenfold lamps. I’ll have a super display of lamps at the show. Unfortunately I had to pack them for the trip to Miami Beach before I could take photos of them, so I have none of the new ones here to show you.

But I do have a photo of a terrific 18″ diameter Tiffany Studios Belted Dogwood that I’ll have at the show. It’s got great color, super mottling, and a superb Cushion base, all in great condition.

I’ll have a nice display of pâte-de-verre glass by Walter and Argy-Rousseau, including the Mouse paperweight pictured above, plus an amazing display of the best Gallé and Daum vases.

The forecast for this coming week in Miami Beach is 70s all week. Wouldn’t you like to visit a great antique show after two years of no shows and bask in the delightful weather and eat some delicious stone crab? Make it your business to visit and come say hello! We’re in booth 711.

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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.

I listed some of the new items on my website and will list more every week. Click Philip Chasen Antiques to take a look. I will make every effort to actively list new items as often as time permits. 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.

I will do my best to publish a new post every Monday.

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Business continues to be good. I’m making lots of good sales, but I still miss the shows where I can meet new people.

We thought we would have this wonderful Gallé Bluebird lamp for The Original Miami Beach Antique Show, but it sold to the first person I offered it to.

I wanted to have an extensive display of Tiffany leaded lamps for the show, but they’re selling faster than I can replace them. I will have a very nice display, with an assortment of about 15 leaded, Linenfold and Favrile glass Tiffany Studios lamps in both table and floor versions. I’m hoping I’ll be able to buy some lamps from other dealers at the show before it opens to the public to add to my selection.

Pâte-de-verre by both Argy-Rousseau and Walter is selling very well. I just sold the Walter Chameleon tray above. Do you have any good pâte-de-verre for sale? I’m paying really good prices, so please offer them to me.

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Click here for a link for two free tickets to The Original Miami Beach Antique Show or click the image below.

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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.

I listed some of the new items on my website and will list more every week. Click Philip Chasen Antiques to take a look. I will make every effort to actively list new items as often as time permits. 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.

I will do my best to publish a new post every Monday.

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We haven’t exhibited at any antique shows since February, 2020, when we were last at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC; the happy idiots. We had heard of a virus in Wuhan, China, but it didn’t have anything to do with us. Right? Within a couple of weeks we were on total lockdown.

We’ve been out and about since we had our three shots, but always with masks at all indoor activities. We shop at stores, we went to a Broadway show, etc., but not indoor restaurants. So with a bit of trepidation, we will exhibit at our first show in almost two years at The Original Miami Beach Antique Show, January 20 – 23, 2022. We’ll wear masks the entire time we’re in the venue and hope that our guests will do so too.

Business has been pretty good during the pandemic, so I’ve been busy buying and selling. We have an incredible assortment of wonderful new items for the show. I expect people will still fly in and drive in from afar, but I’m not sure about the attendance. It may be strong as people have been itching to get out and do things, or it may be weak, if people are still afraid. I’ll surely let you know in a future blog.

In the meantime, I’m very much looking forward to going to beautiful, warm Miami, in the middle of the winter, to do business and have some fun. I hope you’ll join me.

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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.

I listed some of the new items on my website and will list more every week. Click Philip Chasen Antiques to take a look. I will make every effort to actively list new items as often as time permits. 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.