New acquisitions at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum in Winter Park, FL
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A walk down Memory Lane
My wife was looking through some old photos and came across one my mother-in-law had taken of Chasen-Stamati Gallery, my gallery in New York City with partner Paul Stamati. It dates to 1989 and brings back bittersweet memories.
The late 1980s were boom times in the antiques world. The Japanese were buying like crazy, borrowing from banks against the value of their real estate in Tokyo, which was astonishing. Three-quarters of our sales went to Japanese buyers, directly or indirectly. Business was so good that I formed a partnership with Paul. We opened a very fancy gallery in the Carlysle Hotel on Madison Ave. in New York City. Yes, the Carlyle where President Kennedy stayed when in NYC.
We had an unbelievable inventory of lamps, glass, and furniture — everything from Tiffany to Handel to Pairpoint to Icart to Majorelle to Daum and Gallé. Everything was selling well, especially French glass and Louis Icart etchings and oil paintings. We would show our inventory of Icart etchings numerous times per week to Japanese clients, who would buy several at a time. Prices were going through the roof, locking out many American clients who couldn’t keep up.
Those were the sweet times until the beginning of 1990, when the sky came falling down. The Japanese buyers all stopped buying at the same time. The abrupt halt in business was breathtaking in its suddenness. We couldn’t pay our rent, so we were forced to suddenly close and take a big loss. I was forced to sell my home at a loss, which we had just bought. The early 1990s were the bitter times. Amazing that I survived them. Big sigh!
Fast forward, I’m doing fine and have been for some time. Thank you for asking. And a big thanks to all my loyal clients who helped me keep my head above water during the tough times.
Cottone Auctions sold several Tiffany Studios lamps at their Art & Antiques sale, November 13-14, 2020
Cottone Auctions, Geneseo, NY, held an Art & Antiques sale November 13-14, 2020. Included in the Saturday portion of the sale was a nice selection of Tiffany Studios and other lamps. Personally I didn’t participate because I spent a lot of time participating in their previous sale and bought nothing. I assumed they would get good results and I would waste my time again. But this time their results were softer and I might have been able to buy something. Oh well. It’s water under the bridge now.
The top lot of the Tiffany lamps was #348, a beautiful 22″ diameter Maple Leaf floor lamp. This is a model that I’ve always loved. Estimated to sell for $50,000 – $80,000, it realized $63,000, or $75,600 including the buyer’s premium. In my opinion, this was a fair price on which a dealer could make a profit.
Lot #349 was another beauty — a Tiffany Studios 17″ tuck under Poppy with red flowers and a pale blue background, on a very rare reticulated base. It sold for its low estimate of $40,000, or $48,000 with the buyer’s premium. I could easily have made money on this exceptional lamp.
A rare two-tone example of the Jewel Feather model, lot #351, sold weakly, in my opinion. It brought $9,250, or $11,100 including the buyer’s premium. That was about half of what Cottone sold a similar example for in their previous sale. Again, I could have easily sold it for a profit.
Cottone also sold several Handel lamps at depressed prices, including a beautiful Jungle Bird boudoir lamp, lot #343, for $2,280, including buyer’s premium. That’s less than half of its value at the peak of the market a decade or more ago.
For the complete results of the sale click here. You will have to sign in (free) for the prices.Some interesting results for Tiffany Studios items at Hill Auction Gallery’s Cream of the Crop sale, October 28, 2020
Hill Auction Gallery, Sunrise, FL, held a Cream of the Crop auction on October 28, 2020. The first 36 lots of the sale were items by Tiffany Studios, most of them by direct family descent from Loretta Roessle to the current owner. Mrs. Roessle (nee Reinmuth) was, with her sister, Mae Higgins (Reinmuth), a long time employee of Tiffany Studios. Some of the items generated serious interest.
The top result of the grouping went to #1, a Tiffany Furnaces box from the 1920s with blue iridescent pressed glass sides and top. Estimated to sell for $1,000 – $3,000, it realized an amazing $12,500, including buyer’s premium. I’ve sold boxes like this in the past for a maximum of $3,000, so needless to say, I was impressed.
Tiffany Tel el Amarna vases are characterized by an applied band with a zig zag decoration. Lot #17 was different than most in that the band was applied as a foot, whereas typical examples have the band applied as a collar at the top. This one also had two little applied handles and a strong blue-purple color to add to its appeal. It sold for $10,625, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $3,000 – $5,000.
Glazed Tiffany Favrile pottery vases are moderately rare, including this model of a trillium flower. Estimated to sell for $2,000 – $4,000, it realized $10,000, 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>.
Business is really good. Here are some recent sales.
I recently wrote a blog about the hot Tiffany lamp market. I wouldn’t say they’re selling like hot cakes, but close to it. Following are a few of my recent sales.
The wonderful Tiffany Studios 12″ diameter Acorn floor lamp pictured above didn’t last long. It had great dichroic glass with mixed green and orange colors. What made it extra special was the amazing floor base with coiled spirals. The rare base was solid bronze and very heavy. The double-knuckle configuration of the harp allowed the shade to tilt. It looked beautiful in my home while it lasted.
The Tiffany Studios 16″ Pansy above didn’t last long either. It was dash-numbered 25, which indicated that it was #25 of a special production run of 25 lamps. Most dash-numbered Tiffany lamps are special and collectors pay extra attention to them. This example had an amazing assortment of mottled, rippled, and textured flowers. It also had a rare Inverted Mushroom base to add to its appeal.
Roman table lamps are some of the largest of the geometric table lamps that Tiffany Studios produced. This 25″ diameter lamp was the first lamp to sell of the recent group I bought. The belt and border all had beautiful yellow and orange ripple glass elements. The six-socket Roman base was impressive, especially with a gorgeous patina.
French glass has also been selling well, including the extraordinary Gallé Grasshopper vase pictured above. It was marked Cristallerie underneath, indicating it was early production from the 1890s. I could have sold it three times and probably upset a couple of good clients in the process. I apologize to them.
What’s new at Philip Chasen Antiques?
Just recently I wrote a blog about the hot Tiffany lamp market and how difficult it was for me to buy. Well, guess what? I got lucky and bought several superb Tiffany lamps, most of which I’ve listed on my website.
I’m only selling the gorgeous Tulip lamp above because we needed a larger lamp (which we purchased). The pink flowers and the blue in the background make this a very special example.
I’ve owned several Tiffany Studios Tyler Scroll lamps over the years. The example above is the best of the bunch. It has rich, gorgeous maize and amber colors in the scroll with matching colors in the geometric border at the bottom of the shade. The green striated and swirled background is equally rich.
I always have several Tiffany Studios Favrile lamps for sale at any one time. The killer example above is one of the best. The Favrile shade has opulent green color with ribbing, but the base is what makes it extra special. It’s an Aladdin adjustable height lamp with a swivel socket and fabulous original patina. It’s solid bronze and very heavy.
These are just a few examples of the wonderful Tiffany lamps I have for sale. Check my website for most of the rest. I still haven’t listed everything. There are also some great new French cameo items, like the important vase below.
The 2021 Original Miami Beach Antiques Show has been postponed
Covid has played havoc with the scheduling of antique shows. The latest to announce a schedule change is U.S. Antique Shows. They are the promoters of the Original Miami Beach Antique Show. Originally scheduled for late January, 2021,the show has been postponed to mid-March, 2021. Following is the email from the promoter.
As you have already heard, in light of continued concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including travel restrictions both domestically and internationally, as well as ongoing restrictions on large group gatherings, we’ve made the decision to postpone the annual Original Miami Beach Antique Show (OMBAS) to March of 2021. Originally slated to take place in late January, the new show dates are Friday, March 12 to Tuesday, March 16, allowing for a show that runs over the course of a full weekend.
As we move forward with our new dates, we have developed options for the funds invested in the January 2021 event. We’ve created a webform allowing you to rollover your exhibitor funds invested in Original Miami Beach Antique Show to March 2021.
My wife and I have decided not to exhibit at the show in 2021 as it is unlikely that things will have returned to normal even if the public were starting to be vaccinated. Our plans are to exhibit in Miami again in 2022. I am, however, very curious to know how the show will fare. How many exhibitors will be there? How many people will attend? Tune in in late winter for the answer.
My best guess is that the next show where we’ll exhibit will be in Baltimore in August, 2021. It’s really hard to say at this point.
An important difference among Tiffany lamps is the glass
Tiffany Studios made many lamps of the same design with different glass. Following are four examples of 16″ diameter Colonial table lamps.
The example above was built with striated (streaked) glass. The color is flat and unattractive. I would rate it a 5 on a scale of 1-10.
Example 2 has dichroic (two-color) glass, which is one color unlit and another color lit. The unlit color is awful, a 3. Since I don’t have a photo of it lit, I have no way to determine how nice it might be, but it’s sure to be nicer.
Example 3 is less common, as it’s green. The glass is very nice, with extensive mottling. I would rate it a 9.
The example above has fiery rust and orange mottled glass. It’s a spectacular example that I would rate a 9.8.
If you’re in the market for a Tiffany lamp, check the glass. Sometimes a great example of the same lamp can sell for 2-3 times or more of the value of a lesser example. It isn’t the only criterion you should look at, but it’s certainly important. Buy what you can afford but always stretch for the better examples.
I tried to buy a Tiffany lamp in Italy, but…
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that the Tiffany lamp market is strong. Accordingly I cast a wide net looking to buy more. My search took me to the auction house of Aste Boetto in Genoa, Italy. They held an auction on September 29, 2020, which included a Tiffany 16″ diameter Tulip table lamp. The problem was that it was very difficult to establish authenticity on a lamp 4,000 miles away.
I did try. I asked for additional photographs and I established a FaceTime connection to ask a few additional questions. Try as I did, I couldn’t say for sure if it was authentic or not, so I didn’t bid. The auction house didn’t have confidence that it was authentic, so they put an estimate that reflected their skepticism, €1,500 – 1,700. It if were authentic, that was ridiculously low. It sold for €5,400, not including buyer’s premium, or approximately $8,000, including buyer’s premium. What a score that would have been if it were authentic! If I could have held it in my hands, there would have been no question.
What do you think?
Tiffany lamps are hot
If you haven’t noticed, the Tiffany lamp market is hot. I’m talking both about auction and private sales. Here are a few examples.
I can’t keep Tiffany lamps in inventory. I’m almost sold out of leaded lamps and trying to buy more has been futile recently. I had two serious inquiries on the same day for my Tiffany 15″ Spider table lamp. One client said he’s seriously interested and requested a few more pictures, which I agreed to. 10 minutes later another client said she’ll take the lamp, without requiring additional photos. I had to let the first client know it was sold. If I were him, I would have been suspicious, but strange things like that happen every once in a while (especially when the market is hot). There was absolutely no monkey business, just coincidence.
This past Saturday, I tried to buy a couple of Tiffany lamps at Cottone Auctions, Geneseo, NY. They held a Fine Art & Antiques sale, including several Tiffany lamps.
Lot #38 was a Tiffany 22″ diameter Peony table lamp. The colors were strong, but to my taste garish. I had no interest in the lamp. Regardless, it sold for $120,000, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $60,000 – $80,000.
I did try to buy lot #41, a strong example of the Jewel and Feather model, with superior color, mottling and condition. I figured I could sell the lamp in the $15,000 – $18,000 price range, so I bid accordingly. Estimated to sell for $7,000 – $10,000, it realized $21,600, including buyer’s premium. I can only assume a retail bidder was the final purchaser.
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>.
I do have a fabulous Tiffany 18″ diameter Oak Leaf & Acorn table lamp for sale, as well as a fine Tiffany 16″ diameter Crocus table lamp and a 19″ diameter Linenfold lamp. If you’re interested in any of them, please let me know. I suspect they won’t last long.