Indholdsfortegnelse for January 16, 2019 i Kovels Antique Trader

Welcome to 2019! I hope all of your holidays were pleasant and that this year will be even better than the last. Dealing with the subject of antiques, we are always looking back. We continually learn about the objects from our collective past and how they fit into our history and our cultures. Right now, I want to focus a little bit on our future. With this edition of Antique Trader, you will find a few subtle changes. We’re re-structuring and re-vamping the magazine a bit, and believe you will find the changes to be improvements. We’re just getting started, but feel free to let us know what you think at any time. The first thing you will notice, undoubtedly, is that the table of contents are in a different…

Q I was hoping that maybe you could help me find any kind of information on this old glass jug that has the number one on the bottom and letters I-74. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. — J.B. A One can learn much from actually examining an older bottle. In this case we are examining an older glass jug for markings on the bottom indicating important signatures of manufacturers, or on the side giving a clue as to the advertising of the contents once contained. In your case no markings are found on either the side of the glass jug or the top of the metal lid. I first thought the number on the bottom indicated Owens Manufacturing Glass Company was responsible for your jug; but…

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary Art Fair, presented by Art Miami and sponsored by the City of West Palm Beach, will return for its third edition in West Palm Beach City’s Tent Site (825 S. Dixie Hwy. & Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach), on Thursday, Jan. 10 through Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019. The fair will open on Thursday evening with an exclusive VIP Preview at 5 p.m. As the newest addition to the prestigious Art Miami Group, which is celebrating its 29th year, Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary brings a world-class art fair to Palm Beach. The fair, which curates and offers the best investment quality works from the 20th and 21st centuries, will take place in the intimate and modern setting of a…

By day, Dante Caridi works in information technology as a senior account executive. By night, he is a toy dealer. As weird as it may sound, his two professions collide on a regular basis. “It’s funny because when I walk around my customers’ work areas all the time, I’ll see Funko Pops! sitting on their desk and I’ll just laugh,” Caridi said. “It’s like, ‘Wow, it’s funny how far this thing has gone.’” Imagine, New York City-area, high-end professionals with small pop culture figurines on their desks. It’s been almost a decade now since the company Funko put out its first product, and it’s as popular as ever. For those who aren’t up to date with the latest toy craze, Pops are little vinyl figurines that stretch across a wide…

LIMA, Peru (AP) – Peru is celebrating the return of an ancient funeral mask made of gold following a two-decade legal battle to repatriate the smuggled antiquity from Germany. President Martin Vizcarra on Sep. 10 attended a ceremony at the presidential palace where the so-called Sican mask was shown publicly for the first time since its return to the South American nation. The 8th century mask depicting a pre-Incan deity was seized in 1999 in Germany from a Turkish art dealer arrested for selling looted objects. It was handed over last week to Peru’s embassy in Berlin. The mask made of hammered gold alloy with silver eyes is one of the most emblematic of 9,000 art objects Peru has repatriated the last decade. Authorities believe the mask was taken from…

NEW YORK (AP) – Joanna Gaines, known for her cozy-yet-cool designs including open-concept floor plans, farmhouse sinks and sliding barn doors, admits having to scale back on the vision of her own home in Waco, Texas, to allow her children to add personality to their own spaces. “In the past it was hard,” she said recently in an interview, having to shift her thinking to, “This is their space. This is what makes them come alive, I need to encourage that.” Gaines says this principle especially applies to her two oldest children, son Drake, 13, and daughter Ella, 11. “In the main spaces I get to do my thing and incorporate some things that they love but for their rooms, especially this year, there’s stuff they’re wanting in their room…

DENVER (AP) – An 18-year-old was arrested on suspicion of criminal mischief for shattering glass sculptures and damaging other pieces at the Denver Art Museum, police said Dec. 10. Jake Siebenlist was taken into custody Dec. 9 at the museum in downtown Denver. Witnesses told police that Siebenlist pushed a glass sculpture to the ground then began to throw other sculptures around the room. Court records say he also tried to damage two paintings that were protected by plastic glass. Museum officials said 10 pieces were damaged, including pre-Columbian ceramic vessels and a 19th century Chinese vase. The pieces were part of an exhibit called “Stampede: Animals in Art,” highlighting animals’ presence in art from various centuries and cultures. Museum Director Christoph Heinrich said he could not immediately provide a…

WINFIELD, W.Va. (AP) – When Jerill Vance retired in 2009, he didn’t settle down to a life of leisure. Instead he embarked on a second career as a custom furniture maker and now host of “Appalachian Heritage Woodshop.” The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the Culloden resident was a hobby woodworker before earning an associate’s degree in fine woodworking. Out of that passion came his custom furniture business and a six-part television show airing on West Virginia Public Broadcasting stations. Each show focuses on a piece of antique Appalachian furniture, like a bucket bench or a Bible box. Vance shows how to design and build the pieces and then shows them in action in an historical context. Vance is still deciding whether there will be a second season, but he is taking…

BERLIN (AP) – German officials, Jewish leaders, researchers and others have marked the 20th anniversary of the international agreement on returning art looted by the Nazis with new pledges and proposals aimed at breathing new life into the process. Culture Minister Monika Gruetters said Nov. 26 it is Germany’s responsibility to improve upon the so-called Washington Principles to restore cultural objects to their original Jewish owners or heirs, noting that their meaning goes beyond the purely financial. “Behind every stolen object is the fate of an individual,” she said. The Washington Principles were drafted in 1998 to assist in resolving issues related to returning Nazi-confiscated art and were signed by more than three dozen countries – acknowledging that many items did not remain in Germany after the war. There are…

DOWNINGTOWN, Penn. – Pook & Pook’s first auction of the New Year will be an important, two-day Americana & International auction with a spotlight on significant pieces of early American furniture. Bidding for day one of the sale will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 11, and day two will commence at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12. Over 700 lots are set to cross the block over the two-day auction and bidders are welcome to bid in-house, via absentee or phone bid, or online on bidsquare.com. Pook & Pook has collected a great deal of high quality antiques to fill January’s sale, with several pieces hitting the market for the first time in over half a century. Day one of the sale draws its strength from four well-established…

Before traveling any distance we recommend that you verify event dates. To list your antiques-related event (show, auction, convention, etc.) for free in Antique Trader, send event information (date, location, contact information, times) at least six weeks in advance to: AT Calendars, C/O Antique Trader Editors, 5225 Joerns Dr., Suite 2, Stevens Point, WI 54481 or email to ATNews@fwmedia.com. Listings will be included on a space available basis. Antique Trader assumes no responsibility for any show not listed. ARIZONA Jan 17-20, 2019 Phoenix. Sweet Salvage Market, 4648 N 7th Ave, Phoenix, AZ; 602-279-2996; info@sweetsalvage.net; sweetsalvage.net. SH: Thurs 10am-9pm; Fri-Sun 10am-6pm Jan 25-26, 2019 Mesa. Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction, Mesa Convention Center & Marriott, 263 Center St, Mesa, AZ; 480-779-9378; oldwestevents.com. 180 tables. Specializing in Cowboy & Native…

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A dozen Connecticut nonprofit arts and cultural organizations are set to receive more than $3 million through a state grant program. The Department of Economic and Community Development’s Good to Great initiative funds projects that tell stories of cultural and historic sites in engaging, meaningful and relevant ways. This list of grants includes $150,000 for a humidity control system at the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol; $50,000 to complete restoration of a historically significant trolley at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor; and $50,000 to Ebony Horsewomen Inc. in Hartford to build a barn and create its mini Black Cowboy Museum. The funding can be used for a variety of needs, including construction, exhibit design and installation, planning and marketing. Recipients must provide a…

MONROVIA, Calif. – This summer, John Moran Auctioneers was excited to announce they had begun to consign property for their inaugural Women in Art Auction. The resulting catalogue featured works by 93 women artists, many California-based. Dating from the 19th century through to the contemporary, the works, media, and styles represented were diverse and appealed to a wide swath of collectors. At the sale’s start, the auction floor was very nearly full with attendee bidders, who had come out to preview and bid on the 124 lots. By the end of the auction, records had been set for three artists: Susan Hertel, Ethel V. Ashton and Dora Gamble. The top lot for the evening was a dark horse entry by French/Mexican poet and artist Alice Rahon (1904-1987). She became involved…

‘BEST OF’ ANTIQUE TRADER — I’m writing about my comments about the best of Antique Trader. Best article: February 14, 2018 issue: “Greetings from the Past: Identifying and dating timeless postcards” (by Dr. Anthony J. Cavo). The best source of information on postcards I’ve ever found. Best covers: April 25, 2018. The piece of Imari porcelain. February 28, 2018: Grandma playing marbles with two boys. These covers attract the eye and say “Please read me.” Best advertisement: September 12, 2018: Woody Auction. Years ago I bought an RS Prussia chocolate pot. I took it into a flea market where I was a dealer. The promoter looked it up and put it in a showcase. My sister ended up with it. Whenever I get a copy of Antique Trader, I can’t…

Q Attached is a photo of a lamp that I purchased about 20 years ago. I would like to know who the artist is that made it. I tried to research, however I was unsuccessful. The signed signature appears to be ‘Frigber.’ It’s a very tall Lucite lamp. Thank you. — H.S. A“Lucite” the main component of your lamp submitted for inquiry regarding the possible identification of the artist who signed the base is a versatile material used today in interiors just as it was in 1937 when commercially available. Lucite is actually a brand name for a kind of acrylic resin developed in the 1930s by DuPont, basically the same as Plexiglas. You have a very impressive lamp emulating the Mid-Century style. You mention you purchased your Lucite lamp…

In the past I wrote a column for this space concerning the second most frequently asked question about older and antique furniture. That question has to do with retaining, enhancing or destroying the value of a piece if it is repaired, refinished, etc. The column conveniently sidestepped the first question, the one that everyone really wants to know: What’s it worth? Sometimes it seems a shame that in most cases today the overriding emphasis placed on an antique is the market value. Too often antiques are regarded as just trade goods. There was a time when antiques were prized for their historical value – their link to the past and what that past stood for. This was the underlying motivation for the Colonial Revival – at least in the beginning.…

TEMECULA, Calif. – Quality was in the eyes of the bidders in the multi-billion dollar United States rare coin market during 2018, according to a year-end tabulation conducted by the Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.org), a nonprofit organization composed of many of the country’s top rare coin and paper money dealers. While prices declined during the year for some U.S. coins in easily available lower grades, hundreds of noteworthy coins from early American to modern that are among the finest known of their kind set auction price records. Based on responses to a year-end PNG questionnaire, the aggregate prices realized for all U.S. coins sold at major public auctions in 2018 totaled more than $345 million, compared to $316 million in 2017. The PNG estimates the overall U.S. rare coin market…

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – A court in Amsterdam has refused to resolve a legal dispute over ownership of a Buddha statue that contains the mummified remains of a monk. The civil court in Amsterdam threw out the case Dec. 12, saying in a written ruling that two Chinese village committees seeking ownership of the disputed statue are not legal entities and are therefore ineligible to file a claim. The villages, identified by the court as Yangchun and Dong Pu in southeastern Fujian province, say that a statue containing the remains of an 11th-century monk was stolen from their shared temple in 1995 and wound up in the collection of a Dutch art dealer. The court says the dealer denies that the disputed statue is the stolen antiquity. The villages…

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) – A Connecticut art gallery owner arrested for putting a drug spoon sculpture outside a pharmaceutical company’s headquarters to protest the opioid crisis has been accepted into a probation program. A state judge in Stamford approved accelerated rehabilitation Sept. 17 for Fernando Alvarez. A misdemeanor charge of obstructing free passage will be erased from his record if he successfully completes a one-year probationary period. Alvarez and artist Domenic Esposito dropped the 11-foot-long, 4-foot-high steel sculpture in front Purdue Pharma’s Stamford offices in June. The company denies allegations in lawsuits by state and local governments that its marketing of the opioid painkiller OxyContin helped fuel opioid abuse and overdoses. The sculpture is now in Alvarez’s gallery in Stamford as part of an exhibit that he says confronts the…

CHICAGO (AP) – The National Rifle Association will remove an image of Chicago’s famous bean-shaped sculpture from a video advertisement, ending a legal dispute that began after the artist sued for copyright infringement, according to statements from both sides. British artist Anish Kapoor said he’s “pleased to declare victory over the NRA,” the Chicago Tribune [http://www.chicagotribune.com] reported . Kapoor filed a lawsuit in June over the NRA’s use of the Cloud Gate sculpture in a video released in April 2017. An image of the sculpture appears as NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch talks about former President Barack Obama. The lawsuit argued that while tourists are allowed to photograph the sculpture, Kapoor owns the copyright to commercial images and didn’t give the NRA permission to use it. Kapoor sought to have the…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) – A Virginia man has pleaded guilty to illegally selling and transporting items made from endangered species and other wildlife, such as crocodiles, sea turtles and sawfish. Sixty-year-old Keith Foster, the owner of The Outpost antique and exotic merchandise store in Middleburg, pleaded guilty Dec. 19 to violating the Lacey Act. As part of his plea, Foster forfeited $275,000 and over 175 items made from wildlife. Court documents state Foster imported more than 100 undeclared wildlife items, including some protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species last year. Prosecutors say Foster told a customer about some of his schemes, but the customer was actually a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent. Foster faces a maximum of five years in…

LYNBROOK, N.Y. – One of just three acrylic on canvas paintings of the letter ‘B’ by Pop Artist Robert Indiana (American, 1928-2018), plus several lithographs signed by the artist, and a group of Philip and Kelvin Laverne pieces will be part of Weiss Auctions’ Jan. 23-24 sale. The auction will be held in Weiss Auctions’ gallery located at 74 Merrick Road in Lynbrook, at 10 a.m. both days, as well as online, via Proxibid.com and Invaluable.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. “The letter ‘B’ painting is one hundred percent fresh to the market and comes with impeccable provenance,” said Philip Weiss of Weiss Auctions. “The work was supposedly one of three done by the artist, all in honor of people whose names begin with B, to include…

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – A couple is accusing a Kansas City rug company of selling them a fake antique Persian rug. Maranatha and David Christie filed a lawsuit against Knotty Rug Co. in early December, alleging that an appraiser told them the Persian rug they purchased in December 2014 for $28,000 may have been altered to appear older than it is and might not actually be Persian, typically meaning that it originated in Iran. The lawsuit also accuses the store of misrepresenting about 14 other rugs the couple purchased for more than $39,000 in September 2014, the Kansas City Star reported. The lawsuit comes after the store agreed to buy back the Persian rug and two others for nearly $39,000. Knotty Rug Owner Darrel Wingo, who is also named…

HONOLULU (AP) – The visitors’ center at the USS Arizona Memorial will stay open during the federal government shutdown. The National Park Service runs the visitors center. But the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports nonprofit organizations that operate historic sites at Pearl Harbor will provide financial support to keep the center open. Pacific Historic Parks President Aileen Utterdyke says the nonprofits will do their best to avoid the disruption and inconvenience of a shutdown. Navy sailors who operate shuttle boats to the memorial aren’t affected by the shutdown.…

All prices realized during Potter & Potter Auctions’ December 1, 2018 Vintage Travel Poster Sale in Chicago.…

Q We enjoy your articles in Antique Trader. Enclosed are pictures of two Henry Dreyfus square thermoses. The small red and black is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum and rumored to possibly have been aboard the Wright Bros. first flight. They are dated in the 1930s. The black and red thermos is 9.75” tall by 3.25” wide and the brown and yellow thermos is 13.75” tall by 4” wide. We have seen some values on the small red and black one but nothing on the larger brown and yellow. We are very curious about the value and history of both thermoses. We appreciate any information you might be able to share with us. Thank you. — S.N. Zeeland, Michigan A Thank you, I’m happy to hear you enjoy…

I can’t remember a time in my life when dolls were not around. An early photo of me at about nine months shows my mother standing over my buggy, and a woolly plush lamby next to me. For my one-year photo, the photographer posed me next to a black hard plastic doll made in Greece. She had flowing hair and inset eyes, and a fancy dress. For years, I would ask my mother if that doll were mine. We had dolls all over my grandparents’ house. My aunt and uncles also lived there, and I lived there the first two or three years of my life. Later, my parents bought my grandfather’s house, and it became our family home. I began collecting dolls when I was three years old. My…

NEW YORK (AP) – The granddaughter of a Jewish art collector whose paintings were stolen by the Nazis had a family reunion with one of the works on Sept. 12 after almost eight decades, an impressionist piece by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Sylvie Sulitzer saw “Two Women in a Garden” for the first time at New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage after unveiling it at a ceremony that included law enforcement officials representing the offices that helped get the painting back to her, her grandparents’ only living descendant. “I’m very thankful to be able to show my beloved family, wherever they are, that after what they’ve been through, there is justice,” Sulitzer said tearfully. The reunion, though, will probably be short-lived. She will likely auction off the painting to pay back compensation…

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The estate of artist Robert Indiana, creator of the iconic LOVE series, auctioned off two paintings that belonged to him to raise money to defend against a lawsuit and to stabilize his deteriorating island home off the Maine coast. Christie’s Auction House sold the two works, one by Ellsworth Kelly and the other by Ed Ruscha, for a combined $5 million at the gavel on Nov. 16 in New York. Some in the art community were critical of the sale of the Indiana items. Critics were especially disappointed by the sale of the 1957 painting “Orange Blue,” a gift from close friend, Kelly. The two forged a relationship in New York, and critics believe the painting should be shown in Indiana’s Maine home once it’s transformed…

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) – The owner of a Connecticut art gallery known for his giant heroin spoon protest sculpture says he will close his downtown Stamford location. Fernando Alvarez Gallery, which opened nine years ago, will shut its doors in January – but Alvarez says his business will continue. The Stamford Advocate reports that the art center made international headlines in June when Alvarez and Massachusetts artist Domenic Esposito placed the 800-pound spoon sculpture in front of Purdue Pharma’s Stamford headquarters. The pharmaceutical company manufactures OxyContin, which many say contributes to the opioid crisis. The company has denied contributing to the crisis. Alvarez was arrested for the stunt and was allowed to participate in an accelerated rehabilitation program. He will be cleared of all charges if he stays away from…

GRAFTON, Mass. (AP) – Eight-year-old Eddie Locke was a third-grader at the Plain School in Stockbridge in 1958 when the famed artist Norman Rockwell, accompanied by the principal, walked into the lunchroom one day and pointed at him. “That one,” the artist said. Seeing the principal heading toward him, Mr. Locke recalled 60 years later, he wondered: “What have I done wrong?” Young Eddie was sent home to put on a good shirt and go to the Howard Johnson’s in Pittsfield, where for an hour he posed at the lunch counter with Massachusetts State Trooper Richard Clemens for “The Runaway,” a Saturday Evening Post cover that would become a Rockwell favorite, a painting still beloved more than a half century later. And then he went back to school. “It wasn’t…

A painting that was stolen during World War II and later spent decades in a Connecticut home will be returned to an art museum in Ukraine, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. The FBI seized the painting after a retired couple in Ridgefield transported it to Washington, D.C., to be auctioned last year. The couple, David and Gabby Tracy, had long cherished the painting but figured it was a copy, not the signed original. Standing nearly 8 feet tall, the painting depicts the 16th century Russian czar Ivan the Terrible looking crestfallen as he flees the Kremlin on horseback. It had been left behind in a Ridgefield home that David Tracy bought in 1987. The previous couple in the home said the painting was already there when they purchased the…

LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – On Saturday, Jan. 19 and Sunday, Jan. 20 Rago Auctions will hold its first 2019 sale of Early 20th Century and Modern Design. “Our best auctions usually have a large component of fresh material from private collections, and the January sale is exceptional in that regard,” David Rago said. The Jan. 19 session, beginning at 10 a.m., includes property from four private collections of early 20th century pottery including over 30 lots of pottery from the Harriman Judd Collection, featuring works by the Martin Brothers including three bird tobacco jars and a large creature sculpture. Bidders will find ceramics by George Ohr, Newcomb College, Rookwood, Marblehead, Adelaide Robineau, Grueby, Tiffany Studios, Teco, Van Briggle, Arequipa, and more. European pottery by Zsolnay, Wedgwood, Raoul Lachenal, Moorcroft, Royal Doulton,…

The Sparkling Clearwater Depression Glass Club is presenting its 40th annual Show and Sale on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 9-10, 2019, at the MINNREG Building, 6340 126th Avenue N, Largo, Florida. The show and sale will feature national dealers offering for sale American-made art glass, carnival glass, depression glass, elegant glass, pattern glass, china, pottery, dinnerware and kitchenware from the 1880s, the Depression Era and the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s to the present. Highlights include the most up-to-date antique and collectible reference books available for sale in the Club’s book booth, glass repair, free glass identification and free parking. The MINNREG snack bar is on-site and serves breakfast, lunch and light snacks. The Club is giving away $1,000 worth of door prizes. Twenty $50 Show Gift Certificates will be given…

LONDON – A sketchbook showing the original hand-drawn costume designs for key characters in Star Wars – including Darth Vader, Chewbacca and the Stormtroopers – sold for $157,908 at Bonhams, New Bond Street, London, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018. The sketchbook was part of the 73-lot sale: Designing an Empire: The John Mollo Archive, and in the collection belonging to the family of John Mollo, the double Oscar®-winning costume designer for Star Wars, Gandhi, Alien and Chaplin. Katherine Schofield, Head of Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia department, said, “John Mollo’s personal sketchbook provides a unique insight into the creation of the Star Wars universe. We are delighted that his historic work has been celebrated with bidders from around the globe eager to own this piece of cinematic history.” The story began in…

All prices listed are hammer prices achieved during Hermann Historica's 77th auction, held Nov. 5-23 in Munchen, Germany.…

Scott Antique Markets in Washington Court House, Ohio, is the name of the game if you’re looking for toys. Each building brought a new era of play to the market, from model trains of varying scales in one building to movie collectibles in another and tin toys and dolls in yet another building, each one bringing their own unique memories along. “The way collectible items usually work is that the era that the buyer was playing with those toys, that’s what they collect when they get to be 30-40-50 years old and they have some disposable money to spend on fun things,” says Nancy Meeker, a toy vendor from Cortland, Ohio that specializes in early toys. “They’re looking for their childhood things.” Meeker says the toys she sells a lot…