Category: Antiques Appraisal
SOME OBSCURE FURNITURE MAKERS, SCULPTORS AND ARTISTS, LIKE HARVEY ELLIS, L. BOSSIN AND WALTER WRIGHT
Sometimes, the names of furniture makers or artists appear to be lost to history. But often, some research can bring them forth again. Every antique auction, whether it’s a $10 million barn burner or a $5,000 snoozer has points of interest that can be learned and stored for future use.…
BIG CROWD SEES RED AT ROBERT FOSTER AUCTION
A typically frosty January 1st, 2015, wintry morning didn’t stop a huge crowd from filling Robert Foster’s auction gallery in Newcastle, Maine. For decades, Foster’s winter auctions have been drawing mobs of bidders. “Probably the biggest crowd we’ve ever had here,” Foster announced at the commencement of the sale. Bidders…
ALL IN THE FAMILY: GRANDFATHER CLOCK AND PRIMITIVE PORTRAIT
On August 23rd, Caddigan Auctioneers of Hanover, Massachusetts, made a foray into South Paris, Maine, and came out with a major winner. “We are a long way from home, we’re very happy to be here,” auctioneer Joan Caddigan announced just before the on-site sale, “This is a wonderful, wonderful, untouched…
A PENNY IS WORTH EXACTLY ONE CENT…UNLESS IT’S SPECIAL
The American penny, in various forms, has been a unit of currency since 1793. But its long run may be coming to an end. The US government hasn’t yet made definite plans to discontinue the penny, but there is an ongoing debate over whether or not it should be eliminated.…
THE CASE OF THE SEYMOUR SECRETARY; WHODUNIT?
Hap Moore’s September 26th, 2009 auction in York, Maine, was one of those sales that could be divided neatly into two categories; “the Boston secretary,” and “everything else.” The Boston glass door secretary may have come from the Federal period workshop of the John and Thomas Seymour. It had two…
SHIP PAINTER SOLON fRANCIS mONTECELLO bADGER; CONDITION OF PAINTINGS CAN MAKE A GREAT DIFFERENCE.
For many years, the ship painter Solon Francis Montecello Badger (1873-1919) was known by the misnomer Samuel Finley Morse Badger. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He lived with his father, who was also a marine painter, and as a teenager, lodged with William Stubbs, also a renowned ship painter.…