Topping headlines in the world of art, antiques and collectibles is an Australian man with a collection of American furniture, Italian antiquities returning to Europe and a famous art collector’s plans to build a home for his collection. Plus: An Englishman uncovers an important Iron Age treasure.
From The Sydney Morning Herald:
American beauties
A Sydney man who has amassed a large collection of 19th-century American furniture will put the 30 pieces up for auction at the Shapiro Gallery next week. Bill Bradshaw, who is considered one of the pioneers of the Australian antique industry, built his collection over 50 years, and it includes an 1820 Dubois and Stodart pianoforte, an 1810 Federal-style mahogany secretary, an 1825 striped Grecian-style settee, several clocks and a Black Bess flintlock musket.
From The New York Times:
Pact Will Relocate Artifacts to Italy From Cleveland
Fourteen objects that are currently housed at the Cleveland Museum of Art will have a one-way ticket to Italy soon. The items—including a Renaissance cross, a fourth-century B.C. Apulian volute krater and a ninth-to-sixth-century B.C. bronze of a warrior from Sardinia—are being returned to their homeland after the museum worked with investigators to determine which items in its collection were obtained by less-than-stellar dealers or donors. The Cleveland Museum of Art follows the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum, among others, in returning Italian antiquities.
From The New York Times:
Eli Broad Plans Another Art Space
Eli Broad, namesake of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum addition to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has announced plans to open another exhibition space to house parts of his immense collection. There is speculation that Broad, a well-known philanthropist and collector, is possibly making a move to prop up the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which has faced financial troubles as there are fewer big donors to be found in the current economic environment.
Broad has previously stated that he didn’t want to have a permanent home for his collection but instead lend portions of it to museums worldwide.
From The Guardian (UK):
£350,000 gold collar hailed as best iron age find in 50 years
An amateur metal detector in England has uncovered an Iron Age treasure worth £350,000 ($517,419). Maurice Richardson found the 2,200-year-old gold collar in Nottinghamshire. The British Museum in London has an almost-identical piece. After massive fundraising, the local museum in Newark, England, now has the gold collar. Richardson is sharing the money from his lucky find with the landowner on whose land he found it.
From Auction News Central:
No worries—art from MAD magazine’s NY archives fetches nearly $750,000
Apparently vintage comic books are recession proof if last week’s sale of MAD magazine original art is any indication. Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas hosted the sale of the last remaining art from the magazine’s New York archives, a sale that doubled its presale estimates to bring in $746,516. Among the top sellers was the cover from issue 30, published in 1956, featuring the grinning, gap-toothed mug of Alfred E. Neuman. It sold for $203,150 to a Chicago collector.
From Memphis Online:
Antiques thefts bring jail time
An antiques shop owner in Memphis, Tenn., whose business went bankrupt after she allegedly swindled customers out of tens of thousands of dollars, has pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud and theft of property. Victoria Padgett, former proprietor of Crump-Padgett Antique Gallery, will spend 30 days in jail and pay a monthly restitution fee.
From Art Daily:
An Important View of Philadelphia Leads December Auction of Fine Books and Manuscripts at Christie’s New York
Christie’s Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts sale on Dec. 5 is slated to have several notable highlights including a notebook that belonged to Elizabeth Barrett Browning (estimate $200,000–$300,000), Charles Dickens’ writing desk (estimate $100,000–$150,000), a rare 1754 panoramic engraving of Philadelphia (estimate $250,000-350,000) and original artwork from “The Night Before Christmas” (estimate $60,000–$80,000). Also up for auction is a collection of annotated political pamphlets that belonged to John Adams in 1754 estimated to go for $50,000-$70,000.
From Art Info:
Bonhams to Open Atlanta Office
Bonhams, the third-largest auction house in the world, has announced plans to open an office in Atlanta, citing the city’s strategic role in the southern United States market. Mary Moore Bethea, of Mary Moore Fine Arts & Antiques, will be at the regional representative for Bonhams in the Southeast.
From The Guardian (UK):
Mini-Angel is Antiques Roadshow’s first £1m find
The British version of hit television show “Antiques Roadshow” has appraised its first antique worth £1 million ($1.49 million)—though it doesn’t quite qualify as an antique. The item is a large bronze model of Antony Gormley’s “Angel of the North,” a huge steel sculpture with a wingspan of 178 feet that Gormley finished in 1998 at a cost of £1 million total. “Angel of the North” stands on a hill in Gateshead, England. Gormley created several models of the sculpture, one of which has sold for £2 million ($3million).
From Bloomberg:
Christie’s Sells Patek Philippe Gold Watch for Record
Christie’s sold a Patek Philippe gold watch for a record $805,932 in Geneva on Monday. The watch was originally made in 1963 for Tiffany & Co., and fetched the highest price for such a yellow-gold watch. Interestingly, the sale came a day after a timepieces sale at Sotheby’s failed to meet its low estimate. The Christie’s sale totaled 17.9 million Swiss francs ($15 million) and included another Patek Philippe watch from the Depression era, which sold for $714,406.
From Auction Central News:
Tiffany lamp likely to top $100,000 at Treadway Toomey auction Dec. 7
The highlight of the John Toomey Gallery sale on Dec. 7 will be a Tiffany lamp that is expected to receive bids of at least $100,000. The lamp, which features Tiffany’s Peony pattern, will be one of 1,100 lots up for auction in three categories: arts and crafts, modern furniture and accessories, and fine art and paintings. Several other Tiffany pieces will go under the gavel at the Oak Brook, Ill., gallery, and all are expected to fare well.
From The Washington Post:
Smithsonian Collects Obama Campaign Memorabilia
While some people were busy the day after Election Day buying up newspapers with history-making headlines, curators at museums are doing the same. Curators at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of African American History and Culture are snapping up campaign memorabilia and objects from campaign offices and headquarters (maps, strategy boards) to add to their collections.
From The Telegraph (UK):
Auction houses tell jewel owners to drop price
Following the dismal contemporary-art sales at major auction houses in the past two weeks, Christie’s and Sotheby’s are prepping for their jewelry sales in Europe this week. This includes taking preventative measures to ensure that these sales go as much according to plan as possible—i.e. the items up for auction reach their estimates. The auction houses are advising owners selling jewelry and watches to adjust their reserve prices so they are more in line with the current economic conditions and auction expectations.
By Elizabeth Hendley, a WorthPoint writer based in Seattle.
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