ART BASEL & DESIGN MIAMI

I'm just back from the Art Basel and Design Miami shows in Miami Beach. It's probably the largest art show in the world. As always, I looked for trends and the use of antiques in modern art. Seen at the show: a 3-foot-high modern "memory jar" decorated with antique plates, figurines, broken platters and small dolls. Also seen: an antique lacy carved chair from India with a red plastic "leather" seat topped by a neon "stop" sign. Droog, a Dutch design firm that likes to alter old things, offered a wooden kitchen chair from about 1910 that's covered with fuzzy white paint and light blue floral designs. Prices were high for everything. Each of the things I've mentioned must have cost over $10,000.

Modern Japanese basketry vases were selling for up to $30,000. By comparison, antique Japanese baskets are bargains.

BRINGING BACK BROOCHES

Brooches (pins) are back in style. Madeleine Albright may have started it when she became U.S. Secretary of State in 1997 and became known for wearing large brooches. Some of her pins are patriotic (like her c.1940 Trifari American eagle and Uncle Sam top hat shown here) and others had special significance related to her diplomatic missions. Secretary Albright's brooches are so well-known that the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City has mounted an exhibit of 200 of her pins. The exhibit runs until January 31, 2010.

The oversized "boyfriend" jacket with classic tailoring and wide shoulders is perfect for a large, showy brooch. Antique brooches are being copied today.

CHEERS

A $10.50 check auctioned for $27,350 last week at RR Auction in New Hampshire. It was signed by astronaut Neil Armstrong on July 16, 1969, the very day he took off for the moon. It is the only known Apollo-era check signed by Armstrong. He has not given an autograph to anyone since 1994.

In 2003 a professional mover in New York City was paid to haul trash away from the home of an artist who had died. He took the rubbish he was asked to remove and stored some of it, including a cardboard barrel, in his warehouse. In 2008 he opened the barrel and found ancient Mexican figurines, bowls, and jugs now valued at $16,500. The mover says he likes a different kind of historical relic and hopes to sell these.

The antiques shops are open for business again in Baghdad, although they close early and have extra security. Dealers there sell ancient treasures as well as early 20th-century antiques that belonged to wealthy Iraqi families. Silver, brass, and gold items made by expert craftsmen, china, paintings, and--of course--rugs. Prices are reasonable, but Iraq is not a place that's popular with tourists who would buy.

REPURPOSING ANTIQUES

We like this dealer's idea. He is "repurposing antiques" by making antique architectural pieces into lamps. There is a lot of repurposing going on now at flea markets. A unique garden stake was priced $15 at a show. It was a long copper pipe, topped by a cup and saucer held together by epoxy.

COLLECTORS CELEBRATE EARTH DAY 365 DAYS A YEAR!

Earth Day celebrations encourage us to be "green" Collectors are. We recycle furniture, saving trees and power, and we buy old (not new) pottery, silver, jewelry, cookie jars, and even doors and fireplace mantels. And who hasn't noticed that the antiques you buy at shows and flea markets are often wrapped in old newspapers. Keep it up! And teach the younger generation to turn off lights and computers when they're not using them.

PROTECTING ANTIQUES FROM THE SUN

Sunny windows are the enemy of antiques. Textiles and wood will fade; glass sometimes breaks from the heat.

ANTIQUE FURNITURE

Don't keep antique furniture in front of heat vents. The heat will eventually damage the wood. And besides, leaving open space near heat vents helps air and heat circulate better.

MISSING ART AT THE U.N.

Ever misplace an antique in your house? I have been looking for one of my Roycroft bookends for months. But the United Nations has a bigger problem. The U.N. headquarters in New York are being redecorated soon, and the staff can't find hundreds of pieces of art that should be in the offices. It should be hard to misplace a huge Jose de Rivera sculpture, a Roman mosaic, the stone head of a Mayan priest and hundreds of other artworks. Even more surprising--the art was neither appraised nor insured.

ANTIQUE PAPERS SOLD, EBAY CUTS JOBS

Antique Papers Sold, eBay Cuts Jobs

The AntiqueWeek, AntiqueWest, and Auction Exchange newspapers have all been sold by their London owners, dmg World Media. Dmg also sold the London Antiques Trade Gazette. No word yet about who the buyer is. At least four antiques publications have been sold or discontinued this year, but online publications are popping up.

EBay has announced it will cut 1,600 jobs. EBay says it is not a reaction to the changing economy but part of a plan for future growth.

THE INS AND OUTS OF NEGOTIATING AT AN ANTIQUES AUCTION (CONT.)

For those who are still puzzled by our math problem in the Sep. 17 ezine, the answer is NOT $5,000. We offer this solution posted on our blog by "anonymous":


For all the people still stuck on $5,000 instead of the correct $4,100--you "probably" are "thinking" that $40+$30+$20+$10 = $1,000 because of the way those smaller numbers are spaced between the $1000 figures--but those four smaller numbers add up to only $100.


4 X $1000 = $4000
$4000 + $100 = $4100


Or you can add the numbers in sequence:

$1000 + $40 = $1040

$1040 + $1000 = $2040

$2040 + $30 = $2070

$2070 + $1000 = $3070

$3070 + $20 = $3090

$3090 + $1000 = $4090

$4090 + $10 = $4,100

A NOTE OF THANKS FROM TERRY KOVEL

A Note of Thanks from Terry Kovel



Thank you, collectors, dealers, curators, authors and the many others who are part of our community of "antiquers." Your hundreds of notes and calls have made the past two weeks a little easier.

Ralph and I were together in work and marriage for many years, yet there are many stories I had forgotten or perhaps never heard:

• How he schemed with a dealer to make me think he was buying a 10-foot-tall airplane propeller for our living room, then told me about it in front of the camera during a TV taping.
  
  
• How he sat for hours in an auction to buy a special antique for me for our anniversary. He got it with the best ploy I have ever seen at an auction. He noticed only two other bidders wanted the antique, so he tapped the one nearest to us on the shoulder and said, "Pardon me, I have waited all day for the next piece--don't you have to go to the bathroom?" The dealer laughed, left for a short time, and Ralph's bid won.
  
  
• How he often gave a tie or cufflinks to someone who admired them.
  
  
• How he gave information and advice to anyone who asked, including one bottle collector from Alaska who called at 2 in the morning.
  

The house is filled with Ralph. Every piece of furniture, every vase, and of course our country store collection are all reminders of a wonderful husband and our years of collecting fun. The personal stories from you, especially the ones that tell of a chance encounter at a show or of the importance of his work, have kept me going. I keep thinking that, as one blogger said, "He's probably poking around in God's cupboards" looking for that next treasure.

FRAUD IN THE ANTIQUES INDUSTRY

Fraud in the Antiques Industry

The PMSA (Professional Show Manager's Association) is fighting fraud in the antiques industry. They are giving away bookmarks that remind buyers to ask the dealer, "How long have you been in business?" "Will you give me a written guarantee that the item is authentic?" "What is your return policy?" And other questions. It also suggests that for more information visit ftc.gov (Federal Trade Commission site) and click on Consumer Information.

TAKING CARE OF PAPER ANTIQUES

Taking care of paper antiques

Do not store newsprint with other paper antiques. The high-acid paper used for newsprint can discolor or even destroy other paper documents. Even if the newsprint does not touch the other paper, acid is carried through the air and your paper antiques will suffer.

A Special Request From A Reader.

"I have a collection of 40 or so chamber pots that I seem to enjoy far more than any member of my family. I would love to find a home for my collection. Do you know of a place that might accept and treasure this rather unusual grouping?" Does anyone know of a museum that would like a collection of chamber pots?