Related Posts

• Ultra rare John Goddard games table acquired.

  

  May 9, 2011 We bought a superb Newport demi-lune games table at CRN Auctions last weekend. It was made in Newport, RI., and has a wonderful cabriole front leg with carved ball & claw foot and carving on the knee. The table dates to the 1760s and has the classic Newport style undercut carved talons on the Chippendale front foot and Queen Anne style feet in the rear. The semi-circular top flips open to reveal a storage well for the card-playing supplies of the day. The table came from a Newport family in the 1970s and was handled by noteworthy antiques dealer John Walton. It has been in a private collection ever since. A friend who happens to be a scholar on Goddard-Townsend Newport furniture remembers the house it came from and will be sharing the family history with me. A nice bonus was the discovery that the table is illustrated in Master Craftsmen of Newport by Michael Moses. He associates the table with the workshop of John Goddard. Who am I to argue?

• Research tidbit, pineapples for rent?

  

  October 28, 2011 Matt Buckley here this time.  I have always held that one of the prerequisites to being an antique enthusiast, is an appreciation for the tidbits of information that accumulate along the way.  This minutia is prized in an equal measure to the objects.  They become exquisite little nuggets of information that  help to color the image of our history and enrich our understanding of our culture.  As so often is the case, the origins of our customs can be rooted in absurd nuanced behavior from our past.  These are the best tidbits of all. I encountered just such a factoid recently, while researching a Salem, McIntire school work table.  The tops of the legs have wonderful carved pineapples.  They are a very rare motif in Salem furniture.  I wanted to write a few words on the meaning of the Pineapple as a cultural symbol during the 18th and 19th Century.  I had long understood it to be a symbol of the feast, which had come to express the sense of welcome, good cheer and abundance.  After a quick trip to ...

• The amazing truth about hoarders

  

  August 26, 2011 The popular new television shows on extreme hoarding have recently made more people aware of the problem. Because of this awareness, I’ve begun to hear comments such as, ”can you imagine seeing a place like that?” or “have you ever seen one of those houses?” The sad fact is, I have. Many times. It’s a lot more common than you might think. Between my work for various Boston area auctioneers in my youth and the years that I spent as an estate liquidator, I estimate that I’ve been involved in the dismantling of between 15 and 20 extreme hoarder’s homes. The difference is, I was usually dealing with the homes of hoarders who had either died or had gone to a nursing home. It would be unusual for a hoarder to part with their possessions, so antiques dealers are rarely called until after the occupant is gone. I used to attempt to explain the conditions of these houses, describing rooms piled with debris, sometimes up to the ceiling and only isles to walk through. Now people can see these ...

• Highboy Rescue at Wyoming Auction

  

  April 19, 2011 We have just purchased a “$650.” highboy for $60 thousand! Although I wish the numbers were reversed, I’m thrilled with the discovery and acquisition. Situations like this are what make the antiques business so fascinating and have certainly helped to hold my interest through the years. What happened is this: In mid February I received a letter from a panicked beneficiary of a trust, who informed me that several antique objects from her stepmother’s estate had been under-valued by an appraiser and were slated to be sold in 9 days by a remote Wyoming auctioneer. Fearing that the antiques would sell for a fraction of their value, she was bringing the auction to the attention of qualified dealers that she found on the internet. The key object, an eighteenth century Massachusetts bonnet-top high chest had been valued by an appraiser for the trust at $650. According to the heir, the high chest was a valuable Queen Anne piece and had been part of a fine furniture exhibit at the highly regarded Western Reserve Historical Society in 1969. She sent me an ...

• A new season for Antiques Roadshow begins

  

  July 8, 2012 I have recently returned from Antiques Roadshow in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where I worked at the clocks table with Sean Delaney. As always, Saturday was a long day for all the appraisers and crew. Both Sean and I were happy to have been filmed with interesting clocks. He appraised an excellent wooden works antique tall case clock with the best folk art painted wooden dial either of us have ever seen. I appraised a super example of a Victorian figural mantle clock. I worked at the furniture table when Roadshow kicked off the season in Boston a month ago. It was nice to host some of the other appraisers in my home city. I was filmed with a pretty interesting 18th century Goddard-Townsend school piece of furniture from Newport, Rhode Island. The Queen Anne form appeared to be a dressing table (lowboy) with a carved shell, but turned out to be the base section from what would have been an important Newport high chest (highboy) with a carved shell. If it survives the cutting room, I hope you will have an opportunity ...

• Philadelphia Antiques Show

  

  April 8, 2011 I'm on an airplane returning from my annual pilgrimage to The Philadelphia Antiques Show. As always, the dealers showcased a nice selection of early American decorative arts. Among my favorite pieces were a great William & Mary dressing table, circa 1730 from Rhode Island and a fantastic painted wall cupboard with a facade in the form of a Federal house, complete with elaborate doorway. Arthur Liverant had the dressing table and Courcier Wilkins was offering the wall cupboard. The preview party was packed with people, which is always a good sign. I always enjoy this show because there is so much Americana to see.