Reality TV Shows for Collectors

ABC The Great Big American Auction, in production

A & E Storage Wars, Wednesdays 10 p.m.

BBC Antiques Roadshow UK, day varies, 11 p.m. (reruns)

Discovery American Treasures, Tuesdays, 7 p.m.
Auction Kings, Tuesdays 10 p.m.
Oddities, Thursdays 10:30 p.m.

Fox Buried Treasure, Wednesdays 8 p.m.

HGTV Cash & Cari, Sundays 7:30 p.m.
Cash in the Attic, Wednesdays 8 p.m.

History American Pickers, Mondays 9 p.m.
American Restoration, Fridays 10 p.m.
Pawn Stars, Mondays 10 p.m.

Lifetime Picker Sisters, Tuesdays 10 p.m.

National Geographic Auction Packed, Tuesdays 8 p.m.

NBC It's Worth What?! Tuesdays 8 p.m.

PBS Antiques Roadshow, Mondays 8 p.m. (check local listings)
History Detectives, Tuesdays 8 p.m. (check local listings)

Spike Auction Hunters, Tuesdays 10 p.m.

Syfy Hollywood Treasure, Wednesdays 10 p.m.

TLC Auctioneer$, Saturdays 10 p.m.

My Collection Obsession, in production

Tru TV Hardcore Pawn, Tuesdays 9 p.m.

Network TBD Antique Warriors, in production

Jewelry dating from ancient Egypt to modern day will be displayed in the new jewelry gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibit, 'Jewelry, Gems and Treasures: Ancient to Modern,' will run from July 19, 2011, to November 1, 2012. Of special interest is the studio jewelry selected from the Daphne Farago Collection of about 650 pieces. The collection is the most complete ever assembled of studio jewelry. It was donated to the museum in 2006 and 150 pieces were exhibited in 2007-08. It has been in storage since then. The collection includes jewelry by Alexander Calder, Man Ray, Sam Kramer, Art Smith, Harry Bertoia, Margaret de Patta, Ed Wiener, Betty Cooke and many other studio artists.

A $5 Million Desk and a Chair From Salem Made a Record-Setting Pair at Christie's

Courtesy Christie's Images LTD 2011
This Chippendale block-and-shell carved and figured mahogany bureau, attributed to John Goddard, sold for $5,682,500 at auction.

Courtesy Christie's Images LTD 2011
This Federal-era carved mahogany side chair that craftsman Samuel McIntire sold for $662,500.

NEW YORK— The recently wobbly American furniture and folk art segment of the auction market received a big jolt of confidence on Friday when an 18th-century Chippendale block-and-shell mahogany desk attributed to Newport, Rhode Island, cabinetmaker John Goddard, sold for a whopping $5,682,500 at Christie's. Dating from circa 1765, the figured knee-hole desk — or bureau — rocketed past presale expectations of $700-900,000 and easily crushed the result made during its last auction appearance, when it sold for $940,000 at Sotheby’s New York in January 2005.

Multiple bidders chased the piece to the $3 million threshold, where the battle was taken over by American furniture dealers C.L. Prickett and William Samaha, both known for having deep-pocketed clients, who drove it to the $5 million hammer price (before the hefty buyer’s premium). Prickett was the winner, sending a handsome return to the table's Midwestern seller, considering that the piece had appreciated sixfold in that many years' time.

Though it stands as a record in American furniture for the bureau form, and the fourth priciest piece of American furniture to sell at auction, it lags far behind the most expensive ever sold, the so-called Nicholas Brown Chippendale block-and-shell desk and bookcase, also made in Newport in circa 1760-1770, that fetched a staggering $12.1 million back at Christie’s New York in June 1989.

During the 18th century, the Rhode Island port city was a bustling hub, flush with rich merchants, and cabinetmakers there had the pick of the finest imported woods available. Goddard was one of the best-known American craftsmen from that period.

The record bureau carries the "attributed to" tag since the piece isn't signed by Goddard, but it was undoubtedly made by him, since he presented it to his daughter, Catherine Goddard on the occasion of her marriage. It stayed in her family through several generations of descendants until it was sold by the maker's great-great-granddaughter in the early 1900s. A surviving handwritten label affixed to the top drawer of the table indicates that the elaborately carved and appointed desk was a wedding gift.

"This desk bears all the unique characteristics and quality of construction that make Newport furniture of this era so highly prized among collectors," said John Hays, the deputy Christie's Americas chairman who took the sale.

The Goddard desk was the sole lot of the 280 offered that hit the seven figure mark. The entire sale made $12,766,625, with a buy-in rate by lot of 20 percent and, by value, six percent.
Another record of sorts was realized by a Federal-era carved mahogany side chair that craftsman Samuel McIntire is believed to have finished for Salem resident Elias Hasket Derby in the last decade of the 18th century. It made $662,500 against a puny $30-50,000 presale estimate, a record for any piece of Federal furniture.

Damaged Warhol Painting Gets Top Dollar

Collectors rarely shoot holes in expensive art, but Dennis Hopper, the actor and art collector, thought his Andy Warhol screenprint of Mao Zedong looked dangerous one dark night. He shot two bullet holes in the picture. Warhol thought it amusing and signed one "warning shot" and the other "bullet hole." The picture, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000, sold for $302,500 at a Christie's auction on January 12, 2011. It is a one-of-a-kind because of the artist-signed bullet holes, so the "damage" didn't lower the value.

"Save Our History" Auction Records Set

It was "save our history" week at New York auctions last week, with record prices set at Sotheby's for three items:

1) An original copy of the Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation sold for $3,778,500, the highest price ever paid at auction for a U.S. Presidential document. The 1863 document that declared the slaves were "forever free" was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. The copy that sold, one of 48 originals signed by Lincoln, belonged to Robert F. Kennedy, who bought it in 1964 while he was attorney general of the United States. The new owner remains anonymous.

2) The guidon (the flag carried on a pole that identifies the unit going into battle) carried in Custer's 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn sold for $2,210,500. The swallowtail flag was found after the battle hidden under the body of a dead soldier. All other flags had been taken by the Indians. This flag belonged to the Detroit Musem of Art and had not been on display for over 80 years. The money will be used to buy items related to American Indians.

3) The third bit of history was the document that listed the 13 rules for the game of basketball invented by James Naismith in 1891. It sold for the highest price of all, $4,338,500. The money from the sale will go to the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.

Duchess of Windsor’s Jewels Sell for $12.5 Million

An onyx and diamond panther bracelet (1952) by Cartier sold for 4.5 million pounds at auction. It had been estimated to fetch between 1 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds at Sotheby's during a sale of jewels formerly owned by the Duchess of Windsor.
A ruby, sapphire, emerald, citrine and diamond flamingo brooch designed by Jeanne Toussaint for Cartier sold for 1.7 million pounds with fees. The item had been estimated to sell for at least 1 million pounds at Sotheby's Nov. 30 auction in London of jewels owned by the Duchess of Windsor.
An 18-carat gold and gem-set cigarette case by Cartier. The item was given to the Duke of Windsor by the Duchess of Windsor as a Christmas present in 1935. Estimated at 150,000 pounds to 200,000 pounds, it was one of 20 pieces that formerly belonged to the Duchess that were sold by Sotheby's in London. The final price was 181,250 pounds
Jewels that King Edward VIII gave the woman for whom he abdicated sold for 8 million pounds ($12.5 million) in London tonight, almost twice the presale estimate, as collectors battled for works by Cartier.
The King of England stepped down in 1936 to become the Duke of Windsor and marry U.S. divorcee Wallis Simpson. Sotheby’s was offering 20 pieces that previously belonged to her. The Windsors were enthusiastic jewelry collectors. They commissioned pieces from Cartier and other makers during their courtship in the U.K. and married life in the Bahamas and France.
Eleven Cartier pieces were included in the sale that was estimated to raise as much as 4.2 million pounds at hammer prices. Among these was an onyx-and-diamond bracelet designed, with the Duke’s encouragement, in the form of a panther by Jeanne Toussaint for Cartier in 1952. This fetched 4.5 million pounds with fees. It was estimated to sell for between 1 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds, as was a flamingo-shaped brooch by Toussaint that the Duchess bought in 1940. The brooch fetched 1.7 million pounds with fees.
“The inscriptions tell the story of perhaps the greatest love story of the 20th century,” said David Bennett, Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewelry in Europe and the Middle East.
An unidentified owner was selling the items, which were acquired at Sotheby’s record “Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor” sale in Geneva in April 1987, the year after her death. At that auction, the panther bracelet and flamingo brooch sold for the equivalent of 860,082 pounds and 497,942 pounds, said Sotheby’s.
Charm Bracelet
The Duchess’s Cartier diamond charm bracelet today sold for 601,250 pounds against a low estimate of 350,000 pounds. The piece featured nine gem-set Latin crosses that commemorate moments of personal significance to the couple, including an assassination attempt on the King.
An 18-carat gold and gem-set cigarette case by Cartier inscribed with the words ``David from Wallis Christmas 1935'' and engraved with a map of holiday destinations they enjoyed together fetched 181,250 pounds. It was estimated to sell for at least 150,000 pounds.
All four lots went to telephone bidders. The flamingo was bought by the Collection Cartier and the panther was a record for a piece by Cartier, said Sotheby's. The panther was also the most expensive bracelet sold at auction.
Sotheby's 1987 Duchess of Windsor sale in Geneva fetched 75.4 million Swiss francs ($71.7 million), which remains an auction record for a single-owner collection of jewelry.
Today’s 20-lot sale carried an official low estimate of 2.9 million pounds, based on hammer prices. All the lots sold.
(Article by Scott Reyburn who writes about the art market for Muse, the arts and culture section of Bloomberg News.)

"Impressions" - World Travel Photo & Video Journal: Michelangelo - the architect! Behold the crowning jewel of Rome - the cupola of St. Peter's Basilica

"Impressions" - World Travel Photo & Video Journal: Michelangelo - the architect! Behold the crowning jewel of Rome - the cupola of St. Peter's Basilica