New Orleans auction

Catalog is on-line March 29-30. www.neworleansauction.com

interesting article about this auction. a pennsylvania philly chippendale highboy that house thought was a centennial repro and estimated value at $4,000-$7000 turned out to be the real deal and went for $731,000....http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=609

Fun story.  In the Victorian market, a "hidden find" maxes out at very low six-figures.  I think I'm studying the wrong market.

lol @ wrong market. nah, victorian is good stuff, a victorian walnut marble top parlor table got me into this antique furniture addiction in the first place. as time went along i gradually got interested in early american and thats my primary focus these days. collecting victorian in alot of ways is better than E/A collecting. first off its gorgeous,second, theres alot more of it (much larger middle class in 19th century than 18th or 17th). additionally, theres much more info readily available so one can more easily attribute to this or that maker. for instance, last fall, i acquired a paint decorated dower chest dated 1769 from a small upstate NY auction house. i have emailed 3 nationally known authorities on pennsylvania dower chests and 2 say its the real deal and 1 insisting its a european chest, lol. so, not only can we not get consensus on a maker, we cant even agree if its american or not at this point.

OK, file this under the rich getting richer. Remember that Highboy that Leigh Keno bought at this auction for $731,000 in March? Well, he flipped it yesterday at Christie's for a 1/4 million profit.

http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=845

Yes, saw that, too.  Quick $250k.

I'm sorry.  No piece of furniture - especially a darn stool - is worth 5.2 million.

LOL @ no piece of furniture is worth 5 mil. Well, did you happen to notice who the buyer was? Albert Sack, an icon in the american furniture world, his dad was the main reason american's collect american furniture today. Israel Sack convinced/educated many wealthy americans to let him build american furniture collections for them, The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, The Henry F. du Pont Winterthur Museum, the Karolik Collection and Colonial Williamsburg. He furnished the Wayside Inn for Henry Ford, The Mission House in Stockbridge for Mabel Choate, and many other historical houses.In many ways, Israel Sack was the George Washington of american furniture.
http://www.sackheritagegroup.com/articles/articles.php?articleID=2

OK, back to the stool, although i dont know the particular's of this piece, if Sack says it's worth 5 mil, it is. Naturally, the worth of art is subjective, is the Mona Lisa worth 5 mil? 100 mil? i dont know. In evaluating pieces like this it helps if one thinks of them as a "sculpture in wood" rather than " just a stool".

And Albert Sack (or his client, if he was not buying for stock) is not the only one who believed in the value of this stool... it does take two bidders to drive a price that high. The incredible rarity of the object coupled with the fact that it may have its original finish and that it was apparently last on the market nearly 50 years ago surely contributed to the hammer price, as well.

It irks me that I could furnish about eight 13-room Victorian houses with the best full parlor sets from Meeks, Belter, Herter, etc. for that 5 mil. 

Hey at least I can afford my hobby.  If I fell in love with that stuff I would have one leg of a stool in my house.

"it was apparently last on the market nearly 50 years ago surely contributed to the hammer price"

BINGO! I would argue thats the main reason  that determines the hammer price in decorative art sales or fine art as well at the masterpiece level. If you were a museum curator or collector and you knew that this would most likely be your ONLY opportunity in your life time to acquire this object......

Meanwhile, an update on that 5 mil stool with a victorian twist.

http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1012

I bet he wishes he had that $5,000.00 stool back! ;D

OK, getting back to that 5 million dollar stool, there is another related stool thats comming to market next month at Christie's.

http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1679

OK, this related stool brought less than 500k or about 10% of what Sack paid for a similar stool 2 years ago. Did Sack overpay because he thought it was the only example extant of this form still in private hands or prices have fallen through the floor on most forms of antique furniture? I'd say a little of both.
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5286965

Speaking of stools, Gail Lettick has a joined pilgrim stool with drawer, (see Nutting plate# 2706) for sale at only 35k. A real bargain i say and in a better economy would command much much more, if only i had 35k laying round to invest.....

http://www.pantryandhearth.com/