RED, HOT, and BLUES

  

 What is Red: Tepper Galleries, an auction institution on 25th st.. is closing its doors.  It was a great place to buy; plenty of good value.  This auction establishment was next door to Swann Galleries,

a thriving auction house dealing in prints, autographs, books, etc  There are many auction houses not doing well. If you have something of established value to sell, do not feel intimidated about

negotiating for  lower commission to be paid to them. If you have a timidity crisis, I will do it for you: NO CHARGE.

What is as hot as a Chinese firecracker? Chinese jade, especially white. Record prices at every auction. The excellent quality is hard to duplicate. Beware of bronzes, porcelain, stone carvings. All of these items

are being  reproduced in China, and fooling many of the experts. If you have anything you want me to look at, my normal rate is $50.00 per appraised item. For all AntiqueSmart clients, $20.00;  If I do not feel

I can provide accuracy, NO CHARGE. Be sure to contact this Web Site. 

Many auction houses are crying the blues, because they are in the red.  The are depending upon a forthcoming auction to have monies available to pay the rent, the electric bill, the advertising; the client is the last on the list.

Good is better:  a map of the siege of Yorktown, brought 1.15 million dollars at a Julia auction in Fairfiled, Ct . One thing about historical documents: they are not very easy to duplicate, and carry off as an original.

Antique jewelry is doing very well. Art Deco is hot, hot, hot, and if you have anything you want looked at,  especially if it is signed, you may want to contact Sothebys or Christies, or Doyle.

African Art Department:  I bought two pieces in Brussels, Belgium, in 1968, at an Antique Shop.  I sent then to a prominent auction house dealing in Ethnographic Art. I received  a phone call from them

advising me they were reproductions made in the last ten or twenty years. I refused to waste my time arguing with them, which brings me to a very interesting discussion on dealing with people at

auction houses. First of all, many of these people do not know what they are talking about. I have taken pieces into prominent N.Y. auction houses with one telling me the piece was modern, the other that it was Ming Dynasty. I have had their representatives asserting the sculptor was "Mr. X" and another telling me it definitely was "Mr. Y" Still another advising me my drawing was 16th C Italian, another auction house asserting "definitely 16th c Germanic" They even gave me the names of the artists.  If I may paraphrase, "Be Careful, It's my Art".

Keep tuning in!

I am never at a loss for words on this troublesome, but important marketplace, which places prices on items by people who may be self-described experts, but other-described novices.