Neal Auction’s next sale is coming up this weekend and it has it’s share of worthy lots which I have provided a sampling of below.  I have been so busy recently that I haven’t had a chance to review the paper catalog that is sent out but their website has all the details.  Attributed pieces by Alexander Roux, John H. Belter, Herter Brothers and more will be featured in the sale.

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In what will hopefully become a regular feature on Rare Victorian, I’ve invited Sue Mellish, who has been an antiques and collectibles writer for Antique Week in the past, to wrap up some of the recent Victorian auction highlights for us.
The estate auction of Mrs. Katherine Creamer of Mobile, AL had some fantastic pieces sell this past weekend through Stevens Auction Company, Aberdeen, MS. June 13 saw Mrs. Creamer’s lifetime collection of beautiful rosewood Victorian furniture find new homes. Most impressive was the five piece bedroom suite consisting of a half tester bed, wardrobe, dresser, wash stand, and half commode. Signed Mitchell and Rammelsberg, the suite made $42,500. Prices do not include the 10 percent buyer’s premium. Continue Reading »

I bid on a cabinet this week after I learned of a “Herter Brothers” cabinet coming up at a local auction.  I immediately thought Allen & Brother when I saw the cabinet photos.  I coincidentally ran into the “Gems of the Centennial” which I then posted here on Rare Victorian and lo an behold there was an Allen & Brother cabinet in there that bore a good resemblance to the core form of the cabinet.

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For those of you who use Twitter, I’ll be Tweeting the Antiques Roadshow experience today as it unfolds in Atlantic City. If you’re not following me yet, you can do so here.  If you’re not a Roadshow fan, today is also the Cowan’s Spring Fine and Decorative Art sale;  catalog below.

I had mentioned that a friend of mine is headed to the Roadshow with me with a 200-pound ancient stone carving in hopes of getting a valuation and identification.  You might wonder how someone in rural Ohio comes to possess a seemingly ancient, several-thousand year old carving from what will likely prove to be from a temple in Asia.

He works for an express shipping company that, as I’m sure all shipping companies experience, sometimes receives shipments whose mailing address is missing, has fallen off, or is illegible.  With no address to send these items to, they get sold off in the company store.  He has bought everything from gas grills to power equipment to oil paintings to – ancient temple carvings – all for pennies on the dollar.  I know first-hand how unbelievable the deals can be as I purchased a 19th century European oil painting via his access to the company store.  It’s probably worth at least 3-4 times what I paid for it.

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