Exciting Finds

Part of what is exciting and fun about this business is seeing the wonderful things that come in sometimes; you never know what can be hiding up in an attic or, like a lucky Guilderland family, behind an old refrigerator in the garage. Here are a few of the many exciting finds we have helped our clients with:

Yellow Diamond Ring A great example of an unexpected pleasant surprise: a local woman came in with a jewelry box full of odds and ends of antique and vintage jewelry that had been passed down to her from her mother, grandparents, and various aunts. She thought it was mostly costume jewelry and was hopeful of getting some extra spending money for the holidays. There was a nice assortment of desirable costume jewelry that she was happy to sell for several hundred dollars and we were very pleased to point out the natural fancy color yellow Art Deco diamond ring that she sold for more than $10,000.

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Giulio Clovio - The Last Judgment When I first saw this miniature painting, it looked too good to be true; the colors were as vibrant as if it had been painted yesterday. It turned out that the old masters knew what they were doing when they prepared the pigments used for their paintings – it was an authentic 14th century Renaissance masterpiece by Guilio Clovio, the only old master to come from Croatia. After obtaining a formal authentication, we were able to sell it on the behalf of the elderly Adirondack woman who had found it forgotten in her family storage unit. The government of Croatia paid more than $80,000 for it and presented it to the Croatian people in a special session of Parliament.

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Grandma Moses - House in a Snowy Landscape You never know what you’re going to find at a yard sale. This charming oil painting on board was brought in by the lucky woman who saw it and knew enough to buy it for one or two dollars. Even though unsigned, it was identifiable as the work of Anna Mary Robertson, “Grandma Moses”, who lived and worked in nearby Eagle Bridge, NY. Although very small for a Grandma Moses and unsigned, it still brought $7500 for the lucky garage sale shopper.

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1879 US $3 Gold Coin A very sweet grandmotherly type woman brought this gold coin in to sell one day. Three dollar gold pieces are uncommon and this one was made even more rare because of its high grade of uncirculated condition. Minted from 1854 until 1889, it was never a popular coin, and while a circulated example in average used condition might sell for $600 or $700, our charming client was able to sell this choice uncirculated example for $8500.

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Edwin Lord Weeks - Lake at Oodeypore, India I usually don’t see oil paintings in such terrible condition. This one had been damaged severely one winter when the pipes froze and split, and water poured through the house. Twenty to thirty percent of the original painting had been cut off and the damaged remainder had been crudely glued to a piece of masonite with areas of loss painted over with what looked like house paint. Luckily the children of the original purchasers were able to confirm what the artists signature had been and we were able to get to work. We had the painting authenticated and were able to trace it back to the sale in the early 1900s of the estate of the artist, Edwin Lord Weeks, one of the foremost artists of the Orientalist school of painters. Titled “Lake at Oodeypore”, it had been purchased at that sale by one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum. It’s always difficult to estimate what a horribly damaged good painting is worth, but in this case it brought $120,000.

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Rozenburg Eggshell Porcelain Chocolate Set This set came from an area couple who I had been doing business with for years. It was a second marriage for both of them and because each of their former late spouses had been the last of their family’s line, this couple was repeatedly getting groups of estate items from distant unfamiliar relations. They had me come over one day to evaluate and purchase some of their latest boxfuls of stuff. I went through all of the boxes and identified and purchased a typical group of antique knick knacks and objects that they were very pleased with the value of. As I was getting ready to leave I noticed this set in their china cabinet and asked if they were interested in getting more information about it. It was a hot chocolate set made by the company Rozenburg in Holland, circa 1900. The set was an example of eggshell porcelain, unbelievably thin and delicate, painted in unique Art Noveau designs. When I told them that I could get at least $10,000 for it, the woman leapt on me screaming and almost knocked me over. When we actually sold it for $42,000, I delivered the good news by phone.

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Martin Lewis - Stoops in Snow This was brought in by a young woman and her parents. At first glance, it looked very much like the dozens of signed etchings that I look at every month that are generally worth very little. This one had a gallery tag from an old and prestigious gallery in New York and had been purchased for not more than $5 at an estate auction in the 1950’s by the young woman’s grandmother. Sitting up in the attic for the past 50 or so years, it turned out to be by artist Martin Lewis, is one of the most sought after American printmakers of the early 20th century. We sold it for more than $20,000 on behalf of the very happy young woman. I guess her grandmother knew what she was doing.

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Alfred Thompson Bricher Seascape I was called down to a family home in Guilderland one day to look at a painting. The elderly man and woman had distant relations in Western NY who had left things to them when someone had died 30 years ago. The very large painting had been shipped to them and they promptly put it in the garage where it had now sat in a box behind an old refrigerator for the last 30 years. It needed cleaning badly, but was still identifiable as a superb Hudson River School painting by Alfred Thompson Bricher. After identifying the beautiful ocean vista as a scene on Grand Manan Island off the coast of Maine, we provided proper conservation and cleaning and were able to get the happy family $130,000.