Q: I want you to look at this picture of the lusters on my mantel and see if you can help me find the value of them. Here’s my email and phone number.
A: Sent along with this query was a copy of the reader’s email to the auction house that provided an image of lusters for an earlier column. I infer he feels that his compare.
If I had to write a textbook case of how not to approach an auction house, this would be it.
Sending not-too-clear images of his lusters, the reader informed the house that he saw theirs in his local paper. Adding that his interest was to sell, he wrote, “Can you look at these emails and help me find out more about them and what their value might be?”
To be fair, he did approach a source cited in the column, one linked by art to his inquiry. That’s smart, and it is what I advise readers who think they have a similar item to do.
I’m not an appraiser, nor do I respond other than through the column. The name of the column says it all: We are about creating smart collectors.
And auction houses are about selling. They’re not into supplying free appraisals or educating owners about their stuff. If interested in property offered for sale, staff can consult on possible sale results. That’s provided they believe that taking the merchandise will benefit their bottom line. Their value information comes from past sale results and databanks that are, in many cases, available to the public for a fee. Auction houses and dealers pay; we pay.
Here’s how a smart collector would have handled the request: Seeing a photo of lusters he thinks are similar, he first would make an analytical dead-eye comparison of his vs. the auction house items. In this case, both are red Bohemian glass. Both have painted enamel decoration, and both have one row of cut drop prisms.
But text with the auction house image stressed the fine hand-painted cameos of period beauties that decorate and distinguish those lusters. That’s highly significant: The reader’s have standard painted enamel flowers. Fine quality of work always trumps pedestrian.
A smart collector then would hunt for sale results of like items. That goes for lusters, furniture, toys, you name it. Look it up for free on www.liveauctioneers.com. Troll completed sales on eBay. Pay for short-term use on www.artfact.com or www.worthpoint.com.
Be smart. Learn to help yourself. Demanding free help from auction houses or busy dealers is asking for a nonanswer.
Q: We inherited a large collection of arrowheads from the Midwest and Missouri. How do we find value and sell them?
A: Jason Hanna, author of “Antique Trader Indian Arrowheads Price Guide” (Krause Books) has a site www.arrowheadworld.com, where he buys, sells and authenticates. The site also has a list of local collector clubs, where you’ll find your state archaeological society listed.
Perhaps you can find a local dealer that way. Hanna suggests you check out potential buyers before parting with the collection.
Boycott: By now, Internet tech executive Bob Parsons of GoDaddy.com should be getting the drift that actions have consequences — all the way to the collecting world.
Parsons, you may recall, recently hired a film crew to tape him as he shot an African elephant with a high-powered rifle. He then tweeted the incident and posted it on his corporate website, accompanied with a rock soundtrack.
Outrage at both his act and boasting about it was swift and decisive. Competitors have launched campaigns to snag Go Daddy’s Web hosting business, with several promising a donation to Save the Elephants for every domain transfer. One offered three months of free hosting for new customers using the coupon code “elephant.”
More effectively, businesses including www.liveauctioneers.com have dropped all Web hosting by Parsons’ firm. In a recent release, Julian R. Ellison, CEO of LiveAuctioneers’ parent company wrote, “I was sickened by the video. Bob Parsons got an obvious thrill from gunning down an animal that wasn’t even looking in his direction … It was the ugliest and most barbaric publicity stunt imaginable.” We’ll spare you additional supporting details.
Live Auctioneers’ coverage of live bidding action at more than 1,000 auction houses worldwide will move to another Web host. One hopes others will follow.
Auction action: A treasure from circa 1865 India, a magnificent jeweled canopy called the Pearl Canopy of Baroda brought $2.3 million when it sold recently at Sotheby’s New York. Entirely embroidered with more than 500,000 pearls plus diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires, it was created along with a companion carpet during the age of maharajas. The ruler who commissioned the canopy lived in unimaginable luxury; in 1867 he purchased the “Star of the South,” one of the largest diamonds in the world.
Collector quiz
Q: What do Charles and Lavinia Stratton, Nellie Keeler, Jumbo, Myrtle Corbin and Lucia Zarante all have in common?
A: All were carnival sideshow curiosities. The Strattons were Mr. and Mrs. Tom Thumb. Jumbo was Barnum’s star elephant. Source: “Pickled Punks and Girlie Shows: A Life Spent on the Midways of America” by Rick West, (Schiffer, 24.99). The author calls the Maury Povich and Tyra Banks shows plus the WWE today’s descendants of sideshow performance.
Danielle Arnet will answer questions of general interest in her column. Send emails to smartcollector@comcast.net or write Danielle Arnet, c/o Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611. Include an address in your query. Photos cannot be returned.