Lamp Week, Lesson One: Outstanding Opaline

photo:Nathan Schroeder, designer: Craig Schumacher, courtesy of House Beautiful.
A pair of blue Opaline glass lamps are given new life with contemporary shades.

You know how it is. You can go for days, weeks, months without really focusing on something, but once you do, you see it everywhere? Well, that's how I'm feeling about lamps. Yes, that's right, good ol' lamps. I'm rearranging my space and will need a slimmer pair of them. Since my existing ones don't appear to be going on Weight Watchers any time soon, I've been looking around and noticing wonderful, weird, warm welcoming lamps all over the place--so many great pairs, in fact, that, in an Auction Addict first, I am devoting a whole week (or rather, what's left of it) to a single topic. And so, I bring you...ta daa...

LAMP WEEK

A jazzy Markham Roberts designed entryway with a pair of blue Opaline lamps.
Again, note how the updated shades take them from frumpy to fabulous.

The first type of lamps we're going to look at are Opaline glass lamps. I was inspired by the October issue of House Beautiful, specifically page 114 (top photo), where we see how designer Craig Shumacher used a pair of Opaline glass lamps to provide a welcome shot of color in his dining room.

Before we go any further, you might be wondering what Opaline is, exactly. The term technically refers to a style of opaque, colored glass that was produced in France during the 19th century by Baccarat and other less universally known manufacturers. The French were imitating the milky white glassware they saw emanating from Bristol, England and Venice, Italy. Opaline was produced in white, yes, but also yellow, sea green,  pink, and, the interior designer favorite: turquoise blue. The glass has a high lead content but is demi-crystal, not crystal, and is rarely faceted. Opaline was frequently used for vases, bowls. cups and dresser sets. Today, the term is used more broadly to describe almost any opaque, colored glass.

Okay, history lesson over--now on to the good stuff! I mentioned that turquoise Opaline is a favorite of many interior designers. Do you think Markham Roberts has an obsession or anything?

Turquoise Opaline in Markham Roberts designed dining room.

 

...and living room.

 That's okay, I love them too! And fortunately, several lovely examples are up for bidding in the weeks to come. On October 2nd, Leslie Hindman in Chicago has two fantastic pairs, as tall and slender as supermodels.(If you can scoop these up for anything close to the estimate, you should: antique dealers ask $3,000+ a pair for these and up.)

What's your pleasure? Milky white with gilt bronze accents, estimate $800-1200, or brilliant blue, below, estimate $1,500-2,500.

Three Opaline glass lamps, at Stair on Friday, September 23rd, estimate $300-500.

If these aren't the shape you seek, consider the sweet trio at Stair Galleries in Hudson, NY, above, or this butter yellow one, below, at Susanin's in Chicago, which clearly falls into the category of 20th century Opaline glass.

Yellow Opaline glass lamp, at Susanin's in Chicago on September 24th, estimate $100-200.

 For a final bit of inspiration, look how pretty this pink Opaline lamp looks among the sherbert tones in this stunning master bedroom. More lamps to come soon. In the interim, happy bidding everyone!

photo, courtesy of Elle Decor (I'd tell you more, but the photo is no longer up on their site!)

A Woman's Work...

Decorator Suzanne Rheinstein collects embroidery and other types of needlework, many of which are showcased
beautifully in At Home: A Style for Today with Things from the Past.

Embroidery has often been known, somewhat pejoratively, as "women's work." The reason for the dismissive attitude, I suppose, stems from the art form's reputation as a pursuit practiced and enjoyed exclusively by the leisure classes. Now, this is largely true, of course, especially prior to the 19th century. But even in more distant eras, the art form often served a dual purpose. One glance at Austen's oeuvre, for example, makes it apparent that embroidery was not simply done to pass the time, but also presented a relatively subtle way to show off an eligible daughter's ability to make fine, delicate, pretty things. Stitch a delicate doily, ensnare a husband--or something like that.

A trio of antique embroidered silk flower pictures hang above a nightstand,
courtesy of At Home: A Style for Today with Things from the Past.

In 1800s, however, an interesting shift occurs: more and more, women start using embroidery as a way to support themselves. In 1872, The Royal School of Art-Needlework opened in South Kensington, London, precisely for the purposes of professional training of--and this is their term--"decayed gentlewomen." (Interesting to note that the school still exists today as a charity and actually assisted designer Sarah Burton with Kate Middleton's wedding gown.)

In 1876, some embroidery done by students of this new Royal School was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. A woman named Candace Wheeler saw the exhibit and realized that America needed a similar school on its shores. Well, of course it did: more than 600,000 men had died during the Civil War. Add to that the financial depression and panic of 1873, and many families were simply destitute. Middle class women--that is, former middle class women--often had minimal education and work experience, and thus were better off burnishing on of the few skills they already had. And so, in 1877, Wheeler formed the Society of Decorative Art in New York City.  The widow of General George Armstrong Custer, unable to survive on her meager pension, soon came to work there as a secretary.*

Early 19th century silk needlework and watercolor picture, at Skinner August 14th, estimate $1,500-2,500.

Why such a lengthy back story?  Because I think it is interesting to look though "women's work" though this lens: not as busywork for idle fingers, but as one of the first ways that women were allowed to support themselves in society without fear of ostracism. These pretty pieces, in other words, can been seen as golden tickets to a better life.

One of a lot of two continental needlework pictures, at James D. Julia in Maine, August 23rd, estimate $800-1,200.

 The reason we're discussing embroidery at all is because several auction houses currently have impressive specimens on display, the most exciting array at Skinner. The Boston auction house will hold its American Furniture and Decorative Arts Sale on August 14th. Its catalog showcases some of the finest needlework, much of it by known artists. These items are not cheap: many go for well over $1,000 apiece. But for those interested in this art form--as I am--it's helpful to look at the creme de la creme before searching for your own more modest treasures. (Though if you think these are expensive at auction, look at what a premier dealer charges!)

Silk embroidered pouch, early 19th c, at auction August 14th, estimate $1,500-$1,800.

One highly collected category is momento mori, or momentos that honor the dead. This silk pouch, above, has such delicate embroidery and is in beautiful condition, especially considering that it is 200 years old. Below, we have two more classically styled silk memorial pictures. Note the weeping willows in all of three of these items, a classic symbol of loss and mourning.

Silk memorial picture, 1811, at Skinner on August 14th, estimate $2,000-4,000.

19th c. memorial needlework by Alida Graverat Dunbar,
at auction in Thomaston, Maine on August 27th, estimate $3,500-4,500.

But as mentioned, not all needlework is this costly, partially because not all needlework has survived in such pristine condition--or done by such a skilled hand to begin with. The framed Victorian needlework, below, is an case in point. While the work is quite lovely, the silk is fairly spotted.

Framed Victorian needlework, at auction August 12th, estimate $80-120.

Stair Galleries, the well known auction house in Hudson, New York, has several lovely examples up for bidding at its American Exposition Sale. (Note "exposition" is used to indicate a quality level that is more decorative than collectable, neophytes should absolutely look for this word in auction titles!)

19th century silk needlework picture of a basket of fruit,
at Stair, August 13th, estimate $200-400.

Victorian silkwork, "Piety." (Forgive the odd cropping--that's on me.)
At Stair Galleries on August 13th, estimate $300-500.

Some people shy away from this style of art because they aren't sure how to incorporate it without their homes looking old fashioned.Needlework does seem to blend more naturally with traditional decors, certainly, but that doesn't have to mean formal or stuffy. Suzanne Rheinstein has countless examples in her book (in addition to the ones I've illustrated above). Below are a variety of additional interiors that would be well suited to a few pieces of needlework.

photo: William Abranowicz
Mari Ann and Michael Maher's home, courtesy of Elle Decor.

photo: John M. Hall
Jane and Stephan Garmey's home, courtesy of Elle Decor.

photo: Simon Upton

Kit and Tim Kemp's home, courtesy of Elle Decor.

photo: Miguel Flores-Vianna

  A Miles Redd designed bedroom, courtesy of Elle Decor.

photo: Roger Davies

  A bedroom designed by Roberto Peregalli and Laura Rimini, courtesy of Elle Decor.

I finish with a great piece of women's work that is not embroidery to be sure, but I bet will make you smile! Happy Bidding, everyone!
 

Early 20th Century Pictorial Rug, in Boston August 14th, estimate $600-800.

 *Much of the background information in this posting comes from Donna Cardwell's informative book,Silk Art Embroidery: A Woman's History of Ornament & Empowerment.

Lessons in Auctions: The Basics of Online Auctions

Roy Lichtenstein screenprint, at auction at Phillips de Pury on June 8th, starting bid: $3,400.

[This page has been edited. See below.]

Perhaps you've purchased a few things from Ebay. Perhaps that site terrifies you: a towering pile of LOOK: brand NEW children's sneakers!!! and yard sale rejects that you finally crawl out from under, your dinner burned, your plans waylaid, your family crabby. Well, fret not, my dearlings, not because I'm tackling Ebay today--no way: it's too hot and I've had a fever for three days--but because there are other, more pleasant auction options out there for your browsing enjoyment.

These days, it is possible to go online at most auction houses, become a client, and, at minimum, leave absentee bids on their sites. At the very end of this post, I will discuss when it makes sense to go this route. Right now, however, I am interested in showing you how you can reach the most auction houses in the simplest, most efficient manner, because, let's face it, we're all pressed for time.
As I see it, there are two efficient ways to bid on line: via Live Auctioneers or via one of the sites in the U.K. conglomerate: AuctionZip / Artfact/ Invaluable.

Let's tackle the more complicated entity first: Artfact and Invaluable are quite similar, albeit that Artfact, based in Boston, is orientated toward the United States and thus domestic auctions, while Invaluable, based in the U.K. is orientated toward Europe and international auctions. Both Artfact and Invaluable are easy to use and bid via, but they both require a paid membership to access even basic information, such as the estimate for an object. AuctionZip, an American based site, contains much of the same information as Artfact and Invaluable, but you can access more features for free. The caveat is that the site is a bit of a mess: harder to use, harder to navigate (this is because AuctionZip is orientated toward small business owners, such as antique shops, who are looking to find estate sales; more on this later). Even so, my recommendation would still be to start with AuctionZip, to see whether you like the auction houses available from this trio. If you do (and my dearlings, you probably will) then I recommend that you go to Artfact and become a member.

Getting Started on LiveAuctioneers and AuctionZip

Imari platter, at auction at Skinner via Live Auctioneers on June 2nd,
starting bid $70.

Live Auctioneers
LiveAuctioneers has clearly been designed with the consumer in mind. For one thing, Live Auctioneers focuses on art and antique auctions, so there aren't an overwhelming number of sites to wade through. For another, LA has a lot of great time-saving features, making your minutes on the site well spent. Once you join as a potential bidder (which free and pretty straight forward but if you get confused, LA has a good "help" section), get to know the following features:

Save this Item - Whenever you come across an item you want to track or return to later, click the "save" icon on the right hand corner. Every item you save will be located under the "Saved Items" tab, accessed within the dashboard...


"Dashboard" -Easily accessed under your profile page (which you link to via your email address, located up top on the lower right side of the navy header),  the dashboard shows you, at a glance, your absentee bids, your auction house approvals*, your lots won and your active alerts.

"Auctions Near Me"- A new feature, this allows you to see, at a glance, what  auctions are coming up in your area and click on their lot lists. This is a great tool for beginners because it allows you to concentrate on auctions near you, even enabling you to easily plan a road trip in which you hit two or three houses in one day, thus truly fueling your nascent addiction.

Keyword Alerts - A huge time saver. Keyword alerts are set up within the dashboard by clicking the "Alert Terms" tab. If you desire, you can have items that match the alert terms established here emailed to you. The emails arrive each morning. Because they include pictures, sifting through the matches is a breeze. I highly recommend this feature. (Note, another dashboard item "Saved Search Terms" can be used if you'd prefer not to get a daily email.)


"Show Recent Bids in More Detail" - When you click on the "My Bids" link in the Dashboard, you get the option to look at each bid you've placed in more detail (bottom).  A key feature here is the "retract" button: you can retract an absentee bid right up until the start of the auction. Note that even if you accidentally leave multiple bids on the same item and see all of those bids listed here, the system only sends one bid on your behalf to the auction house, the highest bid, so you'll never bid against yourself.

*"Auction House Approvals" Please keep in mind that while you have already signed up for LA at this point, you'll still need to register to bid for each individual auction in which you plan to participate. This can typically be done with a click of the button. Many auction houses approve you nearly as fast. A few will request that you provide a credit card up front. Personally, I see this and think: unhand me! If I win, I'll pay! That said, I've provided this information before and never had anything sketchy happen. Up to you.

Pair of Chinese Cinnabar vases, available at Alex Cooper via AuctionZip,
at auction June 5th, minimum bid $60.

AuctionZip
As mentioned, AuctionZip is designed with the small business owner in mind: someone who treats these auctions as his/her wholesale channel. The largest site of its kind (not sure there is any other site of its kind), AuctionZip provides information on all kinds of auctions: gun auctions, storage unit auctions, heavy equipment auctions.  The site can be a bit overwhelming and, in truth, it took me a couple of attempts before I had the courage to wend my way through it. But I'm glad I did because AuctionZip has a few things going for it: lower prices, lower prices, lower prices!

By "prices," I mean what you'll pay for those wins of yours. Now, this isn't always true, of course; the high end auction houses on AuctionZip (and believe me, there are some extremely high end sites here) are have an established clientele who show up to bid no matter what. But it's often true. And the reason for this is that AuctionZip seems to be the preferred stomping ground of thousands of smaller auction houses, the ones who earn their keep primarily by doing estate sales. These smaller houses often have a few gems that can get lost in the shuffle: find them and, often times, you've found a real bargain.

The key to success on this site is narrowing down the scope with targeted searches, which you'll do, initially, via the search box on the front page. Simply enter your parameters, select the "Antiques-Household-Collectibles" category, and click "search."  The results will appear in two, side-by-side formats: a calendar, on the left, and thumbnails of the search items, on the right. The calendar will feature "auctions" in blue and "live lots" in red. Note that AuctionZip is heavily promoting its live auction feature (which is new for them) and so the "live," red items will honor the keyword you typed in but not the mile parameters of your search. Thus, you might have limited your search to within 250 miles of Boston for your Imari, only to click on a thumbnail of a lovely vase that's up for auction in Melbourne...as in Australia.

Antique Suzani, up for bidding on Jun 11th,
The Potomack Company via AuctionZip, minimum bid, $200

Sigh. It's things like that that make AuctionZip hard sledding at times. But I do think it's worth it. Because, in addition to the small gems I mentioned, several excellent, established auction houses can be accessed via AuctionZip, including: Stair Galleries, Freeman's, Northeast Auctions, Swann Galleries and Doyle New York. As mentioned earlier, several auction companies allow you to sign up and even bid online via their own sites--Doyle, for instance. It's probably only worth it to you to do this, however, if it's your local house and you want a stronger, more individualized connection with it (after all, you buy all this stuff, one day you might want to sell a few things!), or if the commission is lower when you go to the auction house directly. Payment options might vary as well: the commission might be lower if you bid with them direct, but you have to pay by cash or check, no credit cards or PayPal. Investigate the differences and decide for yourself.

A note on absentee bidding and minimum bids on AuctionZip.
On, AuctionZip absentee bidding is different than it is nearly any place else you'll try. This is because AuctionZip uses the eBay model for absentee bidding in the sense that you are bidding against other people the minute you place a bid! Here's how it works: you find a painting on AuctionZip that has no bids on it. The auction house has put a minimum of $50 for that painting. You bid $60. Now, on the lot page, the minimum bid will be $70--it's moved!

When I first noticed this, I found it annoying. But the truth is, it can be helpful. AuctionZip essentially makes it clear what the strongest absentee bid is going into the live auction (that is, the strongest absentee bid left on the AuctionZip; the auction house may have other absentee bids that have been left directly with their establishment). If you're not "winning" already, you obviously won't get the item in the live auction: useful to know, don't you think? If you're worried about running up the price of the item, simply place your absentee bids late, so that other absentee bidders don't have time to react to you and adjust their own bids.

Alerts on AuctionZip
The alert feature on AuctionZip allows you to be contacted when an auction house has a new listing, a nice touch, or when an individual auctioneer is at the helm (for all you auctioneer groupies out there) in addition to key word alerts. One advice about key words: be specific. AuctionZip doesn't send you pretty emails with pictures of all the new alert items embedded in them each morning a la Live Auctioneers: you get text links (and, to get them for more than one keyword, you have to pay a yearly membership fee to become a "premium member"). This is, remember, a big site. Better to say "Imari charger," for instance, to limit your results, than "Imari," and forget searches as generic as "porcelain" or "bronze," unless you have oodles of time to kill.

I hope this tips help you become more adventurous in your online bidding. So, go! Bid! Win! Love!