SO WHAT DO YOU FIND OUT THERE - SHOP TO SHOP; SALE TO SALE…..YES, AND AUCTION TO AUCTION?
VETERAN DEALERS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED AS NORMAL DAY TO DAY FARE
I WAS POKING AROUND AN ANTIQUE MALL ON A WINTER AFTERNOON, A FEW YEARS AGO, FEELING QUITE DISGRUNTLED ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND ANYTHING OF INTEREST. MUCH AS IF TO SAY, "COME ON YOU PEOPLE….TANTALIZE ME….I'VE GOT FOLDING MONEY TO SPEND." WE'RE REALLY SELF CENTERED IN THIS WAY! AS I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT PREVIOUSLY, WHAT MOST DEALERS AND COLLECTORS ARE LOOKING FOR, ARE WHAT WE CALL "SLEEPERS." THESE ARE PIECES THAT HAVE BEEN MISIDENTIFIED, MISUNDERSTOOD, OR MINIMIZED IN PRICE, FOR ANY NUMBER OF REASONS. MOSTLY BEING LAZY ON MATTERS OF BASIC RESEARCH AND IDENTIFICATION. THIS IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF A VENDOR BEING HASTY, AND NOT DOING A LITTLE EXTRA RESEARCH ON A REALLY NEAT FIND. THEIR UNDER-APPRECIATION, IS WHAT WE PREY-ON. I'M SORRY, BUT THIS IS THE WAY THE HUNT AND GATHER WORKS FOR DEALERS AND COLLECTORS. SOMEONE HAS TO WIN, AND SOMEONE WILL LOSE. THERE ARE VERY FEW DRAWS.
THERE WAS A PARTICULARLY CLUTTERED BOOTH, THAT HAD SOME ROUGH CONDITION PIECES, AND POORLY FRAMED ART THAT ALWAYS BECKONS ME TO INSPECT THE COLLECTION CAREFULLY. A LOT OF VERY GOOD ART IS JUDGED BY PACKAGING. ART BUYERS JUDGE "ART" AND WORRY A LOT LESS IF A WATERCOLOR OR ENGRAVING, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS SLIPPED FROM ITS MATTING. IT'S JUST A FACT OF VINTAGE MATTING AND OLD, DRIED-OUT ADHESIVE. A QUALITY OIL PAINTING IN A CHEAP FRAME, IS STILL A QUALITY PAINTING.
TODAY THERE ARE MORE HOME DECORATORS THAN DEALERS AND COLLECTORS, SO TO THEM, HONESTLY, FRAMING AND MATTING IS CONSIDERED MUCH MORE IMPORTANT. NOW IF THEY WERE PROFESSIONAL DECORATORS, THEY WOULD KNOW THAT QUALITY IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE, AND GETTING A NEW FRAME AND MATTING ISN'T COST PROHIBITIVE. BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT HOW MANY SERIOUS COLLECTORS AND DEALERS COME THROUGH AN ANTIQUE MALL, EACH WEEK, AS COMPARED TO HOME DECORATORS AND COLLECTING HOBBYISTS, I'M WILLING TO BET DECORATORS ARE BY FAR THE MORE NUMEROUS. THE POINT OF THIS LONG EXPLANATION, IS THAT SERIOUS ART BUYERS WOULD LOOK LONG AND HARD AT A VENDOR'S BOOTH, WHERE IT'S OBVIOUS, THE DEALER HAPHAZARDLY PRICES ART-PIECES, WITHOUT EVEN TRYING TO IMPROVE ON FRAMING, OR RE-ATTACHING THE MATTING. A FEW MINUTES WORK COULD BRING 25 PERCENT MORE REVENUE. I'M JUST TELLING YOU WHAT WE LOOK FOR, AS A DWELLING-PLACE WHERE "SLEEPERS" ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE FOUND; GIVING US AN OPPORTUNITY TO STEP PAST THE HOME DECORATORS, WHO ARE LOOKING FOR PRETTY PICTURES, MORE THAN GROUP OF SEVEN PAINTINGS. THIS MAY SEEM ARROGANT OF ME, BUT I'M ALSO A VENDOR, AND I KNOW HOW SOME DEALERS DROP THE BALL…..TO THE ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS.
CASE IN POINT. SO AFTER WANDERING THROUGH THE MALL, ACTUALLY GOING AROUND TWICE, I STEPPED OVER SOME SCATTERED INVENTORY IN THIS PARTICULAR OVERLY-CLUTTERED BOOTH, AND IMMEDIATELY SPOTTED A BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVING, HANGING ASKEW ON THE BACK WALL. NOW AS A LONG TIME ART LOVER AND BUYER, I CAN NOT STAND HAVING AN ASKEW PICTURE. EVEN IF YOU WERE TO INVITE ME TO YOUR HOUSE, MY CONDITION FOR STAYING, IS THAT IF THERE IS A CROOKED PICTURE IN MY AREA OF THE VISIT, I MUST BEG FORGIVENESS, AND BE ALLOWED TO CORRECT IT. I USED TO DO THIS AT MY PARENTS' HOUSE AND IT DROVE MY MOTHER NUTS. WE HAVE A SHOP CONNECTED TO OUR SONS' MUSIC STUDIO. WHEN THE DRUMS ARE BEING PLAYED BY A STUDENT, NEXT DOOR, I HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO WHEN THE SESSION IS OVER; BECAUSE ALL OF MY FORTY PICTURES ON THE PAPER-THIN DIVIDING WALL, WILL BE CROOKED. IN THE CASE OF THE ANTIQUE MALL VENDOR, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T BOTHER HANGING HIS ART WORK PROPERLY, IT CAUGHT MY EYE. AND YES, I WILL, TIME PERMITTING, STRAIGHTEN OUT ANTIQUE BOOTH PICTURES AS WELL. THE ART WORK IN QUESTION, WAS IN ROUGH SHAPE ALL ROUND. IT HAD STAINING FROM PREVIOUS WATER EXPOSURE, AND THE FRAME WAS FALLING APART. THE GLASS WAS FILTHY, AND THE VENDOR OBVIOUSLY HAD NO INTEREST IN EXPENDING ANY GLASS CLEANER, TO JAZZ THE PIECE UP. THEIR LOSS. MY GAIN.
THE ENGRAVING WAS FROM THE EARLY 1800'S, IF MEMORY SERVES CORRECT, AND IT WAS SIGNED BY A WELL KNOWN FRENCH ARTIST. I LIKED THE QUALITY OF THE ENGRAVING AND WITH A PROPER ACID FREE MATTING AND BACKING, IT WOULD LOOK FIND IN THE FRAME IN WHICH IT WAS FOUND. THE ASKING PRICE WAS SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS, WHICH GAVE SUZANNE SOME PALPITATIONS, BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT THE WATER STAINING WOULD DEVALUE THE ART. THE ACTUAL DIMENSION OF THE ENGRAVING ITSELF, HAD NOT BEEN TOUCHED BY WATER, ONLY THE PAPER EDGES. WHAT I DIDN'T TELL SUZANNE, WAS THE NOTE I FOUND INSIDE THE FRAME, WHEN I SIMPLY PULLED BACK THE DAMAGED CARDBOARD AT THE TOP OF THE PICTURE. I DIDN'T TAKE A CHANCE ON THE ART WORK, BUT I KNEW THE NOTE ON THE BACK WAS GOING TO BE MORE IMPORTANT TO THE PROVENANCE OF THE ENGRAVING. SO HERE'S THE STORY. THERE WAS A NOTE ON THE BACK, FROM A CANADIAN SOLDIER, WHO HAD FOUND THE ART WORK IN THE RUINS OF A BOMBED-OUT RESIDENCE, IN YPRES, BELGIUM, SHORTLY AFTER ONE OT THE FIRST WORLD WAR BATTLES IN THIS REGION. THE SOLDIER WHO PULLED IT FROM THE RUINS, GAVE IT LATER, TO ANOTHER CANADIAN SOLDIER, WHO MANAGED TO BRING THE ENGRAVING BACK TO CANADA AFTER THE WAR. NOW IT MIGHT APPEAR THE ART WORK WAS LOOTED FROM THE BOMBED VILLAGE, BUT I BELIEVE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY THE WEATHER, IF IT HADN'T BEEN RESCUED WHEN IT WAS. THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY THE OCCASION THAT IT WAS TOUCHED BY MOISTURE. THERE WAS NO NAME OF THE STREET WHERE IT HAD BEEN FOUND, AND NO NAME OF A PREVIOUS OWNER ANYWHERE VISIBLE ON THE PIECE.
THUS THE ART HAD TWO SIGNIFICANT VALUES. FIRST AS A QUALITY ENGRAVING, WITH ITS INTEGRITY INTACT. THE SECOND WAS THE PROVENANCE OF THE BATTLE OF YPRES, AND THE FACT IT HAD BEEN PULLED FROM THE RUINS BY A CANADIAN SOLDIER…..AND THEN GIVEN TO ANOTHER, ATTACHING FIRST WORLD WAR HISTORY TO AN ART PIECE FROM THE EARLY 1800'S. IT WAS HARDLY A RISK AT $75. ALL IT TOOK WAS A COUPLE OF HOURS RESEARCH, CLEAN UP AND BASIC CONSERVATION, AND WE HAD A NEAT STORY ATTACHED TO A REALLY NICE PICTURE. BY ALL MEANS, THIS WAS A SLEEPER. THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT MADE US A MILLION BUCKS ON RE-SALE. BUT IT DID MAKE AS A NICE PROFIT, ALL BECAUSE WE TOOK AN INTEREST IN RESCUING IT, ONCE MORE IN ITS PERIOD OF EXISTENCE, FROM THE DARK RECESSES OF A CLUTTERED ANTIQUE BOOTH.
THE "ODD - BALL" STUFF, IS ALWAYS WORTH A SECOND LOOK, IN THE ANTIQUE TRADE
Not so long ago, at an antique co-operative, a short drive from Gravenhurst, I found a befuddling painting. It was too odd and interesting, to be priced at only fifty dollars. The problem with a lot of these situations, is that no matter how good you think you are, and how much information and experience you possess, encountering what could be a giant "sleeper," forces your hand. Put up or shut up. I like to be able to ponder and delay, while I study pieces. It was on a day when we had to get back to Gravenhurst, for our boys to work that evening on "The Barge," where they are technical assistants for the summer season, "Music on the Barge," series at Gull Lake Park. It was a big show, and "load-in" (hauling the group's equipment on stage) was only forty minutes away. We'd just make it in time, if we hustled out of the shop. So I had enough confidence in the art piece, and my knowledge of what it could sell for, if research panned out, to beg my accountant-wife for the fifty dollars it would take to make the acquisition. Actually, we got a ten percent discount as well. Suzanne keeps me on my toes, and wants to know that we are getting good value for our purchases. For twenty-five years she's been keeping me on the mark, and honestly, there have only been a few times when I purchased something for more than it was actually worth. She has made this mistake as well. On this occasion, I was counting on the unusual nature of the art work, to be the "sleeper" aspect of the beat-up painting. It was most definitely in rough shape. It had a busted frame, broken glass, and was dirty. The painting looked a lot better when it was removed from the frame, and from behind the glass. But the frame and glass were part of its provenance, so I was careful that I didn't cause them any additional damage.
The painting was naive, and of a folk art characteristic. There were two soldiers on huge white horses, approaching what could only be presumed to be a military check-point…..where a guard stood in a small building, looking up at the approaching mounted soldiers. The composite paper art panel, backed a multi-media picture, of both oil paint and applied paper for effect. On the bottom left corner, was a very faded written caption for the painting, that a former owner, sensing it would one day be faded beyond recognition, transcribed what turned out to be Romanian, onto the back……which we later had translated. It identified the Romanian soldiers. The painting was done, most likely, by a bored Romanian military individual, also positioned at the checkpoint, using found materials, such as a portion of a posted sign. The year was 1946. The antique vendor hadn't bothered to have the written provenance of the painting, interpreted, to find out its country of origin…..which is pretty helpful, trying to evaluate such a piece. It was by all means a "sleeper," and it most definitely sold for a profit. It took us about two hours total, to piece together a reasonable history of the painting.
There was another case, also at an antique co-operative, in the same area, when I got one of my nicest little folk art paintings of an early 1800's sailboat. Outside of my problem with out of whack, crooked paintings, are vendors who get in my face. I am a very intense antique hunter, and I don't need assistance browsing. I was doing this successfully as a kid. I certainly don't need help, as an adult, unless it's the physical retrieval of an item from a high shelf, or pulled out of a locked showcase. And as a well travelled antique dealer, I really don't need to be told how wonderful and valuable a piece is…..according to a vendor's colorful explanation. On this occasion, I could not shed this guy. He was the shadow I never wanted. If he wasn't shadowing me, he was doing the same to Suzanne. As it was getting uncomfortable, and very annoying having the play by play in my ear, like Foster Hewitt, I just started heading for the door. So the guy yells at me, "Do you mean you've spent all this time in my shop, and you're not going to buy anything." At the same time as he said this, I spotted a really bad landscape painting, but awkwardly positioned in a much older frame. I grabbed it on the fly-by, and determined it was carrying a little bit extra. The painting in the frame was twenty dollars. I told the guy I wasn't going to leave empty handed, and that I would gladly pay the twenty dollar asking price. He congratulated me on my good art sense, and then began offering me a collection of really disgusting nudes he had stacked behind the counter. I told him I'd have to come back when I had more courage and patience to browse.
I didn't say anything to Suzanne until we got home, and I could prove my suspicions. Within ten minutes of arriving at Birch Hollow, I'd already popped out the first painting, and found a second, tucked in behind as backing. This is very common. The painting I bought was poorly done, and was tossed in the garbage. The painting in behind, had some damage, but would have been from the 1850's or earlier. It wasn't a huge painting, but the profit was close to being huge as compared to the purchase price. I went back to the same shop a week later, and purchased another painting, that had likely belonged to the same person who had once owned the sailboat art piece. (Likely purchased from an estate) I knew there was a strong possibility, there was a second painting behind another adequate landscape, at the very least, worth the $30 asking price. I knew, by poking and prodding, that there was a secondary image wedged tightly behind the first painting. It was also being used as backing. I wasn't trying to sneak another painting out of the shop. This was a package deal, and honestly, something the know-it-all vendor should have investigated, by exercising due diligence on his finds. When I busted the second painting out from behind the first, it was a very nice "George Thomson," landscape. George was the older brother of Canadian landscape artist, Tom Thomson. I have owned and sold three George Thomson's in my dealing-days. He was a talented artist, but not quite as vibrant and compelling as Tom's art panels. This was quite a while ago now, and I think it sold for $200 or so. It was most definitely a sleeper. George Thomson paintings sell for quite a bit more these days, especially at auction.
We do very much benefit from our years in the business of buying old and unusual stuff. We make our money, by using experience and expertise, and a lot of book learning; and that manifests in the field, by routinely finding those pieces that have somehow evaded serious scrutiny and evaluation by others. Are we sharks? It would certainly be hard to deny, that we are waiting to strike. But we are just being rewarded for doing our homework. We are good at scrutinizing the things we come upon, whether it is at a flea market, church fundraiser, auction sale, antique shop or mall. As a rule, we don't rub a vendor's nose "in it," or act in a boastful fashion, when we do make a big find. Most dealers like to keep a low profile on the hunt, although there are often reasons for being a little more visibly recognized. We can get offered things, you see, if folks with "stuff," see us at auctions and related antique venues. It may be a collector who has acquired something he or she knows we want…..or that we sell regularly. In my case, I get offered a lot of Muskoka related pieces, because I've been buying and selling them since I began in the trade, back in the late 1970's. It certainly reduces our hunting times and miles, if we can cut right to the chase, and have someone offer us materials first hand. So the contradiction, is that while we like to fly under the radar most of the time, there are exceptions when being recognized isn't so bad at all. Quite profitable in fact.
I've got lots of these antique hunting stories. Glad to have you aboard today. It's always nice to have friends drop by for a visit. Please come back again soon, for some more insider tips, on how to hunt and gather like the pros. Are there any big finds left out there? You bet. I'll tell you how to find them!
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