Antique Auction Finds

As I just mentioned in my last post, I spent almost all day at an antiques auction. This was one of the few local auctions we've had, and it was held just a few blocks away at the Trinity Church Hall (the nicest Gothic church in town).

The auction was by Theresa E. Taylor, and she's pretty much the only local auctioneer I know of. She does tag sales (a few that I've been to), and auctions, and she's actually very good at it, and isn't too hard to understand (which is good). If you've ever been to an auction, you might have an idea of what I mean by this. Some auctioneers go through items really quickly, and it's sometimes difficult to know what the bidding is at, or who's bidding (or who's turn it is, etc).

The preview started at 8:30am, with the auction starting at 10am. I got there around 9:00 and browsed around. I wasn't sure if we could take any photos, so at first I didn't, but then I noticed a whole bunch of people snapping cell-phone pictures, and I thought "Fuck it".

Unlike a lot of the auctions I've been to, the vast majority of this auction was what I'd consider to be "good stuff". Nice china, porcelain, watches, jewellery, fine furniture, art, primitives, old toys, etc.

Here's a quick sampling of some of the pieces that I found to be quite eye-catching and unusual.

This chair. Man oh man. If I would have had a car to take stuff home easily, or if I had know earlier whether or not someone could give me a ride, this is one of the pieces I would probably have bid on. It needed one of the carved pieces reglued, but it was a gorgeous mahogany chair, with a curly birch veneered back rest. I think it sold for only 40-60$.



They described this one as a "Carved Sisters" chair, and she seemed to think that it could date to the 1700s, but I highly doubt it. It looks purely Victorian to me, and I'd date it to around 1880-90. It's definitely extremely unusual. It needed a complete overhaul though, and as such, it only sold for 60$.



I wasn't a fan of the really pain bump in the centre. It seemed too plain for the detailed carvings on each side.



Two beautiful fan-back chairs similar to the one we redid at the shop a few weeks ago (see here: http://lefebvreupholstery.blogspot.ca/2013/09/fan-back-chair-blue-white-stripe.html). These, however, had carved French/Italian type front legs. They sold for the insanely cheap price of 20$ and 25$.



Next is one of the most unusual, beautiful, and detailed "square Victorian tables" I've seen. This type of table is fairly common, and they usually feature fancy pressed wood skirts, and spiral carved legs, but this one has very complicated decorations. The bottom has eagle/claw feet, followed by some type of griffon or wolf figures with open mouths pointing upwards. The rest is a mix of fluted/reeded turnings, and barley twists (all involving some hand carving), and a beautiful centre finial. I think it sold for around 120$. If you were to get this new today, you couldn't even have the finial made for this price.



A lot of the auction items went for very cheap prices. A lot of stuff was selling for under 20$. This fine Federal "Games Table", however, was an exception. I had wanted to bid on it, since I knew it was very old (early 1800s), and in very nice shape, but it went way over what I wanted to pay, and sold for 210$.



Another interesting little stool. Barley twist turnings (all hand carved), and a needlepoint top. I think it sold for 40$.



It looked quite solid, and it just needed a few replacement tacks.



I kind of liked this settee. It was mahogany, and the carved pieces on it almost matched the mahogany chair above (first photo). I think it sold for 120$.

Alright, if I had decided to take photos earlier, I would have taken more, but those are the only ones I got. Some stuff sold for pennies on the dollar. Some particularly sad sales were:
- An entire solid oak dining room set (6 chairs, table, sideboard, and buffet) for 100$
- A Victrola (cabinet/record player) with about 30 records sold for 55$
- 3 pocket watches at: 30$ (coin silver case), 40$, and 10$
- A solid oak (early, large) corner cabinet, for 100$
- An early step-back china cupboard, for 100$
- Entire sets of dishes (I think one was a 50 piece set) for 20$
- A brass Anniversary clock for 5$ (I really should have bid on it, but I didn't really want it).

A lot of stuff was going for yard sale prices. I was surprised. I really didn't think I'd walk away with anything, but I bought several pieces. The auction had close to 700 lots, and it finished around 5:30.

Here's what I took home.

The first lot that I snatched up was lot 193, a set of 4 early lithograph engravings/prints in matched frames (in perfect shape). I had thought I was only up to 60$, but I was actually at 65$, and I won them, so that was alright.

"Niagara" Engraving, dated 1873, custom framed in Cornwall in 1981.



"The Whirlpool Rapid" Engraving (no date), custom framed in Cornwall in 1981.



"The banks of the River Niagara" (below the falls) dated 1841, custom framed in Cornwall in 1981.



And "Bay of Quinte" Engraving (no date), custom framed in Cornwall in 1981.



After this, I stayed until after lunch, until around lot 315 or so (when they took a break), and I went home. I wanted to drop off the 4 prints, and get some additional bags in case I bought several paintings. I went back to the auction around 3:00 (having skipped over a lot of the boring items like the costume jewellery), and I arrived around lots 475 (ish).

The next lots I was interested in were some of the paintings. Particularly some of the ones I had written down on my card; lots 529, 530, 532, 533, 537, 540, 541, 545, and 548. These were the "more finely executed ones" from the bunch. I had previously missed another lot of paintings that were sold before 3:00, but I wasn't interested in any of those but at the same time I had no idea what they sold for, to compare.

When we got to the paintings, the auctioneer said "For the paintings, if we can't get 10$, we'll pass to the next one". This got me quite excited. There were still a lot of people, and I didn't know who might want to bid on them.

The first lot 529 got called, and it was a pencil drawing, which threw me right off, since it was supposed to be an oil painting. That one got a pass, and then I somehow also missed 530, which also got passed. I believe 532 got sold to someone else, then I got lot 533 for 10$.

533: Oil on Canvas Board ("Hi-Art Canvas Board" logo visible on the reverse dates to the 1950s or 60s) - Signed I McFarlane. I wasn't too crazy for the frame that it's in, but it actually looks good against my painted walls. Can't complain for 10$.



The paintings were being shown a bit off to my far right (20 feet away), and I couldn't see them that well, so at this point I didn't want to miss another one, and I was only listening to the numbers being called. There were a lot of paintings, and they were going through them quickly, since interest in them was low. I heard them call 537, and I got that one for 10$ as well.

537: Oil on Canvas Board - Signed Hillier (likely also from the 1950s or 60s). Unfortunately, the frame got quite a bit scuffed-up since the paintings were all crammed carelessly in a cardboard box, and people just flipped through them several times before the auction. I can probably touch it up, since the frame on this one is not bad.



540 and 541 I either passed on them, or someone else bought them before I could.

The next one I got is my favourite buy out of the whole lot, and I bid against another buyer to get it. In the end, it was still a very good buy at only 25$.

545: Beautifully framed original oil painting (on hardboard panel), signed A.M.Bray. The colours in the photo don't do it justice. It has more of a deep blue and brown tone to it, and the frame is just gorgeous. The frame looks fairly flat, but is actually quite deep.



And that's it. In the end, with the buyer's premium, and sales tax added, I spent something around 130$, which adds up to about 20$ per piece.

Before leaving, I asked about some of the paintings that had been "passed" and apparently you can just go to the back room and take them for the low bid (in this case, 10$). The one that I really wanted (and missed) was lot 530, and someone must have went and grabbed it before I could, because it was nowhere to be found. It was some sort of oil or pastel, and it had a bit of a "Group of Seven" vibe to it. Oh well. I'll know next time.

I went through the auction listing online, and I think it must have been this piece:



It doesn't look great in the photo, but it looked really good IRL. According to the listing, it was a pastel from 1947.

I also hesitated on this piece, and missed out on it at 10$ or 15$. It's an original oil painting from 1932, and it looks like it had a really nice frame, too.

Another Small Project Done

I got another piece of art framed.

I went out to pick up some more drywall compound, and I stopped at Winners. I ended up finding a beautiful antique reproduction frame for only 10$. Lately, I've been sure to keep a list with me of the art I have (dimensions) and empty frames (needing art) and a small tape measure. This frame was close to a perfect fit for one of my prints, and the style matched.



The print of the church with the dark blue-green matte was a 4.99$ find at Value Village (I've had it for over a year).

This is seriously an awesome price. Not even a sale price, either! Some of the quotes I got for custom frames ran in the HUNDREDS of dollars.



The existing matte was a 1/2 inch wider in both directions, but it was easy to trim it to fit. I am absolutely thrilled with how it looks. I wasn't sure if the black(ish) frame would play nicely next to the dark blue-green, but I absolutely love it. The frame is actually made from cast resin mouldings with some sort of antiqued painted effect, but it looks like a genuine antique frame. I'm leaving the cardboard corners on the frame until I'm ready to hang it.

Another Frame Restoration & Art Post

I decided to get out of the house the other day and go thrifting at Value Village. I often walk away empty-handed, but on this trip, I found a few treasures.

I was there mainly to look for more old frames to frame some of the art from a few posts ago. I ended up finding this:



I initially liked it mainly for the frame, and I didn't think much of the painting, but as I turned it over, I got more interested. Althought it was professionally framed, someone had torn the back open.

The canvas has a sticker on it with an eagle from the "American Photo Supply Co." of Chicago. I was only able to find ONE other photo of a similarly labeled canvas on the web, and that painting was dated 1949. The top also shows a stamp from the "American Art Co. - Distinctive Pictures - Picture Framing - Quality Artist's Materials, Tacoma Wash." This company is actually still in business.





I'm fairly sure that it's oil, but it's not very shiny, so it's either been left unvarnished, or it could also be gouache. Either way it's a pretty decent painting, and I only paid 5.99$ for it. The frame will need just a few touch-ups to the gold paint.

***

Last night, I stumbled onto another old frame that I had in a box in the basement. I don't remember where I got this one, but it was probably a yard sale find. It looks exactly like a gilt antique mirror (the kind with the fragile gesso/plaster decorations), but it's actually FOAM. It must have been cast directly from a mold made from an original frame because it has all the details you would expect to find on the real deal.

The original paint was gold, but then someone painted it white (and did a sloppy job of it). As purchased:



I wanted it "antique gold" again, but stripping it was out of the question, so I just sanded-down the paint blobs, and gave it 2-3 light coats of cheap, bright gold spray paint.



Obviously the new gold paint is too bright and fake looking (especially if you put it next to an old antique gold frame), so I remedied this by rubbing-on a medium brown glaze with a paintbrush and a rag.

SO MUCH BETTER:



It looks like it might have taken a lot of time, but the entire thing was done in just a few hours (most of the time was waiting in between the thin coats of spray paint, since I was doing one side at a time, and rotating the frame every 15-20 minutes. The glazing process only took about 15-20 minutes. The last step was a light coat of satin varnish (also aerosol).

This frame will go on the church litho print.



Detail:



I also scored some curtains for the Office, which need slight modifications to work, so stay tuned for those soon (ish).

Art

Not a whole lot has been going on here lately. I've been anticipating framing a few of my art pieces (some will be getting custom made mahogany veneered frames) but while I'm at it, I thought I'd also rummage through all my other art, and see what else I had lying around that was worthy of finally getting framed.

So for the past few days, I've been unpacking some of the framed ones, and going through all my unframed and "loose" art that are in a few different places (huge "under bed" rolling box and 2 portfolios).

The one that "started it all" is a piece of pen and ink done by my best friend from high school. I've had this piece for a few years, and I've been meaning to get it framed since I got it. I thought I was going to need a specially cut matte for it, but I found one that fits perfectly. This is one of the pieces that will get a custom frame. This one will probably be done in a light coloured wood. Perhaps bird's eye maple or curly maple.

She does AMAZING work. She takes commissions, and has had gallery exhibits. You can get her contact info here if you're interested:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Violettebird



The other two pieces that I really want to get framed are the two in this photo with the tan background. They are two fairly large sized architectural prints that I got for an absolute STEAL at a yard sale a few years ago.

The black framed print is from 1836 and shows the "Radcliffe Camera" (part of Oxford University in London). The building (library) is still standing and is jaw-droppingly beautiful. You should definitely Google photos of it.

The upper print of a church is an old one that I picked up at a second hand store for 5$, and the one matted in teal is from Value Village.



These are most of my framed pieces. Some of these were hung in my apartment, while others have been in storage, or are more recent finds.

The embossed brass ship is fairly new (Salvation Army find), and the unframed oil painting in the lower right is also a fairly recent acquisition.

The Parliament pen and ink is one that I particularly like, since I have toured the Parliament buildings dozens of times. The artist is F Schanberger, and I don't see a date, but I've had this piece since the mid to late 90s.

The robins are a print, and the back has a stamp from a gallery in Milton Ontario. My Mom and I found it at a yard sale, and we both wanted it, but I let her have it. For the longest time it was on the dresser in her bedroom (on a little stand), but when she moved out, she gave it to me.

The blue jay print is named "Winter Vigil" and it is a signed and numbered artist's proof 46/54 by Pierre Francis Surtés (1987). All of those are yard sale finds (under 10$).

The photo in the lower left is a Lupin (a type of flower) with a water drop suspended between the leaves. It's a photo by a friend of mine that I met on LiveJournal many years ago from Sweden. Her name is Jeanette Astrand. I think this was taken around 2002 or 2003.

The sailboat with the grey/pink matte is unsigned but dated 1980 on the back paper.



There's actually a short and funny story about the oil painting. I originally saw it at a yard sale. I quite liked it, but it was slightly damaged, looked really "old fashioned" and I wasn't sure if it would fit-in or where I'd put it, so I passed on it. Later in the day, I regretted the decision.

Several weeks later, I got my second chance at it when it turned up in Value Village. I kind of kicked myself (because it was priced for probably double what I would have paid at the yard sale), but I was happy to get it.

It's not super old. The wooden frame behind the canvas is put together with routed tracks in the corners, and the wood is pretty clean/light. The paint is old enough to be fully crackled though. If I had to guess, I'd say it's from anywhere between 1950-1980. It's not signed, but one side of the canvas has Patenaude written in pencil on it. There are some Patenaudes in Cornwall, so the piece could be local (or from the area).



These are the ones I turned up today. They're sort of a hodge-podge of styles.

In the upper left is a painting I did a few years ago (2003) of a Buddha on a lotus. It was originally a Photoshop stamp/brush and I liked the design, and I made it into a painting. The hard part was making the background red, which is a mix of several different reds, spots, and a salt technique.

The butterfly next to it is also one of mine, also done in 2003, and it's a Painted Lady butterfly. It was a watercolour version of a photo by my friend Jeanette (from Sweden).

The pen and ink over it, is a piece that I'm not even sure where it came from. It's an original (since some of the pen strokes scratched the paper surface), and it's signed by Dwayne St Louis 1978. I don't know anything about it, but it's pretty well done. I probably picked it up at a yard sale.

Next to it, a "Water Pig" Chinese ink calligraphy panel (a gift).

In the lower left, a pen and ink drawing done by my Mom! Yup, I have a bunch of her old art stuff from high school and some from a course she was taking, and this is one of the ones I really like. It's not perfect, and you can tell she was having trouble with the pen, since the paper is torn away in several places, but I definitely want to get this one framed. We have several artists in the family, but I don't really have much art done by any of them. My Mom is pretty good (these days she's into card making/stamping) we also have an aunt (deceased) who was a pretty good painter (oil paint), and one of my uncles is an incredibly gifted carver. He was featured in Canadian Woodworking magazine a few times. I also have an aunt who does tole painting, an uncle who is a blacksmith, and my Dad does professional photo retouching in Photoshop in his spare time - and not dinky simple stuff either).

Lastly, two very colourful prints by an Ottawa artist Diane June Arnold. Both are "around or before 1998" as far as I can tell (based on the info card on the back). I really like the one with the birds. The lady is a bit odd (and kind of Picasso influenced) but I liked the bright colours. I don't remember paying very much for these; maybe 10-15$ for the pair?

Also in the upper right you can see some of my many antique frames (small ones).



I also have this huge piece. The sheet is 18" x 24". I photographed it on top of the previous pieces to show the scale a bit. It was a fairly early piece I did in high school art class (1999). It's an oil pastel on "construction paper". I've always been a bit pissed that it was done on such crappy paper, but that's what we were given. It's not an acid free paper, and even though I've had it carefully stored for years, the paper is very brittle and tears easily. I'd like to frame it, but it could be tricky/expensive, since I'd definitely need special UV filtering glass on this one to help keep it from disintegrating. I would probably crop-off the sides a bit. I'm also not sure what colour of matte would look nice with the charcoal grey background.

Note: some of the segments in the wings and chest are crooked and different sizes, but that's how it was on the original piece, which is a 1000+ year old Egyptian artifact.



So yeah, that's some of my art. I have more (mostly drawings), and some of these will be grouped together (gallery wall) while others will be stand-alone pieces. I haven't really decided what's going where, but now I have a better inventory of what I have to work with.

I also went through my entire "under bed box" full of art and paper, and I've realized that I have a sh*tload of watercolour paper, and about 4-5 blank hardboard canvases (like the Buddha one). I really should do some more watercolours & gouache.