john previti
Well-known member
Re: "Acme of Perfection" Philadelphia PieCrust Tea Table Up for Sale at Sotheby's
« Reply #10 on: Today at 05:41:53 AM »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Folks,
I was just up at Sotheby's for the auction. I did pick up both the afternoon sale catalogue and the specific table book. If you bought the catalogue they threw the table book in free. Its $40 for the 2. that's if you buy in person. We were there for the morning auction only. We left to head to the winter antique show at the 7th regiment in the afternoon. This has become our pilgrimage alternative instead of going to the Williamsberg get together. When we arrived at the 7th floor they were auctioning off another teatable that went for around 100gs. The fun part about going is beyond seeing notable characters such as the Keno bros and other wealthty types(its fun to pose as wealthy types also) you get to examine pcs up front and personal and you are allowed to handle the pcs if the preview part is still going. One or 2 floors down was most of the furniture for the afternoon auction that the "acme of perfection" tea table was sold at. It however, was put up front where the auction was being held so I did not get to look at it personally. I believe if you had been able to get there earlier on sat morning then you could have examined it closely. We did get to stroll around looking at the other items that were piled willy-nilly on the lower floor. there were several interesting pcs to look at. One item I got a chuckle over was a authentic sedan chair. It would have been great for private phone conversations.
One last point , as a cabinetmaker I noticed the sale estimate were what I considered fairly low as many pcs were in the range of what I would charge to make as a reproduction for clients. One or 2 , such as the dela/chester county walnut high chest on short legs was estimated for less than it would take to make and was a very nice looking pc. This would the way for us poor folk to make a good investment. As many times I pcs like this come back up for auction 5yrs later with a Sotheby's provenance and sell for much more. I have not had time to go on line and check the price that it sold for. The table book is worth having and may be sold later at a discount.
John Previti
« Reply #10 on: Today at 05:41:53 AM »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Folks,
I was just up at Sotheby's for the auction. I did pick up both the afternoon sale catalogue and the specific table book. If you bought the catalogue they threw the table book in free. Its $40 for the 2. that's if you buy in person. We were there for the morning auction only. We left to head to the winter antique show at the 7th regiment in the afternoon. This has become our pilgrimage alternative instead of going to the Williamsberg get together. When we arrived at the 7th floor they were auctioning off another teatable that went for around 100gs. The fun part about going is beyond seeing notable characters such as the Keno bros and other wealthty types(its fun to pose as wealthy types also) you get to examine pcs up front and personal and you are allowed to handle the pcs if the preview part is still going. One or 2 floors down was most of the furniture for the afternoon auction that the "acme of perfection" tea table was sold at. It however, was put up front where the auction was being held so I did not get to look at it personally. I believe if you had been able to get there earlier on sat morning then you could have examined it closely. We did get to stroll around looking at the other items that were piled willy-nilly on the lower floor. there were several interesting pcs to look at. One item I got a chuckle over was a authentic sedan chair. It would have been great for private phone conversations.
One last point , as a cabinetmaker I noticed the sale estimate were what I considered fairly low as many pcs were in the range of what I would charge to make as a reproduction for clients. One or 2 , such as the dela/chester county walnut high chest on short legs was estimated for less than it would take to make and was a very nice looking pc. This would the way for us poor folk to make a good investment. As many times I pcs like this come back up for auction 5yrs later with a Sotheby's provenance and sell for much more. I have not had time to go on line and check the price that it sold for. The table book is worth having and may be sold later at a discount.
John Previti