1840 Japanese vase

Christopher Kent walked into the “Gray Goose,” a Charleston, S.C., junk shop piled with debris and dust. “There were flea-bitten, 1950s armchairs that should have been given a good burial,” Kent said. “It was the sort of place that makes you want to disinfect yourself when you leave, frankly, just my sort of place.”

But two small panels—no more than 3 inches by 10 inches—hanging on a back wall drew his attention. Kent took them to the rotund proprietor, who said, “Don’t you just love Japanese art?”

After a quick negotiation that brought the price for the pair down to $15 from $25, Kent walked out with two 17th-century Russian triptych panels worth about $1,000.

From the junk shop to international auction houses and major museums, Worthologist Christopher Kent has used that keen eye to spot value in everything from Japanese porcelain to Italian decorative arts and everything in between.

“I am a generalist,” Kent explained. “A generalist has the ability to walk into a room filled with items and be able to say something about every piece. There are really only a handful of people who can do that.”

Walking encyclopedia

How does one become a walking encyclopedia of antiques and fine arts?

For Kent, it started with his grandparents who were both ardent collectors—his paternal grandmother was a textile expert and his grandfather, her husband, a collector of American furniture. “These were serious collectors who would go without dinner or lunch to acquire a piece.” Kent said he inherited both their interest and their collecting “genetic flaw.”

At the age of 6, he started his own collection with an 18th-century Japanese porcelain bowl given to him by a family friend who was in her own right an avid collector. At 11, he made his professional appraisal debut with a collection of 18th-century English porcelain for America’s oldest auction house, Freeman’s in Philadelphia.

And so starting with American furniture, textiles and porcelain, Kent added layer upon layer of period and style to his repertoire. In college, where he studied art history and architectural history, Kent also acquired knowledge of 17th-century Italian furniture and decorative arts.

17th-century Italian armoire

(For more information on the pictured items, click on the images.)

Coming out of college, Kent’s plan had been to do museum curatorial work, only to run into some real-world truths. “I loved the collections, but I hated museum politics,” he said.

Kent continued gathering expertise—from museum collections, auctions and research and by asking questions of dealers and collectors. “You begin to make associations,” Kent explained, “about why this piece is similar to that, and about changes in taste, and what influences dictate trends.”

Museums have sought Kent’s eye and knowledge to help evaluate a broad array of pieces.
Among the institutions he has advised are the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art—both in New York City—the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C.

17th-century Italian chairs

In the 40 years he has been collecting, much has changed, Kent said, including the definition of an antique. “It used to be anything after 1860 wasn’t an antique, it was Victorian, and that was usually said with distain,” Kent said. “Then it was moved up to 1880 and then completely abolished.”

Art Nouveau, Art Deco and other well-designed and well-crafted styles became targets for serious collectors, and more and more collectors entered the market. “There is a lot of newly minted money, hedge-fund money,” Kent said.

Art Nouveau brooch

1920 Art Deco clown

Americana has gotten carried along on these waves, Kent said.

By the 1990s, a wrought-iron weather vane was selling in the millions, where a few years earlier the price tag would have been several thousand dollars.

1954 Hopalong Cassidy lunch box and thermos

In December 1992, Christie’s set a record for a lunch box with the sale of the Dudley Do-Right box and thermos for $2,200. It had cost $2.25 when it was new in 1962. But the kicker that changed the world, as far as establishing the world of collectibles, was the Matt Wyse sale in 1996 where the Superman lunch box circa 1954 sold for an unprecedented $11,500.

“That just changed the way people viewed the market,” Kent said. Once a major house auctioned something as modest as a school lunch box for big dollars, Kent explained, anything might be a valued collectible. “It was,” he said, “a transforming moment.”

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

Join WorthPoint on Twitter and Facebook.

Harry hosts “Whatcha Got?,” a nationally syndicated antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, airing Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The show streams live on the Internet.

A frequent television and radio guest, Harry’s television credits include “Oprah,” “Home Matters,” “Martha Stewart Living,” “Inside Edition,” “Wall Street Journal Report,” the NBC-TV “Today” show, among many others.

“Rinker on Collectibles,” a weekly syndicated column, appears in trade papers and daily periodicals from coast to coast. Harry’s research articles and special feature columns have appeared in “AntiqueWeek,” “Collectors News,” “The Magazine Antiques,” “Maine Antique Digest” and numerous other periodicals and newspapers.

Harry is a prolific antiques-and-collectibles writer. Among the many books he’s authored is “Sell, Keep, or Toss: How To Downsize a Home, Settle an Estate, and Appraise Personal Property.” Between 1981 and 1996, he edited 15 editions of “Warman’s Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide” and seven editions of “Warman’s Americana & Collectibles.”

In 1991, Harry founded the Institute for the Study of Antiques & Collectibles. Its seminars, conferences and other educational programs are designed to increase the skills and expertise of auctioneers, collectors, dealers and others within the field.

Harry is a dedicated accumulator, acquiring items in more than 250 categories. His principal interests are Pennsylvania German material, objects associated with the Moravians, memorabilia of the American canal era, TV cowboy heroes with special emphasis on Hopalong Cassidy, and jigsaw puzzles and associated ephemera, a collection that now exceeds 5,000 examples.

Harry was graduated from Lehigh University and did additional graduate work at Washington University of St. Louis and at the University of Delaware. His distinguished 12-year career as a museum professional began as director of archival research for Historic Bethlehem, Pa., and culminated as executive director of several major historical societies and sites.

Additional information about Harry L. Rinker and Rinker Enterprises is available on the Internet.

Hope, who was born in England as Leslie Townes Hope, moved to the US when he was only five. His performance career began at the tender age of twelve, when he began to dance and do comedy routines to make some extra money. His comedy routines turned out to be much more successful than his later brief foray into boxing.

He began steady performance work at 22, and made his first film in 1934 at the age of 31. Though his stint with the first company that hired him to do film work, Educational Pictures, was extremely brief, he soon became a very popular movie star. In spite of his popularity and his hosting the Academy Awards a whopping eighteen times between 1939 and 1977, Hope never received an Academy Award of his own.

Bob Hope did receive four honorary awards from the Academy, however, not just because of his prolific work but also because of his commitment to the United Service Organization (USO). He performed for the troops starting in 1941 and continuing through World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and even the Persian Gulf War. His Christmas specials, performed in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971, were each seen by more than 60 percent of U.S. households watching television when they aired.

Aside from these travels, he also performed on Broadway, for radio and television, and as already mentioned, in films. Amidst all of this, he also nurtured a great love for golf; the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic was created in his name in 1960, and he even made history playing golf in a foursome that included presidents Gerald R. Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. That was the only time in history that a golf foursome included three U.S. presidents.

The comedian lived so long that he saw not one but two premature obituaries written for him. In 1998 the Associated Press accidentally released a pre-written obituary, and his death was announced in the House of Representatives. Then in 2003 a lapse in password protection caused his and several other obituaries that had been pre-written to be inadvertently released on CNN’s website.

On May 29th, 2003 – Bob Hope’s 100th birthday- more than thirty states declared the day Bob Hope Day; he celebrated his centennial privately in his home. He died on July 27th, 2003, a result of his steadily declining health. (When his daughter asked the seriously-ill star where he wanted to be buried, he reportedly told her, “Surprise me.”) He was interred in the Bob Hope Memorial Garden at San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

1903 – Born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, London, England

1908 – Family moves to Cleveland, Ohio

1915 – Begins busking at a local boardwalk

1920 – Bob Hope becomes a U.S. citizen

1925 – Thanks to silent film star Fatty Arbuckle, is invited to join Hurley’s Jolly Follies

1938 _ Hits the big time hosting “The Big Broadcast of 1938,” a radio show sponsored by Pepsodent

1939 – First USO show aboard the Queen Mary

1944 – Logs over 30,000 miles and performs in more than 150 shows in the South Pacific

1963 – Receives Congressional Gold Medal

1970 – Christmas Special from aired from Vietnam is one of the most popular ever

1985 – Bob Hope USO Center is opened in Washington, D.C.

1995 – Tees up with three U.S. Presidents

2003 – Dies in Toluca Lake, CA and is buried in Bob Hope
Memorial Garden, San Fernando Mission Cemetary, Los Angeles

Isadora Duncan, considered the mother of modern dance, was Born in San Francisco California on September 14, 1877. Her father was a California senator Thomas Gray. Her mother left Thomas due to public scandal and moved to Oakland, California with her mother & two sisters. Isadora’s mother worked as a music teacher and piano player. Isadora dropped out of high school in her teen years and taught dancing to younger children in order to help support her family.

Isadora moved to New York and soon found herself in London and then Paris where she had achieved notoriety, by 1895 at the age 18. She was noted for her avante garde free form dance style, performing in flowing, draped Grecian inspired wear and often barefoot. Her style was expressive and free form. In 1924 she moved to Moscow and worked for two years but found the Soviet Republic restrictive of her open spirit.

With the fruits of her name, success and labor , she founded three schools of dance. The most famous in Grunewald Germany. There her pupils were nicknamed “The Isadorables”. She tried the school for boys but it floundered.

Isadora gave birth to two children out of wedlock “Deidre” born September 24,1906 and “Patrick” fathered by Singer Sewing Machine founder Isaac Singer born May 1,1910.

Isadora’s life was soon fallowed by scandal when the chauffer driven car was occupied by herself, the nanny, and her two children. The chauffeur stopped the car for engine trouble when it broke into gear and surged down an embankment into a river. There the nanny and two children died tragically in the accident. Isadora took time to recover but was followed by scandal once more when touring in the United States and exposed part of her chest to the public audience and announced that she was bisexual. Her notorious affairs were publicized in private letters and poetry to several notable women of the time.

Towards the end of her life, Isadora had become financially indebted and relied upon support of friends and contributors. She was friends with Zelda and her husband, famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald whom encouraged her to write her autobiography but it never came to fruition.

On her 50th birthday September 14,1927 she was leaving a party with her Italian lover of that time, “Benoit Falchetto,” and her last words as she left were “I’m off to love”. Benoit had given her a beautiful long flowing silk scarf that was hand painted by Russian Artist Roman Chatov. The scarf was very long and able to be wrapped around her body. They drove off together in a 1924 Almicar GS, also known as a “Bugatti”. The car was going full speed and Isadora’s flowing scarf was blowing out the window when it wrapped around the rear axel of the luxury auto. It pulled her from the car where her body was dragged several feet and she died instantly.

Isadora’s spirit still lives strong today in many forms. Here I have shown two vintage perfumes inspired by Rene Lalique, famous French glass maker. In the 1920’s he designed the perfume on the left in her image and sold the design to Eroy perfumes of Paris, and the perfume bottle was released in 1927. Upon the 50th anniversary of her death in 1977, the same bottle was reproduced and actually named “Isadora”.

Three months ago, Lucero opened Antique Fishing, a small store in this Denver suburb to sell off his 50-year collection of vintage fishing equipment and other collectibles. Diagnosed with congestive heart failure and other ailments, the retired police detective and longtime collectibles dealer didn’t want to saddle his heirs with the emotional chore of unloading his unique inventory.

Then a funny thing happened. While he remains slowed by his health, Lucero says he’s feeling better than he has in a while.

“I think it has to do with the work, having something to do,” Lucero said from his familiar seat behind his desk at the sunny front window of his store. From there, he can monitor his shop’s two doors and three display areas—as well as the little dramas that unfold every day along a stretch of South Broadway that features a pawnshop, taverns and used-car lots.

“Before, I was just sitting home and waiting,” he said. “Now I come here. People are always bringing something they want me to look at and give them an opinion on.”

In fact, Lucero has felt good enough that he’s been winking at his original business plan and expanding his inventory with some of the best items that come his way. His store is like a man’s dream of a boy’s bedroom closet, filled with bamboo fly-fishing rods, vintage lures and reels, comic books, model cars and other collectibles.

Behind his desk, album covers of 1960s LPs blanket the wall. Most are Elvis collectors’ items—Lucero moonlighted for the King of Rock ’n’ Roll as a bodyguard.

Since he opened, Lucero has been behaving like a guy who isn’t going anywhere soon. He hangs a bold “Antique Fishing Open” banner over the back of his shiny black SUV to lure customers cruising South Broadway’s six lanes of traffic.

Considering selling collectibles on the Web

During August, business was slow as fly casters trekked to mountain streams instead of Lucero’s store. He is thinking of adding Internet sales, but he isn’t sure how his merchandise would stand out among thousands of vintage rods, reels and lures available that he considers to be junk.

Meanwhile, his shelves look noticeably fuller.

“I don’t know why I keep buying,” Lucero says. “I guess that’s what collecting is all about. Some of these reels I have now, there are only about 15 of them left in the world.”

He pauses, and then remarks without a trace of sarcasm, “Maybe I need a bigger store.”

If you are interested in Chris Lucero’s collectibles, you can reach him at the Antique Fishing store in Denver. The phone number is 303-359-1613. The address is 4068 S. Broadway, Englewood, CO 80113.

WorthPoint—the premier Web site for art, antiques and collectibles

Kovel and his wife, Terry, first came on the antiques scene in 1953 with the publication of their “Dictionary of Marks—Pottery & Porcelain.” The book was innovative in that it indexed pottery by factory markings rather than by country of origin.

Their column, “Kovels: Antiques and Collecting,” was nationally syndicated in 1954 and still appears today in more than 150 newspapers. The Kovels also produced TV series on public television, the Discovery Channel and HGTV.

Jim Kamnikar, president and CEO of GoAntiques.com, called Kovel an “icon.” “Consumers, collectors and dealers all benefited from his wealth of knowledge,” he said.

“Ralph Kovel was a pioneer in antiques price guides,” Will Seippel, founder and CEO of WorthPoint, said. “He was an innovative thinker with an entrepreneurial spirit.”

Those two characteristics were evidenced in Kovel’s endeavors outside of antiques. In the 1970s, he bought a small food company named Sar-A-Lee then sold it in 1989 to the Sara Lee Corp, for which he served as senior vice president until 2000. He was also president of a direct-marketing company and a shrimp farm in the Bahamas.

Born in Milwaukee, Kovel’s family moved to Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in the 1930s. He was a graduate of Cleveland Heights High School and attended Ohio State University.

The husband-and-wife team co-authored 97 books, the last, “Kovels’ Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide 2009,” came out this month.

I was talking with my friend Mike Bockman, a militaria dealer and owner of BBmilitaria, when we got on the subject of the Niobrara River that runs across the Northern part of Nebraska. I had canoed this river several times in Boy Scouts and Mike had canoed it with his family when he was young.

I was fascinated to hear that Mike obtained his first military collectible while canoeing the Niobrara when he was around seven years old. His family had stopped to picnic on the grounds of Fort Niobrara, an Army outpost established in 1879 to monitor the Sioux Indians. The fort was eventually abandoned in 1906 and little of it remains today.

While Mike was sitting at a picnic table on the fort grounds, he noticed a metal object in the dirt. It was an 1880-90’s Army Enlisted uniform button. Indian war era uniform buttons are not valuable. In fact, you can find them with little difficulty on the web for about $5.00, but what is significant about Mike’s button is that it is an artifact directly attributed to a time and a place. The button is a reminder that Nebraska and its people have changed since the time that button was worn on a uniform.

There is no doubt Mike held that button in his hand and thought about the soldier who wore it. Did this soldier have to skirmish with the Sioux that strayed off the reservation to harm settlers and steal horses and cattle? Did this soldier struggle to stay warm within the adobe walls of the fort during the deadly winters?

A discarded uniform button opened Mike’s mind to history and collecting. Many of Mike’s friendships and his livelihood as a militaria dealer are the result of him finding this now priceless button on the ground.

Chris Hughes is a WorthPoint Worthologist specializing in 20th century militaria and the owner of Rally Point Militaria and Vietnam Uniform – Military Collectibles sites.

The famous Venini glassworks was established in 1921 by Paolo Venini on the island of Murano near Venice. A large glass industry already had existed there for centuries, transforming quartz silica and other common materials into three-dimensional art as well as everyday items. But Murano glass had become predictable and commercial.

Venini wasn’t a craftsman; he didn’t blow glass, but he revolutized the way glass was created, marketed and sold.

Venini extended Modernist trends beyond architecture and painting into glass art with dazzling designs that have been the subject of several museum exhibitions and Venini glass still seems fresh today.

His studio’s designs from the 1930s-1950s are especially collectible. While you can find bowls and other simple pieces for $2,000, a tall 1950s-era vase will be valued as high as $17,500. Rare vintage pieces attributed to specific Venini designers now approach $100,000.

Venini visited Venice as a soldier during World War I and the city made a deep impression on the young man drawing him back after the war. His forbearers had been glass-makers, but Paolo Venini was trained as an attorney. He invested in an existing glassworks with antique glass dealer Giacomo Cappellin, but by 1925 the partnership had dissolved and Venini was pursuing a strikingly independent course.

He adopted the French fashion industry’s approach of using designers to create individual styles and lines of glass. Most had never worked in glass, but were painters, architects and other artists who brought fresh ideas to the island. He liberally encouraged them to experiment with new design concepts and new glassmaking techniques. At the same time, Venini insisted that his designers collaborate closely with Murano’s expert glassblowers and other artisans.

He also reached out to a wider audience and new markets and he regularly entered his glassware in major exhibitions throughout Europe.

Distinctive Venini lines are associated with particular designers and art directors including Napoleone Martinuzzi, Carlo Scarpa and Fulvio Bianconi and serious collectors pursue their work.

Napoleone Martinuzzi

Originally a sculptor, he was the art director from 1925 to 1931. Martinuzzi’s designs are notable for their intense colors and originality – glassworks like Vetro pulegoso (bubble glass rendered opaque by millions of bubbles), Pasta vitrea (glass paste), and Incamiciato (double layered colored glass).

Carlo Scarpa

His daring designs became a Venini trademark. He left the glassworks shortly after World War II and became one of the 20th century’s notable architects. He developed glass manufacturing techniques such as “a murrine” that employed small glass patches and designs with ribboned, corroded and milky surfaces. His son developed one of Venini’s signature geometic lines, “Occhi” (eyes), which feature blobby circles within rectangles.

Fulvio Bianconi

Bianconni was an illustrator who renewed the company’s postwar fortunes. His most creative period was in the 1950s when he produced some flamboyant designs, such as the famous “Pezzato” (patches) and “Fazzoletto” (handkerchief) vases.

All true Venini pieces are etched with identifying stamps. These have changed from decade to decade, but they are widely cataloged and make the works easily identifiable. They include the Venini name, the designer’s name, ID numbers and other marks.

Venini managed the enterprise with great verve until his death in 1959. In the 1980s the Venini family sold the glassworks and now it is owned by Royal Scandinavia. Many original designs have been reissued, but if you can afford it, go for the vintage pieces.

Their limited availability only increases their value. And, the older ones were made in charcoal furnaces. Many collectors believe they have a special beauty that pieces fired in modern gas kilns cannot match.

To begin collecting, educate yourself on all aspects of Venini glass.

The Internet is a good place to start. Visit the Venini site for a list of museums with Venini glass.

Click here for the Venini site.

Look for the glass displays at major museums including the Corning Museum of Glass, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Follow the glass sales at major auction houses.

Read books by glass experts; such as “Italian Glass: Murano-Milan, 1930-1970″ by the Kunstmuseum director Helmut Ricke and the glass scholar Eva Schmitt.

Always buy from a reputable dealer or gallery and be sure that you have a certificate of authenticity with the production date for your purchase.

Chris Lucero has been a collector for most of his life. Now he’s faced with some tough decisions. He has a house full of antiques and collectibles, but now he has congestive heart failure. He can’t take his collection with him, and he doesn’t want his valuables sold for ten cents on the dollar at a yard sale. So Chris has opened his own store, Antique Fishing, on South Broadway in Denver.
It’s filled with antique fishing gear, guns, vintage lunch boxes, Elvis memorbilia and other items Chris has collected over the years.

See Reporter Joe Verrengia’s article about Chris, “You Can’t Take It with You.”

When Pattie decided that his future wasn’t atop a pole, he went to work for an uncle who had an auction business. “I started by driving a truck and moving furniture,” Pattie said. But over time, he became increasingly interested and versed in a range of antiques and collectibles and the art of the auction.

Growing up on a farm near Manassas, Va., Pattie first attended auctions as a boy. “When a farmer was going out of business, there’d be an auction to sell off farm equipment, cattle, household items, the hay in the barn—everything,” he said. Now, while it might not seem that a heifer and a Victorian antique chifforobe have much in common, when it comes to an auction, Pattie said, some of the same principles apply.

* The key thing is to do your homework. First, know the price range an item of interest has been selling for in the market. “You want to set that price in your mind—if it is $200 or $300 because the auctioneers’ job is to get as much money as they can,” Pattie said. “They are going to try to get $410. It is a head game.”

* Always attend the preview or exhibition before the auction. “This is the time to turn the chair upside down and check the vase for cracks,” Pattie said. It is also useful to bring a few tools—a small flashlight, a magnifying glass and a black light. For more on this, see Tom’s blog, Tools of the Trade .

* At the auction, don’t be afraid to ask questions of the auction staff and even the auctioneer. “They are there to make a sale, so they want to help,” Pattie said.

* Listen carefully to get the auctioneer’s chant so you understand the dollar amounts. “The auctioneer’s chant has filler words between the dollar amounts, and you may think he is asking for two hundred dollars, and he is saying two thousand dollars,” Pattie said.

* Know how you are going to bid, and don’t get rattled. The auctioneer will start at a higher price and then steadily drop it until the bidding starts. Some people will start off with a higher bid to scare off the competition. Others will see how low the price drops, hoping to get a bargain. Some wait until the last minute to jump into the bidding. “You are in a poker game,” Pattie said.

After a period in the 1970s when, Pattie said, “everyone was getting into the antique business,” there has been a shakeout in the auction business. As the competition has gotten keener, the number of auctions has fallen, but the quality of items offered has increased.

The foundation for all collecting, Pattie said, be it at auctions, antiques shops or online, remains the same: knowledge.

“Furniture was my first love,” Pattie said, “but then I started to learn about American pottery, then art. It was a thirst.” That holds true for all of WorthPoint’s experts, Pattie said. “As a generalist, I may not know everything, but I know where to look and what to look for, while our specialists have devoted time to gather the knowledge of American lamps or antique dolls so that they can tell if a thread has been replaced.”

National Auction List offers a roster of antiques auctions around the country.

AuctionZip is another site for tracking down antiques and collectibles auctions.

When Pattie decided that his future wasn’t atop a pole he went to work for an uncle who had an auction business. “I started by driving a truck and moving furniture,” Pattie said. But over time he became increasingly interested and versed in a range of antique markets, collectible fields – and the art of the auction.

Growing up on a farm near Manassas, Virginia, Pattie first attended auctions as a boy. “When a farmer was going out of business, there’d be an auction to sell of farm equipment, cattle, household items, the hay in the barn – everything,” he said. Now, while it might now seem that a heifer cow and a Victorian antique chifforobe have much in common; when it comes to an auction, Pattie says, some of the same principles apply.

• The key thing is to do your homework. First, know the price range an item of interest has been selling for in the market. “You want to set that price in your mind – if it is $200 or $300 because the auctioneers’ job to get as money as they can,” Pattie said. “They are going to try to get $410. It is a head game.”

• Always attend the preview or exhibition before the auction. “This is the time to turn the chair upside down and check the vase for cracks,” Pattie said. It is also useful to a few tools – a small flashlight, a magnifying glass and a black light.

Thom devoted a blog to this subject called “Tools of the Trade.”

• At the auction don’t be afraid to ask questions of the auction staff and even the auctioneer. “They are there to make a sale, so they want to help,” Pattie said.

• Listen carefully to get the auctioneer’s chant so you understand the dollar amounts. “The auctioneer’s chant has filler words between the dollar amounts and you may think he is asking for two hundred dollars and he is saying two thousand dollars,” Pattie said.

* Know how you are going to bid and don’t get rattled. The auctioneer will start at a higher price and then steadily drop it until the bidding starts. Some will start off with a higher bid to scare off the competition. Other will see how low the price drops, hoping to get a bargain. Some people wait until the last minute to jump into the bidding. “You are in a poker game,” Pattie said.

After a period in the 1970s where, Pattie said, “everyone was getting into the antique business” there has been a shakeout in the action business. As the competition has gotten keener, the number of auctions has fallen, but the quality of items offered has increased.

The foundation for all collecting, Pattie says, be it at auctions, antique shops or online – remains the same: knowledge.

“Furniture was my first love,” Pattie said, “but then I started to learn about American pottery, then art. It was a thirst.” That holds true for all of Worthpoint’s experts, Pattie said. “As a generalist I may not know everything, but I know where to look and what to look for,” he said, “while our specialists have devoted time to gather the knowledge of American lamps or antique dolls so that they can tell if a thread has been replaced.”

Wikipedia’s history of auctions

National auction List offer a roster of auctions around the country.

Auction Zip ia another site for tracking down auctions..

Earlier last week it was reported that comics legend Gene Colan’s liver was failing him. His wife, Adrienne sent a an email to Ohdannyboy.com, a comic blog on blogspot.com, detailing her husband’s failing health.
“My darling, sweet, handsome and brilliantly gifted husband’s liver is failing. The complications are very nasty. This week it’s fluid retention and encephalitis. He’s on powerful meds now to diminish the symptoms. He sleeps a lot and has very little energy”

As of yet there have been no further reports on Mr Colan’s condition but his wife has asked that his fans take the time to write him a short message of encouragement and appreciation for his incredible body of work. All messages can be sent to:

Gene Colan
2 Sea Cliff Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY 11579
USA

After serving two years in the Philippines with the Army Air Corps during WWII Gene Colan returned to his home city of New York where he began his comics carrier in 1944 drawing “Wings Comics” (1945, Fiction House, $340 in Near Mint). After a long stint working on War comics for both Timely (who would become Marvel Comics) and National (who would become DC) Colan’s first superhero work would be for Marvel Comics under the pseudonym Adam Austin in “Tales to Astonish” #70 (1965, $200 in Near Mint condition) where he penciled the Submariner back up story. While Colan’s bibliography of work is far to long to list here he is perhaps best remembered for his work on Marvel Comics “Daredevil”, “Tomb of Dracula” and my favorite cover of all time, “Iron man” #1.

Colan began his run on Daredevil with issue #20 (1966, $115 in Near Mint condition) and would stay on the book until issue #100 (1973, $40 in Near mint) penciling all but three issues in that time. Colan’s art on Daredevil changed the tone of the book adding a gritty crime-noir element that would define the character of Matt Murdock as we know him today.

It was Colan’s use of shading in layers of blacks and grays that gave each of his books a distinctive feel. While interviewing Colan for “Alter Ego” Magazine Inker Roy Thomas recalls having to wash his hands several times due to the sheer amount of graphite left on the page. Colan was also one of the first Silver-Age pencilers to defy the strict paneling of classic comics and allow his fight scenes to spill over the pages free of borders which further accentuated his kinetic art-style.

Colan’s Silver-Age comic art showed a depth and realism unparalleled by his peers and nothing better illustrated his raw penciling talents than his work on Marvel’s “Tomb of Dracula”. Years after being turned down by EC editor-in-chief Harvey Kurtzman who published comics like “Tales from the Crypt” and “Vault of Horror”, Colan illustrated 70 issues of TOD that would later be considered one of the most influential horror comic runs in comic book history. Tomb of Dracula #1 (1972) was the first appearance of Dracula in Marvel Comics and currently guides for $200 in Near Mint condition. Colan, along with writer Marv Wolfman also created Blade the Vampire Slayer and introduced the character in “Tomb of Dracula” #10 (1973, $325 in Near Mint condition). To truly appreciate Colan’s work on T.O.D. I would recommend picking up the “Essential Tomb of Dracula”, a black and white reprint series that highlights his amazing black work and use of shading.

I’m ashamed to admit that the only Colan work I own is a few issues of his “Daredevil” and even fewer of his “Tomb of Dracula” in recent years fans of Marvel Silver-Age books have been hording Colan’s work on both these titles making next to impossible to complete a run without spending considerable amounts of money. And not without good reason. Gene Colan is a giant of the comics industry who’s name will become legendary along side greats like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko as more and more and more fans learn who inspired their current favorite artists. Here’s to your health and an amazing body of work Mr. Colan. No matter what happens next your legendary art will live on in the collections of your fans.

You can visit Gene Colan’s Website “here” to read more about one of comics most beloved creators.

From the very beginning, however, they were looking for pieces that fit with their 1928 Craftsman style bungalow and over the last 35 years that led Worthologist Taylor to become an expert in a broad range of American antique and collectible furniture styles — from the Late Classicism of the early 19th Century to 1930s Art Deco.

In those early years it was just as much about restoring pieces as finding them. “It was a learning process,” Taylor said. “We’d go to shops and ask how do you do this or that.” The furniture shops always had the same answer: it was a trade secret and they weren’t going to tell.

Still, by degrees Taylor amassed knowledge and technique, learning, as he calls them, “the shortcuts and the long cuts.” The vendors of finishing supplies were a particularly valuable source, Taylor said.

All this, however, remained a sideline until the day in 1981 Taylor walked into the conference room at the corporate law firm where he was an administrator and found a couple of workers repairing the boardroom table. After a brief chat, Taylor offered to buy their business and so he purchased a fledgling furniture repair business working out of “a little house in a ratty neighborhood” in Tampa.

“The question was how many suits can you own and how many Mercedes can you drive?” Taylor said. “You’ve got to do something you want to do.”

Taylor doesn’t mince his words. He says what he means and does what he says he will do. He’s a man who is more inclined to live his passion than to talk about it, but it is clear he’s found what he wants to do in life. He’s well respected in the industry, and he was one of the first experts to join WorthPoint as a Worthologist..

Over the years, the Taylors have built a reputation and loyal customer base and remembering those rebuffs from furniture shops that guarded their information, Taylor has made an effort to share his knowledge and expertise. He is the author of the book “How to be a Furniture Detective,” a DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture” and a column “Common Sense Antiques.”

And if anyone asks Taylor a question, he’ll give an answer – though it may not be what the questioner wants to hear. “The most asked question is about the early 1900s bedroom set they have from a grandfather,” Taylor said. “Well, in most cases the entire bedroom set isn’t worth $300.”

The keys to analyzing the value of furniture, according to Taylor, are construction technique, construction material and construction style and it is only the “exotic stuff” that fetches the astronomical prices.

The 19th Century New York cabinetmaker R. J. Horner, for example, is known for his winged griffins. While a drop-front desk of oak from the period might fetch $400, a Horner will cost $50,000. “If you have an R.J. Horner desk in your office you are making a statement,” Taylor said.

The Internet – as it has for many collectible and antique markets – has had an impact on the furniture trade, Taylor said, “accelerating” some prices. The upper end of the market, however, where authenticity and condition is key, has not been affected.

While some collectibles – such as baseball cards and comics have become national or international, there is a still a distinctly regional flavor to the furniture market, Taylor said.

In the South, mid-19th Century pieces from the region’s glory years are in demand, while in the North there is a bigger market in New England colonial furniture of the mid-18th Century. Out West, an electric variety of more modern styles, such as Mission and Art Deco, are in vogue.

And unlike other collectibles, which may end up in a box or a display case – furniture is part of the home as a piece of “functional art,” Taylor says. “Unlike most art forms it has to meet its function,” he explains. “Before it is a ‘Horner table’ is has to be a ‘table.’”

More information about Worthologist Fred Taylor.

To do it, she set out to read every book, go to a Barbie convention, network with collectors and study up on the doll, its history, and its market. If there was a Barbie collectible or a potential collectible, Musselman had to know about it.

“It became a passion,” Musselman said, “I wanted to learn everything.”

The idea for the larger exhibit fell by wayside. But Musselman continued her research. Then she started collecting herself. Today, she has close to 600 dolls and other Barbie items and she closely follows the Barbie market as a Worthologist.

It keeps her busy. That’s because after 49 years on toy store shelves, the Barbie doll commands a unique place in American society and the world of collectibles. In 2006, a 1965 Barbie dressed in a red cape with a faux fur collar sold at a London auction for nearly $17,000. There’s even a software program to help collectors organize and analyze their dolls and accessories in a database.

It all began in 1959 when Ruth Handler, one of the founders of the toymaker Mattel Inc. created a fashion doll aimed at the imaginations of older girls. It was inspired by a voluptuous German gag-gift doll sold in cigar stories. Handler named the doll after her daughter Barbara

“Barbie was about being popular, about being glamorous,” Musselman said. “Girls pretended to be that doll with all the fun clothes, the cars, friends, boyfriend and roles to play.”

Barbie’s extraordinary success – along with her astonishing wardrobe and impossible figure – made her a target of cultural critics.

In “Barbie Culture,” sociologist Mary Rogers described the doll as “fantastic femininity,” while Kristen Noelle Weissman called the doll a “symbol of the feminine ideal, which has caused women to perceive and recognize this figure in a personal light.”

Musselman dismisses such remarks and concerns about Barbie’s negative effects on children. “Did little boys become riffle-shooting maniacs just because they played with GI Joe? “ she asks. “So why should some mother worry that her daughters are going to grow up with an eating disorder because of the doll?”

What attracts grown-ups to the doll as a collectible? Musselman thinks it’s a way to relive childhood memories. But that doesn’t mean collecting Barbies is child’s play.

Part of the challenge is that Mattel still is churning out Barbie dolls, so the market is ever-growing. There has been Grease Barbie, Harley-Davidson Barbie and Indian DiWali Barbie. Mattel now is promoting a new line depicting Cher through the decades.

There are some market constants, according to Musselman:

• The original vintage dolls manufactured in Japan will command top dollar when in good condition.
• The #1 Barbie Doll in a mint box is valued at $6,500 for a blonde and $7,000 for a brunette. (Fewer brunettes were made.)
• Accessories fetch good prices. That’s because the first things kids lose are the tiny pieces. A mint, circa-1959 “Roman Holiday” outfit echoing Audrey Hepburn is valued at $4,500.
• Online listings like eBay make collecting easier, but can flood the market and depress prices.
• The vintage, designer, silkstone and special edition dolls are likely to hold value. The dolls made for children are mass-produced and probably won’t hold value.

He wasn’t particularly well known, but he liked it that way. Yet, Viktor Schreckengost was considered an American Da Vinci because, as an industrial designer over 70 years, he is personally responsible for many of our collectibles today.

Do you collect early bicycles, like the 1939 Murray Mercury or the Murray Torpedo pedal car? You might have sat in his 1950s style lawn chair or cooled yourself on his electric fan? These were all from the talents of Viktor Schreckengost. He lived to be 101.

His works include: Desk designs, machinery, automobiles, the lawn chair, sculptures, paintings, pottery, glass, dinnerware, ceramics, military hardware, art, children’s toys, the electric fan, pedal cars, wagons, commercial trucks, theater design. Oh, man, I’m tired just from listing them all!

At first, Viktor intended to work as a cartoonist and registered at the Cleveland Institute of Art (the CIA) in the early 1920s. He graduated at age 25, instead, as a master at ceramics. He stayed and continued to teach at the CIA until he was named Professor Emeritus in 1972, all the while exhibiting at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and others.

The Jazz Bowl was an early triumph. It is the ultimate design that conjured up the Age of Jazz like nothing else. Commissioned by the White House by Eleanor Roosevelt, one large bowl was auctioned off in 2004 for $254,000. Only about 52 or so were ever made. A poor man’s version of the electric blue bowl sold for $60,000 (the design was painted rather than etched like the larger bowl).

By the mid 1930s, he began his career in industrial design. At Limoges he created the Americana pattern. At the White Motor Company, he co-designed the cab of a truck to sit over the engine instead of behind it. It was revolutionary for the time, since it allowed for more cargo and drivers were paid by the cargo.

For Murray-Ohio, a bicycle manufacturer, he unveiled a new bicycle, along with a sculpture The Four Elements, at the 1939 World’s Fair. Pedal cars for kids came next. It is said that Murray sold over 100 million of Viktor’s bicycles and pedal car designs.

His talents even helped create more accurate radar systems for the U.S. Navy during World War II.

The artwork, the dinnerware — all of his design work was recognized by President George W. Bush and Viktor was awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 2006.

Visit the Viktor Schreckengost Foundation site at:

http://www.viktorschreckengost.org/

You’ll be amazed at the breadth of talent that one man could have. His contributions will be with us for as long as children play, beauty lives, and collectors collect.

Did you know the country’s most prestigious art museum, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, doesn’t charge an entrance fee? The fee is listed as twenty dollars but it’s actually a suggested donation, meaning you can pay one penny and walk in – no questions asked. It probably helps that many of its visitors are unaware of this policy; they read the listed ticket price and purchase theirs. But it’s nice to know someone who can’t afford the fee can still enjoy the art. The Met has yielded the highest profits of any museum in the nation and it is “intelligent design,” such as its entrance policy, that has kept it popular.

Phillipe de Montebello, the man responsible for smart programming and excellent management is retiring after thirty successful years at the helm. This past month, his news made all the art headlines. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times gave a retrospective of Mr. de Montebello’s contributions to the city and to the international art world, citing a combination of innovation and tradition in exhibitions that kept the public coming back for more. Mostly, an understanding and respect for the individual art enthusiast enabled Mr. Montebello to make choices that would prove popular with the visitor. He was able to uphold tradition and show a classic piece of art in a thoughtful and interesting context. His style can be an inspiration for any collector displaying their possessions.

Eric Gibson of the Wall Street Journal writes:
“In his three decades as director, Mr. de Montebello has transformed the Met into the pre-eminent art museum in the nation, if not the world. He has done this through stimulating and enlightening temporary exhibitions, important acquisitions…whole collections…and judicious collections management….But Mr. de Montebello’s impact has been as much broadly cultural as aesthetic, something that can be said of no other departing museum director….the Met has drawn in its public the old-fashioned way — routinely offering it intellectually substantial fare.”

Phillipe de Montebello understood the essence of the art experience – the one-on-one connection between person and object. He honored that experience through his presentation of collections; something we collectors seek to achieve with our own, personal objects at home. We hope this distinguished tradition continues to be upheld – both in the art world and within our own WorthPoint community.