Auction Adventures
July 27, 2009
Expect the Unexpected…..
I am a big fan of auctions. Country auctions. These fun-filled events normally take place either at the home of the consignor, at the local agricultural pavilion or county fairgrounds. They may be completely outside, with the “finer” items sometimes protected by a big tent or canopy. Seating is not guaranteed, so I always have a folding chair ready, although sometimes we simply walk up and down the many rows of boxes, furniture, tools and treasures, bidding to our hearts content. I always come home with something shabby, funky, and fabulous– having spent the day with loads of friendly, equally minded folk. And then there’s the pie. Country auctions almost always feature a local church or women’s group whom so conscientiously sell home-cooked goods, BBQ beef sandwiches and most importantly, homemade fruit pie by the slice.
This past week I tried something different. A very reputable auction company, complete with fancy full-color catalog, was auctioning off the estate of a Washington D.C. personage. I decided to attend purely for the people-watching value. I had perused the catalog on-line, and determined that there was nothing I desired to bid on, however there were some rather lovely oil portraits and miniature portraits, rugs and some pieces of vintage clothing that it would be education to see sell. Accompanied by my mom and step-dad, I made the trek down to the city and arrived just as the doors were opening. There was no real opportunity to examine items – they had scheduled a week long “viewing” prior to the event that I did not attend. We were able to get decent seats in the “gallery”. There was no food to be found, rather than a pot of coffee and a small plate of unimpressive cookies. Let me repeat – no food!! Would I be able to stay? I decided to give it a try.
The auction started promptly at noon, although not with the catalog items. Instead the well-groomed auctioneer (who was actually very good and rather funny throughout) began with about 100 box lots, stuff not good enough apparently to make the fancy full color auction. Each box lot was brought up to the front where it was apparently examined by one of the worker bees. Occasionally he would hold something up, but much to the dismay of the crowd, we were more often then not asked to bid on a box of items with the general description of glassware, ceramic statues, or “decorative items”. Perhaps they were expecting us to be able to ascertain what was in the box through our latent psychic box-penetrating powers? Apparently the unadvertised box-lots had also been available for viewing during their week-long preview, as there were certainly folks willing to bid on them. And then, unexpectedly, things got interesting. The 100th and final box-lot was brought to the front. It was rather large. The auctioneer announced it as some old tablecloths, and the worker-bee began pulling out some of the pieces. Much to my amazement, out came huge tape-lace tablecloths, net curtains with embroidered edges, and bed skirts dripping with lace trims. I bid. I conquered. I was the proud owner of a big box of lace-trimmed beauties that I had not examined or touched in any way. I bought by their look alone and hoped for the best.
Next came all the old books from the estate, many conveniently arranged in bundles, and then finally the catalogue auction began. Small items were presented at the front stage, accompanied by a photograph projected on a screen in front. For larger items, we just got the privilege of viewing the photograph (in defense of the auctioneer – some of the items were huge and probably weighed a ton). Folks in the “gallery” appeared to consist of Georgetown gentry, high-priced antique dealers, eccentric (and I am being kind here!) collectors, and folks like me who were just there to watch the show. There was a bank of 8 telephones being worked off to one side, and a computer set up to monitor Internet bids on the other, giving the auction an almost telethon feel at times. Money was spent. Huge amounts of money. Apparently at a certain level, the current recession is not impacting folks and I have to say it was amazing to watch individuals bidding thousands of dollars for an item without batting an eye. Portraits of the famous personage, of which there were many, did not bring in what was expected; however the dozens of portraits of her (apparently) equally-famous cat (!!) brought in considerably more. (I did mention the eccentric collectors, right?) The final item of the sale, her crystal ball (yep, I said crystal ball) complete with stand, brought a cool $10,000. Talk about ending a sale on an up-note.
Throughout the sale, the auctioneer kept things in perspective and often joked about the unusual history of the items. His funny banter moved things along, so that the day seemed to pass quicker than I would have expected. I attended this auction on a whim, for something different to do on a rather rainy Sunday afternoon. I figured I would get some good people-watching out of the deal and perhaps a bit of education about some of the finer antique-type pieces that one occasionally stumbles upon. I did not expect to come home with armloads of old lace beauties, which I will most surely be wallowing in for the weeks to come.
Who knew???
