Not Dark Yet...

Happy 69th Birthday, Mr. Bob.


Milton Glaser, 1967

I Went to an Auction and All I Bought Was...

...A cup of coffee. The auction was great, but there wasn't really anything we liked or had houseroom for. But the prices, wow! The crowd must have been generally disinterested because the prices were a third off what the auctioneer thought the piece would get. He said "Who'll give me a thousand?" cricket, cricket. "500? 300? Ok who'll give me $100 to start things off?" and the prices would start to creep back up to about $700. Here's some examples of the deals galore.

This kind of homely cabinet could hardly be given away. It went for $300.

This late 18th century buffet went for $500. Like the auctioneer liked to remind us -you can't get this at IKEA for that amount. You can hardly buy the hardware and the hinges for that that. 

This hunting cabinet came with a removable middle section replete with gargoyles. Kind of over the top - it went for $700.

 And finally, this armoire, circa 1800 went for $1000.

We got trouble, Right here in River City!

With a capital "T" that rhymes with "P" and that stands for Pool.

Well I suppose it was inevitable. His daddy won the "Pool Shark" sweatshirt twice. And his father and grandfather had their own cues. My son, now 16,  caught Pool Fever last weekend. You see it was raining after guitar lessons and we all  hid out at the Crooked Cue. After three hours of playing with his uncle and his dad, my son was hooked and we had to go back the next day. Two and a half hours felt like 20 minutes and he's been bugging us to go back all week.

So I guess that's where we'll be again today.

French Antiques Auction

About 4 times a year Canadian Antiques Road Show expert Andrew Zegers facilitates the delivery of a huge container of antiques from France.

He enlists the help of his friend, auctioneer Jon Medley and the fun begins.

Over the years we've bought our Henri II reproduction chairs at this great auction. (despite  the moniker reproduction,  that still makes them 130 years old), a rug that the cat strangely loved, candlesticks, postcards, cutlery and other weird stuff.

Sometimes the deals are fantastic - sometimes not - depends on the crowd. But we're filled with remorse when a 19th Century solid oak table comes on the auction block and it sells for $200. "But do we have anywhere to put it?" we whisper amongst ourselves.

 These candlesticks were $50 each.

We got these hand-tooled leather Henri II-style chairs for $110.00 each. And below on the left is a terracotta platter we bid $70 on.

Here's a detail.

And an exquisite wooden urn that I keep my Chinese Checker marbles in. That set us back $80.

So I'm off again on Tuesday. Auctions get my heart racing. Maybe I'll forget myself and act like Roger Thornhill from North by Northwest. "I'll give you two for it." "Two hundred, ma'am?" "No - two dollars." And the crowd will look down their noses at me.

I think the best thing I ever bought though was a strange assortment of postcards and photos of French World War I soldiers. That was the source of hours of enjoyment for me.

Here's the link for more images. http://www.frenchantiqueauction.ca/