October 2010<\/p>\n
Local Experts Weigh in on Preeminent Examples of Maine Antique Investments<\/p>\n
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\u201cMaine has an extremely deep and diverse material culture history. In order to avoid being limited to one object or category, I will say that my favorite antique is the next one!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy idea of a wonderful Maine antique would be a Gus Wilson elder decoy \u2013 the best!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think Maine and folk art are nearly synonymous with William Matthew Prior [from Bath] paintings heading the list. <\/span>And although quasi-antique, [ones from] Doris Stauble [now deceased, from Wicasset] <\/span>have to be appreciated for what they are \u2013 unique, very special folk art, and very collected and made in Maine.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \n \u201cI think a Maine painting by the Bangor Born artist Waldo Pierce [1884-1970] is quintessential Maine: <\/span>Double Rainbow<\/em>, 1948. Also, the wood engravings of Downeast printmaker, <\/span>Carrol Thayer Berry, 1886-1978, are so Maine, [like] <\/span>Cape Elizabeth Light \u2013 Maine Coast<\/em>, c. 1940.” \n \u201cMy opinion, which is a very humble one since I am not a powerful dealer, but I have been living in Maine for 30 years and specialized in garden furniture, [is that] there is nothing like finding a primitive hand-made [artifact] by a local person that needed a little table, a small cupboard, a whirl-a-gig or a homemade toy for [his or her] kids, living in the woods of Maine in the 1920s, 30s, or 40s. [The piece was made] and painted with what was available, and today is a treasure to find such pieces.\u201d \n \u201c<\/span><\/em>So the quintessential antique for Maine derives from the following story:<\/span> Two years ago (at an auction in Kezar Falls), my wife purchased a pile of prints for about $150.\u00a0 Included were several signed and numbered prints by Vera Andress and Prang (chromolithographs) that the Philadelphia Print Shop valued at over $1000 each.\u00a0 We were happy. Additionally, there was a 1700s engraving in the pile that we saved to frame ourselves, as we like it and it matched our collection profile (we collect a lot of prints and engravings as we just like them).<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n While she was preparing the engraving so she could reframe it, she noticed a signature on the back of the engraving backing paper.\u00a0 She asked\u00a0 me\u00a0(before throwing the backing out) if the\u00a0signature ‘H. Melville’ meant anything.\u00a0 I responded that ‘if it\u00a0were Herman\u00a0Melville (of Moby Dick<\/em> and Billy Budd<\/em> fame) possibly it could have significant value.’\u00a0 Well (you guessed it) it appears to be from Herman Melville’s collection of prints, and if so (and when finally authenticated), the value is about $100,000 as Melville autographs\/signatures have more value than say a Benjamin Franklin (there are less Melville’s).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n So, we think the best Maine\u00a0antique is one that you get as part of the Maine Antique bidding and auction process.\u00a0 Like Forrest Gump, we feel that ‘life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get!’ <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Hope you find this interesting.\u00a0 Us, we continue to go to all the local auctions we can as many of the items we purchase are absolutely fascinating as collectors items, and possible financial items of value for sale.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n PS:\u00a0\u00a0We come to Maine every summer to go to auctions, and we live in\u00a0Texas in the\u00a0winter (where we sell Maine auction items).\u00a0 If you think this is an interesting story, I\u00a0will tell you about my\u00a0Maine purchased Confederate Flag that is now back in Texas and about to be\u00a0purchased by the Birmingham, Alabama chapter of the\u00a0Daughters of the Confederacy ( it is Colonel Edmund Winchester Rucker’s battle flag captured at the battle of Nashville in 1864\u00a0by a\u00a0Maine Infantry\u00a0Regiment\u00a0– probably a more cool story than the Melville one above\u201d<\/span> \u201cWell, without a doubt, [the one collection item I consider to be the Holy Grail of Maine antiques] is a well carved Penobscot Indian Root Burl Totem Club.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>To reduce Maine Antiques to one category, let alone a quintessential object, is a great challenge. <\/span>My blood races at the sight of 17th<\/sup> and 18th<\/sup> century furniture, sailor-made artifacts, marine paintings by the great artists who painted Maine from Fitz Henry Lane to Eric Hudson, Maine vernacular painted furniture, Portland Schoolgirl needlework and decorated academy boxes, early redware by John Alt and Thomas Kendrick, the list is ever expanding…it is difficult to compare the joy of holding the wonderful sculpture of a newly discovered decoy, an Eider Drake by a Monhegan carver or Gus Wilson or an Old Squaw from Chebeague Island by Oscar Bibber, with just about anything.<\/span><\/p>\n Rufus Porter; inventor (airships, etc.), muralist, miniature artist, musician, writer, publisher (Scientific American), teacher, visionary. <\/span>Porter was a Renaissance man of his day and his creations stand the test of time, whether the object be a mural, a miniature portrait, an inclinometer, a copy of the book Curious Arts<\/em>. <\/span>I believe my personal Holy Grail exists in seeing a painted mural by Porter, or one of his contemporaries, that is wondrously new to me.\u201d <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\t\t
\n<\/span>–Chris Considine, Foreside Antiques, Falmouth<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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\n–<\/span><\/span>Maureen Jason, Maureen Jason Antiques, Wicasset<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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\n–Shirley Chambers, Stauble <\/span>& Chambers Antiques, Wicasset<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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\n–Serge L. Liros, Liros Gallery, Blue Hill<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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\n–<\/span><\/span>Joni Lima, Iron Renaissance, Damariscotta<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
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\n–<\/span><\/span>Joseph and Denise Jensen, Mainely Americana Antiques, Denmark
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\n–<\/span><\/span>David W. Brown, David W. Brown Antiques, Lewiston<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
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\n–Donald Heller, Heller Washam Antiques, Portland
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