Antiques, Art, Vintage and Collectibles Blog and Research Information Forum
Martin interviews Peter Loughrey, Founder & Director of Los Angeles Modern Auctions. Listen in as they talk about the spectacular Max Palevsky Interior to be offered in March with several custom pieces by Ettore Sottsass. They also talk about several facets of the collecting hobby of Mid-century Modern, and Contemporary Design.
Click here for LA Modern Auctions. Click here for our podcast with Mid-Century Modern dealer Dave Shaw.
Martin interviews the leading authority on Abraham Lincoln, historian Harold Holzer. Listen in as they talk about Lincoln’s life and struggles through the Civil War.
Click here for Martin’s blog on Abraham Lincoln’s writings.
by Martin Willis
This week’s podcast is an interview with Harold Holzer, one of the leading scholars on Abraham Lincoln. I am very thrilled to write this article about Abraham Lincoln’s writings and some of my thoughts on the great leader.
Abraham Lincoln is one of my favorite people in history and has been since I learned about him at an early age. It helped that a friend of mine in grade school was a direct descendent as well. Besides our founding fathers, there is no other example of any president who gave of himself so completely to shape our nation. He had extremely difficult decisions to make, in some he stood alone, yet almost all of them were the best judgment that one could have made. We look at history as a backward glance. We see the events and the outcomes of decisions as the solid past. He was living in such turbulent moments and trying to change a way of wrongful thinking. Our country was founded and continued with slavery as a way of life. Through all of Lincoln’s actions, he was walking with unsure footing on thin ice. 
As the losses mounted during the Civil War, the burden of it all aged him greatly, yet he plodded on. He lived just long enough to see that his dream and efforts were coming to fruition. It was a sad day in 1865 when John Wilkes Booth stepped forward with common feelings of many other Confederate sympathizers and detractors to take the life of the great man. One can only speculate the additional achievements Lincoln would have made with the nearly four years remaining of his presidency.
This is not a specific history lesson, as it would take me too long to write about the amazing life of Lincoln starting from his humble beginnings through his presidency. What I will discuss is Abraham Lincoln’s documents, letters and signatures. I have handled dozens of these in my career and had the honor of handling the second to last writing that the great man penned just before he left for Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865. Even though it was only one sentence, it was amazing to hold in my hands the second to last thing he put down on paper. See article here.
As in Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln wrote many thousands of letters and had an amazing artistic talent for the craft of writing. The Gettysburg Address had only 272 words, yet so much was said in that brief speech that it lives on as one of the greatest in American history. Here is a wonderful example of Lincoln’s talent in a letter he wrote to his son’s teacher. Click here to read.
His law career spanned for over 25 years and his signature was on thousands of documents during that time. Signatures of all presidents are more valuable during the time that they are in office. Lincoln’s writings during the time he was a lawyer and before is not as valuable unless substantial for a particular reason. A large number of deeds, wills and similar documents were clipped for his signature over the years. 
You will often find clipped signatures mounted and framed under an image of Lincoln. These “clipped signatures” are the least valuable of his writings. Depending on the vibrancy of the ink color they usually sell at auction for around $2-3,000. With all the legal documents he produced, you can just imagine how many are undiscovered and sitting in attics or storage. Some will continue to remain that way until they are disposed of or disintegrate by being uncared for. If your family had any connection with Lincoln in anyway, make sure to explore all known remaining documents.
The descendents of Hugh McCulloch, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury lived in the family home in Kennebunkport, Maine. They called me with some items for sale and I was able to visit their beautiful Colonial home in what used to be the center of town. This home was built for the family in the 1700s and still had a number of original period furnishings. The walls on the second floor bedrooms were hinged and would latch to the ceiling to create a ballroom for the entire second floor. It was a fantastic early home. They had a number of McCulloch’s affects including his desk from the Capitol that was curved in design and would connect to other desks to form a semicircle. While I was writing up the consignment contract for the desk and other period furniture, I looked over at the wall and saw a one-page letter with the distinct writing and signature of Lincoln. I asked if I could take a minute and read it. I do not remember the content of the letter as I almost fell over when I read the date. I asked them if they realized that it was Lincoln’s last day when he wrote it. They told me they had dozens of Lincoln’s letters in a safe and enjoyed hanging that one on the wall. Needless to say, I could not talk them into consigning it.
As an appraiser I have been asked dozens of times over the years if newspapers have value. I always say there are only a few that have any value, such as Lincoln’s Assassination. A reward broadside (poster) can sell for as high as $80,000. This is an example of how much Lincoln remains venerated by collectors of Lincoln memorabilia.
Most of Lincoln’s signatures such as discharges and commissions are signed: “A. Lincoln”, but he did sign a full signature occasionally. As all things of value there are fakes and some people are pretty good at it. The forgers look for blank period paper that can be found at auctions and other venues. If you are looking to buy a letter or signature, make sure your source is solid and remember if it is too good to be true then it is just that. There are lithographs of Lincoln’s portrait with his signature below. A number of people have shown these to me thinking they have an original signature.
As far as record prices of Lincoln’s work, a copy of copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln and previously purchased by Robert F. Kennedy has sold for more than $3.7 million in New York City last December 10th. Secondly, his election victory speech, hand written and delivered by him from the White House window on the evening of November 10th, 1864 sold at auction for $3, 442,500.
To give a few examples of other average prices, Civil War commissions, depending on who they are for and the condition can sell for as little as $2,500 to around $7,500 up. Lincoln letters generally sell from $5,000 up. Content and condition is everything.
A few other examples of other Lincoln articles that sold at auction are: his spectacles for $150,000, a wooden inkstand, $67,500 and a pair of brass dividers used by him sold for $70,000. Keep in mind that there are probably hundreds of 
thousands of items that people claim belonged to Lincoln. This is called “family hearsay” in the antique and auction business and very difficult to prove. The pieces I mention above had solid provenance leading back to the 16th president.
Collectors aggressively seek rare images of Lincoln as well.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
acquired the renowned Taper Collection in 2007, partly though the generosity of the Taper family. It is an unparalleled collection of more than 1,500 artifacts, manuscripts and artworks that span Lincoln’s entire life including his famous stovepipe hat. From what I understand it is an in depth collection well worth the viewing.
The Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton was one of the people who remained at Lincoln’s side during his final hours. At the end he was quoted as saying “Now he belongs to the ages” and he does. He remains for evermore in our hearts and our nation’s history.
Click here to listen to the podcast with Harold Holzer.
by Martin Willis
All of us in the business like to hear about best finds that someone scoops at an estate sale, flea market, auction or by other means.
I decided not to go into my own personal best finds in this article, but will go into finds that I have heard from first hand accounts. Either I know the person, or know someone directly involved. I have many stories and can only share a few, as it would take too much writing for a single blog.
The one thing I want people to understand that have not been at this awhile is, finds are few and far in between. You may go your whole life as a dealer with a good eye and know what you are doing, and never run across a substantial one. It is like winning the lottery.
I have seen people that do not have a clue what they are doing, stop at a yard sale or two and find a major treasure. There are a few examples below and it is often just dumb luck.
I will start out with a bang, the highest one I know of in the last few years.
Only a few miles away from where I am sitting right now in Marin County, California there was an instance like I mentioned above. A gentleman that infrequently stops at estate sales decided to stop at one just outside of his neighborhood. He said there were some interesting things being offered from this particular woman’s estate. Her relatives were in town settling things, putting the real estate up for sale and selling her personal belongings. He saw what he thought was a small copy of a Picasso painting for $65 and decided to buy it. When he brought it home, he kept looking at it and thought that the work was incredible for a copy. He sent an image to a major New York auction house and the head of the painting department called him right away. The following day two people showed up at his door from that auction house and after close examination they were certain that the painting was an original piece by the artist. The ecstatic gentleman was concerned that if the painting sold at auction, the relatives of the woman’s estate may find out, so he requested a private treaty sale. After the official authentication, the auction house brokered the Picasso painting to a private buyer for an undisclosed seven figure amount.
Ever since A & E’s “Storage Wars”aired, you hear all this hoopla about storage auctions. Since that time attendance at these auctions have increased by a major amount. Before you go and spend your hard earned cash at one, keep in mind it is a big gamble. About 25 years ago, my father and his good friend, fellow auctioneer Merle Straw went to such an auction and when they lifted the door to a unit, all they saw were boxes stacked high. They paid $400 for the unit and discovered it was all outdated computer paper. It cost them good money to dispose of it. The lesson I am trying to get across to you is, you will only see or hear about the great finds, but not too much about the more common duds. Keep that in mind when I tell you these two stories. At an appraisal clinic I worked at a guy came in with a big smile on his face and opened a folded sheet that contained a book. He said he bought it at a storage auction and knew it was in Spanish, but did not know what it was. I was quite excited as I was looking at an inscription that read “Santa Gertrudis” and noticed it was written in Latin as well as Spanish. After researching, I figured out it was a 1755-1768 Mission Christian Confirmation register. How it ended up in a storage locker I don’t know. It was sold for $15,000 at auction. That is not bad for the few hundred he spent. About ten years ago an active buyer of antique furniture at my auctions went through a difficult financial time and had to close down his shop and warehouse. A few years ago he was at a storage auction and when the door opened, all anyone could see was wooden crates. He did not pay too much for the unit and to his surprise it was all crated American & European high end paintings. He ended up auctioning them off for just over $900,000!
Several years ago I got a phone call from a fellow who claimed he had an old vase he just got at a yard sale and wanted to show it to me. I was going to be setting up for an auction at a busy function hall on a Thursday and I told him to meet me there. At that time there was another auction going on that Wednesday and he showed up then by accident and asked for me. The auctioneer talked him into putting the vase in their auction unadvertised and to everyone’s surprise (including me) the vase sold for an amazing $17,000. The guy actually called me to brag about what it sold for and said the rumor was it was a rare Korean vase. He also told me it was the first thing he ever bought at a yard sale and paid a whopping $15 for it. Who knows what it would have brought if properly advertised.
I will end on this one that I mentioned it in podcast 35. Americana Exchange last year. A faithful auction attendee of mine was at a local antique shop and saw boxes of books on the floor containing a few books each for $15 a lot. After looking through them, he found the biggest find I had heard about at the time. He told me his hands were shaking when he paid for the box that contained a special book. He knew it was good, but not at the magnitude it was. The book ended up selling in New York for over a million dollars! To back up a little, the shop owner had bought an entire library of books at a public auction for a few hundred dollars the night before. When I asked him how he felt about letting the book slip through, he laughed and said, “knowledge is power”.
So I will end here for now and perhaps in a few months, I will tell some more best find stories. You are welcome to submit stories below if you wish.
Martin & Reyne talk to Mark Moran, antique appraiser, author of over 25 books on antiques & collectibles and editor of FW Publications. Mark is an interesting guest with a love for the business and has an outstanding diversified knowledge of antiques & art.
Martin & Reyne interview Will Seippel, the CEO of Worthpoint, the most active antique website in the world with 200,000 hits a day!
They talk about Worthpoint’s trilogy of websites including GoAntiques and PriceMiner. Listen in to hear the amazing future plans of Worthpoint rolling out soon.
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