The news somewhat recently (see my January blog, The End of an Era) was that Sotheby’s and Christie’s were going to close their Americana departments. It is unclear to me as of now if they will do so but they did hire their American antique experts as “consultants” and stated they will have auctions of American antiques next January. We will see how that turns out.
The Wall Street Journal had more than one article about the financial problems that Sotheby’s was experiencing. The financial status of Christie’s is murkier.
Someone at one of these auction houses, I believe Sotheby’s, but do not hold me to that, put our world of American antiques into stark relief. The American antique auctions in January (online, in-person, furniture, works of art, etc.) had brought in $40 million. “Pretty good,” you might say. This person’s comment was that this is the price of a single painting. We know that the large classic automobile auction houses bring in hundreds of millions of dollars a year. What jewelry garners is probably a nice kitty of money as well.
Processing all that information made me feel humble. Our world of American antiques is a small part of the collecting universe despite how much we value it. We are lucky to have the regional auction houses and dealers that we do. We should remember that from time to time.
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