#719 The Chinese Auction

I thought the Bob Guccione auction was strange. This one was as strange, in a different way.

There are usually a few hundred people at George's summer auctions. Tonight I counted 26 people on my side of the aisle, and there were no more than that on the other side. Fewer than a third of the seats were filled, when it's usually SRO. There were almost none of the usual dealers there, and I saw only one person who (whom?) I know is from NYC (and it was odd that she was there at all, because she usually comes for jewelry and silver, and there was none tonight). I gather this auction was not heavily advertised.

Apparently George had picked up one of those boxcar-sized shipping containers from Hong Kong, probably unclaimed goods, probably got it very cheaply, and probably with no clue as to what might be inside. He didn't seem as anxious to get the best bids tonight - he was very relaxed.

From all that, I figured there would be some real steals, and there were.

The small 4-door 3-drawer cabinets, that will retail for $300-$500, were going for right around $100, and the tall chests and wardrobes, retail $500-$800, for about $200. They were ALL antique, but the more dirty and beat-up they looked, the more they fetched.

There were some very beautiful heavy but graceful carved chairs that would likely retail for near $1000 each, and which sold for about $250 a pair.

I wanted one or two of the small painted chests (there were about 8 or 9 of them), exactly the right size for a side table, and that's where it got really weird. The larger rectangular storage chests, lacquered, carved, and gold-leafed, were going for around $100 (a few got as far as $275). The small simply painted cube chests, nothing special, were ALSO going for $100-$150. The only thing I can figure is that most of the people there were, like me, buying for home, not for resale, and so they wanted the smaller chests because they're more versatile. I wasn't going to pay more than $60 for one of them, so I didn't get one.

On several occasions, George would bring out, say, a silvery metal table lamp with a glass shade, and auction it off (most of the lamps went for $20 to $30), and then after someone won it, he'd say "We have 19 more of these lamps ..." and he'd take the numbers of everyone who wanted another one at that high bid. THEN, when there were still 9 lamps left, he'd auction them off AGAIN! Naturally, the winning bid was lower this time, and more people bought lamps at the lower price --- and if there were some left, he did it again! Those first buyers should feel chagrined, but --- he did that several times with large lots of several items, and every time, people jumped in and bought some at the highest winning bid. Um, didn't they learn something the first time? He sold a pair of low stools at a high bid, and then revealed that he had lots more. I waited until the third pass, and bought two of them for less than half of the first winning bid.

I confess I did end up buying stuff I hadn't meant to. The stools (red and black lacquer) were too beautiful, sturdy, and cheap to pass up. I also bought five silk Chinese dresses for $5 total (they'll go into the crazy quilt stash, or maybe on eBay), a phoenix carved out of clear perfect quartz for something like $30 (a deal - take my word for it! I could sell it on eBay for three times the price), and a pair of 3'x7' red lacquered bookcases with rails around the shelves and drawers in the middle for $80. They'll replace those ugly metal utility shelves in the den, and the metal shelves will move to the basement, where they'll be appreciated.

There are some tables and chairs in a Chinese restaurant that Roman and I have frequented, made of the polished roots of a tree. Very beautiful, and we had wondered what they'd cost. There were two tables and some stools tonight similar to them, not as nice, but I don't think I could draw any conclusions from what they went for. It was almost shameful.

These auctions usually go from 5:30 to a little after 11 pm. Tonight it was finished at 9. George wasn't pulling the bids. Many items didn't sell at all. Very different.