April 2006 Hotlines

Cross-over collectibles bring high prices because so many different groups are bidding for them. A 1911 cast-iron shooting gallery target shaped like a masked clown’s head attracted collectors of clowns, folk art, figural iron, and arcade items at a Morphy auction in Denver, Pennsylvania. The 20-by-16-inch target, estimated at $300 to $500, sold for $17,920 to a folk art buyer.

Costume jewelry remains hot, with ’70s styles gaining interest. Look for Eisenberg enamels, Trifari, Panetta, Ciner, Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent pieces. (Art & Antiques, February)

Skateboards from the 1980s are already collectibles. Price depends on graphics, designer, owner and, of course, rarity and condition. Boards are hung on the wall like art. Could this be the time to start buying “vintage” snowboards that could date all the way back to the 1970s? That’s when the first competitions were held. It wasn’t until 1998 that snowboarding became an Olympic sport.

Some English collectors are trying to re-create 1950s kitchens with authentic old appliances. The old appliances, with brand names unfamiliar in the United States (English Rose, Paul, Leisure), are being restored and used in modern kitchens with vintage Formica countertops. Now British designers are creating copies of ’50s kitchens in retro colors, even pink. Here in the United States, vintage chrome-trimmed Formica dinette sets are already steady sellers. Can the vintage kitchen be far behind? (Financial Times)

The Providence (Rhode Island) Athenaeum’s unbound copy of Audubon’s The Birds of America auctioned at Christie’s New York for $5.6 million. It includes 435 original hand-colored, etched, aquatinted plates. The set was ordered with the large life-sized birds’ pictures loose so they could be displayed.

A new auction record for a photograph was set when a 1904 color photograph of a Long Island pond taken by Edward Steichen (1879-1973), sold for $2.9 million at Sotheby’s.

Chinese eBay has scrapped all sellers’ transaction fees because competitors, including Yahoo, are offering free service in China.

The president of Homer Laughlin China Company just opened a new store called “Everything Fiesta” in Flatwoods, West Virginia, 180 miles from the factory in Newell. The new store will sell first-quality Fiesta products and is not meant to compete with Homer Laughlin’s factory outlet store, which offers seconds and close-outs in addition to first-quality Fiestaware.

The stones in quality costume jewelry should be prong-set, not glued.