May 2005 Hotlines

Fenton Art Glass Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1905 in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and is now located in Williamstown, West Virginia. Centennial events are listed at fentonartglass.com.

High prices from recent auctions: A Virginia mahogany sideboard with a marble top, 1760-1775, sold for $124,750 at a Neal Auction in New Orleans. At the same auction, an 1875 Egyptian Revival pedestal made in New York sold for $58,750. Skinner’s in Boston sold an appliquéd quilt made in 1864 for $82,250. Each square of the quilt pictured a building.

If you sell on an Internet auction, be sure to check the laws in your state. Illinois law says an online auction must follow the same laws as a live auction, so an auctioneer’s license is required. Ohio law says the same thing, but lawmakers are now working on a bill to change the rules for Internet auctions. An auctioneer’s license usually requires a course at auctioneers school, a test, and the payment of a license fee. It also requires the auctioneer to follow a set of rules about handling money.

We don’t know where the proof is, but a marketing research firm claims there are more than 42 million collector households in the United States.