On the Road – Miami – Part II

Other good sellers included Gorham silver, napkin rings, Meissen figurines and sets of dishes. Most dealers we saw had great sales during set-up and the first day, but we heard the show slowed down later in the week.

Next stop was the Modernism show preview. Only 60 dealers and lots of food. Items of interest: a pair of Sascha of London silver shoes with plastic heels, $145; an Edward Winter wall plaque, 32 by 25 inches, probably a wall decoration from a restaurant, $6,000. A Clairtone record player-radio made in Canada in 1964, very modern-looking, was marked sold, but no price was showing.

We studied the Bakelite pencil sharpeners: Mickey Mouse, $150; gun, $125; plane, $125; Scottie dog, $75; Popeye, $165. The same dealer had a large selection of old chrome and Bakelite hardware, drawer handles and knobs. A Warren McArthur aluminum lounge chair with cushions was priced $5,500, and a Paul Frankl four-piece set of rattan furniture was $7,500. The Frankl set had cushions covered with period bird-of-paradise fabric. A very recent “Do Hit” chair by Droog Design of Holland that looks like crumpled cans was $8,500. An art deco fireplace with mirrors and a “burning fire” of electric logs was $2,250.

Anything sells-even a shiny metal mold for rubber gloves for $55. Globes with out-of-date maps were marked $150 to $1,500. Some pottery prices: 2-foot-high Keramos figure called Ballet Dancer, $1,500; Cowan Pottery 8-inch pink vase inspired by a Chinese piece, $2,200. A blue Iroquois Casual dinnerware sugar and creamer set was $125. We list it at $50 in our dinnerware price list. Glass included modern glass bubble ashtrays labeled Venini, $135; Higgins Glass big pieces, $1,000; small, $85.

Biggest surprise: Celluloid bangle bracelets set with rhinestones are selling to those who wear armloads of Bakelite bangles. The pitch is that Josephine Baker wore them in the 1930s. Cost, $100 to $200. Carved celluloid bangles were selling with a fresh coat of paint coloring the flowers and leaves. The altered bangles were $250 to $400. There was lots of altered costume jewelry-several small pieces worked into a showy necklace or pin. You had to ask if it was all old, then if it had been changed in any way. We got an honest answer, but watch out if you don’t ask questions.

We couldn’t believe there was a booth filled with Bes-Ben hats (see Kovels newsletter, April 2001). The dealer and some show patrons were wearing Bes-Ben creations. Another unusual booth had a collection of lamps from Vallauris, France, home of the Picasso pottery makers. The unusual pottery lamps were made to look like groups of shells and seaweed, often with the electric bulb inside a big shell. We saw lots of lamps decorated with shells and fish, each priced $275. These are either selling well or not at all, because we remember a bunch of the same lamps at a show two years ago.

to be continued…