November 2009 – Fairfield, Maine

If you’ve never attended a live auction, this article is for you. We went to James Julia’s August auction and are reporting everything—from registering to tracking final sales. Our “On the Road” from Burton, Ohio, will continue in a future issue.

BEFORE THE AUCTION

Kovels newsletter reports on auction results—the most recent prices of antiques and collectibles. But I went to Maine with my daughter, Kim, and attended James Julia’s live auction in a barnlike building in Fairfield.

Jim Julia is charming, engaging and funny—and, boy, can he sell. I asked him about the economy and antiques. “This is an extraordinary opportunity, with less competition,” he said. “It has been a seller’s market the last 10 years. Now it’s a buyer’s. Things that are great are now available for less money, but that won’t last. Go to an auction. If you sit in the room, you can get good buys because some things fall through the cracks.” He told us guns are especially hot; he’s sold some major collections—one grossed $12.7 million.

AUCTION TIME

Jim and the auctioneers and staff were in suits. Assistants wore maroon shirts with Julia’s logo. Bidders dressed like Maine tourists, in T-shirts and blue jeans or shorts. Ten staff people executed telephone bids, two were on computers and one handled absentee bids left before the auction. A “spotter” watched for in-house bidders. Two TV screens showed each item as it came up; another listed the final price and winning bidder number. Staff members bidding for phone and online customers stood, held a yellow card with the bidder number and shouted “yip” when executing a bid. That system let us know how many phone and online bidders were competing.

First Jim announced the rules: a 17% buyer’s premium, with 2% off if you pay by check or cash. Julia’s will help arrange shipping. If information about condition or history has changed, the auction contacts all absentee and online bidders and reads updates to the seated crowd. I got a bidding number by showing my driver’s license and credit card. Dealers also register tax ID numbers. We read through the catalog’s descriptions, price estimates, auction rules, guarantees, time limits and other conditions. We also enjoyed the free food.

Bidders had previewed items before the sale and took notes about condition and price, a must for any auction. Bidding went fast. We quickly caught on to the pattern. Jim started with a call for a high bid, cut to the high estimate, cut to half the high estimate, then went to the low estimate or, in rare cases, below the low estimate before an item was passed. A few items sold for a single low bid—a great buy for the bidder and a warning to others to bid fast. We timed it—Jim sold 100 items an hour.

We learned more: If you haven’t previewed items and are bidding from the catalog, double-check colors. Some samplers were getting low bids, but in the room you could see colors were more faded than in the catalog. Photos of painted furniture and oil paintings can also be misleading. Before the sale, call and ask about condition and color.

On the day we were at the auction, hunting trophies, 18th- and 19th-century furniture, textiles, jewelry, porcelain, bronzes, autographs, Indian items and more were offered. The most surprising items were dozens of mounted fish trophies hanging on the walls. They were the work of Lawrence Irvine of Winthrop, Me. (See our sale report on page 28.)

EXCITEMENT

Competition always creates auction excitement. A signed 48-by-23-inch American hooked rug dated 1851, with a basket-of-flowers design in muted colors, sparked a fight between two phone bidders at $11,000 (estimate, $10,000- $20,000). The winner paid $32,200 (bid plus premium). A glass-front locket topped by a gold bow set with pink stones and holding locks of George and Martha Washington’s hair went for $7,475 (estimate, $2,500-$5,000). A small book, listed as an 1850 “scrapbook of British algae watercolors,” was estimated at $3,000 to $5,000. The auctioneer explained it was a collection of real algae, and the price shot up to $9,200.

There were 15 American Indian items, most from the Northwest. Eleven did not sell to this East Coast audience, but one—a small cedar oil dish carved in the shape of a bird, made up for that. Estimated at $8,000-$12,000, it caused a two-caller phone bidding war. The winner paid $39,100 and got a round of applause from the audience.

BARGAINS

If you’re furnishing a traditional house, you could have found a few good buys. Old, usable furniture with restoration or refinishing didn’t get dealers’ bids, so some were passed (not sold). Others sold for less than similar new pieces. We kept track of bids and were surprised later that some items we thought had sold had not: bids did not meet reserve prices.