Featured Antiquers: Share Your Favorite Purchase of 2016

Just about every year I find one or two items worth some good money for pennies. Last year, it was a Teco vase. The year before, it was a Nick Eggenhofer painting. This year, I had a few good finds but nothing really great until last week. My sleeper ebay find:



Block print, Eucalyptus Grove with Stream, by Frances H. Gearhart.

 

I don't. Probably because I would've most likely gone by that print, thinking "that's quite ugly."

What sort of places do you shop in and how many hours per week on average? What about eBay? How many hours per week?

 

I hit thrift stores 3-4 times a week. I go to the local auction sporadically. I shop the group shop I have my booth in regularly. I attend a few large outdoor antique/flea market venues a year. I look on ebay weekly but don't spend too much time doing so (maybe an hour a week). I used to spend a lot more time but the bargains seem fewer and farther between. My purchases on ebay have dwindled from dozens a year to just a few yearly. Some of this is due to the fact that the market has changed and I have less of an outlet for better things unless dirt cheap. I really think the key is knowing more than the next guy/gal.

Again, knowing what is good is the key. I actually just stumbled on to this off the ebay front page where they post auctions that fit my regular search criteria. Without knowing who it was by, I recognized it as having potential. On looking at the auction, I was able to recognize the signature right away, while the seller was not. The seller did not have key words in their title that others looking for such could find it. All this equals big bargain to me. I was willing to go to just over $400.00 and thought I probably would not win if someone else recognized it. I got it for $64.00 over one other bidder.

This one sold at Swann's a couple years ago:

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com...alelot=2341+++++253+&refno=++685231&saletype=

 

I LOVE that print!!!!!