I'm addicted to garage sales. My husband, IT Guy, spends hours on his computer searching for a twelve-step program to cure this disease, but so far he has come up with zip. Zero. Zilch. Consequently, come Saturday morning I’m up at six, heading for some sale on Seventh St.
But being first at a garage sale isn’t always that productive. Sometimes it pays to be almost last. The junk and clutter will have been lugged to somebody else’s house. The buying fr
enzy of first comers will be over, and the sellers will be more relaxed. They'll have more time to yak, bargain, and have some fun. When that happens, I find little jewels like this.
Last Saturday at one of my addiction stops, I bought this painting...because I liked it. Loved it, really. The scene, the colors, and even the vintage frame. It was marked $20, but it was late in the morning, and the price had been crossed out and lowered to $10. I paid without haggling and scurried home with my treasure, straight to my computer. I googled the artist all week. I found similar works by the same painter but no values. One hint, though, was a reference to one of his pieces in a museum. Hmmm, that sounded favorable.
Yesterday I found the Google hit I wanted. An auction house had sold one of the artist’s pieces for $1,700. True, it was a bigger work, but not by much. Better yet, it was of similar subject matter and the same style.
What's my piece worth? I don’t know but surely more than the ten bucks I paid for it! And, anyway, it’s my TREASURE, and I love it.
Come on Saturday morning!
But being first at a garage sale isn’t always that productive. Sometimes it pays to be almost last. The junk and clutter will have been lugged to somebody else’s house. The buying fr
enzy of first comers will be over, and the sellers will be more relaxed. They'll have more time to yak, bargain, and have some fun. When that happens, I find little jewels like this.Last Saturday at one of my addiction stops, I bought this painting...because I liked it. Loved it, really. The scene, the colors, and even the vintage frame. It was marked $20, but it was late in the morning, and the price had been crossed out and lowered to $10. I paid without haggling and scurried home with my treasure, straight to my computer. I googled the artist all week. I found similar works by the same painter but no values. One hint, though, was a reference to one of his pieces in a museum. Hmmm, that sounded favorable.
Yesterday I found the Google hit I wanted. An auction house had sold one of the artist’s pieces for $1,700. True, it was a bigger work, but not by much. Better yet, it was of similar subject matter and the same style.
What's my piece worth? I don’t know but surely more than the ten bucks I paid for it! And, anyway, it’s my TREASURE, and I love it.
Come on Saturday morning!
Hi Cher, I didn't realize you had a blog, congrats!! Sounds like the work of art I bought last year in an antique shop in Smithville. Paid $10 too, looked up the artist, who was a Renaissance artist from the late 1800's. It was worth about $300 in a museam, but sold it for $95, felt like I made a good profit. I even gave the buyer all the details and worth of it. The funny this is when I had stepped away from my booth another girl told my husband to hold the pic and she would be back to haggle w/ me. Well, I wasn't coming off the price. He didn't tell me and the other lady was standing there paying me. I told I didn't know, but the other lady offered it to her and she said in a rude tone only if it's cheaper and said no it's not. Her husband looked at her and said lets go we didn't want it to begin with. So...why did they stop then?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you had trouble finding info on your artiste b/c you 'Goggled' his name! (Sorry, I'm OC) The boot mirror has character, with the unique use of old boot shafts, and the sink is nothing less that beautiful. How many of us proudly show off our bathroom when the guests first arrive?? Looking forward to more of the house tour.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to AskArt, there is 4 examples of C P Montague's work. Is that the middle initial? the work looks very similar to yours. I haven't looked, but Heritage Auction(I think that's the name) is always looking for Texas artists. Just some FYI I thought might help in your quest. Looking up artists drives me crazy-the signature might as well have been made by Drs. Good Luck-Deb
ReplyDeleteGood hunting! I'm enjoying your new blog.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great treasure! Jen R
ReplyDelete