Michael Spooner & Son
Estate Auctioneers & Appraisers Inc.

Serving the Greater Ottawa Capital Region. Experts in the Sale & Appraisal of Entire Estates, Paintings, Antiques, Fine Arts, Silver, Bronze, Oriental Carpets, Fine Furniture, Collectibles & Real Estate. Over Ninety Years Related Experience Combining Three Generations. Our Reputation is Founded on Our Integrity.
Ottawa's Fully Comprehensive Auction House & Complete Estate Service.

 

Auction News & Trends

 

Recent auction results and other related comments that may be of some assistance to both consignors and buyers in making informed decisions regarding buying or selling at auction, we hope to make this a monthly commentary of on going events relating to our auction business.


We have just completed our January estate auction with good to mixed results. Estate jewellery was well received with the better quality items in the collection doing very well. A very nice older square emerald ring surrounded with brilliant vintage cut diamonds topped the lots at $2700. Other diamond and sapphire rings brought fair prices that satisfied both buyers and sellers. A pair of 18k gold diamond necklaces went over the $1000 mark.
The next items of interest were vintage metal toys circa 1940-1950. It is amazing how many people have toys that are boxed up and have been tucked away as children have grown up and left home. If those toys are in fair shape there is a good demand for them, with old Dinky Toys being much sought after. Some Dinky's are fetching hundreds of dollars a piece. We just sold four vintage metal toy trucks in only fair condition from $100 to $240 each.
Good artwork is holding up well and some of Ottawa's local artists are starting to be appreciated and realizing good prices. Several nice Henri Masson oils have been pushing $3000. Ralph Burton’s are also coming along nicely with the smaller pieces fetching $750 to $1300. One Burton painting of the Yukon realized $2300. There is a good upside for these pieces and like a lot of the other locally recognized artists they will certainly appreciate over time. If you have any pieces of artwork and you are not sure of value please feel free to give us a call. Classical records & CD's are starting to have some appeal to serious collectors. Early Rock & Roll records circa 1950 as well as 1920-1930 blues records are in demand at auction.
Good English sterling particularly Georgian and early Victorian are selling well. Birks sterling flatware is also in demand particularly "Saxon" and "Old English" patterns. A few other patterns do very well but people are becoming more selective when it comes to Birks sterling. 20th century silver plate has little value at present, including Birks "Regency".
At the present time, only a few types of “good quality” furniture are fetching what we would consider to be reasonable prices. Solid wood construction by the likes of Gibbard, Henredon and Pennsylvania House as well as Canadiana, Victorian and Georgian antiques are examples of the furniture which have retained some of their values. At the moment, furniture in general is what we consider to be "Off", mostly because of the massive influx of lesser quality goods being sold in retail stores and it seems people only want to buy the latest "Look" that will be replaced every few years for the next "In" thing. Recently however, there have been some great bargains in furniture at our auctions and for the person who wants quality and appreciates fine crafted pieces our auction is the place to go.
Old hand wooden tools are doing well, vintage clothing, War medals, old quality watches, working or not .are much sought after. Books relating to Canada and children’s books always do well if in fair to good condition. Canadian stamp collections as well as Canadian coins are always on the want list. Oriental items, particularly pre-20th century have been well received and both 19th century bronze & spelter figures are in demand to selective buyers. Good quality handcrafted Canadian 19th century furniture items are selling at about half as much as five years ago and there are great buys to be had in this field. Imagine buying Canadian heritage for less money than today’s poorly manufactured modern furniture.

A lot of people have been selling items online through web sites not realising that on many occasions items are being sold for far less than their true value. An experienced Auction House will know what an item is worth and can ensure that a reasonable price is attained.

Just as a side note, if you have any "Scrap" jewellery gathering dust in your home, please refrain from sending these pieces through the mail to companies who will give you very little of its fair value. A lot of what you might consider to be "Scrap" could be hand crafted, vintage jewellery that even damaged is worth far more if repaired properly. We have a strong clientele looking for good antique jewellery and the bidding is very competitive. This will ensure that you receive a fair value for your items.

We look forward to seeing you at the next auction and you know something strange, interesting and no doubt humorous will show up or happen.

Yours Michael & Shawn Spooner

613-722-8321
613-722-2144 fax

shawn@spoonerauctions.com

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