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Rafael Osona'sAUCTION NEWS The better blog for bargaineering
photos courtesy of Terry Pommett, Boogy at Low Beach, AAN
We hear you. And we're grateful. We thought hard; imagined a weekly e-newsletter. We've launched the first two, and it seems you're pleased with our fledgling efforts. Rafael Osona's AUCTION NEWS Watch for it - Wednesdays
Carolyn Buckingham's first day
What
you said "I've bought and sold three houses
on Nantucket. I furnished - and unfurnished! -
them all at Osona's."
"Terrific web page. Not too little, not too much. Just right. Conveys the Osona message."
"My girlfriend loved her South Sea pearls so much she wore them to the Oscars - all
alone, in her living room, watching the awards on the TV!"
"Just
thought I'd write to say, GREAT JOB with the newsletter. Makes me even
more impatient to get back to the island for the auctions!"
"I
enjoyed it immensely. I have loved the work of the Beers for quite a
while and like seeing what you have at your auctions online."
"Please put me on your e-mail list. I would love to hear your news!"
And FODORS wrote about us too! Rafael Osona Auctions and our good friends, Vis a Vis were picked as "Fodor's Choice" "for good
shopping on Nantucket."
Rafael
Osona's AUCTION NEWS An Apt Advisor for Deaccessioning
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Always Seeking Fine Consignments we evaluate and appraise single objects and entire estates (how to consign)
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more June 27th Auction highlights
A spectacular, Stephen Swift, bench-made,cherry corner cabinet
Among several works by Andrew Shunney to be offered on both June 27th & July 4th, "Red Rose," (detail pictured above) 7" x 10" will be offered June 27th. (more)
For the child in all of us, (and an especially useful diversion during the rainiest summer on record!) a grouping of 19th & early 20th c. play toys.
And here's a very, very special painting by Jan Pawlowski,"Frenchie's Bench"
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2009 Calendar Watch the AUCTION PHOTO GALLERY come to life! Click on descriptive text under photos for details Click on underscored dates for further details as they become available.
Memorial Weekend Auction May 23 Antiques & Accessories
Estate Tag Sale June 12&13
Hospice Benefit Auction June 14
at Galley Beach Antiques & Accessories June 27 Fine Antiques & Accessories July 4 Lightship Basket July 10 Nantucket AIDS Network 20th Anniversary Benefit Auction July 11 John Austin Estate Art Collection Antiques & Accessories July 18 Antiques & Accessories July 18 Artists' Association Benefit Art Auction July 26 Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum Benefit Auction at Great Harbor Yacht Club
Americana, Continental, Aug. 1 Fine Art & Maritime Auctionand the Lloyd Day Collection
Fine Antiques & Accessories Aug. 8
Antiques & Accessories Aug. 15
Nantucket Boys & Girls Club Aug. 15 Summer Groove Benefit Auction
Antiques & Accessories Aug. 22Antiques & Accessories Aug. 29
Antiques & Accessories
Sept. 19 Antiques & Accessories Oct. 10 Columbus Weekend Auction
Fine Antiques
Oct. 11 Artists' Association of Nantucket
Wet Paint Sale
Nov. 28 Thanksgiving Weekend
Antiques Auction
Dec. 5 Christmas Stroll
Antiques Auction
The John Austin Estate Art Collection
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Rafael Osona's
AUCTION NEWS
The must read manifesto
from our collection of South Sea pearls
PEARLY
GIRLS
There's
a growing sorority on Nantucket. Have you
joined? It's a knowing sisterhood with a
certain proclivity for good pearls, and good value.
Born during the month of
June? Then pearls, my dear, are your birthright!! Margarita, Margaret,
Peggy, Marjorie, Margot, Maggie, Gretchen, Gretel and Rita - you should not be
least among the sisters. Your given name is derived from the ancient Greek, "pearl."
PEARL BASICS
1. Natural or cultured?
Freshwater, Akoya, South
Sea and Tahitian pearls
these days are pretty much all
cultured. Natural pearls? Over fished
and endangered. There might be one
single harvestable natural pearl in every 100 bivalves, and
only one in ten of those are of good quality. pearl farm, Tahiti
2. "Every grain of sand" is a title/lyric from Bob Dylan. Sand's got
nothing what so ever to do with culturing pearls. Each pearl begins with the
insertion (nucleation) of a tiny piece of mantle from a sacrificed mollusk (fresh water
pearls) or a small bead of mother-of-pearl. (South Sea
and Tahitian)
3. It's natural! The oyster secretes layers of nacre around the
insertion. It's the depth of nacre - the
layers are like growth rings on a tree - that determines luster and value.
4. The big difference: multiple insertions can be made in each mussel
for freshwater pearls. The salt water variety gets just one bead inserted per
oyster. 5. One pearl. Five years. South Sea and Tahitian oysters that are at least 2 years of age may be cultured, with nacre
development lasting another 2-3 years before the pearl is harvested.
6. Remember Mikimoto? They're the folks who set the standards for Akoya
pearl culture back in the early 1900's, when cultured pearls became coveted by
the rich & famous! Pearls came to
symbolize classic beauty, purity and love. Spotting the best pearls is easy! Look for luster, brightness and as near a perfectly smooth finish as your budget will allow. Salt water pearls have more value than fresh water. Larger South Sea and Tahitian pearls (11-18mm) with thicker nacre took 2-5 years longer to form, which is reflected in the value. Always look for carefully matched strings; in both color and shape.
Did you know? Pearls are
"calcerous concretions" that develop in the soft tissue of a living animal.
Calcerous concretions are produced by a variety of animal types, gastropods,
squid, octopi, snails, worms, anthropods - even humans! The human version of a
"pearl" is a kidney stone.
In Julius Cesar's day in the Roman Empire,
pearls were valued so highly that just one pearl could fund an entire war! Hmmm, a sisterhood with a proclivity for
good pearls. Here? Well, Nantucket has always considered herself a sovereign state! And there never was any holding back those petticoat row girls!
NOTE: Each week, the topics discussed in The Must Read Manifesto will be archived on line in the AUCTION NEWS Archives. (link)
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Nantucket Artists
Geraniums, oil on canvas, (30" x 40") According to the estate, this was Andrew Shunney's last painting; to be offered at auction on July 4th. (link)
Andrew Shunney (1916-1978)
Born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, Shunney studied at the Rhode
Island School of Design. He later took up residency in Manhattan, where he attended the Art Students
League, and studied under Yasuo Kuniyoshi. In 1946, Shunney benefited from a four year period
of "master criticism" under Diego Rivera,
a Master who disliked the term "pupil" and wanted no disciples. Still
searching, Shunney next headed for Paris,
hoping for inspiration in the work of the French Impressionists. There he
painted the streets of Paris, and the landscapes
of Honfleur and Cannes.
Before leaving France
in 1950 he received an invitation to exhibit in the prestigious Salon
d'Automne.
Andrew Shunney's signature style is
very much a product of an exceptionally fertile period in Western - and
particularly, in American - modern art history. He
was a disciplined colorist whose preference for thick impasto applied with a palate
knife, invoked a surreal abstraction to minimalist compositions.
From the early '50's until his death, Andrew Shunney and his life-partner
Charles Maguire wintered in Palm Beach,
where Shunney was represented by the Palm Beach Galleries. They summered on
Nantucket, where he first kept a studio on Straight Wharf,
and later joined his peers, Ralph Cahoon, Polly & Bobby Bushong, Roy Baily,
Irmgard Arvin, Nathaniel Benchley, Elizabeth Saltonstall and Mary Sarg-Murphy, at George
Vigouroux's Lobster Pot Gallery. By 1971
Shunney had earned a one man exhibition at the Hammer Galleries in NYC. His was
an uncompromising quest for his own artistic voice, a distinguished career; a
relevant body of work. (more) NOTE: Each week, the biographical material on Nantucket Artists will be added to the AUCTION NEWS Archives (link)
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the Benefits of Friends
"I
do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When
they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing
we know."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hospice Benefit at Galley Beach photo by Gene MahonCharlene Thurston, Director of Hospice Care of Nantucket, with Gail & Rafael during the auction/gala on June 14th. A "solid" evening indeed!
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We hope to see you at the preview Thursday and Friday, 10-5
Auction, Saturday, June 27th 9:30 A.M.
American Legion Hall 21 Washington St., Nantucket, MA
photo: Low beach Bougy
Don't worry We'll sustain you! Breakfast & Lunch Catered
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now... YOU do the talking!just click on the two links below: Tell us What You Think Forward to a FriendRafael & Gail Osona photo by Cary Hazlegrove
AUCTION
NEWS is a publication
of Rafael Osona,
Nantucket, MA copyright 2009 all rights reserved produced by Carolyn Walsh
www.NantucketAuctions.com 21 Washington Street,
Nantucket, MA 02554 508-228-3942
[email protected] |
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