A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh

I have had the opportunity to sell things more than once on a regular basis. Sometimes I get things back to be sold in a short amount of time, while some others take a much longer, winding route to come back around. There are many different reasons that I sell the same object. The buyer sometimes has remorse. Sometimes the buyer’s significant other has remorse that their partner ever bought it. I have first hand knowledge of the latter example! One time in the case of a large Belsnickel Santa I bought, my granddaughter hated it and it had to go! There are also those that come back because they didn’t fit in that empty spot, it was the wrong color, or they even bid on the wrong lot. There have also been the perfect gifts, that well, didn’t turn out to be so perfect after all.

I am always amazed in looking at collections the total recall that the collector has. They can tell you exactly what sale, when, where and even the other lots that they didn’t win. Along with those items that they really wanted but could only underbid, it comes with a shake of the head and a muttering of the name of who bought it away from them. These recollections seem to last a life time. The number of times the collector gets that second chance of something that they really wanted is a fairly small percentage. Typically, it doesn’t get away the second time around, no matter what the cost!

I recently had one of those déjà vu moments. While it wasn’t something I wanted or even bid on, it was something that I liked and just stuck out to me. A recent phone call from a long-time buyer in northern New Jersey, whom I have never met, followed by some photographs, sent me on a trip to see a handful of items that they wanted to thin out. As I walked through the house, I selected a half dozen pieces of art, some clocks, a really nice carousel horse and figure, as well a fortune telling bird cage. As we went through the house and into a bedroom there was a very familiar painting. Not a painting with astronomical value, just a painting that stuck out to me. This painting was familiar. As I searched my memory, I started to quiz the client of where the painting came from. He bought it at auction, and it was from a sale in York, Pennsylvania. The light bulb went off. I remember this painting. Before he could speak another word, I filled in the blanks for him. This painting was sold at the Springettsbury Fire Hall on East Market Street in York, Pennsylvania by Gilbert and Gilbert Auctions. His eyes lit up, that yes that is exactly where he bought the painting. Neither of us could remember the year but narrowed it down between 1990 and 1995. So, lot #383, The Newbold Hough Trotter portrait of the lion has come back to visit my life some thirty years later.

By: Jamie Shearer