Randerson Kills Prickett
Lot 428, the oil on canvas Randerson Kills Prickett, and the lot gracing the cover of our October 2025 Americana catalog, is not only one of the finest paintings of an Old West gunslinger created, it is also one of…
News
Sokov & Stalin
Vladimir Putin is attempting to revive the legacy of Stalin as a wartime leader. He has unveiled more than one hundred new statues of the brutal dictator during his twenty-five-year reign, the most recent in a Moscow metro station. The…
Cultural Revolution
Lot 473 is a group of colorful, joyous scenes of rural Chinese farm life in the 1970’s. Created as Maoist propaganda posters, there is more to these works than meets the eye. My particular favorite is On-the-spot meeting of the…
Press Release – Fine Art from an East Coast Educational Institution
Pook & Pook Presents a Rare Opportunity to Acquire Exceptional Works of Modern and Post-war Art in Upcoming Auction Downingtown, PA – Pook & Pook is excited to announce an exclusive online event featuring modern art and prints. This auction…
Press Release – May 1st & 2nd Americana Auction
DOWNINGTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA — Pook & Pook presents the annual Spring Americana sale, May 1st and 2nd, 2025. The sale will be held live, with bidding in-person or online at PookLive, and also by telephone, or absentee bid. All items are…
Up to snuff
Snuffboxes came into wide circulation with the increasing importance of tobacco use in the West. Tobacco was first prized as a medicine when first imported from the New World in the late 16th century. Europeans delighted in the effects of…
From Grandma’s Closet to Modern Runways: Brooches are Back in Style
When you think of a brooch, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe your thoughts drift to “outdated” or “too fussy for my style.” It’s time to challenge those old notions because brooches are making a major comeback…
A Touch of Mughal Magnificence
Lot 7875 is an antique Mughal gold and enamel bracelet, set with diamonds, emeralds, and natural and synthetic rubies. Dated to approximately 1880, this bracelet was purchased by its current owners from the Ganeshi Lall & Son Emporium in Agra,…
Pook & Pook’s Spring Coins & Jewelry Auction
Pook & Pook’s Coins & Jewelry Auction on March 26th & 27th, 2025 to Feature Hundreds of Rare Treasures from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property Downingtown, PA — Get ready for an extraordinary opportunity to own some…
The Benefits of Deaccessioning Unused Items in Museums: A Smart Strategy for Financial Sustainability
In the world of museums, the careful management of collections is essential for maintaining their cultural and educational missions. However, as collections grow over time, there are often items that become outdated, irrelevant, or simply take up valuable storage space.…
Brotherly Love
“We Salute you in Brotherly Love” begins a 1745 Epistle from the Quaker yearly Meeting in London. Handwritten by John Gurney, it reads like a sermon, exhorting the Friends to live in the ways of Holiness and Truth. It is…
Part II of The Pewter Collection of Dr. Melvyn & Bette Wolf
Part II of The Pewter Collection of Dr. Melvyn & Bette Wolf will start the first session of this week’s Americana Auction at 9AM on January 16th. Over a span of sixty years, Dr. Melvyn and Bette Wolf assembled the…
In the Beginning
Pook & Pook presents at auction the renowned collection of John A. and Judith C. Herdeg of Mendenhall, Pennsylvania. The Herdegs were dedicated collectors with a lifelong passion for 18th century history and decorative art. Over their lives, they built…
Remington New Model Army revolver
Undoubtedly one of the most important firearms in American History, from its inception at the start of civil unrest to its natural habitat in settling the west, post-Civil War, the Remington New Model Army .44 caliber revolver certainly has withstood…
An East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia
The year was 1750. Thomas Penn needed to raise some cash. In spite of his father William Penn founding the colony of Pennsylvania in 1681, the family was deeply in debt. They had never seen income from the colony, and…
Sewing isn’t a hobby, it’s a survival skill
Imagine you are a soldier in George Washington’s army during the brutal winter of 1777-1778. The air is frigid, and snowflakes fall relentlessly, covering everything in a blanket of white. The cold gnaws at your bones, but it’s not just…