Coins are the most widely collected forms of currency and represent the largest number of lots in this online-only auction. Numerous examples of paper currency, tokens, medals and stamps are also included. Over 1,000 lots are being offered, spanning many centuries and a great diversity of countries and cultures. The auction opens on Thursday, August 17 at 10AM and begins closing on Friday, August 25 at 2PM. As with all categories of antiques and collectibles, coins and other types of currency appeal to collectors for many reasons: rarity, age, historic significance, artistic merit, personal associations, and investment potential. Good examples of all of these criteria are represented in this auction. An outstanding opportunity is offered with numerous lots of 1997 25 yuan and 50 yuan gold panda coins. This is an especially desirable year for these widely collected coins from the People’s Republic of China because of the small total […]

Modern Design by a Mid-Century New Englander A Lecture by Lucretia Giese WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23 | RECEPTION 5PM | LECTURE 6PM RSVP ONLINE This talk looks at some of the forces shaping mid-century modern design through the work of one mid-century New England practitioner, Henry B. Hoover.  Hoover is known today as an architect.  Less known is Hoover’s design work, which manifests itself in three ways.  As a residential architect, Hoover designed numerous houses in New England, including the first Modern house in Lincoln, MA, and pieces of furniture for his clients.  With landscape architect Fletcher Steele, Hoover created many garden features using modern industrial materials and modern forms, the Blue Steps at Naumkeag being a notable example.  Industrial design also commanded a place in Hoover’s practice evolving from his work for Raytheon during the Second World War.  Hoover’s career exemplifies the many sides of Modernism. Lucretia Giese –  Ph.D., […]

MARLBOROUGH, MA – Skinner presents two auctions that span modern design from its beginnings in art nouveau to pieces by artists and artisans still active today. Jane Prentiss, Department Director, observes that both auctions celebrate the innovative use of materials and the adventurous concepts that characterize 20th century design. Wood and ceramic, fiber and laminate, metal and glass were re-imagined and used in new ways to meet the needs and tastes of a forward-looking, dynamic culture. 20th Century Design | Live Auction | August 24 The 20th Century Design live auction will take place in Skinner’s Marlborough Gallery on August 24 at 12PM. The auction of nearly 450 lots includes pieces from the collection of George Wald, and notable material ranging from Scandinavian furniture to American ceramics. George Wald, a Nobel Prize winning biochemist, and his wife Ruth, were discriminating and enthusiastic collectors beginning in the 50s and 60s, a […]

Fine Jewelry & Silver Consignment Days TUESDAY, AUGUST 15 | MANCHESTER, NH TUESDAY, AUGUST 22 | FALMOUTH, MA Skinner Auctions is inviting consignments for the fall 2017 Auctions. Meet with Fine Jewelry expert Kaitlin Shinnick and Fine Silver expert Stephanie Opolski at  for a complimentary auction evaluation and consignment of your Fine Jewelry &  Silver. Appointments required. Request Appointment: jewelry@skinnerinc.com 617.874.4313

Mocha & Other Slipwares – A History A Lecture by Jonathan Rickard SATURDAY, AUGUST 12 | RECEPTION 5PM | LECTURE 5:30PM RSVP ONLINE Jonathan Rickard has always collected. As a child it was soda bottle caps. Later, it was cast iron mechanical banks. At a Skinner auction in the late 1960s, he spotted some ceramic vessels that were called mochaware. His design studies at MassArt had introduced him to the theories of the Bauhaus movement and to the color theories of Josef Albers. This pottery he found interesting because the forms reflected the form-follows-function Bauhaus thinking while the decorations combined the color juxtapositions of Albers with the uninhibited qualities of abstract impressionism. Instead of bidding, he went in search of information about the pots and found nothing. This increased his fascination, and in 1972 he bought his first mochaware at flea markets on his first trip to London. Further research […]

Skinner’s upcoming August Americana auctions are comprised of a varied and interesting array of early American furniture, paintings, needle works, objects of historical interest, and maritime pieces. Totaling over 1300 lots, each object displays some alluring characteristic that makes it best in its class, whether it’s an 18th century New York Windsor highchair with fine blue-green paint (Lot 377, Estimated between $20,000-25,000) or a late 19th century cap gun toy with a humorous message (Lot 1344, $800-1,200). The 603 lot August Americana live auction will be held at Skinner’s Marlborough gallery, Sunday, August 13 at 10AM, and begins with three highly focused single-owner collections of largely fresh-to-market antiques. The collections are highly personal, reflecting the taste and knowledge of connoisseurs who sought out the best of the best. Featured single-owner collections: • The second offering of The Jonathan Rickard Collection of Mocha and Related Dipped Wares. Comprising the first 39 […]

Prior to its annexation as the 28th state by the United States, The Republic of Texas was its own sovereign nation. Having fought for and gaining their independence from Mexico by 1836, the young republic found itself with significant financial/economic and political issues, leading to their eventual annexation in 1845. These nine tumultuous years in-between originated some of Texas’s rarest and most sought after currency. The Panic of 1837 halted commerce to a standstill, sending Texas’s land prices and the value of its paper currency on a downward spiral. Texas treasury bills and promissory notes became so debased that they were trading at cents on the dollar, and in many instances, not accepted by merchants. Even the Texas government refused to accept its own paper money for payment on land taxes. Due to these significant financial woes, the Texan people re-elected Sam Houston for a second term with the hopes […]

Skinner is pleased to offer selections from the Tom and Adelle Hersh Collection of Mennonite Quilts from Waterloo County, Ontario. It is a collection that Canadian quilt historian, Carol Telfer, describes as “an important piece of western Ontario textile history.”  Most of the collection was assembled in the 1980’s, an era when many families were moving from the country to the city. As they collected, the Hershes were careful to record the provenance for each quilt when it was available and many can be traced to specific towns and families. Remarkably, several quilts in this collection (Lots 544, 547, and 1306) are the hand of one quilter, Lydia Martin (1892-1987), of St. Jacob’s, which descended through her family and were acquired directly from one of her daughters. The Waterloo County Mennonite community traces its origin to Switzerland (probably Zurich or near Zurich). In 1727, two brothers, David and Peter Martin, […]

  At over four feet in height each, the Fourteen Carrara Marble Stations of the Cross Plaques (Lot 589) to be auctioned in Skinner’s European Furniture & Decorative Arts Auction on July 14th, make a commanding statement as an ensemble. Heavily carved, the marbles are realistically modeled in high relief, depicting the series of events on the day of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, each inscribed with station number to the projecting base. The marbles were originally installed in the Immaculate Conception Church, South End, Boston. This church was dedicated on March 10, 1861, by Bishop Fitzpatrick as a place of worship for Boston College. While the building was designed by architect, Patrick Charles Keely, the interior design of the church was considered to be the work of Arthur Gilman. It was used as the church for Boston College High School from 1863 until the 1960s and served the pastoral needs of the surrounding […]

The African art offered in the online auction which runs from June 15 to June 23 is from the collection of Gordon Lankton of Clinton, Massachusetts. An engineer by profession, long-time CEO of a major plastic injection molding company and founder of the Museum of Russian Icons, Lankton is also a life-long collector. His extensive holdings of African art are the culmination of a wide-ranging collecting career that has included coins (American pennies with an example for every year back to 1794); World War II posters; cast-iron toy cars; and the largest private collection of Russian icons in the country. These are housed in their own museum in Clinton. “There is always something new out of Africa.” The Roman scholar Pliny the Elder made that comment in the first century A.D. and it remains true today. African art has been a source of fascination and inspiration for centuries, never more […]

  Fine Jewelry Preview | New York City Join the Fine Jewelry Department in New York City to preview highlights from the June 27 Fine Jewelry Auction. Private preview times are available by appointment only. WEDNESDAY JUNE 14 | THURSDAY JUNE 15 REQUEST APPOINTMENT Skinner New York 415 Madison Ave, New York Contact us: vbratberg@skinnerinc.com 617.874.4305  

Papermaking, calligraphy, illumination, paper marbling, and gold-tooled goatskin bindings define fine bookmaking and are generally associated with western and continental books. However, mastery of these book arts was transmitted to Europe through the Middle East during the Middle Ages. Although the Chinese pioneered papermaking and printing with movable type, in Medieval times, all roads from China to continental Europe passed through the Middle East and North Africa. These societies of the Near East were rooted in ancient Greek, Roman, and Hellenic learning and were hungry for any emerging technologies related to books, especially those that emphasized beauty and glorified the written word. In our current Books & Manuscripts online auction we are privileged to offer fourteen examples of Arabic and Persian manuscripts produced between 1461 and 1852. This group of text manuscripts, collected in Iran during the mid-20th century, represents the important branches of Arab and Persian learning of the time. Here […]