Author Archives: L. Emerson Tuttle

The Ellsworth Antiques Show at Woodlawn Museum

“Majoring” in Antiques, with a “Minor” in Dogs

I was fortunate to spend three days last week in Ellsworth, ME as Skinner’s representative at the Ellsworth Antiques Show. Over 800 people visited the show, which is held under a large tent on the grounds of the Woodlawn Museum, Gardens & Park, the show’s beneficiary.

Ellsworth is the nation’s longest-running summer antiques show, and the exhibiting dealers bring top-quality antiques, fine art and decorative accessories from as nearby as Ellsworth and Southwest Harbor and from as far as Millwood, VA.… Read More

A Tiffany Favrile Vase Finds a New Home

Last week LaGina Austin, our Director of Appraisal & Auction Services, and I represented Skinner at the 46th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando, Florida. Heckerling is the “Super Bowl” of estate planning conferences, and Skinner has had a booth there for each of the past fifteen years.

In past years we’ve seen our fellow exhibitors raffle off everything from lobster dinners to bottles of champagne to all sorts of electronic gadgetry. We joined the fray this year, but decided to do so with a different twist. Our giveaway was an example of the wares we bring to auction regularly: a beautiful piece of modern design in the form of a Tiffany favrile vase offered in our recent 20th Century Design auction.

What the Heck is Heckerling?

The Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning is an annual conference (this year’s was the 45th) at which attorneys, trust bankers, and other estate planning and estate settlement professionals gather to learn what’s new in their field of expertise.

The MFA Art of the Americas Wing: Half a Billion Dollars Well Spent

I was privileged to attend the November 13th opening gala for MFA’s new wing. The party itself was quite a blowout, with complimentary libations, exotic bite-sized dinner servings, and a very good dance band.  However, the ever-increasing volume of said band, which seemed intent by the end of the evening on blowing out a few of the glass panels which surround the Shapiro Family Courtyard, drove me to tour the very well soundproofed gallery spaces not once but twice.… Read More