A Great American Treasure Hunt

Not everyone will be so lucky as the Massachusetts schoolteacher who picked up a primitive watercolor for 35-c- at a church auction and sold it 35 years later for $22,000. Or the Philadelphia couple who 30 years ago bought a Ming vase for $400 and sold it for $260,000. But an increasing number of people are finding that collecting antiques (art, furniture and objects at least 100 years old) can be enormously rewarding, both aesthetically and financially.

As a result, the antiques market is at present enjoying an unprecedented boom. The demand for a piece of the past was such that the auction houses hammered down one record after another in 1977: rare books ($360,000 for John James Audubon's Birds of America), Sevres porcelain ($102,600 for Marie Antoinette's delicately painted milk pail), American furniture ($135,000 for a Boston-made mahogany bombe chest, circa 1780), even tin toys ($3,105 for a Mickey Mouse organ grinder).

For sheer, colossal variety, London remains the world's greatest art and antiques bazaar, where everything from Rembrandts to 1950s Dior dresses can be had for a price. But New York is coming on fast. When the 24th Annual Winter Antiques Show opened at Manhattan's Seventh Regiment Armory, crowds bundled against the winter chill lined up to see the dazzling array of wares laid out by 67 American dealers. Among the treasures were English Chippendale chairs, Queen Anne silver, Shaker cabinets and a handsome pair of Gilbert Stuart portraits. A few blocks away an enthusiastic crowd milled through the showrooms of Sotheby Parke Bernet to preview a 1,400-lot collection of Americana that went on the block last week.

To cash in on the action, the London auction firms of Christie's and Phillips, along with French Dealer Didier Aaron, opened branches in Manhattan last year. Since opening in May, Christie's reaped sales of $20 million--50% over original projections. Sotheby Parke Bernet reports that sales for the past four months were $43.7 million, up 53% over last year.

Although princely pieces still command princely sums, the days when royal emissaries vied for a queen's collection of Leonardos in hushed auction rooms are gone. Today's collectors are apt to be middle-class--and many buy on the installment plan. Few of them can afford to furnish a room completely in one period, so they buy an Amish quilt or a mellowed English highboy to soften the lines of their contemporary apartments.

The new collectors tend to be young, well educated, discriminating, and they know what they want. Many of them want Americana, probably the fastest growing segment of the New York antiques market. Prices have skyrocketed. Twelve years ago, a pair of paintings by Ammi Phillips, a 19th century naive artist, sold for $10,000. Last April a pair of Phillips paintings went for $44,000 at auction --and were reportedly resold within a month for twice that amount.

"Americans have become more aware of the significance of their cultural heritage," observes Robert Bishop, director of the Museum of American Folk Art in Manhattan. "Americana is now seen not only as works of art but as cultural icons." Says John Gordon, a New York dealer in American folk art and furniture: "One reason for the popularity of Americana is its simplicity, directness, warmth, richness." Moreover, he adds, "you can buy a very good piece of Americana for a few thousand dollars. What can you get in the marketplace for the same amount, even in contemporary art?"

To keep up with the demand, dealers scour small-town auctions, and Sotheby Parke Bernet has sponsored more than 50 "Heirloom Discovery" days across the country. So far, 150,000 people have taken advantage of the experts' appraisals for a token fee. The treasure hunt has paid off: some $30 million worth of art and antiques has been brought in.

"I don't know anyone who collects simply for money," says Bishop. "They collect for love. They like to wake up in the morning and see something that thrills them. Once you're bitten, it's all over."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.