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  I have now removed my comments about Noel Barrett's disastrous auction of Tom Gray's toy collection last October, but have saved the content if anyone wishes to review it. Meanwhile, this month there are some dollhouse items in his sale and when I reviewed the on-line catalogue, I found it difficult to read because it has so many typos and errors in the text. If I were a consignor, this would disturb me as it means my items are not being offered in the best possible light. I don't know if it is ignorance, carelessness or an unfortunate combination of both, but a sloppy catalogue really reflects poorly on the auctioneer and does a disservice to the consignor while merely insulting the intelligence of potential purchasers. Top-tier auction houses never send catalogues to press with so many easily corrected errors in it.

There is a lot titled "Gottschalk" that does not have a single piece of Gottschalk in it,  the Tynietoy house and much of the furniture are miscatalogued, the Faerie house is never spelled correctly, nor is Schweizer or Biedermeier, and they never seem to be able to get over reminding people that the Erhard & Sohne ormolu was sold by Marklin. Dollhouse collectors have no interest in the Marklin attribution and it just reminds us again that this auction house clearly cares more about boy toys than dollhouse miniatures. I'm puzzled why they repeatedly declare the Faerie house kitchen is decorated in Hacker style  - just because it has a typically British Welsh dresser on the back wall? And the estimates are still mystifying. I suppose this is not surprising since Noel's minimal staff has so little knowledge in this area and can barely disguise their total lack of interest in this category. Other auctioneers do a markedly better job presenting this category of toys and I'm pleased Bertoia's and Morphy's are showing larger photographs than they used to. Noel's photography is still very good but I think the quality of the catalogue descriptions is something else entirely, to put it as nicely as I can. Just one day spent proof-reading before posting the catalogue would help immensely.(11.14.11)

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I had intended to go to Bertoia's auction last weekend because some of the lots being offered once belonged to me (I had traded them to another collector when I acquired Flora Gill Jacobs' huge Mystery house a few years ago). In the end, I decided to save on gas and watch online instead. I thought the lithographed houses did okay but I was quite surprised to see the Christian Hacker house sell for only $1500. I paid more than that for it when I purchased is almost ten years ago and then spent two years scraping off the overpainting and restoring the missing balcony. From the catalogue photo, it looks like the balcony has gone missing AGAIN and that may have been part of the story, but the catalogue incorrectly described the house as repainted and it wasn't, just a few pieces of missing trim had been replaced. There just doesn't seem to be that much of a market these days for antique dollhouses with the exception of spectacuar 18th century baby houses. These past two years, I have seen Hackers and Mystery houses sell at auction for prices well below where they were five to ten years ago. Then the furnishings and chandeliers were sold in one box lot for a mere $375 - I had traded most of the pieces to the consignor about three or four years ago in consideration of a credit of $2000. Ouch! I'm not the one who lost money on these sales, but I felt bad just the same.

With each passing year, I am becoming more and more convinced that modern artist miniatures hold their value better than the antiques. Granted, collecting is cyclical, but real craftsmanship seems like a better investment these days. I still love the charm of the antiques, but feel somewhat relieved that I am no longer as deeply invested in them as I was five years ago. Let's hope the pendulum swings back again soon! (11.17.11)