2009 Review

2009 The Year In Review
Join us for a stroll through 2009 and a few examples of the many ways we strive to fulfill our clients’ needs and promote their interests.

Actually, the first big job of 2009 was wrapping up the year just ended. Internationally promoted auctions on December 28th and 29th, 2008 were smashing successes. A world class collection of Antique Vinaigrettes brought bids in from around the globe. “This is amazing”, stated a British collector, “ I’ve never seen a collection of this size and quality on the market in all my years of collecting”. He and five other parties from the UK were on hand live by telephone for the entire auction, bidding against those in attendance and 200 other bidders from around the world via Internet with live audio and video. A total of twelve countries participated in the auction and top lot was an enameled 18k gold Swiss vinaigrette with split pearls at $7,750. A Vinaigrette is, in this case, a small receptacle of silver or gold, or sometimes porcelain, carried by ladies in the 18th and 19th centuries. Akin to jewelry, they held small sponges saturated with vinegar-based scented substances that would protect milady’s sensibilities against the foul smells of crowded city streets where sewage might run in the gutters. They also could work to ward off faintness. Many different techniques and forms were employed in their creation.

At the next day’s auction of Antiques and Decorative Arts a Chinese bidder took a bronze figure of Buddha at $16,250. And never-before-seen works of American penmanship by Zacharia Reynolds, circa 1810, were sold to bidders from around the US, each with an affidavit of provenance to confirm their age and origin as they had been held within the artist’s family for more than 100 years. Thus, the first real task of 2009 was wrapping up these highly successful auctions in the final days of 2008.

With the start of the New Year, Charles Keller, a 10-year veteran of Manion’s International Auction House, joined Dirk Soulis Auctions. Charles is an historian, a writer and a researcher with extensive background in Historical and Military material. He serves as web master for the H.G. Wells Society International and is active on the board of Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial Association. He has settled in quite nicely as a researcher and cataloger while simultaneously juggling a handful of other tasks.

February began with the recording and transport of a large museum collection from a Mid-west institution. African items from the 1920s and a Natural History collection, along with a variety of American Antiques were included in this 100-year-old museum. At auction, the top lot was a stone sculpture by Kansas artist Bessie Stough Callendar (1889-1951) selling for $10,500.

March began with a monumental three-day tag sale filled with designer clothing and handbags – the estate of a enthusiastic shopper. That month also marked the first of three antique shop dispersals to come in 2009 (a sign of the times). Gazebo Antiques, a mid-west institution of nearly 40 years closed their doors and began dispersal with Dirk Soulis Auctions on March 14th. March also marked the 18th year for the Spring version of the Kansas City Toy & Doll show, hosted by Sue and Dirk Soulis in conjunction with their Antiques and Collectibles show held near I-435 and Front Street in Kansas City, MO.

Then, March went out like a Lion when on April 4 and 5 the Wanda Allen collection was presented by Dirk Soulis Auctions. Early American Fluid Lamps, Folk Art, Stoneware, Quilts, Samplers and Antique Christmas items were offered over two days. A Scottish Sampler brought $1,200 and several Stoneware Jugs sold in the $1,500 range. Top lot was seven graduated painted Pantry Boxes for $2,300. Two more sales in April made for a total of over 1,500 lots sold at auction. On-site tag sales in March numbered three and included modern design pieces like a Raymond Loewy Molded Plastic Dresser by Doubinsky Freres, France, sold for $2,000.

In May, Soulis Estate Sales brought the Einbender estate of St. Joseph, Missouri to Kansas City and offered everything in a three-day tag sale that brought in hundreds of people familiar with this legendary family. Next, the Van De Veer tag sale was even more successful. The Soulis staff covered every inch of the snow-white carpet throughout the Van De Veer’s two-story home. Fine Art, Antiques, Jewelry and a variety of Heirlooms all sold to an anxious mob that flooded the house at opening and bought like mad. May auctions included two sales for another local legend, Greenwillow Farm Antiques of Greenwood, Missouri. Paul and Donna Wagner had been in business over 45 years and were early local pioneers of buying ‘back east’, having done so since the early 1960s. Watch for more from them in the future.

The Dirk Soulis Auctions Spring Fine Art Sale held on June 7th included a Steuben Plum Jade Bowl at $3,300, paintings by Albert Bierstadt and Clyde Aspevig both at $13,200, a Muller Cameo Glass vase for $2,150 and twenty-four pencil signed prints by Birger Sandzen that garnered from $400 to over $1,000 each. An 8 x 10-inch oil by W.R Leigh sold for $23,500 and a Tiffany Blue Favrile vase brought $2,350.

June ended with the tag sale of local collector that was so big it overflowed into the yard and driveway under tents brought in by Soulis Estate Sales. The highlight from this collection was a rare and desirable gem of a painting by Jackson Lee Nesbitt. Two different appraisers hired by the estate executor had overlooked this 9 x 12-inch work. Dirk spotted it on his first visit and pointed it out to the family. On his second visit he asked to remove the ill-fitting frame that had been nailed to the face of the egg tempera on Masonite and there behind the frame was a signature and date of ’39. It was obviously a study for the Sheffield Steel series of works that Nesbitt had produced in Kansas City during the 1930s. It later sold in Soulis’ Fall Fine Art Auction to a Massachusetts dealer for $11,000 with buyer’s premium.

In July, Soulis Estate Sales negotiated an agreement with the homes association of a private community to execute a divorce settlement tag sale there. Permission was granted after Soulis ensured they would provide traffic control and extensive signage. Being allowed to have the sale in the home saved considerable moving costs and facility rental costs. Given the majesty of the home and the affluence of the neighborhood, conducting the sale on-site also maximized sales. This and two other July sales did very well with high quality furnishings by Century, Baker and Henredon along with prints by Robert Bateman and others. Soulis Estate Sales has confirmed that offering free delivery and accepting credit cards as a payment option helps increase revenues in these south Johnson County venues.

During August there was the landmark auction of a St. Joseph, Missouri icon. Judy’s D & G Restaurant opened in the 1940s and for sixty-plus years had maintained a collection of Advertising and Memorabilia from the early 1900s on their walls. While most auctions are held in Dirk Soulis Auctions’ state of the art gallery, this sale had to be held on site due to the overwhelming amount of tradition involved. Over 400 people flooded the D & G; joined by another 200 bidders live online through wireless Internet. They came to bid on the 300-plus lots of Antique Advertising, Pre-prohibition Breweriana items and a variety of memorabilia related to St. Joseph, MO. Top lot was a tin sign from local brewer Goetz Brewing Co that sold for $4,750. A large Multi-estate Auction followed that month with a number of rarities including German bisque Bathing Beauties that topped out at $1,540.

In September, Soulis Estate Sales organized a six-day, two-session tag sale for the family of Judge John Oliver in their family home of over sixty years. Besides several thousand books, there was also a selection of Paintings, Furniture, Antiques and Collectibles. Top seller was an Italian chest circa 1775 priced at $6,500. In the second session a 4 x 5 inch painting by Aaron Pyle was next highest at $3,500. An auction of Fine Art, Contemporary Art Glass and Modern Design Furniture was conducted later that same month.

There were two more Antique shop dispersals in October. A third auction for Greenwillow Farm Antiques was followed by an on-site event for Pennington Antiques that took two very full days to complete. All this along with two on-site tag sales.

November 1st was the date of a gallery auction for Phillip Martin and Robert “Lucky” Mason. Clocks, Motorcycles and other “Mantiques” were the theme and top lot was a 1941 Indian Sport Scout motorcycle at $13,100. Later that month the second session of the Oliver estate opened to another huge crowd. In an email to the family, a neighbor reported that, “…(I’ve) never seen so many people waiting to get in....”

The Fall Kansas City Antiques and Collectibles Show on November 27th and 28th was a sell-out and saw its largest attendance in more than four years.

Soulis Estate Sales was first again when, in November, they became the first company in Kansas City (perhaps the entire country) to make use of video surveillance in their on-site tag sales. Wireless camera technology will increase security at all Soulis promotions.

On December 4th, 5th, and 6th it was deja-vu all over again as Dirk Soulis Auctions moved six truckloads of Fine Art, Antiques, Rare Collector’s Items and more into the KCI Expo Center for a second auction from one of St. Joseph Missouri’s oldest families. Exactly two years after the monumental Stuart Wyeth Campbell estate auction, Soulis was back to offer the estate of Mr. Campbell’s sister, Elizabeth Wyeth Campbell Smith in another three-day auction event. As with Mr. Campbell’s auction in 2007, it took two auctioneers in two rings running simultaneously to handle the volume of merchandise. Last time, a painting by Eugene Verboeckhoven was top lot at $41,000. This time it was an oil on canvas by Italian artist Pio Ricci at $14,000.

One more 2009 auction on the 29th of December included Rare Antiquarian Books and Fine Art along with quality Decorative Arts. Top lot was a volume on Renaissance period dance that was printed in 1600 and went to an Italian bidder at $6,600.

These are just some highlights of the services that Dirk Soulis Auctions and Soulis Estate Sales provided throughout the year of 2009. Many other clients were served in a variety of ways and we look forward to another year of pleasing customers in 2010.