Ah, ha! I do pay attention and remember details, and I do remember Gerald Roy telling me once that any textile retains the value of its purchase price for one year after the sale, assuming that it remains in the same condition as when purchased. Roy founded the program in Paducah that trains certified appraisers. The seller in question below, bought a quilt at an estate sale, and what he really wanted me to do, as I found out, was to place a monetary value on his item, something that I leave to trained (and paid) appraisers.
Within the last several days, I was contacted by a man who said that his mother had a quilt for sale on eBay that he wanted me to view. When he did not provide an auction number, I told him that I was not going to go on a hunting expedition but if he would provide the number, I’d take a look. He wanted more information and sent additional pictures.
This is what I told him:
The cheddar color present in some of the appliqué work could indicate a PA provenance. (Now, I see that he is from PA. What a coincidence!).
The edges have no separate binding, The way they are turned under makes me believe that the quilt was “cut down” from a larger piece.
The colors and designs are congruent with a mid-19th century piece, but not the overall size. There is no formal layout to the piece and does not appear to be that would be visually attractive, if displayed vertically.
The quilting lines were drawn in pencil, which are still visible, which may prove that the piece has never been washed (it doesn’t appear to have been).
The only unusual factor is the clock, set to 12:32. He wanted to know the significance of that. I told him that it could be a symbol related to the Biblical verse 2:32 that states that all who believe in Jesus will be saved. A total guess, it was as close as I could come to an explanation, unless the time has some other historical significance or personal meaning.
Then, he wanted to know the value. There was one bid on the table for $59.+ and the auction was almost due to end (had about 1 day left). The seller, mother or not, pulled the auction prematurely, and reinstituted it. The item has 10 bids, but look again, very closely. The bids are mostly one person bidding against himself/herself, driving up the price which now stands at $510, “reserve not yet met.” I mean, what idiot would keep bidding against himself, six times in a row, to drive the price up from $201. to $500.? This all smells like a dead fish to me. eBay auction # 160404680497.
Post note: Tonight, the price is up to $699. Wow! There is no accounting for taste, is there? The original auction had one bid. Now, it is reading “0″. This, in spite of a published note to the seller from an interested party who asked him to keep the auction in place and not to sell it, off-eBay, before the auction ended. Sometimes, I’d think I were senile or seeing things, except that 1) I am neither, and 2) I look for honesty in dealing with my fellow humans, and that, my friend, is a street that goes both ways.
Pat, you are far from senile.
I looked at the auction. In terms of the piece, I agree with your opinion. It looks as if it is mid-19th century. Of course, that would need closer inspection to determine that it is indeed that, and not a new recreation. I agree that it very definitely appears to be a cut down version of the original. I don’t agree that that 12:32 needs to mean anything other than what the maker wanted it to be, or what the owner wants.
As for the bid history. If someone were to look at the history, they’d see the inconsistency of the bidding. First, there that fact that all bidders have three *** between two letter (8***s). That raises a huge flag. What are the chances that four bidders have the same basic name?. Also, I can’t for the life of me figure out how 8***s has bid against himself 5-6 times. eBay’s system doesn’t allow you to bid against yourself. Like you said, there’s something very fishy about the whole deal. Personally, I think the seller is bidding on his own piece. But I’m cynical at times.
There have been a number of things about this quilt and information told to me and questions asked that have made some red flags go up. For one thing, for the auction to be relisted before it ended, which means there had to be “0″ bids, means that the 1 bid on the item had to be withdrawn. Then, when it was relisted, suddenly there was a high reserve bid in place, and within a short time, many bids from bidders who had only a track record of five total finished auctions that they had each participated in, either as buyer or seller. When I looked at this last night, the bid was around $510. and had not met reserve yet. In one fell swoop, we are up to $699. tonight. I don’t see what is so special about this quilt that it would command such a high price OR have so many contenders (four parties) clamoring over it, suddenly. The pencil marks are so thick as to look ugly, in the photos I saw. This is not a well-planned piece. Looks like a practice piece by a beginner, perhaps. The quilting does not provide an overall, even look that judges appreciate. That, too, is a mish-mosh of circles and a couple of other designs thrown in. This looks very modern to me. The fact that it is all solid fabrics makes it impossible to date, and the seller is offering NO provenance information. I agree with you, Alan, that the clock setting can be taken at face value and does not have to mean anything at all. I would be the last to raise an accusatory finger, but if something walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck. The red flags are there, in my opinion.