The card table Claire Wiegand-Beckmann bought for $25 proved to be a good investment. The table, an 18th-century gem, was sold at Sotheby's yesterday for $541,500.
''I'm flying,'' Ms. Wiegand-Beckmann, 71, said after Sotheby's annual Important Americana furniture and folk art sale.
The retired teacher bought the table more than 30 years ago at a garage sale and displayed it in her home in Bergen County, N.J. ''I've always been a garage-sale enthusiast, but I never expected to get this much for anything,'' she said.
Israel Sack Inc., a New York dealer of fine American antiques, bought the table, which was one of six made by the Boston furniture maker John Seymour & Son. The meticulously constructed table has its original finish and is considered to be in good condition.
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Ms. Wiegand-Beckmann did not have the only impressive return on an investment. A painting that Wanda Bell, a Nashville antique collector, had originally purchased for $25 was sold for $79,500 to a Connecticut antiques dealer, Wayne Pratt. The painting was believed to be one of the best-preserved examples of the New England artist Sheldon Peck's early works. The painting, ''Portrait of a Dark-Haired, Blue-Eyed Gentleman,'' dates from about 1830. Peck is best known for his folk art portraits of Illinois residents.
GreenStrong on August 14th, 2017 at 19:58 UTC »
I'm glad the headline included the fact that her name was Claire. Imagine if someone named Kelly or Emily got hold of that table.
OsStrohsAndBohs on August 14th, 2017 at 18:57 UTC »
Why did you put, random commas, in the middle of the first sentence?
CrimsonPig on August 14th, 2017 at 18:39 UTC »
If I were the person she bought it from in this scenario, I'd hope to never hear about this for the sake of my own sanity.