Skinner
American auction house Skinner was founded in 1962 by Robert W Skinner – an engineer with a passion for antiques. For 45 years it was run by partners Karen Keane and Stephen Fletcher (who was Skinner’s first employee), before the firm was sold to Bonhams in 2022.
In addition to its flagship Boston saleroom, Skinner also operates from Marlborough, Massachusetts; Coral Gables, Florida and New York City.
Skinner holds regular sales across the year in more than 20 collecting areas, including categories such as fine art, American, Indian and ethnographic art, antique dolls, Judaica, textiles & couture and musical instruments.
Boston outshines New York with $22m vase
22 September 2014The US staged a raft of dedicated Asian auctions in New York salerooms and beyond last week. Top lot as ATG went to press was this 2ft 10½in (88cm) high fencai vase from the Qianlong period with a six-character turquoise Qianlong mark to the base when it sold for $22m (£14.2m) hammer at Skinner (23/20/12% buyer’s premium) in Boston on September 17.
Jensen jewellery shines in Boston
18 September 2014This silver and labradorite floral necklace designed by Georg Jensen c.1915 sold for $17,000 (£10,970) at a recent auction held by Skinner of Boston.
London-made lathe takes $190,000 in Massachusetts
10 January 2013A rare Holtzapffel & Company rose engine lathe turned a few heads at Skinner’s recent Science, Technology and Clocks sale to take $190,000 (£124,185) as the top lot of the day.
The high art of the weathervane
30 August 2012Weathervanes have always been at the pinnacle of aspirations for collectors of American folk art.
Skinner launch online-only fixed-time auction platform
16 April 2012LEADING US regional saleroom Skinner are to launch an online-only auction platform.
Turning lathe at $55,000 in US sale
15 August 2011THIS Holtzapffel & Deyerlein ornamental turning lathe made in London c.1827 came up for sale at Skinner in Marlborough, Massachusetts in a Science, Technology and Clocks sale.
The $80,000 Italian Boston tea party
17 January 2011ESTIMATED at $20,000-30,000, this Vezzi porcelain octagonal teapot and cover attracted great interest among European buyers at the latest sale held by Skinner in Boston.
Frog service remnant jumps to $46,000
17 August 2009THE so-called Frog Service made by Wedgwood for Catherine the Great was one of the most prestigious creations by the Staffordshire entrepreneur and one that helped forge his international reputation.
Evidence that Avarice pays
08 May 2009THE deadly sin of avarice was the theme of this large 16th century Flemish tapestry, but the warning failed to temper the desire of bidders when it came up at Skinner's most recent sale of European furniture and decorative arts in Boston in the USA on April 11.
Tiffany and Walters prove key links in the $350,000 chain
23 March 2009AN impressive example of Renaissance revivalism seen at Boston-based auction house Skinner on March 17 combined blue chip-names in both provenance and maker.
Ex-employee charged with stealing from Skinner
13 January 2009A former long-term employee of New England auctioneers Skinner has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly stealing over $724,000 worth of cash and auctioned property.
The $180,000 Beardsley that hung in a Boston bathroom
24 November 2008FOUND hanging in a Boston bathroom, the whereabouts of this Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) illustration had been a mystery for more than 80 years. Entitled The Climax, and hanging in the lavatory alongside another Beardsley pen-and-ink drawing called A Platonic Lament, the owners had no idea of its significance.
Skinner announce Marlborough move
26 August 2008East Coast auctioneer Skinner are to move their suburban headquarters from Bolton to Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Bottoms up in Boston
03 September 2007Following Christie’s decision to hold liquor sales in New York, Boston auctioneer Skinner is to launch a wine department.
Estimate knocked into an $85,000 official’s hat
29 September 2004HIGH spot of the Asian works of art section of Skinners’ July 17 sale in Boston was an $85,000 (£49,945) bid on a pair of 16th/17th century, cane-seated hardwood ‘Official’s Hat’ chairs from the collection of Professor James Hightower. In a post-sale announcement, Skinners Asian specialist described them as “quintessential examples... and undoubtedly the finest pair of hat chairs to have come on the market in decades”.
Boston dinner party
09 September 2004THE biggest surprise in the July 17 sale held by Skinners of Boston was provided by a pair of Chinese chairs, but the pair of 3 7/8in (10cm) high, Wedgwood & Bentley blue jasper portrait medallions of c.1779 right, depicting William Penn & Benjamin Franklin, also did well.
American Impressionists in Paris
16 June 2004TWO of the more successful lots from a May 14 sale of American and European pictures held in Boston by Skinners are seen here.
Review and Preview
29 October 2003Walking may be an unfashionably slow mode of transport in today’s time-pressured world, but lengthy periods spent on foot in past centuries were made more pleasurable by a vast array of walking aids. This material is now seriously collected and a cluster of cane collections have appeared on the market of late.
Barbies in aspic…
03 September 2002Setting new standards of perfection in a condition-conscious toy marketplace at Skinner’s of Boston Massachusetts on July 20 was an unopened 1962 Mattel shipping carton containing 12 New Fashion Queen Barbies.
Tiffany and Tiffany style
26 July 2002USA: THREE pieces of Tiffany art glass and a Tiffany-type lamp from the Handel factory – sold by Doyles of New York on June 5 and by Skinners of Boston on June 22 – are featured here.
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