small country auction

I went to a small country antique auction yesterday. If you have never been, it's often a day long event. This particular one consisted of the contents of a few different local estates. And sometimes they have specific themes depending on the seller's interests. This auction had many books on Russia and Turkey, a collection of antique letters and books going as far back as pre-1750, as well as personal correspondence beginning in the 1930s or 40s I think. There was antique furniture, although nothing too spectacular, and regular household contents, much of it vintage and a bit worse for wear.

The oldest books were selling for over $1000. These were the big items of the auction. My favorites, though, were the three portraits at the top of the post. The auctioneer had no information on them aside from the fact that they were of a mother, father and son and date back to the early 1800s. The painting of the father was in bad shape. The three went for under $400. If I'd had it, I would have bought them.

We actually got lost on the way. I'm not familiar with the part of New Hampshire the auction was located. So we missed the preview. This is a couple hours time set up before the auction for people to look through the items and get familiar before the auction starts. During the auction you aren't supposed to look around in back where everything is stored. So I had to sneak back and take pictures on the sly. And I got some dirty looks from the runners, the people who grab items and hold them up for the audience as the bidding is going on. But I wasn't scared. I go that extra mile for you, blog punkins.

I wanted to pass along one helpful link here. This website lists upcoming auctions, and you can search your area, and most times see images of some of the items up for auction.