Most of us see baskets everyday and never question their use, origin or value.  Think about it the next time a gift arrives from the florist in a wicker or reed basket or when you gather the laundry or a bushel of apples. 

Since the dawn of time man has been weaving baskets to store necessary items such as grain, oil and even water. The basic form was usually dictated by the intended use and the materials used were available locally.  Accounts of early cultures such as the Egyptians or Native Americans make reference to the production and use of baskets.  In the Orient and in coastal areas river cane or grasses might have been used.  In America, baskets were made in the Piedmont, Mountain or Plains regions using materials such as wooden splints, animal hides and grasses. 

For this article, I’ve decided to focus on a few of the baskets found in the Mid Atlantic and Appalachian regions.  My first experience with basket making occurred when I met “Miss Mary”, a Southwest Virginia lady in her 80’s.  “Miss Mary” was an artisan who made baskets for a local crafts co-op in the 1970’s and early 80’s.  I remember her astonishment at learning that people would buy her baskets for “show” rather than using them to bring in produce from the garden.

In visiting Miss Mary I got a close-up education in all the work and skills required to turn an oak tree into a basket. Miss Mary and her nephew would go out into the forest around her home and search for white oak saplings 4” to 6” in diameter.  After carefully selecting the tree the nephew would fell it and cut off the bottom 8’ or so and remove the bark.  Then he would take a chisel and draw knife and pull strips off the tree about ½” to 1” wide, which would then be worked down into thin splints. These splints were then soaked in a creek to make them pliable so Miss Mary could weave her magic.

     
                       Figure 1                                             Figure 2                                                  Figure 2a

For those of us who collect antique baskets the biggest challenge comes when we have to decide how much “magic” is woven into our baskets or potential purchases.  The simplest system I can think of involves thinking of the basket first as an object of art.  This means we need to look at the eye appeal, form, finish, patina and age. 

Figure 1 shows a classic gizzard or buttocks basket in a dry surface with nice old patina.  Baskets like this were made in all sizes from one or more bushels down to miniatures that will fit in the palm of your hand.  The one pictured is about 2” high and 3” wide. It’s so finely woven that the photo could deceive you into thinking it was much larger.  The price for this basket could be $3,000 or more. 

Figure 2 is a basket similar to Figure 1 but this form is called a melon shape because it’s flat on the bottom.  The size on Figure 2 is 6” high x 7” wide and it has nice patina.  Figure 2A gives us another nice clue – the handle and the rim are secured by a cut nail.  This means this particular basket is from the 1870’s or earlier.  It’s my opinion that over 90% of the baskets we see in today’s market and collections were made after 1900. 

Figure 3 shows another desirable form – a hanging basket.  These were made for key storage or papers and I’ve even heard some people in the country got their mail in them.  Figure 5 shows a round basket with some unusual characteristics.  The handle is signed and dated from New Market, Virginia, April 14, 1935. When compared to the other examples this basket is not very finely woven but its patina, date, and location make it very desirable.  

                 
Figure 3                                                       Figure 5                                            Figure 11

Most advanced Americana and country furniture collectors always seek baskets with great form, patina and particularly old painted surfaces.  The most unusual basket related item I’ve ever seen is the splint bed mat shown in Figure 11.  These mats were woven to put over the ropes in 19^th and 19^th Century beds so the feather tick (mattress) wouldn’t sink down between the ropes.  As the photo shows, this item makes a great background for a wall display.  Sometimes the biggest challenge to a basket collector comes in trying to display baskets in an attractive fashion.  

Most of us set our prized baskets on tables, cupboards, and even the floor.  The good news is that most baskets were made to be used and are actually very sturdy.  As long as you don’t clean them with harsh detergents they should be good for future generations.  However, I strongly advise putting miniatures and fragile baskets in cupboards behind glass.  The basket shown in Figure 1 is worth a lot more in its perfect state than it would be with even one broken splint.  

This excerpt was written by Ken Farmer 2003

A sudden winter snowstorm in the South could not blanket the enthusiasm for a standing room only crowd at Ken Farmer’s on Saturday, February 8, 2003. Preceded by a Friday night champagne and cocktail preview, Farmer welcomed gallery regulars and out-of-town visitors to his newly expanded and renovated facility, where new sales records were established for high end merchandise along with Southern art.

Deaccessions from a Southern museum of art and an historical society meant fresh and exciting goods for dealers and collectors in the showroom, on the telephone, and from cyberspace.  Among the featured items was a Southern walnut with yellow pine Queen Anne dressing table ($55,000), a Goldsmith Chandlee (Virginia)  engraved surveyor’s compass ($11,212), a Wythe County, Virginia pie safe with tulip punched tins ($3,902), and an Arts and Crafts period oak sideboard, signed “L & JG Stickley ($3,624).  (All prices reflect a 15% buyer’s premium). 

Among the art was a J. G. Brown oil “The Dilettante”, showing an urchin fishing a broken vase from the trash ($16,100); a large bright neo-Expressionist oil on canvas by Israeli painter Menashe Kadishman ($4,600).  A colorful “Negro Dance” by Warre LeBron, cofounder of the Dixie Art Colony, sold to New York dealer Debra Force bidding for a client ($7,188).

An extra grade Wooton patent desk in walnut, and dated from 1884 ($21,850) and a 1985 Rolls-Royce Camargue Coupe ($37,353) rounded out the successful sale.

The Southern walnut dressing table, turned up by Farmer and one of his associates during an appraisal day in the Virginia mountains, proved to be an enigma to collectors and dealers of Southern furniture, and it is hoped will open new avenues of scholarship for the maker.   

The Queen Anne one over three drawer dressing table has an engaging pierced Rococo apron, Quaker drawer locks, and foliate carved knees with a suppressed claw and ball foot.  Likely a back country interpretation of cabinetmakers’ work from Williamsburg, Norfolk, or the Chowan basin, the piece has an innate charm that only a vernacular interpretation of high style furniture can offer. 

Farmer solicited assistance from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), Colonial Williamsburg, and prominent dealers, none of whom could seem to agree on the origin of the piece.  One knowledgeable collector stated emphatically that the piece was a product of Norfolk, while a dealer strongly attributed it to the Perquimans County, NC area, and another placed the attribution to a journeyman cabinetmaker from the Hay or Scott shops in Williamsburg, and perhaps produced in the Valley of Virginia.  The only known/published origin relates it to one of the founding families of Virginia. 

Some controversy arose as to the originality of the top, but Farmer and dealer Sumpter Priddy, III were one hundred per cent certain of the top’s authenticity.  When the piece came onto the block, an anticipated phone bidder dropped out, leaving the auctioneer to pass the lot, only to be resurrected and sold where another call produced the successful bidder, a prominent Eastern Virginia collector .  .

This excerpt was written by Robert K. Miller

Because of the historical significance of the items to the surrounding county, prices were expected to be strong and the crowd was wowed by some of the final bids.  Ken Farmer , taking it all in stride, calmly called the bids and interspersed a crowd-pleasing joke or story, amid a flurry of bidding.  After initial announcements, Farmer started promptly at 10 with a 24” marble bust of a woman wearing a scarf.  The final price of $715 (all prices include the 10% buyers’ premium) immediately started a buzz among those seated under the tent, while those outside jostled in closer.  Next, a hand painted, electrified Gone With the Wind style lamp brought $165, an unusual Heisey, tri-level hors d’oeuvres stand brought $330, and an English ironstone plateau ended at $770.  With the crowd’s appetite whetted, the first advertised star of the auction, a Tennessee urn-pattern punched tin Jackson Press (c. 1820-1840), cherry with poplar secondaries, crossed the block.  With turned feet and paneled sides, molded cornice over two doors with 24 lights, the two-piece cupboard sold for $16,500 sold to Asheville dealer Charlton Bradsher bidding for a client.
 

A pair of centennial style chairs, made of mahogany, with ribbon carving came in the high side of $1000 and an Empire secretary/bookcase, cherry, burl veneers, and poplar, with cathedral windowpanes ended finally at $10,725 after one determined bidder outbid four others who were still in as the piece went beyond $9,000.  The Tennessee cherry corner cupboard, c. 1800, with rope, tassel, and string inlay, and stars and corners inlaid in the panels, went for $16,500. The price of the corner cupboard was held down by it’s replaced cornice, and like most of the collection, it was refinished.  To the surprise of several in the crowd, it wasn’t the corner cupboard or the Jackson Press that was the high price item of the day.  A Regency Revival Tester Bed, of mahogany and veneers, standing over 8 feet tall, brought serious interest from three very determined bidders.  These three, a local collector, a family member, and a collector just outside the region who wanted it for her personal collection, took the bed to a final price of  $20,900, and it stayed in the family.  After the sale this reported spoke with this relative who identified himself as Mr. William Ivy Long.  Mr. Long said he was a distant relation and has come down from New York City to attend the auction.

By this time, slightly over an hour into the sale, the crowd was used to the high numbers and seemed unabashed at spending fewer dollars for smalls and collectibles.  A green glass demi john stopped at $192; an authentic betty lamp, though covered with grime from years in an outside shed brought $38; a small bisque doll and a pair of larger baby leather shoes, with the soles in nearly unwalked on condition, reached $77; boxes of pressed glass ranged from $16 to $150; WWI and Korean War era naval uniforms went for $70 to $130; and several pieces of Victorian clothing with black beading, ranged from $10 to $130 a piece.  A four-piece celluloid dresser set ended at $66.  A 92-piece set of Moss Rose china went for $330.  Pressed glass oil lamps averaged $22 to $38; and an unusual small round metal mousetrap was snatched up for $11.  The Farmer auction crew did an amazing job of spotting bids, since every lot seemed to have at least some popularity among several bidders throughout the tent and outside, some even bidding while putting mustard on their hot dog at the food tent.  As a local older gentleman, dressed nattily in a gray suit, remarked to me, “I’ve been to auctions all my life and this may be the best run outfit I’ve ever seen.”  

A Victorian Rococo Revival over the mantle mirror finished at $1430, and other mirrors, most in pine, walnut, or cherry frames, brought $55 to $330.  A cherry drop leaf table, with boldly turned legs, reached $2200; a walnut country wardrobe from the mid-nineteenth century ended up at $930; an American Empire mahogany sewing stand, with three nicely defined paw feet, went home for $1210; and a country Sheraton one-drawer stand, walnut with a four-board top, was hammered down for $605.  Some seemed surprised that a walnut grandfather clock with a Litchfield face and works sold for $6,600.  According to Farmer, it was quite common for East Tennessee clock makers to construct their cases locally and order the works and faces from New England or Germany .  The clock purchaser stated that he paid more than he expected, but that this purchase ended his 20 year search for an East Tennessee tall clock.  A country walnut candlestand, with legs mortised in the post and in need of refinishing went for $220.  A walnut pump organ, many were careful not to scratch their nose during this piece, still went for $660 to a least one person happy to get it. 

Art, too, was popular among bidders and several oil paintings, done just before the turn of the century, some signed by local artists, went to new homes, including one where a woman was frantically coaxing permission to bid out of a cell phone.  An oil on canvas of sheep parading in line down a stormy sea coast brought $220.  An OOC of girl in a boat, from the 1890s, also went for $220.  A small OOB of a dark seascape stopped at $66.  An oil of violets, not quite a yard, brought $385, and an OOC of descendent Elizabeth Carter went for $1100.  A charcoal study of a lady, approx. 2 x 3 feet brought $88, and a large Victorian engraving of mother and child in a plain oak frame reached $385. 
.

This excerpt was written by Steve Culver

Painted by Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A. (1830-96), was recently discovered by Ken Farmer in the collection of Mildred H. Boink. The painting was in the possession of the Boink family for over 20 years.

The Boinks originally purchased the Leighton for $400 from the widow of a local industrialist, who collected art in the 60s. Originally, the family members mistakenly believed the oil to be signed by an artist named "Bart." Soon, after extensive research and verification, the painting was discovered to be a lost Frederic Leighton painting, once exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition of 1897.

The painting went on to be sold over the Internet with Sothebys.com on Nov. 29, 2001. It became the most expensive canvas ever sold on online for a bidding record of $550,700. Double mid estimates…

This remarkable object, a rare alkaline-glazed stoneware figural jug made by John Lehman in Randolph County, Ala., circa 1870, was offered for sale by Ken Farmer Auctions on sothebys.com last month. 

John Frederick Lehman - born about 1825 in Germany and arriving in the United States during the 1850s - is responsible for two of the most impressive ceramic figural vessels produced by European- American potters during the 19th century, This is one of them, the other example that is virtually identical except for a more elaborate costume, is in the collection of the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.  Both are impressed on both lapels J.LEHMAN within a circle and around a star.

The jug was discovered at the Antiques Roadshow in Miami last year.  In remarkable condition, with just a few chips and minor hairline cracks, it created plenty of interest before bidding closed on Feb. 21 at $72,500 ($80,500 including buyer's premium).  

.

This excerpt was taken from an article in the March 11, 2002 Eastern edition of Antique Week, Vol 34. Issue 1711

Instead, art and antique enthusiast’s sipped red wine, ate shrimp and quiche, and enjoyed what Ken Farmer calls 'the best-kept secret in Southwest Virginia." 

Farmer, an appraiser and auctioneer, runs one of the few international online auction houses in the Mid-Atlantic and the only one in Western Virginia. Farmer, who holds Sotheby's-affiliated auctions several times a year, had his latest showing Sunday. The items included a 140-year-old Alabama figural jug that sat by itself in a glass case. The minimum bid - $50,000. 

Last November, Farmer sold a painting for $560,000 - an online record for such a sale. Farmer found "The Sisters Hodgson," painted by Lord Frederick Leighton, while assessing an estate in the Midwest, and his research unveiled the painting's value, which had eluded the experts from Sotheby's and Christie's. 

"Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then," he said with a laugh. The estate had made a contractual agreement to take a $ 10,000 minimum.
 

This article was taken from the February 18, 2002 edition of The Roanoke Times Virginia Section

Whether the job is to auction land, estates or antiques, Jim Woltz and Ken Farmer are sold on the idea of working together.

They met 25 years ago while playing bluegrass music. Woltz played banjo while Farmer played guitar. Both have recorded albums and still play in their spare time.

Now, the owners of Woltz & Associates Inc., of Roanoke, and Ken Farmer Auctions, of Radford, plan to do business together. They will jointly market their companies by acknowledging one another in their brochures and by providing links to each other's Web sites.

Woltz & Associates primarily sells large tracts of land, estates and commercial properties while Farmer, who also sells real estate and land, specializes in antique auctions. Farmer will help Woltz if there is a large personal property sale and Woltz will help Farmer if his company receives a multi-parcel sale, the companies said.

"Because of the changing markets, regulations and an ever-expanding base of product knowledge, all auctioneers are challenged to work within their areas of expertise and seek partnerships with qualified firms when clients needs services that require a different specialization," Farmer said.

Both companies have established a name for themselves

Farmer, a licensed real estate broker since 1985, has been a regular appraiser on PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" since 1997. He also has appeared as a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show to discuss antiques. His company's sales were about $2.3 million last year.

www.woltz.com

Both men know the value of technology

Woltz & Associates has the capacity to do live online bidding. It is the only Virginia company with the rights to a computerized, multi-parcel bidding process, the company said.

The online process, implemented in April 1999, "keeps everybody in the game," said David Brammer, auction coordinator at Woltz & Associates.  "It's good for a small-tract bidder who is bidding against a large developer."

Traditionally a stretch of land, a tract, is divided into smaller tracts. These individual tracts are bid on, then bids on a combination or grouping of the smaller tracts are accepted. Once a higher bid is received on a combination of tracts, individual bidders are unable to bid higher on their desired tract.

The online system allows bidding to continue on a single plot of land, even after several plots have been grouped together for sale. When the bidding ends, the combination with the highest dollar amount is sold.  Woltz said the multiparcel process has increased sales revenue by 50 percent.

Farmer conducts his auctions in a 12,000-square-foot auction center in Radford and online through Sotheby's Web site. The gallery is complete with video display of auctions in progress and 12 phone lines connecting absentee bidders to the sales.

Woltz and Farmer are members of the National Auctioneers Association and The Certified Auctioneers Institute and Woltz belongs to the National Association of Realtors.

This article was taken from the July 26, 2000 edition of The Roanoke Times Business Section

RADFORD - Sure, it's a paper star held up with tape, but Farmer's brush with fame was pretty brief, after all. The owner of Ken Farmer Auctions & Estates spent half of last weekend in Chicago taping an episode of "Oprah.”  in a segment that's a takeoff on the popular " Antiques Roadshow" program.  The episode broadcasted Monday February 14th on (Channel 13) at  5 p.m.

Farmer has already achieved a sort of notoriety in antiques circles through his regular appearances on the PBS television program “ Antiques Roadshow” over the past four years.  But, Farmer said, Oprah reaches a different audience entirely.  People usually respond with polite nods- when they recognize the name of the PBS show, Oprah fans generally are more energetic.  “Oprah Winfrey?!” he shouted in imitation “They're freaking out.”

Winfrey's show about lost treasures tapped into the antiques expertise of Farmer and three other appraisers.  Many audience members brought what they hoped were under appreciated treasures for the experts to assess.  “You find something your grandmother gave you or you bought at a yard sale for $2 and it's worth $50,000, that's what everybody's hoping for," he said.

One person brought in a guitar bought for $200 at a pawn shop. Farmer recognized it as a rare 1950s electric guitar worth $8,000. Another person brought a collection of intricate wood carvings, including a walking cane with an elephant head and mice crawling up the shaft. Farmer valued that collection at $8,000 as well.  Farmer said such tales of found treasures are fairly common and on the rise.  “I think there's a renaissance of interest in antiques going on,” he said.

Winfrey spared no expense for her expert guest.  Farmer was treated to limousine service, a- deluxe hotel suite and fine dining.“It was primo,” he said.  Farmer got to shake hands with the queen of daytime talk, but that was about it.  He didn't even come away with a photo of her.  “They wouldn't even let you bring your camera in the building,“ he said.  "Her image is sacred.”  Neither was there any backstage schmoozing.  "She doesn’t do that.  She's the star."

His favorite part of the trip, posh suite notwithstanding, was the intense, genuine reaction people had when they learned the actual value of their antiques.  “One lady cried, one lady was jumping up and down, just having a duck she was so excited,” he said.

Farmer's love for antiques grew out of pride in his home region and its crafts, from carvings to mountain instruments.  “Part of it was my love for the music of the Southern Appalachian region," he said.  “[It] gave me a strong sense of pride of being a Southern Appalachian.”  In his 20 years in the business, Farmer's expertise has moved well beyond Appalachian treasures.  The breadth of his knowledge was one the reasons he was chosen for the 'Oprah' episode.

Farmer will appear again on " Antiques Roadshow" - the most popular show on PBS - several times this year.  It is broadcast Mondays at 8 pm .  He will also appraise items at the Art Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $5 an item.  He's busy and in demand, but Farmer said it hasn't gone to his head.  "I’m no superstar - got my 15 seconds of fame,” he said.

This article was taken from the February 12, 2000 edition of The Roanoke Times Current Section

Shearer has everything you could wish for in a regional furniture maker. His high-style case pieces are well executed and idiosyncratic enough to be easily recognizable. Williamsburg curator Jonathan Prown, who with Ron Hurst is preparing a new book on Southern Furniture; the Colonial Williamsburg Collection, 1680-1830, explains: "We have to be careful not to judge Shearer by eastern urban standards, because he was working in a different region, so his whole stylistic and structural vocabulary was guided by a different set of rules than in a place like London, New York or even Norfolk, Va. He was clearly a pretty flamboyant character, but I object to characterizations of him as being rather bizarre. You have to keep in mind the context he is working in: he's on the frontier. He's out there in the valley of Virginia where there were all sorts of people and influences."

Some of this flamboyance can be deduced from the evidence Shearer abundantly provided on his own pieces. One of his masterpieces, a desk and bookcase in the MESDA collection, is signed no less than 20 times. The same piece of furniture also yields the date he made each part - 1801 for the desk, 1806 for the bookcase - and the fact that it was executed at Martinsburgh. Furthermore, he supplies several biographical tidbits, which are repeated on other Shearer pieces: the statement that he came from Edinburgh in 1775; and, through the sentiment "God Save the King," that he was a confirmed Tory sympathizer long after the Revolutions. Why he came to this continent in those turbulent years and why he remained after the Colonists' victory over the Crown are intriguing questions.

Southern furniture expert John Bivins, who co-authored MESDA"s catalogue The Regional Arts of the Early South with Forsyth Alexander, emphasizes the Scottish influence in Shearer's work: "It seems evident that the cabinetmaker was trained in Scotland because of the great number of Scottish stylistic details he uses, which are really not disseminated around the lower valley in Virginia. If you compare it with Edinburgh work, Shearer's furniture is loaded with and eclectic blend of Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical elements with a heavy emphasis on architectural detail, which you also see on Scottish tall case clocks."

Given the hard facts Shearer placed on his own pieces and the stylistic evidence, this Southern cabinetmaker might seem an easy biographical subject. But previous efforts to firmly identify him with a documented local resident of Martinsburgh are now in jeopardy. The classic work on the artisan is a May 1979 article by John J. Snyder Jr., "John Shearer, Joiner of Martinsburgh" in volume V of the Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts. Snyder discussed the seven examples of his work known at that time and connected the maker with a John Shearer born in 1765 who filed a will in Washington County, Md., in early 1810 and died shortly thereafter. This John Shearer's family were Scots immigrants and many facts are known about relatives, marriages, and children, but there is no mention of his trade or listing of any cabinetmaking tools in the will.

This identification, further more, presents two problems at either end of Shearer's life. Snyder assumed that, since the boy John would have come from Scotland at the age of 10 (relying on the Shearer's own furniture inscriptions that he came from Edinburgh in 1775), he must have trained under a local cabinetmaker in Virginia. Even if that master was himself Scots, questions can be raised about whether this training would account for Shearer's unusual style, or should researchers look for another Shearer who was fully trained before he came from Scotland? There seems to be no body of similar work in the Martinsburgh area to suggest a regional school of Scottish influenced cabinetmakers.

A greater problem has arisen from the recent emergence of the slant front desk illustrated, which will soon be auctioned by Ken Farmer. The walnut desk, which came out of a Midwestern private collection, is sighed 11 times, has a miniature-inlaid bust resembling King George III, and mentions the name of the patron. Alfred Belt, who ordered the piece, another fact Shearer often included in this inscriptions. Within a secret compartment, the desk also contained a document written by Shearer, which refers to Belt. As far as stylistic considerations are concerned, Bivens, who has examined the piece, says: "It falls right in the mainstream of Shearer's work; it has all the bells and whistles you would expect." The dates written on this desk, however, are 1816 and 1817, long after the John Shearer identified by Snyder is supposed to have died.

As Jonathan Prown points out, "When you get into the records, there are a whole heck of a lot of John Shearer's in that area. It may be that we have not pinned down the right person." All this attention now directed on Shearer's work by the auction in Radford - the lot's estimate is a healthy $75,000-$150,000 - should lead to more research on a new identification which would accommodate a lifespan extending to 1817. Another John Shearer, perhaps even a relative of the 1765-1810 candidate found by Snyder, may be discovered along with firm records of his trade. Known pieces now number around two dozen and other examples from the earlier and later stages of Shearer's career may yet turn up. History may lie in the past, but our complete knowledge of history always belongs to the future.

This article was taken from the May 1996 issue of Antique Review