Press Release: Tradewinds conducts its spring all-cane auction
Peabody, Massachusetts
On May 2, 2009, Tradewinds Antiques held its semi-annual all-cane live auction at the Peabody Marriott Hotel, in Peabody, Massachusetts.  It was the thirty-fourth such event for AmericaÂ’s Premier Cane Auction House ™Â and it featured 197 carefully selected lots most of which were sold.
The leader of the sale was a rare California gold quartz cane that belonged to Congressional Representative Hotchkiss of Connecticut.  It fetched $10,350.
A scarce Remington large  dog head gun cane curio achieved $8,625, while a fine nautical with inlaid silver whales brought $6,900, as did an ivory and boxwood shogun.  An impressive “going ashore” nautical made $6,325 as did a 1692 English pique pomander, and a wonderful ivory full frog.
A great wood capped narwhal fetched $5,750 while a rare nautical with silver pique brought $5,463.
There were many other items in the $4,000, $3,000 and $2,000 levels and examples in all price ranges were sold.
The auction grossed  $234,859 and all prices quoted include a 15% buyers premium.
Tradewinds’ next event will be our mid-summer Online-Only Auction beginning on July 15, 2009
The next live auction will be October 3, 2009, at the Peabody Marriott in Peabody Mass.
Details of all events can be obtained by calling (978) 526-4085 or watching for postings on our website at www.tradewindsantiques.com.
(Note: The lots cited above were #2, #175, #95, #120, #15, #125, #160, #175, and #26.)
Boris Palatnik
Boris Palatnik – Boris Palatnik Art Studio
Boris Palatnik
It is always interesting to compare the different routes each of our spotlighted designers, artists, makers and personalities have chosen toward the world of the cane. Boris Palatnik was born in Saint Petersburg in 1950. With his Bachelor’s degree from the city’s Institute of Art in his pocket, he progressed to the Moscow Academy of Art to complete his Master’s degree in Sculpture. Palatnik then sculpted for the Artists Association of Russia becoming increasingly fascinated by and involved in miniature sculpture design.
Moving to the United States in 1989 he established his business within this specialised field. He also created cigar humidors and various desk accessories. After having participated in shows and exhibitions both inside the USA and internationally, Boris Palatnik was invited to create speciality designs for prestigious companies, organisations and enterprises such as Neiman Marcus, The Wall Street Journal, Boy Scouts of America, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and others such.
By the end of the 1990s, Palatnik had focused his energy on the design of walking sticks and canes. There is a large selection on his web site, which is well worth exploring. Interestingly, it informs the visitor that virtually all models of cane can be made as sword canes.
He works with cast metal using the wax loss technique, which enables him to devise and create sophisticated forms. As we have recently illustrated many canes featuring animals (at which Mr Palatnik is undoubtedly a master), I would like, this month, to focus on some of his handiwork with various foliage motifs.
‘Grapes’
‘Lily’
‘Frog’
‘Echo’
Somehow one feels these canes would look beautiful, at rest, inside a Charles Rennie Macintosh hallstand in a corner of the foyer of Victor Horta’s ‘Emile Tassel House’ in Brussels.
Main Ground Floor Stair Hall, The Emile Tassel House, Brussels.
Railings, ‘Maison du Peuple’
Victor, Baron Horta (1861 – 1947), the Belgium architect and designer, is often described as the most crucial Art nouveau founding architect. Indeed, The construction of his ‘Hôtel Tassel’ (1892-3), in Brussels, justifies his being credited as the first to have transposed the Art nouveau movement into architecture from the world of the decorative arts. There are many examples of his whiplash curve, which was taken up by his followers.
The railings from his ‘Maison du Peuple’, displayed at the Horta Metro station (North- South axis opened 1993) in the same city, can lead us to dream of the superlative Fabergé (Peter Carl Fabergé known as Carl Gustavovich Fabergé 1846 –1920), also a native of St Petersburg.
Fabergé Cane circa 1905.
Palatnik is modern, yet timeless with a flavour of Art nouveau in much of his portrayal of flora. His fauna is also fascinating to discover on his interesting website. Here is a sculptor – not an antique collector, an architect or a jeweller. The result is the rich diversity in the world of the cane: ours to enjoy and appreciate.
Horta: Foot of Main Stairwell, Maison du Peuple.
‘Saddle’
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