For collectors who want to buy and sell in privacy, Van Tassel Baumann hosts an annual Collectors Sale. The rules are simple: no prices or photographs of individual objects are published before or after the event. This year the event ran on April 27′9 during the Philadelphia Antiques Show weekend.
“Many sellers want more anonymity and greater protection than auctions typically provide,” said Don Baumann, who, with his partner, Ruth Van Tassel, specializes in antique American furniture, decorative arts and needlework. The Chester County-based couple is especially known for the arts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey along with Quaker art and artifacts.
This year’s highlights included a pristine Quaker band sampler of 1809, a Westtown School marking sampler and rare watercolor view of the Westtown School building as it appeared in 1810; Moravian needlework; Philadelphia Queen Anne chairs; and a Salem Township, N.J., birth record.
“Attendance was excellent but not everything sold, so check our website,” Van Tassel told Antiques and The Arts Weekly . For information, www.vantasselbaumann.com or 610-647-3339.
