Ted and Jill Wiederseim.
When Ted and Jill Wiederseim started an auction business in the mid 1990s, neither of them had a lot of money. They had something better — complementary skills. Ted knew how to run an auction. Jill had a degree in interior design and was, in Ted’s words, “very good with finances and office management.” Sadly, Jill passed away several years ago, and Ted decided to close the business at the end of 2024. Antiques and The Arts Weekly spoke with Ted recently about his 30 years in the trade and how semi-retirement is going so far.
Tell us about the early days.
Jill and I were married in 1992. Her family was from South Deerfield, Mass. My family was part of old Philadelphia society family, mostly from my mother’s side, the Philadelphia Bradfords, who were the first printers of Philadelphia and friends with Benjamin Franklin. When Jill and I married we were both 38. She worked for a kitchen design firm, and I worked for a regional auction company. We weren’t making much money, and my family money had long since run out.
In 1997, I started Wiederseim Associates, a full-service auction house. We had two sales that first year, the first was in Philadelphia at a place called the “Antique Fair.” I got the lead from a friend of mine that two gentlemen were retiring to Fire Island. My friend and I were in the Army National Guard and served in a special unit called the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. He was — and still is — in commercial real estate and was selling the building where the two gentlemen resided.
The two-day sale was set for October and was loaded with lots of furniture, clocks, bronzes and chandeliers. The sale brought $300,000 plus the 10 percent buyers’ premium. We were over the moon! But how do we get all that cash out of the city safely? An old friend of mine, who is no longer with us, served as auction security by stashing the cash in his sock and secreting it back to safety. The next day, Jill commented that I made more money in two days than she made in a year. She quit her job the next day and joined me full time. We never looked back.
Jill was very good at finances, office skills and organization. Combined with my social connections, we made an exceptional team and had fun along the way. Sadly, Jill died in 2016 from breast cancer. With the help of many friends and family I carried on as best I could. In 2019, I met my now-fiancé Jean Sauer, who helped run the business until we closed in December 2024.
Where were you raised?
I was born in Philadelphia but grew up in a Nineteenth Century farmhouse in rural Chester County, in the tiny village of Birchrunville. Turns out the house was the summer home of Arthur Sussel, a well-known antiques dealer on Pine Street in Philadelphia. Richard Wright, an antiques dealer in mostly dolls, also lived in Birchrunville!
You had a 30-year record of auctioning experience. Why did you choose the field?
When I was 22, I decided to go into real estate instead of auctioneering mostly because the thought of getting up in front of people was terrifying. At the time, interest rates were upwards of 18 percent (not the best time to break into the field!). I had a few sales but found I was more interested in what was in the house than selling the house.
What’s the most expensive thing you sold?
Excluding real estate, in November 2011, I sold a piece of French Lalique glass from the estate of John Dupont of Newtown Square, Penn. Dupont was the infamous convicted murderer of his friend Dave Schultz, an American Olympic and World champion freestyle wrestler, at his estate in 1996. Many auction houses sold parts of his and his mother’s vast collection. The Lalique piece was a 1930s Renard (fox) glass radiator cap. When I first looked at the piece, I did not think it was real. There was no family history of it, no written appraisal and it was passed over by Sotheby’s. I concluded it wasn’t real and put an estimate of $100/150. Once the sale was posted, we soon realized it was genuine and was one of only six known to exist. My wife told me we had to raise the estimate. But my response was, “let’s be dumb like a fox.” The day of the sale we had six international phone bidders. It brought a whopping $204,750 with the 17 percent buyer’s premium.
I also sold a Thomas Sully portrait of Commodore James Biddle in 2006, which brought $126,500 with the buyer’s premium.
In 2012, Ted and Jill bought this Victorian “cottage” in Cape May in need of TLC. Ted’s great adventure is restoring it to its former glory. His roots in Cape May go back to 1855, on his mother’s side.
What’s the next chapter going to be?
While we’ve closed the auction business, I’ll continue to do appraisal work and am consulting with many clients as to where to find the best venues for their items to be sold.
I sold my house in Chester Springs and downsized my across-the-board collection, some of which were sold in our last sale in November, including Miss Foxie, our taxidermy fox who served as our company mascot. I bought Miss Foxie many years ago at Renninger’s in Lancaster County, Penn., with my good friend Peter Siebert, now executive director of the Independence Seaport Museum. I had to borrow $75 from well-known antiques dealer Greg Kramer to consummate the sale.
In 2012, Jill and I bought a Victorian cottage in Cape May, N.J., in need of loving. Another great adventure, we made settlement two weeks before Hurricane Sandy. As bad as that storm was, Cape May was virtually unscathed. My roots in Cape May go back to 1855 on my mother’s side. She and my grandparents are all now resting in Coldspring Cemetery in Cape May.
Now that I have a bit more time, additional restorations to the Cape May cottage begin next month, so I’ll be back and forth between Cape May and a small apartment we have in Chester Springs. In addition, I was recently asked to serve as curator and board member of the Cape May Historical Society.
Otherwise, I can still be found at www.wiederseim.com or 610-574-9010.
—W.A. Demers
