>> on the cover

Michigan's economic woes make great picking for shoppers
and good business for Jewish sale professionals.

Debra Darvick I Special to the Jewish News

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

business for more than three decades. He
is not surprised at the statistic reflecting
Michigan's prominence in the estate sale
arena.
"Detroit is a mecca;' Adelson says. "It's
because of all the wealth deposited here
in the heyday of the auto companies.
Everyone came to Detroit for jobs and, as
a result, companies followed: furniture
companies like Knoll and Herman Miller,
designers who came to Cranbrook, any-
thing related to the auto industry, such as
hotels and restaurants. And now, all the
people who made a lot of money in those
days, traveled all over Europe and brought
back artwork and antiques are downsiz-
ing or they've died. Some serious wealth is
being liquidated."
Robin Cohen of Bloomfield Hills,
who runs AOM Estate Sales, agrees with
Adelson's analysis.
"Detroit is coming back:' she says.
"Houses are selling quickly, and a lot of
affluent people are downsizing. They may
have second homes and can't take, or don't
want, the items in their primary home.
There's a lot of wonderful inventory avail-
able."
Also driving the surge in estate sales is
a renewed appreciation for vintage (read
mid-20th century, all you baby boomers!)
furniture, and the desire to buy American,

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8

August 23 • 2012

and even more specif-
of Estate Sales by
ically, to buy furniture
Iris, who could easily
made in Michigan.
be called the grand
At a recent Antiques
dame of estate sales,
on Main sale, a 1950s
also has seen the
shift in interest from
day bed designed by
Mies van de Rohe for
English and French
furniture 30-40 years
Knoll found a new
home with someone
ago to today's prefer-
who realized that at
ence for mid-century
furnishings.
$4,000, the daybed
was a dream come
"What I love most:'
says Kaufman, "is
true. A quick look on
the Internet found
the academic part of
this business. Even
a similar piece for
$6,500. Before ship-
though I've been
doing this for 50
ping.
Annette Reich of
years, I'm still learn-
ing; there is always
Birmingham and
Susan Hass of Beverly
something that I've
never seen. It has
Hills, co-owners of
Marlene Rosenberg's angel sculpture
Artful Solutions, also was an estate sale find.
to be looked up,
have noticed this
and not necessar-
affinity for a made-
ily on the Internet.
in-Michigan label.
Once I discovered
"Young people don't want starter fur-
two Rembrandt etchings in a house that
niture," Reich says. "They appreciate the
had absolutely no other art. They were
craftsmanship of these pieces, the hand
in junky frames and I thought they were
carving, the design. It's in vogue to buy
reproductions, but they weren't. I told the
great-quality used furniture; and we have
owners to keep them, that as time went on
people calling us every week asking if
they would increase in value."
we have furniture made in Michigan, in
The Rembrandt etchings aside,
Grand Rapids in the 1920s or later."
Kaufman has sold her share of stunners
Iris Kaufman of West Bloomfield, owner over the years, including a 19th-century

Above: Andy Adelson of Everything

Goes Estate Liquidations Inc. works

with a client before a recent sale.

sterling silver humidor from the estate
of John DeLorean and Mary Woolworth
Donohugh's alligator skin traveling trunks
made by Louis Vuitton. Her best find cen-
ters around a "Jewish candlestick" brought
to her by a silver dealer who didn't know
what he had and just wanted to unload it.
Kaufman's late husband, Arnold, was
on Temple Beth El's board at the time and
worked with the rabbi to identify a con-
gregant who agreed to purchase the hand-
wrought menorah for the synagogue's
collection. Appraised by Sotheby's Judaica
expert, the "Jewish candlestick" turned out
to be a 19th-century sterling silver meno-
rah from France.
"Their representative said it had to
have come from a family such as the
Rothschilds or from the Grand Synagogue
of Pane says Kaufman.

Judaica At Estate Sales
It is not uncommon to find Judaica at
estate sales, and many who run the sales
have the number of Rabbi Eleazer Cohen
of Oak Park on speed dial. He often is
called at the close of a sale to purchase
prayer books or other ritual items that

