The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike,
302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Fine Arts Co. of Philadelphia,
Inc.
Title: Publicity books and auction
catalogs
Dates: 1978-1997
Call No.:
Acc. No.: 08x49; 09x130
Quantity: 4 boxes
Location: 14 B 4, and map case 3,
drawer 3
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Fine Arts Co. of Philadelphia, Inc. was an auction house
and an estate appraisal firm, specializing in art and antiques. Fine Arts Co. was founded in 1976 by James
(Jim) Buckley and John Frisk as an estate and insurance appraisal firm; the
company held its first auction in 1978. Alexis (Lex) Manice became president of the
company in 1981, while James Buckley continued as vice president and senior
auctioneer. Another auctioneer was Robin
Roden Manice, who had begun as a receptionist for the company. In 1988, Fine Arts Co. merged with Samuel T. Freeman
& Co., a long-established auction house in
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The
collection includes publicity notebooks, auction catalogs, and a copy of the
book Vendue Masters, which is about
the Freeman auction house and mentions Fine Arts Co. The publicity notebooks contain newspaper and
magazine advertisements for auctions being conducted by Fine Arts Co.,
newspaper articles about the auctions, advertising cards, fliers, and a few
photographs pertaining to Fine Arts Co. and its activities. Included are two photographs of Alice Paul (an
early feminist), some of whose papers were auctioned by the company in 1987. Catalogs were produced for some auctions, and
many of those catalogs are part of the collection.
ORGANIZATION
Both publicity notebooks and catalogs are in
chronological order.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Both accessions: Gift of James Buckley.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Paul,
Topics:
Appraisers.
Auctioneers
–
Auctions
–
Auctions – Catalogs.
Additional authors:
Arkell,
Roland. Vendue masters.
Freeman\Fine Arts of Philadelphia, Inc.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 14 B
4; map case 3, drawer 3
Folder 1: Publicity
notebook, 1980-1981
Folder 2: Publicity
notebook, 1982
Folder 3: Publicity
notebook, 1983
Folder 4: Publicity
notebook, 1984
Folder 5: Publicity
notebook, 1985
Folder 1: Publicity
notebook, 1986
Folder 2: Publicity
notebook, 1987
Folder 3: Publicity
notebook, 1988
Folder 4: Auction
catalogs, 1978
Folder 5: Auction
catalogs, 1980
Folder 1: Auction
catalogs, 1981
Folder 2: Auction
catalogs, 1982
(see also
Folder 3: Auction
catalogs, 1983-1984
(see also
Folder 4: Auction
catalogs, 1985
Folder 5: Auction
catalogs, 1986
Folder 6: Auction
catalogs, 1987
Folder 1: Auction
catalogs, 1988 (Fine Arts and Freeman\Fine Arts) (acc. 09x130)
Folder 2: Auction
catalogs, 1989 (Freeman\Fine Arts) (acc. 09x130)
Folder 3: Auction
catalogs, 1990 (Freeman\Fine Arts) (acc. 09x130)
Folder 4: Auction
catalogs, 1991 (Freeman\Fine Arts) (acc. 09x130)
Folder 5: Auction
catalogs, 1992-1993 (Freeman\Fine Arts) (acc. 09x130)
Folder 1: Auction
catalogs, 1994, 1997 (Freeman\Fine Arts) (acc. 09x130)
Folder 2: Auction
catalogs, 1982-1983 (oversize)
Folder 3: Vendue
Masters: Tales from within the Walls of
Oversize folder in map case:
3 photos of
“Windy Way Farms,” the estate of Nina C. Mackall,