An Excellent New England Auctioneer Upgrades His Website

Thursday, January 23, 2014
       (Very cold with sunny periods)

An Excellent New England Auctioneer 

Upgrades His Website

   On many auctioneers websites, you may not see the final prices that were realized at auctions. I hardly ever add final prices because prices of items can vary for many reasons. The time of year, the year, the season, the auctioneer, the condition of the item, and so forth. However, I will sometimes register just to take "peeks" at final prices realized.  I rarely though do this.

   A few days ago, I got a press release from Rebekah Kaufmann of James D. Julia Auctioneers. They are a well-established and renowned auction company located in Fairfield, Maine (USA). Rebekah Kaufmann is the Marketing and Business Development Coordinator, Boston Area for James D. Julia Auctioneers. I'll e-mail Rebekah later today to see what her specific title is.  She also happens to be the archivist for Steiff (USA) - the famous stuffed toy bear (and other animal) company. Naturally, I heard that "Here's another new post opportunity" ring in my head, so I wrote Rebekah back. She gave me the OK, but of course being a dedicated employee, she kindly asked me to work on the James D. Julia Auctioneers post first.

   I frequently visit the Julia website because they sell very interesting and rarer toys. As well, they  have excellent photos combined with very detailed descriptions about the items going to auction, and those that have done to auction.

  When I went to visit the website after Rebekah's e-mail, I had to look to see what had changed. The website was great before the improvements, so what changes could there be to upgrade? Below is part of the press release that I received.

   What I did note right away were 2 things. The website viewing was faster, and secondly the scrolling pages of items listed at auction was larger. Photos were larger, and the type (written description) were larger. Now you could view the items and descriptions without enlarging them on your computer.

Julia’s new website features a clean, contemporary interface which elegantly reflects the organization’s core branding, values, and legacy.  An enhanced “about us” section, aptly named “Inside Julia’s,” provides an insider’s perspective on the almost 60 year background of the company, as well as an overview of the company’s founding priorities as articulated by James Julia himself more than 40 years ago.   The company’s specialty divisions - Rare Firearms; Fine Art, Asian, and Antiques; Lamp and Glass, and Advertising, Toy, and Doll - are each brought to life in an easy to navigate, image rich fashion.  The website has been optimized for speed and load times so it's now faster and easier than ever to explore current auction offerings, or review past sales, with the company’s enhanced search functionality.  Additional new website features include full specialist biographies; an expanded media area featuring updated announcements, videos, podcasts, and third-party mentions; and real-time debuts of upcoming auction highlights so enthusiasts can be the first to learn about exciting new finds for their collections.

According to Mark Ford, CEO of James D. Julia and the force behind this critical project, “I am pleased to be able to present the new Julia's website to our worldwide base of customers and colleagues.  This year-long project reflects the careful input and best thinking of many people who worked tirelessly to replicate the authentic “in person” Julia’s experience of honesty and transparency through an electronic channel - not an easy task, to say the least!  Julia’s has always strived to lead the industry in bringing constant and relevant innovation to the antiques and auctions world, and this new website - which scales seamlessly to computers, tablets, and hand held devices - is our next contribution to that charge.”*

* Courtesy of James D. Julia Auctioneers

Please click here to visit the fine website of James D. Julia Auctioneer

  When you visit the James D. Julia website, you will see that the company has 4 main divisions:

1.  Rare Firearms Division

2. Lamp & Glass Division

3. Advertising, Toy, and Doll Division

4. Fine Art, Asian & Antiques Division

  If you've been following my blog, you'' have read that for 2014, I've decided to add some non-toy items to posts, especially for new people or company discoveries. However, I also will do this for my older companies and people as well. What I find with James D. Julia, and other large auction companies is that they auction many different items and present to you excellent descriptions. The Internet has certainly changed how people can access information, and learn about things.

  My favourites at the Julia site are the travelling salemen samples that have been placed in the Advertising Toy and Doll Division. These are items scaled exact replicas of farm machinery, kitchen appliances, and even train cars! My next favourite is toys of course, and my third is the Rare Firearms Division.   

  I'm not a gun collector or own a gun, but the photography, the descriptions, and the historic timespan of items that go to auction from this division is astounding. If you wanted to learn about firearms, this is the place to go!  What is most interesting are the large-sized photos and the excellent quality of photography. I once even saw a fingerprint on one of the antique pistol barrels,and you could see the ridges from the fingerprint!

I gathered 4 different pages to make this one composite. I removed the photos of the specialist in charge of each division, and will ask Rebekah to ask her to ask the individuals if I might include their photos.

Each opening division page has 4 features as you can see:

1. Current Auctions

2. Current Highlights

3. Past Actions

4. About the Division

A Few Examples from the Firearms Division

You can see the quality photography and the detail of the photos.

Revised: 9/17/2012

Additional Information: All damascening done in 22k gold wire work in 3 distinct patterns. Bbl & backstrap decorated in complex foliate vine & scrollwork w/flowerettes; receiver and chambers area in fine foliate reticulations only; cyl in connecting circular patterns w/linear foliations. Consignor has owned this pistol since its purchase from Julia’s in 1994.

RARE CASED DAMASCENED COLT MODEL 1851 LONDON NAVY PERCUSSION REVOLVER. SN 35232. Cal. 36. Circa 1855. Usual configuration with 7-1/2″ oct bbl, pin front sight and 1-line address “COL. COLT. LONDON” with spears. Frame is marked with a small “COLT’S PATENT”. Damascened steel trigger guard & backstrap contain a 1-pc varnished walnut grip with matching SN in backstrap channel. Entire revolver including cyl, rammer & handle, wedge, hammer, trigger guard & backstrap are beautifully damascened with intricate vines and flowerettes in heavy gold and a dark brownish metal background. Screw heads are also damascened. Left side of bbl lug & cyl have British proofs. Accompanied by an orig English mahogany casing with empty brass plaque in the lid. Case is scarlet velvet lined and compartmented in bottom for the revolver, a Dixon “COLTS NAVY FLASK”, bag shaped flask, a blued steel 2-cavity bullet & ball “COLTS PATENT” mold with sprue cutter, an L-shaped nipple wrench, an all steel cleaning rod and a lacquered tin of Eley’s caps. There is also a functioning key. Most of the Colts so decorated had the work done in India for the RAJ or for the occasional British officer. This exact Colt is pictured on p 141 in “Colt Engraving” by R. L. Wilson. PROVENANCE: Ex Frank Russell Collection. CONDITION: Extremely fine, all matching. Overall retains virtually all of this fine gold damascening with the only noticeable wear on the ends of the wedge and a couple of small spots on front strap. Grip has a chipped right toe, otherwise is sound showing light edge wear and overall retains about 95% orig varnish. Mechanics are fine, strong bore with moderate pitting. Case is sound with a few light nicks & scratches and retains most of an old restored finish; interior is lightly to moderately faded with light soil in bottom and light damage from front sight & hammer spur; flask has one small dent and overall retains 70-75% orig finish; mold has numerous small nicks & dings and retains about 50% orig blue; other accessories are fine. 4-46337 JR196 (25,000-35,000)*

* Description Courtesy of Jamed D. Julia Inc.

I've only added 1 description for today's post. As you can see from the above (revised) description, there is a vast amount of detail that is presented for each item, even across the many divisions. I'm sure the company has a large room full of books and catalogues to help with the authentication and write-up of each item.

An  Example from the Lamp and Glass Division

I've reduced the sizes of the photos to fit my blogger template.
You absolutely must go to the Julia website to see details!

When I first visited the  Advertising, Toy and Doll Division , I was amazed at the vast diversity within the division. However, I have developed a great respect for doll collecting. Dolls from around the world with  the finest clothing, materials that the dolls were made from, and the hand-painted and hand-made details left me aghast!

I could have chosen anything from around the world for the final division of Fine Art, Asian & Antiques Division, but I chose a few American items.  Whenever I go to a period movie (one from the past), I always like to "feast" on the details in the movie. Many times, I might miss the story because I'm looking at the vast cornucopia of detail that is presented. Sadly, scenes most often are so short, you don't have time to see everything. I keep telling my wife that I have to start buying DVD's to examine the detail frame-by-frame in a move.

Going to the Julia website is the next best thing!

Thanks for dropping by today,

and as always, 

have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com