Maine Antique Digest March 2015

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38-E Maine Antique Digest, March 2015
The fear of being robbed of one’s
inventory may lurk in the back of the
minds of dealers who travel to shows.
That fear became a reality for Maxine Wolff
Shapiro when she and her husband, David,
woke up on the morning of January 12 to
find that the trailer carrying their complete
inventory of jewelry was no longer attached
to their van.
Shapiro recounted the story in an e-mail:
“We had just finished a show at the Dulles
Expo Center called The DC Big Flea
Antique Market. We were too tired to drive
home, so went back to our hotel, the Marri-
ott Residence Inn in Chantilly, Virginia, at
approximately 7:30 p.m. We had the trailer
locked and attached to our van with a lock.
When we went outside the next morning
at approximately 10:00 a.m., we found the
trailer had been stolen.”
Upon the discovery of the theft, Shapiro
called the police, who filed a report. As we
have heard before, theft of property is not
high on the priority list for police forces,
who must first contend with violent crime
and the like. There were no video cameras
in the parking lot at the Marriott.
When I spoke with Shapiro in a tele-
phone interview on January 19, she said, “I
do shows from Brimfield, Massachusetts,
down to Florida and out to Las Vegas. For
those big shows that are far away, I send
everything by Dunbar or Brinks. But this
was a small show, and we were going from
one show to another, so I took it myself,
which was a terrible mistake.”
Shapiro e-mailed later that day and
reported that their Wells Cargo trailer was
found and had been taken to police head-
quarters for fingerprinting. She wrote again
on Wednesday, January 21, saying that the
thieves had “left some jewelry—mostly the
lower-end items—not a lot of it,” and that
they “definitely sorted through it all!” It
was obvious to her that the criminals knew
exactly what they were looking for.
It wasn’t just jewelry that was stolen.
“They took nine jewelry showcases. They
took everything from tablecloths to porta-
ble walls. Every piece of electrical equip-
ment, lighting…it was as if someone drove
up to a retail jewelry store, put wheels on it
and drove away!”
Shapiro’s laptop computer, her personal
suitcase with clothing and jewelry, her
Go-Go scooter, and a security camera sys-
tem were also among the missing items.
The merchandise consisted of approx-
imately 600 to 800 pieces of jewelry.
Shapiro said they were in the process of put-
ting together an inventory for their insur-
ance carrier and could only estimate that
the value of the merchandise was approx-
imately “$400,000-plus…we had insur-
ance—but sadly, you never have enough.”
Shapiro has built a business that expands
beyond the retail and wholesale markets.
“Besides selling this jewelry retail, I also
had developed a bit of an expertise” in leas-
ing some rare and unusual pieces to the film
and television industry. She said, “Remem-
ber the movie Lincoln? They filmed that
in Richmond. And I was lucky enough to
have an exclusive on all the jewelry in that
movie. I rented them most of the jewelry,
and sold a lot of the jewelry to the people
[in the movie]. The only thing that was
not mine was the pearl necklace that Sally
Fields wears the whole time, and that was
an exact copy of the one that’s in the Smith-
sonian. Hal Holbrook bought a ring from
us.”
She also rented jewelry for use in Amer-
ican Horror Story, season three. “I’ve got
pictures of Kathy Bates wearing some of
my earrings, and she bought a ring.”
Shapiro noted that even though it’s been
difficult to bounce back after this experi-
ence, she has something positive to report.
“The silver lining in all this is, when you
think of the inhumanity of someone doing
this—basically stealing your life...the
humanity in it is, the people who have
called—other dealers that I don’t even
know that well, calling and emailing, ‘What
can I do for you? Can I help you?’” She is
humbled by the outpouring of support and
offers of help.
Anyone with information about the theft
more than willing to offer a reward for any
information leading to the arrest or finding
of my merchandise.” The case number in
Fairfax County, Virginia, is 20150120080.
Detective Chad Ellis is handling this mat-
A Cautionary Tale for Jewelry Dealers Who Sell at Shows
Maxine Wolff Shapiro’s display during the Baltimore Summer Antiques
Show, held in Baltimore, Maryland, inAugust 2014. The display cases and
lighting were among the items stolen in Chantilly, Virginia, on the night of
January 11 or early morning January 12. Maxine Wolff Shapiro Antiques
& Estate Jewelry photo.
Shapiro said this circa
1880 14k gold diamond
convertible ring-bracelet
with a diamond center is
very rare. In the 25 years
she has been in business,
she has seen only one
other. It was valued at
$2500. Maxine Wolff Sha-
piro Antiques & Estate
Jewelry photos.
This pair of earrings (one shown) was repurposed by Sha-
piro from an antique Art Deco platinum and diamond
watch that was cut in half. She added the large citrine
to complete the design. The one-of-a-kind pair of ear-
rings would sell for about $3500. Maxine Wolff Shapiro
Antiques & Estate Jewelry photo.
Shapiro was not sure of the age
of this signed Mauboussin 18k
gold scorpion brooch with ruby
eyes valued at $2500. Max-
ine Wolff Shapiro Antiques &
Estate Jewelry photo.
This circa 2004 18k gold, onyx, and
diamond bracelet by Peggy Daven of
Palm Beach, Florida, was valued at
approximately $6500. Maxine Wolff
Shapiro Antiques & Estate Jewelry
photo.
This circa 1880 18k gold Belle
Époque turquoise and diamond
brooch had a value of $1200.
Maxine Wolff Shapiro Antiques
& Estate Jewelry photo.
This 18k gold carved green
tourmaline ring inset with
seven diamonds was val-
ued at $2200. Maxine Wolff
Shapiro Antiques & Estate
Jewelry photo.
This coral ring that converts to a pen-
dant was probably from the 1990s and
was valued at $3000. Maxine Wolff
Shapiro Antiques & Estate Jewelry
photo.
This platinum, ruby, and dia-
mond ring from 1930 was valued
at $4500. Maxine Wolff Shapiro
Antiques & Estate Jewelry photo.
This collection of intaglio
and antique rings from
1800 to 1900 “were used
as seals to seal letters
and documents,” accord-
ing to Shapiro. She said,
“Kathy Bates wore one
of my intaglio rings in
American Horror Story,
season three, and she
personally bought it after
the show ended.” Maxine
Wolff Shapiro Antiques
& Estate Jewelry photo. The circa 1880 three-dimensional Victorian micromosaic, left, was
valued at $695. The Victorian Grand Tour micromosaic stickpin from
Italy in a bird motif, right, set in 18k gold with turquoise, was in its
original box. It was valued at $650. Maxine Wolff Shapiro Antiques &
Estate Jewelry photos.
ALLMAN PROMOTIONS LLC 315-686-5789
Greater Syracuse Antiques Expo March 14 & 15, 2015, NYS Fairgrounds
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