Maine Antique Digest March 2015

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12-A Maine Antique Digest, March 2015
antlers getting out of the car. Fortunately,
he had the broken piece with him, and I
knew it would be a relatively easy repair.
Any doubt that this was a Vollrath carv-
ing was put to rest when we turned over
the piece. There was a handwritten paper
label tacked to the underside of the carv-
ing. In faint black letters were the words
“Made by Charles Vollrath, Chalk River,
Ontario.” Vollrath had also carved his sur-
name in large uppercase letters into the
base of the piece.
“Are you going to sell that?” I asked the
old man.
“Are you interested in it?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Well, make me an offer.”
I paused at that point because I knew
it would be a serious breach of etiquette
to attempt a direct transaction with the
man, thereby removing the dealer from
the process. I changed tactics. I turned to
the dealer.
“Are you going to buy it?”
“I might,” he replied.
“Well, if you do, I’m interested.”
They continued to chat while I stood by
then wandered off several paces away to
give them time to make their transaction.
I realized that this might take longer than
I thought. I retraced my steps and stood in
front of them. “I tell you what. Why don’t
I leave you to it? I’m going to leave.”
The dealer turned to me and reaching
for a pen and piece of paper said, “Give
me your number so I can call you.”
“Tell you what,” I said. “Why don’t I
come back in an hour?”
“That’s good,” the dealer said, “Come
back then.”
I left the shop and continued my rounds
of other antiques stores and also made
a trip to the bank to pick up some funds
to complete the transaction, should I be
fortunate enough to acquire the carving.
An hour later, I walked into the store. The
dealer was still sitting by the front en-
trance. The old man was gone. There was
no sign of the carving.
We chatted for a few minutes, and he
confirmed, much to my relief, that the
carving was now in his possession. I then
told him I knew the carver’s grandson,
and I wanted to buy the piece so I could
sell it to him and fulfill the dream he had
of acquiring one of his grandfather’s
carvings to give to his father. We quickly
agreed on a modest price for the carving.
He retrieved it from a room where he had
it in safekeeping for me.
I drove home thinking about the for-
tunate set of circumstances that had oc-
curred: the grandson contacting me; my
decision to visit the shops on that day and
then go into the one I don’t patronize on a
regular basis; the old man walking in with
the Vollrath carving; and my acquisition
of that wonderful piece so the grandson
could give it to his father.
After arriving home, I took a photo-
graph of the carving and sent an e-mail
message. A few minutes later the grand-
son replied, and I gave him an account of
what had just transpired. He was excited.
Then I sent him the photo of the carving.
He was even more excited.
A few moments later, we completed
our transaction. I sold it to him for $230,
although full retail would be about twice
that. This majestic carving by Charles
Vollrath was going back to the Vollrath
family, back to the Ottawa Valley where
it originated. It was one of those magical
and serendipitous moments that occur in
collecting. I’m sure that Charles Vollrath
would be pleased at the way things trans-
pired.
On January 19, Raccoon Creek Antiques at
Oley Forge, LLC and dealer George Allen
each filed for bankruptcy in federal court in
Pennsylvania. The January 19 bankruptcy
filing stopped a January 20 sheriff’s sale that
would have been conducted by the sheriff
of Berks County, by order of the Court of
Common Pleas.
A motion filed by attorney James W. Zerillo
in the bankruptcy case confirmed the action.
“On January 19, 2015, the Debtor filed a Vol-
untary Petition under Chapter 7…and obtained
an Order for Relief which halted a Sheriff’s
Sale of property scheduled for January 20,
2015,” the motion read.
The halted on-site sheriff’s sale of Raccoon
Creek Antiques would have included over 100
lots of antiques including furniture, paintings,
folk art, and more. According to descriptions
provided by the sheriff’s office, items on the
sheriff’s sale list included a Pennsylvania dec-
orated corner cupboard, a Riley Whiting tall
clock, another tall-case clock, a Chippendale
mirror, a Lancaster County Windsor chair, a
folk art cradle, a large (8' tall) iron weather-
vane, a blue architectural cupboard, a female
Indian tobacco statue, a wall cabinet with a
glass door, 15 tin cookie cutters, two decorated
blanket chests, two blue Queen Anne chairs,
two green Queen Anne chairs, and a red wood-
en bench.
The scheduled sheriff’s sale of George Al-
len’s property listed mostly household goods
but did include several baskets with lids, a
small dry sink, a cloth antique green love seat,
and two green cloth high-back chairs.
The Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing for Rac-
coon Creek Antiques notes that the business
had between 1 and 49 creditors, estimated as-
sets of $100,001 to $500,000, and estimated
liabilities of $500,001 to $1 million. Allen lists
the same numbers.
The bankruptcy filings were not complete.
The same day they were filed, a judge warned
that the case might be dismissed if certain
documents were not filed by February 2.
Documents missing included a matrix list of
creditors, statement of corporate ownership, a
corporate resolution, a statement of financial
affairs, and a summary of schedules and statis-
tical summary of certain liabilities. On January
28, the court granted additional time to file the
documents, which are due on February 17.
George Allen, who is identified as COO of
Raccoon Creek, filed for Chapter 13 bankrupt-
cy on January 19. Again, not all the documents
were filed on time, and attorney James Zerillo
asked for more time, which was granted by the
court. Allen has until February 17 to complete
his filing.
Raccoon Creek Antiques, George Allen,
and Gordon Wyckoff are being sued in federal
court by Thomas Marshall of Monroe Town-
ship, New Jersey (see M.A.D., February, p.
11-A). Marshall claims Raccoon Creek took
“about 350 more antiques to sell” on consign-
ment, but he was not paid. Marshall is alleging
fraud, breach of contract, unjust enrichment,
and a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices
and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL).
Matthew B. Weisberg, attorney for Marshall,
said, “We will pursue our claim in bankruptcy
court.”
Raccoon Creek Antiques
and George Allen Stave Off
Sheriff’s Sale by Declaring
Bankruptcy
Luke Brugnara, a real estate investor,
developer, and sometime art
dealer, escaped federal custody on
Thursday, February 5, in San Francisco,
California. Brugnara was reportedly
meeting with his attorney in a court-
approved furlough session when he
gave authorities the slip.
After his escape, the United States
District Judge William Alsup issued a
bench warrant and revoked Brugnara’s
furlough privileges. “Brugnara has vi-
olated the terms and conditions of the
furlough order…escaped from the fed-
eral building, and is currently at large,”
the judge’s order read.
Brugnara is at the center of an
$11,080,000 art deal gone wrong. Rose
Ramey Long, who is also known as
Rose Ramey Littlejohn and does busi-
ness as Rose Long Fine Art, agreed
to a deal with Brugnara to sell him a
1997 bronze of Edgar Degas’s sculp-
ture Petite danseuse de 14 ans (“Little
14-Year-Old Dancer”), priced at $3 mil-
lion; 16 Willem de Kooning paintings
for $7,325,000; a Joan Miró drawing
for $160,000; two Pablo Picasso etch-
ings for $145,000; and a George Luks
painting for $450,000.
Long shipped them to Brugnara in
California; Brugnara refused to pay
for, return, or release the artworks. A
criminal complaint was filed against
Brugnara, and he was arrested on May
28, 2014, in San Francisco. On June 5,
2014, a grand jury indicted Brugnara
on charges of mail fraud. According to
the indictment, Brugnara had almost no
income, no assets, no means to pay for
the art, and a substantially negative net
worth.
A search warrant resulted in the re-
covery of the Luks painting, the de
Koonings, the Miró, and the Picassos.
The Degas Petite danseuse was unac-
counted for.
The court and the U.S. Marshals Ser-
vice had worked out a special furlough
arrangement for Brugnara to meet with
his lawyers for trial preparation. The
agreement allowed the U.S. Marshals
to release Brugnara “wearing clothing
to be provided by defendant’s family”
to the temporary custody of his lawyer,
Erik Babcock, “for the sole purpose
of meeting with his counsel in the at-
torney’s lounge in the same building.”
During the furlough sessions, Brugnara
was to remain “in sight of and within
the same room as Attorney Babcock at
all times.”
In 2010, Brugnara was convicted of
several federal crimes, including filing
false tax returns, making false state-
ments, and violating the Endangered
Species Act. As a result, he was sen-
tenced to 30 months in prison. He was
still on supervised release from some
of those convictions when he allegedly
committed the fraud offense.
Brugnara, 51, is a white male, 6'2",
weighs 225 pounds, and has brown hair
and blue eyes. Anyone with information
relating to Brugnara is asked to contact
the nearest U.S. Marshals Service office
or the Marshals Service Headquarters at
1-800-336-0102 or (202) 307-9100.
Art Dealer on Trial for Mail Fraud Escapes
JOHN C. HILL
ANTIQUE INDIAN ART
Look for my ad in color at
e-mail:
6962 E. 1st Ave.,
Scottsdale, Arizona
(480) 946-2910
Chemehuevi Basket Tray
The Winnetka Summer Show
of Antiques & Fine Art, scheduled
for June 12-14 in Winnetka, Illinois, has
been canceled, according to the North
Shore Antiques Dealers Association
(NSADA).
Dealer Michael Corbett of The Fed-
eralist Antiques, Kenilworth, Illinois,
president of the NSADA, stated, “The
Winnetka summer antiques show will
not proceed this year. The retirement of
key members of NSADA and the subse-
quent domino effect among senior vol-
unteers has left the organization without
the volunteer staff with the experience
or confidence to stage the event this
year. Members of NSADAwill be look-
ing for other opportunities to fulfill its
mission of providing a platform for an-
tique dealers.”
Winnetka Summer Show Canceled
Luck is when opportunity
knocks and you answer.
~Author Unknown
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