I picked up Marilyn at her vintage Arts and Crafts home (with restored tower) in a beautiful section of San Anselmo. She’s an antique dealer who needs to go to the
San Rafael Auction Gallery at 5th and Hetherton. Oddly enough, I’d been at the same auction house earlier in the day. I was eyeing a beautiful
Hokusai print and a pair of
Eames chairs. I dropped in again with Marilyn. She’s an expert at this and shares with me the process of online bidding, absentee bidding and in-house bidding. I find out the bidding for the chairs I wanted has ended. They went for $600, which is twice what I could spend. Marilyn loves
Stickley furniture and
pewter but she has proxy-bid on an American Impressionist painting once owned by
Louis Comfort Tiffany. I had to go back to work and would probably miss the auction of my prints, as well.
A few hours later, I return for Marilyn. She missed getting her painting but scores some jewelry. She’s ecstatic. This is her passion. As I take her and her
booty home. She tells me how important it is to be pragmatic about this business and that it’s important to know in advance what your cash limit is. People get caught up in the adrenalin that pumps in these events. I’m ready to go at it again in a few months with Marilyn as my mentor.
