“Going once, going twice…” “Bark!”

For several years, I freelanced auction recaps and reports for a publication called Antique Week.  It was a fun time; I found myself covering auctions and sales throughout New York and New England.  One day I’m in Central New York at a farm estate auction; the next day I’m in New York City reporting on the results of the Katharine Hepburn estate auction at Sotheby’s.  Fun stuff.

But I will never forget the first live auction I covered for the publication.

It was in Pittsfield, and featured an astounding amount of hand-painted lamps and other esoterica.  And among the bidders – was a dog.

I kid you not.

Fontaine’s Auction House in Pittsfield did a very brisk business in high-end materials and lots.  On that day, they were selling dozens and dozens of reverse hand-painted table lamps – trust me, with product names like Tiffany, Pairpoint Puffy, Duffner and Kimberly, these lamps started at $5000 and just went up and up.

My plan that day – interview some prospective buyers, monitor which buyers bought which lots, and interview the successful buyers after they won the pieces they desired.  And if something unique or interesting happened at the auction that day – find that story.

The auction gallery was filled with bidders and viewers, and the bids flew high and fast.

One Tiffany lamp reached a high bid of about $9,000 – and all of a sudden, I heard, just as the auctioneer was about to hammer down the final bid –

“Going once, going twice…”

“BARK!”

Giggles from the audience.  One of the bidders had brought her little Pekingese with her to the auction, and the dog decided to get into the spirit of the auction.

The auctioneer smiled, then hammered his gavel to complete the bid to the human bidder who did NOT have a dog, and the auction continued.

About thirty minutes later, another lamp – an exquisite Pairpoint Puffy boudoir lamp (in commonspeak: a tiny bedroom lamp whose glass shade was painted on the inside) – went up for bid.  And sure enough, the little Pekingese decided to get in the bidding action at the auction.

And as each bid went up, so did the dog’s bark, almost matching the auctioneer’s cadence bid for bid.  This little Pekingese was having fun.

The audience laughed, and the dog’s owner embarrassingly petted her dog to distract the canine from bark-bidding.

The auctioneer smiled again and continued the bidding and sales.

I took notes.  Must interview the dog-owning bidder and see if she – and her companion – bought anything.

Finally, one of the top prizes came to the auction floor – a 24K solid gold sculpture of Mickey Mouse, commissioned by Disney as part of a celebration of the mouse’s glorious history.  Heck, based on gold prices, that sculpture increased value by $1,000 that morning alone.

The auctioneer announced the item, and then reminded everybody that the auction house accepts cash, personal checks, and some credit cards.

Then he looked at the bidder and her Pekingese.

“I accept bids from anyone in this gallery,” he smiled.  “Anybody.”

The gallery, completely in on the joke, laughed heartily.  The dog must have figured out the situation; there were no more woofs, yips or bark-bids, as the gold statue sold for nearly half a million dollars.

Or 250,000 cans of Ken-L-Ration.

Afterward, I spoke with the dog owner; she had purchased some small items at Fontaine’s weekend auction (the first day was relegated to smalls, while the second day was designated for the choice prizes).  I integrated the dog story into the auction story, and what originally would have been another auction story about another auction house, now became a human interest piece about the fun people can have at an auction.

I stayed with Antique Week for a couple of years, and it was a fun time.

Trust me, when you find great moments like this in a day…

You don’t let them pass you by.