"Refractions #9 and #10" Caryl Bryer Fallert 1993 Each quilt is 36"X36"
In the fall of 2003 someone sent me an e-mail saying there were Caryl Bryer Fallert quilts being sold on eBay. Of course, I had to check them out and it was true. There were about a half a dozen and among them were three that were a triptych. All these quilts and the other 90+ items were being sold by the corporate office of an international company that was relocating and selling all of their art collection. Amazingly, the bidding on these quilts started at $25!! After I won the bid on three of Caryl's quilts I talked to the person at the corporation who was in charge of the auction and I asked her why they sold everything so cheap. She said she was just told to sell everything, with no other information or instructions. I contacted Caryl to see what she knew about the disposal of her work and she had not heard a thing about it. I think it is so odd that they wouldn't offer the quilts back to her first. I know if I ever had to dispose of the TCQC on the open market I would contact each artist and tell them I needed to sell - they might want to buy them back or perhaps know of someone lusting after a particular quilt. I found such a "fire sale" rather peculiar.
Which didn't stop me from bidding! The 'hottest' bidding was for #10 - I liked it best of the triptych pieces and apparently so did a lot of other people. As the bidding for that one went up and up I thought I should bid on # 9, just in case I was outbid for #10 at the last minute. I had the high bid for #9 and when the bidding for #10 was over I also had the high bid for it. I believe that none of the items on auction went over their original selling price and most of them much less.
These quilts are made with Caryl's hand dyed fabric in the style she was working in during the early 1990s. They are pieced in a log cabin order - VERY precisely. They look great hung together or individually, but it is too bad I didn't make the top bid for the third piece. I know that the lady who won that bid was thrilled with her purchase, as was I.
I have always admired Caryl's work and doubt if I would ever have been able to add her quilts to the Collection in any other way. She also has a fabulous website with much valuable information, check it out: http://www.bryerpatch.com/
And while you are there look for the triptych under General Railway Signal Corp the page for Corporate Collections:
And look at her Quilts for Sale page, there are some wonderful pieces at quite reasonable prices.
1 comment:
Those quilts are stunning.
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