Skinner is one of the world's leading auction houses for antiques

Antiques

An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...

 and fine art

Fine art

Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....

. It is the only full-service auction house headquartered in New England.

History

Skinner was founded by dealer Robert W. Skinner, Jr. (1932-1984), who believed that New England, with its long history as an international arts center, was a fitting location for a world-class auction house. The company began operations in the 1960s and was incorporated in 1971 in Bolton, Massachusetts

Bolton, Massachusetts

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,148 people, 1,424 households, and 1,201 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,476 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.76% White, 0.19% African American, 0.05% Native American, 1.30%...

. Skinner’s Boston gallery opened in 1978. The company has seen steady growth, and in 2009, Skinner moved its headquarters to nearby Marlborough

Marlborough, Massachusetts

Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the...

.http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=786

Expert departments

Skinner’s appraisers regularly appear on the PBS-TV series, Antiques Roadshow

Antiques Roadshow

Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...

, and other arts and culture programs. Representing 20 specialty collecting areas, the appraisers are expert in the areas of American furniture & decorative arts, American & European paintings & prints, European furniture & decorative arts, fine ceramics, fine jewelry, 20th Century design, fine musical instruments, Asian Works of Art, Fine Judaica, Science, Technology & Clocks, Rare Books & Manuscripts, Fine Silver, Antique Motor Vehicles, American Indian & Ethnographic Art, Fine Wines, Oriental rugs & carpets, Textiles & Couture, Toys, Dolls & Collectibles, and Discovery.

Notable auctions

Skinner conducts more than 60 auctions and events each year and has achieved world-record prices for many pieces sold at auction. Fitz Henry Lane’s Manchester Harbor, a 24x36 inch oil painting, sold for $5.5 million in November 2004, a world record for the artist and the highest price ever at auction in New England.

• A rare and historically important previously undiscovered broadside copy of the United States Declaration of Independence
  United States Declaration of Independence
  The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
  
   sold in 2007 for $693,500. Another broadside copy printed in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1776 by Robert Luist Fowle sold for $380,000 on November 14, 2010.New Hampshire Gazette. http://www.nhgazette.com/2010/11/14/rare-fowle-declaration-being-auctioned-today/
• A molded copper touring car with driver weather vane
  Weather vane
  A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....
  
  , made in Boston circa 1910, sold for $941,000
• 1958/63 Gibson Explorer Electric Guitar sold for $611,000 setting a world record price for a Gibson Guitar.