Potomack Company Opens Georgetown Branch
By • November 12, 2020 0 1899
The Potomack Company, a leading D.C.-area auction house since 2006, has expanded to Georgetown. The new office, at 2326 Prospect St. NW, is across from Peacock Cafe and Cafe Milano in the former home of Ann Hand Jewelry Design. Potomack Company owner and CEO Elizabeth Haynie Wainstein called the spot “beneficial.”
With the auction house’s main office and gallery in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, adding a D.C. outpost will be convenient for many existing clients and should bring in new ones, Wainstein said.
Potomack Georgetown is currently open by appointment only. Safety precautions include mask wearing and permitting only a limited number of people in the office at any one time.
“The auction business has taken off during COVID,” Wainstein said, noting that, since everyone is on their computer at home, it’s quite conducive to shopping online.
“Collectors are looking for specific fine lots or redecorating or refreshing their homes,” Wainstein said. “They’re treating themselves to fine jewelry or silver or looking for historical documents to add to their collection.”
That many are eager to buy online certainly shows. Wainstein shared that an October estate sale of an Inuit sculpture owned by Nina Houghton, wife of former Metropolitan Museum of Art President Arthur Houghton, sold for $110,000. The highest the sculptor’s work had previously sold for was $35,000.
Potomack has been holding live and online auctions for over a decade, so staff members were fairly comfortable adjusting to an online-only format. Successful bidders usually pick up their acquisitions at Potomack’s Northern Virginia offices, yet many choose shipping.
More information on the Potomack Company is available at potomackcompany.com.
