HughE Dillon: Philadelphia Eagle Stewart Bradley’s Fashion Show and Facebook Status

Plus: Inside Freeman's auction house, and Sharon Pinkenson's in-flight reading

Did you know Philadelphia has the oldest auction house in America? Freeman’s auction house opened on Nov. 12, 1805, when Thomas McKean, the governor of Pennsylvania, appointed Tristram B. Freeman to the office of auctioneer in Philadelphia; the house has stood at 1808 Chestnut Street ever since. Years ago I used to go there to watch the excitement of a live auction take place and was excited to return to my old haunt. 
I was really impressed with the room, which was made over since I last visited eight years ago. Gone is the drab dark wood and in its place a fresh modern style that really shows off the wares well. The preview, going on today and Saturday, will end with a spectacular auction at 2 p.m. Sunday of Fine American & European Paintings & Sculpture. What a great space to have a party … surrounded by all this beautiful artwork ranging from a few hundred dollars to a beautiful Daniel Garber (estimated price between $200,000 and $300,000).ABOVE: Alasdair Nichol, vice chairman of fine arts at Freeman’s, David Clarke, America’s regional director of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award International Association, and Oliver St. Clair Franklin, OBE British Honorary Consulate.

Many of the guests invited Wednesday night were previous buyers, friends and people from the Young Friends of the Philadelphia Art Museum. Members Lindsay Dekich, Catherine Tran and Katherine Lee (above) enjoyed the collections, as well as the jewelry that goes to auction on June 14th. We especially marveled over the five-carat diamond ring, and the emerald and ruby bracelet.

The best part: Freeman’s let’s you try it on. Fun. ABOVE: Meg Johnson checks out the bling.

ABOVE: Gregory Seitter, Victoria Wyeth and Jordan Brysk enjoy the evening. I first met Victoria a few weeks ago at the Lippincott Mystery Dinner on Locust Street, where she successfully uncovered the guilty party. Victoria, as you might recall, is the only granddaughter of Andrew Wyeth.

I caught a glimpse of the next big auction in the catalog: 100 Darth Vader helmets, which have been re-imagined by some of today’s best-known underground artists, will be unveiled at Freeman’s Los Angeles auction preview, beginning tonight through the 20th, before the sale at Freeman’s in Philadelphia on July 10th. And no doubt days before they appear before the gavel Freeman’s will be having another preview party like this.  Geekadelphia get excited!!

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Last night I headed over to Union Trust for the Philadelphia Eagles, Stewart Bradley-hosted fashion show with Project Runway contestant Korto Momolu.

ABOVE: Amber G, Eagle Victor Abiamiri, Stacey Kracher, Stewart Bradley, Anne Nikolaus and Nicole Wiley enjoyed the night. Stewart tells me that he has been working out, getting stronger and is ready for the new football season.  In a few weeks he’s traveling back to see his family and friends in Utah for the summer. He says you can keep up with what’s going on in his life if you friend him on Facebook as he will be posting lots of pictures of his summer.

ABOVE: Will Ball, who represents the Philadelphia office of Wilhelmina Models, was excited that his models looked great on the catwalk. With him is his sister Angela Ball. The Philadelphia office of Wilhelmina officially opens on June 23rd with a big invite bash in Old City.

ABOVE: Jessica Concannon, Courtney Grant, Marilyn Kellmer, Hacina Saadi and Jamie Reibenbach. Hacina soon heads to Aspen, Colorado for the summer.

ABOVE: My new BFF Renee Reese, and Brent Celek. Renee and I spent part of the night trying to think of a good place to have a charity fashion show for kids. I was thinking a candy store like Sweet Tooth in Pennsport, but when she told me there would be 200 invites, I realized that would be too small. So if you have any ideas, send them over to me at Buzz@PhillyChitChat.com.

ABOVE: Michelle Miller of thenouveauimage.com (who did PR for the fashion show), a model from America’s Top Model, and Project Runway contestant Korto Momolu.

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Maybe the film business isn’t slowing down in Philly. A source spotted Sharon Pinkenson reading scripts on an 8:30 a.m. flight from L.A. to Philly on Wednesday. Sadly someone on the plane had a heart attack; her plane landed early when they received priority landing as they entered the Philly airspace.

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Check out my personal blog PhillyChitChat.com for daily posts or follow me on Twitter @iPhillyChitChat for up to the minute info on events and who’s doing what where.