Audra Blevins

Audra Blevins has held a lifelong fascination with antiques, and has worked professionally in the field since 1995.  Audra specializes in American and Continental glass and porcelain. She has been with Worthpoint.com, a provider of sales records and information on art, antiques, and collectibles, since 2007.  As a Worthologist, she travels extensively for live identification and valuation events, provides brokerage assistance, and contributes to the site by authoring features on fine and decorative arts.

Audra is currently the owner and manager of Forget-Me-Nots Antiques, which specializes in American antiques, since 1995.  She conducts this business through shows, galleries, and online channels.  Audra also provides consulting and valuation services to Stuff! Consignments and Carousel Consignments, both located in Virginia. She has also been a lecturer and Appraiser with the Manassas Museum in Virginia and a guest speaker for numerous other arts and historically focused nonprofits. 

Audra’s personal collecting interests include American art pottery and Phoenix and Consolidated art glass.  Her collection highlights include an American Terra Cotta Tile and Ceramic Company TECO (TErra COtta) tulip vase and a very rare late 1920’s Ruba Rombic lilac cased glass powder jar.  

Audra holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA.

Tim Corfield      

Tim Corfield is a second-generation antiques expert; he has 20 years of experience in the industry and is a member of the British Antique Dealers Association. He has an unerring eye for a genuine piece and having managed a large restoration business he is also an expert in assessing restoration requirements.

Throughout he career he has helped to create and maintain a number of significant private collection in the United States and Britain, the most notable being in Silicon Valley and New York.
In 2003 and Tim set up Corfield Morris with Daniel Morris, a former Director of Sotheby’s. The company offers professional and independent advice on fine and decorative arts. They also offer clients a range of services such as; sourcing, buying, selling, maintaining works of art and jewellery. They help clients to seek single item purchases or work with clients who have large private collections. For more information please see www.corfieldmorris.com

Martyn Downer     

Martyn is managing director of Myfamilysilver.com. He read history at the University of Edinburgh before entering the silver trade with Hancocks and Co. the renowned silver dealers in London’s West End. In 1993 he joined Sotheby’s where he became Director and head of the Jewellery department in London.

Martyn is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and a director of Corfield Morris Fine Art and Antique Advisors. He has published three books: Nelson’s Purse (Bantam Press, 2004), The Queen’s Knight (Bantam Press, 2006) and The Sultan of Zanzibar (Blackspring Press, 2010).

Maggie Turnipseed    

Maggie Turnipseed has over three decades of experience in the antiques, auction, and appraisal industries.  Since 2008, she has been the Manager of Worthologist Operations at Worthpoint, a provider of sales records and information on art, antiques, and collectibles. The company is one of the most popular antique and vintage reference sites on the Internet, with over 200,000 visits and 500,000 page views per day.  At Worthpoint, she is a member of the executive team, oversees over 65 subject matter specialists, writes extensively on antiques and collectibles, and provides appraisal and estate liquidation consult.  

Prior to Worthpoint, Maggie worked for Antiqueland USA as an assistant manager at a 45,000 sf Dallas based antique mall, and as a sales manager for TIAS.com.  TIAS is the largest "fixed price" source of antiques and collectibles on the Internet, serving over 120 million page views per month.

Antiques have been Maggie's passion since she discovered Art Nouveau hatpins at college.  A serial collector, she tends to collect one thing at a time, learn everything she can about that category, and move on to a new area.  Her current interests include world globes, doorknockers, doorstops featuring women or dogs, sterling baby rattles, marbles, miniature portraits, chatelaines, and tussie mussies.  She has always had a special interest in Victorian and Edwardian jewelry.

Maggie is an Accredited Member of the International Society of Appraisers and the Association of Online Appraisers, and an active member of the North Texas Chapter of International Society of Appraisers.  To keep professionally current with trends in the industry, she participates in continuing education courses in areas including Oriental Rugs, Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAPS), fine arts appraisals, ethics, and business practices.  

Maggie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from Greensboro College, Greensboro, NC.

  Martin Willis        

Mr. Willis has over 40 years in the antique business, having come from a family of auctioneers and spending his childhood weekends and summers at auction events across New England.  Martin specializes in important furniture, paintings, sculpture, and items of beauty from the 19th and 20th centuries.  He has been with Worthpoint.com, a provider of sales records and information on art, antiques, and collectibles, since 2010.  As a Worthologist, he travels extensively for live identification and valuation events and contributes to the site by authoring features on decorative arts as well as the business of antiques. 

Martin Willis is James D. Julia’s Director of Decorative Arts and co-director for the company’s Boston area facility. Julia’s is one of the top ten antique auction houses in North America.  Over the course of his career, Martin has worked for well known auction companies across the country in the roles of consultant, appraiser, and auctioneer.  While at the Clars Auction Gallery in California, Martin was responsible for the sales of the estates of TV mogul Merv Griffin and talk show host Tom Snyder. Martin also conducted the Josiah Bartlett Auction in New Hampshire. Bartlett signed The Declaration of Independence; his estate was a remarkable time capsule of extraordinary antiques.    

In an effort to help the antiques community improve its visibility and attract new enthusiasts, Martin started the Antique Auction Forum in 2009.  This biweekly podcast can be found at www.antiqueauctionforum.com and features conversations with well known industry standouts. Recent programs have featured Antiques Roadshow’s Leigh Keno, HGTV’s Cash & Cari’s Cari Cucksley,  Auction King’s Paul Brown, antique legend Terry Kovel, and Worthpoint’s own CEO Will Seippel.  Over 5,000 people worldwide tune in each month to this popular source of antique related news and information.

Martin is a frequent contributor to popular and trade publications/blogs, including the San Francisco Chronicle’s “What’s It Worth” column and Antique Trader.  He is a sought after speaker on antiques and auctions and has served on numerous boards, including The American Decorative Arts Forum, National Auctioneers Association, and the New Hampshire Auctioneers Association. He also donates his auctioneering services to nonprofits running charity fundraising events.

Martin is a graduate of the Missouri Auction School, the oldest and largest auction school in the world.

David Myko