home &GARDeN
The
Auctioneer Written by VaneSSa eMerY
PhotograPhy by KaTie KaiZer
Over thirty years in business, Rafael Osona Auctions are anything but old.
Most would say a sunset on Nantucket is priceless, but if you ask Rafael Osona, it’s worth $17,000. Alongside his wife Gail, Osona is the fast-talking, third-generation antiquarian of Nantucket’s only auction house on 21 Washington Street. Over the past thirty-three years, he’s traded well over 180,000 items, ranging from a whaling captain’s walking stick that sold for over $71,000 to a Nantucket basket that fetched a handsome $115,000. Osona has also used his auctioneering skills to raise millions for local nonprofits, sometimes auctioning off items that you’d never expect to find for sale. Ten years ago, he raised $17,000 for Hospice on Nantucket by selling a sunset at Galley beach. Working the crowd, he then sold a lock of his hair. It went for five grand.