Of all the miniatures I’ve owned and sold this is only the third example in metal. And because it always bears repeating, this is not a birdhouse, a doll house, an architectural model or a model railroad building of any sort. Material-wise metal signals a much greater level of commitment than wood or cardboard in […]
Large amber-colored glass jug-shapes designed by John Nickerson as part of his “Charisma” line for Blenko in the early 1970s. The jugs are hand blown with hand applied loop handles and hand-formed mouths. At 16 inches tall, the jugs are the larger in the range that Blenko produced and the proper color name – as […]
The Yoruba people of West Africa make and use several types of masks across a broad range of ceremonies and celebrations. It’s an exceptionally well-balanced and well-carved crest mask (worn on top of the head) with grooved rows of hair plaits, pierced eyes and nostrils as well as a drum nicely situated between its ears. […]
Fantastic pair of blown metallic/iridescent Italian glass vases designed by Sergio Asti (b. 1926) for Knoll and made by the Venini glass factory in Venice circa 1972-3. Each vase is hand signed on underside.
Designed between 1894-96 by David Wolcott Kendall (1851–1910) for Phoenix Furniture Company, Grand Rapids, MI. My introduction to Kendall was a few years ago when I sold another chair by him to the Brooklyn Museum. The Museum’s decorative arts curator, Barry Harwood, had taken on the task of mining patent filings from the 1890’s to […]
A presumably young J.A. Welker truly outdid him or herself by filling the entirety of the 20×30-inch sheet with imagery and vignettes that reflected everyday life that even included the cats at the train depot. Judging from the touring sedan I’m guessing this drawing likely dates to the 1920s. Graphite and chalk pastel. Southeastern PA […]
Wonderful large painted folk-art checkerboard on early masonite, circa 1930s. The combination of humble materials, large size and worn blunt form are very endearing. Drilled on one end for hanging. Areas of exfoliation and successive repainting testify to the long working life of this board.
Spectacular 1850s cookie-corner, marble-topped, gilt and paint-decorated chest of drawers on bun feet with original free-standing dressing mirror. The front corners of the chest are faceted to which are applied decorated turned drops and spindles. Dressing mirror has a glove box, gilt trefoil finials on its brackets and is topped with a cut out bouquet. […]
A Map of the World “Drawn by Hannah Edgerton, Cairo Seminary December 27, 1828. E. Stimson, Preceptress.” These hand-drawn and colored “school girl” maps were a far more common in the boarding and finishing schools of the United Kingdom than the US. Young women in their teens recreated the maps found in school texts and […]
Rather than casting, the now heavily oxidized and brittle zinc was shaped by hammering sheets around a carved wooden form. Two halves were then trimmed and soldered together. Testimony to the likely brutal process are the small folds and overlaps that made the metal behave like fabric. At the bottom edge of one of the […]