Miniature Folk Art Building

Folk art miniature house model

Chrysanthemum Flowers For Sale

Antique hand-painted sign: Chrysanthemum Flowers For Sale

Antique “Double Irish Chain” Quilt

From an estate south of Boston is this spectacular antique 19th-century, hand-sewn, pieced “Double Irish Chain” quilt in red, white and tan. An interesting variation on the “Irish Chain” theme because the pattern most often has a diagonal orientation whereas this has a strict horizontal/vertical layout. Negative white spaces between the colored bands have been […]

Red & Green “Touching Stars” Quilt

An outstanding antique “Touching Stars” pattern quilt in near perfect, unwashed condition, circa 1860–70s. The color palette is typical Pennsylvania quirk, using patterned cotton fabrics: double pink, over-dyed green and white ground with small red dots. Fabrics are all period cottons with original glazing intact with a somewhat courser cotton used for the backing. The […]

“Wild Horse” Thelma Johnson Streat Original Painting

Original gouache painting on watercolor paper Early 1940s Streat (1911-59): a native of the US Pacific North West, moved to San Francisco in 1941. It was there and through work with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that she forged relationships with other notable artists including Diego Rivera for whom she was a favorite assistant. Rivera […]

Painted Checkerboard in Black and Green Shades

On offer is this sweet, American, antique, 19th-century painted checkerboard in black and shades of green. Given the specificity of layout and decoration, I think it’s safe to say that it was made by a professional. That said, the extra kick comes from that painter’s miscalculated paint mixture and the resulting degree of contraction in […]

Painted Parcheesi Board

Offered is this spectacular, attic-fresh, 19th-century painted parcheesi board. Bilious color palette of eight colors with alligatored varnished surface and heavily oxidized reverse. Constructed of a single board with breadboard ends attached with square nails. Found in the Southern Tier of New York.

Carved Oxen Pair

They’re small and wonderful! Pair of miniature red oxen joined by a yoke and in old red paint. Eyes, snouts and hooves in black. Horns seem to be painted aluminum(?) and inserted into the oxen’s heads. One ox is missing the yoke collar, the other it’s tail. Both have chipped hooves. Circa 1930, upstate New […]

Penmanship Fish, ex. Peter Tillou

Offered is this exuberant penmanship rendering of a fish. Superbly executed in a way that suggests a melding of organic and mechanical. Jules Verne-esque. Inscribed along the bottom by its maker “Struck With a Metallic Pen in 30 Minutes by John J. Shove”. The ends of the inscription are capped with inward-facing eagle’s heads. The […]

Marble Wheat Sheaf

A beautifully carved wheat sheaf in very high relief and with incredible sensitivity and detail. Visible through a difference in texture is the shadow of a gothic style arch which originally framed the sheaf. The marble is pure white all over with no repairs or cracks (other than the corner breaks visible in the photos). […]