To wealthy American collectors during the Gilded Age, the appeal of medieval and early Renaissance art was considerable. Seeing themselves as the new aristocracy and wanting to re-create for themselves the prestige and trappings of European nobility, they sought objects that they felt embodied the chivalry, piety, luxury, romance, and magnificence of that distant age. Gothic Art in the Gilded …
The ladder-back, windsor, and fancy chairs made in western Virginia from the eighteenth to the twentieth century represent a unique contribution to the history of furniture making in the United States. This month more than forty important examples, mostly from private collections, will go on view in the exhibition Come In and Have a Seat: Vernacular Chairs of the Shenandoah …
Organized to celebrate the firm’s one hundred years in the United States, Cartier and America, which opened last month at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, explores the history of the house of Cartier from its first great successes as the “king of jewelers and the jeweler to kings” at the end of the nineteenth century through the 1960s and 1970s, …
Keeping winter doldrums at bay during Europe’s darkest days, the Sun King lights up London and Versailles; the Magi gleam with baroque opulence in Basel; the stars illuminate the Vatican; and Dionysian ecstasies fire up Berlin. London A sumptuous Cucci cabinet on offer at Christie’s creates a splashy finale to the auction season. As 2009 draws to a close, the …
Because the Detroit Institute of Arts had no works sculpted in amber, I have as the curator been keen to acquire a significant object in this precious material once called “the gold of the Baltic.” Long regarded as having mythical origins and medicinal and magical powers, northern European amber is ancient fossilized resin that was primarily found floating on the …
We think our current magazine cover, which features a selection of red-painted toleware from the Octagon Room at Beauport, is delightfully festive, but to celebrate the holiday season we’ve selected some of our favorite covers from The Magazine Antiques archive—designed by Milton H. Glover, who from 1948 to 1973 was the magazine’s designer and then art director. More vintage covers can be …
Who can forget the excitement of seeing Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker as a child? The magical “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” in Act II left an indelible mark on me that still stirs up fond memories from my childhood. First performed in 1892 in St. Petersburg (illustrated above), the ballet’s popularity did not spread to the United States until …
The Aurora Borealis, twinkle lights, and tinsel. The best parts of winter always involve a bit of sparkle. With that in mind New York City jewelry shop Doyle & Doyle, founded by sisters Elizabeth and Irene Pamela Doyle in 2000, recently hosted its annual holiday party—where guests were offered stylings with pieces from the store’s collection of antique baubles. Revelers …
Art historian and writer Lucy Spriggs is the owner of Ivanhoe Books—a Los Angeles-based bookshop specializing in new, rare, and out-of-print books about art and design. She also maintains Ivanhoe’s blog, where she presents selections from her amazing inventory of vintage titles and new arrivals. We asked Spriggs to share her unique eye for art and interiors books in a …
What: Pair of chairs, late 19th centuryWhere: Rago Arts (December 5, Estate Sale) Estimate: $500-700 Sold For: $390,400 This pair of American Aesthetic Movement chairs, which were inherited by the daughter-in-law of a Philadelphia-area couple and reportedly stored in a boiler room for forty years, are believed to be the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany or an associated firm. What: …