There is a great deal of fretting these days about the future of collecting and the dearth of young collectors. Were there ever many young collectors? Probably not. It takes the perspective of age (as well as the accumulation of capital) to do what the best antiques collectors do: value a folk art painting or a tall-case clock for the …
December 2009 | November 1915. On “one of those autumn days when the darkness comes so suddenly that one seems to bump one’s head against it,” a small party departs from an unnamed city. Wrapped in furs and nestling into blankets, they huddle in the back of the open car to ward off the chill. Soon paved roads give way …
December 2009 | Beauport, with its labyrinth of small rooms, layers of objects, and false doors, is a playhouse and a place that exists as a dream. The small rooms change shape, lead one to another without a quickly understood plan or even a simple hallway. There are doors, windows, paneling, tables, chairs, and art taken from long-gone houses, different …
Photography by Paul Rocheleau| from The Magazine ANTIQUES, December 2009. | When you visit Janet and Lawrence Larose’s New York dining room, you are surrounded by hundreds of objects designed by Christopher Dresser. They are artfully arranged on a series of shelves: teacups perch on lily-pad saucers; frogs leap around a bowl; butterflies flit across cloisonné skies; and cranes are buffeted …
When Pantone announced yesterday that it had selected Turquoise (15-5519) as the color of the year for 2010 I wasn’t at all surprised. Touted by the company for its “serene and invigorating” qualities, turquoise has been one of the most sought after colors in decorative arts history starting with the turquoise ground, called bleu céleste, developed in 1753 for Louis …
December 2009 | On the evening of Wednesday, August 24, 1814, British troops brazenly torched much of the small capital city of Washington, including the large Virginia sandstone house built as the residence for the president of the United States between 1792 and 1800 (see Fig. 1).1 Among the losses smoldering in the rubble was an extraordinary set of painted …
November 2009 | In 1973 at an auction in Ellenville, New York, an early nineteenth-century portrait of a woman wearing a lace bonnet, holding a red book, and seated in a high-back chair sold for what was then an unusually high price of nine thousand dollars. The picture, painted on tulipwood, was unsigned and is believed to have come from …
Texas is full of cattlemen, but few with the style and panache of Derrill Osborn, whose “herd” was offered at the Dallas Auction Gallery in October. Best known for shaping decades of men’s fashion—he headed that division at Neiman Marcus for more than twenty years—Osborn has been a “cattleman” ever since his great-grandfather whittled him a little wooden cow when …
The new book by art historian and vintage wallpaper expert Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz, Wallpaper: A History of Style and Trends (Flammarion, 2009), offers a visually stunning and comprehensive survey of decorative wall coverings. Chronicling wallpaper’s evolution—from guild organization in the 16th century through its refinement in 18th-century France; the technical advancement of the panoramique; trade and interpretation in the United States; …
Sotheby’s London/November 30, Romanov Heirlooms Total: £7 million * 25th wedding anniversary four-color gold cigarette case by Fabergé for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, 1899 £612,450 (estimate £50,000-70,000) * Jewelled three-color gold cigarette case by Fabergé, 1899-1908 £601,250 (estimate £25,000-35,000) * Two-color gold and enamel box by Fabergé with a note from Emperor Nicholas II, c. …