There are few features more representative of mid-century modern architecture than the patio. Indoor/outdoor living was promoted in nearly every domestic architectural plan of the era, from Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs to Philip Johnson’s Rockefeller Guest House in New York City. Even so, very few designers devoted their attention to modern outdoor seating. Richard Schultz is …
* On July 7 the sale of Western manuscripts and miniatures at Sotheby’s London totaled £4.5 million. The top lot was a 15th-century manuscript, “The Life and Times of Emperor Sigismund” that sold for £1.1 million (estimate £1-1.5 million). Next was the 16th-century German manuscript, “The Management of the Army,” for Albrecht of Brandenburg that sold for £289,250 (estimate £70,000-100,000), …
On Wednesday July 15 Bonhams in Knightsbridge will host a special auction of Gothic revival works of art with several examples attributed to Pugin—the undisputed leader of the movement. The sale, which goes on view July 12, includes nearly 200 lots of the 19th century’s so-called pointed-architectural style. From cast-iron fixtures to polychrome tiles to oak furnishings this high style …
This week a striking pair of candlesticks that sold last week at Skinner auctions in Boston caught my eye. Here the brilliant amethyst glass has been molded into an art deco rock formation, reminding me of the current vogue for facets in furniture and design. The natural formation of rock crystal, both angular and irregular, has found translation in everything …
Designer and automotive historian Strother MacMinn once told me, “if it moves, even if it’s a vacuum cleaner going back and forth at three miles per hour, it has to follow the rules of transportation design.” For those enthusiasts who missed this year’s Concours d’Elegance in Greenwich, Connecticut, the Japan Society offers a chance to examine some of the greatest …
Bibi Mohamed’s 35 years of experience in the field of fine and rare books make her a go-to dealer for discriminating book collectors and bibliophiles. At her Madison Avenue gallery, Imperial Fine Books, she strives to aid both experienced and novice collectors in building a library and tracking down volumes they may be missing from their collection. Mohamed, who started …
* The top lot of the June 27 sale of 20th century furniture and design at Skinner in Boston was a Tiffany Studios Peony lamp that sold for $118,500 (estimate $70,000-90,0000). Other top sales included a Tiffany Studios favrile glass table lamp that sold for $23,700 (estimate $3,000-5,000), and a Moorcroft vase with red flambé glaze that sold for $15,405 …
Summer is the perfect time to explore lesser-known historic house museums, and Hamilton House in South Berwick, Maine—one of Historic New England’s thirty-six sites and a National Historic Landmark—is one such gem. Situated on a bluff that overlooks the Salmon Falls River, the house and grounds offer an idyllic retreat, and, as the slideshow below demonstrates, is an inspired setting.Built …
Quarters C, the second-oldest residence on Admiral’s Row—the compound built between 1853 and 1901 to house the officers of the former Brooklyn Navy Yard—collapsed almost entirely on June 18. Although the building had previously suffered irreversible damage from fire, recent heavy rains felled a fatal blow, causing the walls to give way, leaving little but the facade intact. Given this …
The Grande Dame of art fairs is, reluctantly, retiring. Organizers of the Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, held in London nearly every year without interruption since 1934, announced yesterday that it will close. They cited problems with the event’s longtime venue, the Grosvenor House Hotel, which last year was renovated and re-branded as a JW Marriott. But what really happened to …