Asian art in New York

Editorial StaffExhibitions

Cup, Chinese, seventeenth century. Rhinoceros horn, 5 ½ inches. Photograph courtesy of Christie’s Images. Woven basket made by Kenji Fuji, 1942–1946. Crepe paper, twine, wire, and starch. National Japanese Society, San Francisco. Photograph by Terry Heffernan for Ten Speed. Asian art in New York March 20 to 28 is Asia Week in New York, when more than thirty dealers, auction …

Dealer Profile: Erik and Cornelia Thomsen

Editorial StaffArt

Erik and Cornelia Thomsen One of a pair of six-panel screens, Japanese, Edo period, seventeenth century. Ink and color on gold-leafed paper, 65 by 133 inches. Photographs are by courtesy of Erik Thomsen Asian Art, New York. Suzuribako (writing box), Japanese, Meiji period, c. 1900. Black lacquer with maki-e decoration on wood; height 1 ½, length 8, width 7 ¼ …

Glittering competition: the rivals of Faberge

Editorial StaffArt

To many collectors of nineteenth-century silver and objets de vertu, imperial Russia is the fount of Europe’s most exotic work. And even for those who can only dream of its legacy de luxe, mention of Mother Russia immediately triggers thoughts of one name, Fabergé. Coffeepot marked by Antip Ivanovich Kuzmichev (active c. 1856-1900), Moscow, c. 1890. Stamped “Made for Tiffany …

Eames House tour contest

Editorial StaffFurniture & Decorative Arts

The Delaware-based type foundry and design firm House Industries is offering three lucky individuals a chance to win an exclusive tour of the Eames House (Case Study House #8) in Pacific Palisades, California, where the dynamic design duo lived from 1949. Although the grounds of the Eames House are open to the public, tours of the interior are usually only …

A to Z: Penwork

Editorial StaffArt

A Regency penwork cabinet, England, 19th cetury. Courtesy of Mallet/1stdibs.com. Penwork  A type of decoration applied to japanned furniture in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, mainly in England. Furniture to be treated in this way was first japanned black, then patterns were painted on in white japan and finally the details and shading were executed in black India …

Celebrating the ‘Decodence’ of the SS Normandie

Editorial StaffExhibitions

Unlike other major exhibitions of the art deco period, DecoDence: Legendary Interiors and Illustrious Travelers Aboard the SS Normandie, which opens today at the South Street Seaport Museum, isn’t an over-the-top display. Instead, it’s a balanced, and entirely engrossing, collection of furnishings, ephemera, and architectural elements that graced the legendary ocean liner. Among the show’s highlights: photographs that document the …

Vintage finds for your valentine

Editorial StaffArt

A Fisher-WifeThe soonest mended, nothing said;And help may rise from east or west;But my two hands are lumps of lead,My heart sits leaden in my breast. O north wind swoop not from the north,O south wind linger in the south,Oh come not raving raging forth,To bring my heart into my mouth; For I’ve a husband out at sea,Afloat on feeble …

Great Estates: Davenport House in Savannah, Georgia

Editorial StaffFurniture & Decorative Arts

Completed around 1820, Davenport House, located in the historic port city of Savannah, evinces the post-Revolutionary American taste for contemporary European design.  Isaiah Davenport, a master carpenter by trade, looked to the classicizing mode that had become prevalent in residential architecture throughout England and Europe when he constructed Davenport House for his growing family.  Today, visitors can experience the excitement …

Masterpiece London confirmed

Editorial StaffExhibitions

After months of anticipation, Masterpiece London, the new art and antiques fair from the organizers of the prestigious 75-year-old Grosvenor House Fair, received the permissions necessary to confirm that it will take place on 24-29 June 2010 at the Chelsea Barracks. In spite of the bureaucratic quagmires and delays that these permissions took, those in the know have bet strongly …

Falling for antique Mizpah jewelry

Editorial StaffArt

It’s easy to fall in love with Victorian jewelry. The combination of beauty and sentimentality in objects such as mourning brooches made of facetted jet and Etruscan beaded bangles is nearly unparalleled, while the symbolism in 19th-century jewels makes them especially alluring for collectors. Names, inscriptions, and the coded languages of flowers and stones all contribute to their significance. One …