Breaking tradition: Ceramics by Michelle Erickson

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One upcoming highlight of the New York Ceramics Fair is a lecture and demonstration by ceramic artist Michelle Erickson, who was featured in our September 2009 issue. On Saturday at noon Erickson will show visitors how an early 18th-century Moravian squirrel bottle was made—a subject which she explored for the 2009 issue of Ceramics in America, and which coincides with …

Ceramics 101: A sampling of antique English wares

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With the dizzying array of wares on display this week at the New York Ceramics Fair, it seems like an opportune time to review some of the basics of the medium. Though most of our readers are familiar with names like Wedgwood and Grueby, we’ve rounded-up a few quintessential examples of English ceramics as an introduction to the widely varied …

What’s in store for January

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Hundreds of dealers, collectors, and connoisseurs have descended on New York to participate in the city’s antiques season that begins this week with the New York Ceramics Fair, the American Antiques Show, and the 56th Annual Winter Antiques Show. In anticipation, we’ve updated our online Store with selections from several exhibiting dealers, offering a small taste of the diversity and …

Query: Samuel Percy, wax portrait modeller

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The life and work of British wax portrait modeller and aspiring sculptor Samuel Percy (1753-1819) is the subject of a research program  being undertaken by Ruth Ord-Hume of Guilford, Surrey, in the UK. Ord-Hume would be delighted to be in contact with any reader who may posses examples of Percy’s works or have any knowledge of his life and career, …

Modern sculptors and American folk art

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“Do not bore. Do not be obvious.” That was the advice given by painter, teacher, and critic Hamilton Easter Field (1873-1922) to his students in the Ogunquit (Maine) School of Paint­ing and Sculpture, which he opened in 1911 with his protégé, the French-born sculptor Robert Laurent.1 For Field, Laurent, and their colleagues who passed through Ogunquit and who shared similar …

Top Lots: 2009 Year in Review

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TOP WARHOLWhat: 200 One Dollar Bills by Andy Warhol, 1962Where: Sotheby’s New York (November 11, Contemporary Art Evening Sale)Estimate: $8-12 millionSold For: $43.7 million A large-scale masterpiece from Warhol’s first series of silkscreened paintings, 200 One Dollar Bills was also from the artist’s second earliest group of serial works. Originally from the collection of Robert and Ethel Scull, the work …

Endnotes: Combat ready

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When visiting the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Fair in New York in October, I was struck by the imposing arms and armor on display in the booth of Peter Finer of London—enormous poleaxes, a beautifully ornamented Italian half suit of armor, a bronze cannon on its field carriage. It made me stop and wonder idly about how you …

A courtly 17th-century amber and ivory casket

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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 …

Doyle & Doyle decks the halls

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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 …