Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Furniture & Decorative Arts”
This short list of notable acquisitions began with a request to decorative arts curators in major American museums to choose and discuss a favorite recent gift or purchase. The design of this elegant Gothic revival center table is attributed to the renowned Alexander Jackson Davis. The leading advocate for the “pointed style” in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, …
Photography by Gavin Ashworth | It took knowledge—knowledge and taste together,” according to Harry Hartman of Harry B. Hartman Antiques and Interiors who helped to form this exceptional private collection of American furniture and folk art and American and Chinese export paintings. For nearly fifty years, the Hartman name has been synonymous with purveying fine antiques from southeastern Pennsylvania. This …
Photography by Aya Brackett | One of California’s finest collections of eighteenth-century English and European decorative arts is to be found in San Francisco in a large Queen Anne revival house in Pacific Heights. Carefully chosen to evoke the atmosphere of an English country house or a French château, these objects shine brilliantly against the dark brown paneling in 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 …
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 …
Fenway Court, the former home of Isabella Stewart Gardner, gives added meaning to the notion of a house museum. Built in the style of a fifteenth-century Venetian palace, it was conceived as both a residence and a museum. With the help of many great advisers, Gardner amassed-and later, meticulously arranged-a superlative collection of fine and decorative arts, architecture, and rare …
It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already upon us. While certain side dishes go in and out of fashion, the turkey and its gravy remain a constant; and with that, its vessel, the gravy boat, is a mainstay of any traditional table setting. The term “gravy” appears in several medieval French cookbooks referring to the natural cooking juices, or …
Skinner Boston/November 15, Fine Books & Manuscripts * Important letter signed by Martin Luther, 1581 $106,650 (estimate $15,000-25,000) * Map of English and French dominions in North America, 1755 $65,175 (estimate $15,000-20,000) * John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot from Birds of America, 1830 $38,513 (estimate $25,000-35,000) Christie’s London/November 17, Centuries of Style: Silver, Ceramics, Miniatures & Gold Boxes Total: £3.5 …