They ran the gamut from eccentrics to tomb-robbers, but British antiquaries did more than just collect bits and pieces of the past. Continue reading
Digging English History
Antiques & Design
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Features From Previous Issues
Upon Reflection
Antique mirrors can make collectors lose themselves in their shimmering depths. Continue reading
Czech List
In Prague, city of churches, castles and Cubism, the search for antiques is hardly Kafkaesque. Continue reading
Money and Art
On September 4 in Los Angeles, Bonhams will auction rare coins and banknotes from the collection of the late casino and hotel owner Charles Mapes and his wife, Helen, of Reno, Nev. Continue reading
Lucien Pissarro in England: The Eragny Press
Sons of famous fathers have a hard time. Typically the old lion cuffs the cub for daring to innovate, but in the case of Lucien Pissarro (1863–1944) the problem was just the opposite: His father, Camille, the West Indies-born Franco-Jewish Impressionist, repeatedly scolded him for being old-fashioned. Continue reading
What’s On Your Plate?
Bookplates are tiny marvels of the printmaker’s art, and a fascinating adjunct to rare-book collecting. Continue reading
Silver, Unstandard
At Christie’s sale of Important Silver on October 19, the top lot was not a table service or a tea set but a pack of cards. The cards are exquisitely fashioned, thin enough to stack and play with, if not exactly to shuffle. Estimated at $150,000–200,000, they shot up to $554,500, selling to an English dealer who was bidding on behalf of a private collector who specializes in Renaissance art. Continue reading
The Fanciful Forties
L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, a short opera by Maurice Ravel with a libretto by Colette, which premiered in Monaco in March of 1925, is about a naughty little boy who comes to regret his bad behavior. This coming to life was more than just a fiction; it was prophetic, because at that time furniture was about to acquire an extraordinary vitality in French society. Continue reading
Threads of History
In 1932, a New York engineer, Arthur Arwine, artfully recreated the plush atmosphere of a Turkmen yurt in his Sheridan Square apartment by draping colorful carpets on his walls, his furniture and, of course, his floors. Continue reading
Organic Ceramic
By Sallie Brady Bernard Palissy made porcelain come alive in the 16th century, and nature’s forms continue to inspire artists in clay today. When groups of school children are brought to the Wallace Collection, the jewel of a London museum … Continue reading