Many years ago, I had a friend who was known for throwing lavish dinner parties. He was a chef in Chicago and his table (routinely seating as many as 15) would be laden with food almost too pretty to eat. But what always stuck out to me was his beautiful array of table linens –[…]
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In a time when we can carry, literally, thousands of photographs around on our telephones, it’s easy to forget how having a ready and available image of a loved one was not only difficult, but was also the almost exclusive domain of the wealthy (this dates back not only to the days before iPhones, but[…]
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Many years ago, when I first started collecting, I was obsessed with statuary. Nothing said “refinement” and “antiquity” to me like collectibles featuring an elegantly swooning nude or a charging stag flanked by dogs. I loved how supple or animated a sculptor could make stone or bronze appear. I wanted it everywhere. The problem was,[…]
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I’ll admit, as a young collector, the world of Asian export porcelains intimidated me. Unlike the French or German collectibles that had become almost instantly familiar to me, I did not so immediately catch on to the subtle nuances of Asian marking and execution. It was then that I discovered my gateway into this world[…]
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Part of the appeal of antiques is the specificity of purpose that many items had, and how this particularity offers insight into the customs and social values of that time. And, then, sometimes they’re just pretty. But consider collectibles such as the simple little salt cellar. For millennia, salt has been one of the most[…]
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