Elizabeth Stewart

This little green kerosene lamp proves a point. Objects possess much the same uncanny property as the old theory of “six degrees of separation.” The principle suggests that any two …

LB owns an 1898–1902 Symphonion crank-operated tabletop music box. It spins perforated seven-and-a-half-inch steel discs on a double-comb movement patented in Leipzig by Symphonion Musikwerke. The photograph shows a bound …

JS sent me a chunky, hand-carved wooden sculpture of a powerfully built male figure with an amputated left leg below the knee. He’s shown in a direct, full-frontal pose, seated …

DD sent me a 19th century etched and blown-glass dressing table mirror, angled on an easel back. She asked about the history of “self-reflection” and its value. In the Golden …

Tacky? Bad Taste? Or a nice change from beige, black, and taupe? High or low culture? A serious work of art or a frightening mess from the 1980s? HG’s pseudo …