The Watteau revival
D.L. is an amateur collector who has inherited a rococo artwork. Rococo is a flamboyant French style of the 18th century, a reaction against the grand classic style of the …
Erotic Alabaster
S.F. from the 805 inherited a white marble bust entitled “Poesia” from her late mother-in-law, who inherited it from “her no-good father who ran off when [my mother-in-law] was a …
Four levels of an 18th century-style painting’s value
B.T. brought in a lovely and valuable oil painting to our Santa Barbara office for my opinion of value. If it is everything I think it is (an original), our …
1950’s Eggbeater
J.F. sends me a photo of a 1950’s metal eggbeater which has a metal gear and two whisks, labeled on a rubber handle across the top of both sides “B-E-S-T.” …
Will Cupid’s arrow strike the buyer’s market?
B.T. of Santa Barbara found a delightful etching on paper in her grandfather’s storage garage. The scene features a lowly barn door with a stone archway. The door is made …
Kerosene Lamp
R.B. sends me a working kerosene lamp that is rustic and simple. It has a bracket for a wall-mount to the rear as well as a flat bottom for table …
Art world sleuthing for Edwin Georgi
G.H. has a watercolor depicting young bunny-hill skiers standing in a circle in the snow. It is signed “Georgi.” The work is simple yet shows ability in handling paint, as …
The market’s choking on chokin
J. from Santa Barbara has two framed Japanese engravings on copper plates, overlayed with layers of gold and silver wash, then acid-etched and hand-tooled. Acid-etching refers to the lines that …
Mid-20th Century Asian Artwork
DL sends me an Asian style painting on fabric glued to a backboard and framed in a mid 19th C. frame. The frame is from the mid-19th C. European, but …
Hairy paw furniture clawed its way into the American market
In 1987, an American “hairy paw” chair was purchased at auction for $2.75 million. M.S. of Santa Barbara has a hairy paw table from the 19th century, made of American …