Damage Caused By Kids In Museums
My two grandchildren are old enough to experience an art museum. Thus, I added a family membership to the wonderful Santa Barbara Museum of Art and one to the fabulous …
Settee For A Great Dane
My brother and sister-in-law live in a sophisticated New York high-rise near the Dakota. They’ve cared for a string of Great Danes, their favorite breed, suffering many elevator rides for …
Vintage Graphic Design Work
A gift the universe gives the right person is rare. Take Emma Howard, a talented local designer who gave me permission to use her name. She owns Studio 3 Hand …
Art Pottery of the Arts and Crafts Movement
ES owns a eight-and-a-half-inch tall matt blue vase accented with a purple peony design with the “flame” mark for Rookwood pottery. The date stamp reads 1926. ES, your little vase …
American Stainless and Sterling Flatware Hot Today
DS owns a set of Stanley Roberts International House of Design stainless flatware accented with inserted rosewood running down the handles. Very modern, and hot today, as American modern stainless …
Cringeworthy Midcentury Table Lamps
What one object personified KITSCH in a midcentury living room in the 1940s to early 1950’s? Those figural lamps that make us roll our eyes today, those non-politically correct, exotic …
Porcelain Faced Doll Too Lifelike To Stomach
Confession! I have a doll phobia. They call it “paedophobia,” an intense irrational fear of a humanoid form when appearing too realistic, seemingly too close to becoming one of US. …
Fine Art Print Market A Good Investment
BL, a budding Gen Z art afficionado, asked if the fine art print market is a good investment. A great question. The answer is YES for some types of prints …
250-Year-Old English Engraving Important to History
DS sent me a 250-year-old English engraving titled The Sea Fight off La Rochelle. It illustrates an image reproduced from the 14th century books, Chronicles (1337-1410) by Jean Froissart. The …
New Money, New Taste
I authored a little book prior to the pandemic titled No Thanks Mom: The Top Ten Objects Your Kids Do Not Want. To my surprise, it went viral. The heart …