Quimper Figure a Product of Collaboration
SB sent me photos of a 19th century Quimper ceramic figure. It’s a relief-painted scullery maid, holding a gold-gilded metal cookpot, seated on a gold-gilded metal chair. Such an interesting …
Saints Painted by an Indigenous Peruvian
At a flea market JS purchased a small painting on canvas featuring two figures of saints. She never before saw such an unfortunate looking canine, and needed this work!! First, …
Salvador Dali’s 120th Birthday
Salvador Dali turns 120 years old this Spring. As his lithographs are one of the most appraised material, I present his most viewed work of art: the wrapping for the …
Art Nouveau Floor Lamp
JJ owns a wonderful goose-neck floor lamp, found at the Earl Warren flea market. The base is a naturalistic bronze with a round figure of a lily pad, models of …
Ceramic Umbrella Stand of the Aesthetic Movement
Years ago RR inherited a tall ceramic umbrella stand shattered in a recent wildfire. She discovered two shards that, when put together like puzzle pieces, read RN 288102 and RN …
Tin Rocking Horse Hazardous But Adorable
RH sent me a children’s sit-on rocking tin horse that lived in his garage for years. He THINKS it belonged to his mom but he’s not sure. I believe this …
Chinese Chinoiserie Style, Love it or Hate it
RH owns a Chinese Chinoiserie style coffee table. The top shows a startling scene of ancient Chinese Court life composed of six applied carved semi-precious stone figures. One figure wields …
Barnaby Conrad: A Friend to Writers
OS asked for a dollar estimate for her Barnaby Conrad signed lithograph. When an artist is a huge personality with a legendary past, “comparable sales,” prices paid for past work, …
The ORANGE: Perception, Color, and Language
The color orange, a newer color term, is based upon the 14th century European discovery of the fruit. In the foothills of the Himalayas in the 13th century, Persian traders …
Hodge’s Hats
PP confessed to a weakness for vintage hats. For the past ten years she paid $300 a month to store her collection of 1950s hats. She sent me a picture …