Californio Braided Brooches
EC inherited a Bible from her mom. It belonged to Isabel Robbins Carrillo (1845-1914), a lady from one of Santa Barbara’s most distinguished families. Along with the Bible she found …
Rediscovery of the Warwick Vase
PP sent me a large drinking vessel, a replica of the Warwick Vase. Collected in the early 20th century on a 19th century grand tour. Wealthy young men on their …
Another Wedding Basket This One From China
JW owns a Chinese rattan two-tiered tall rectangular basket circa 1900. She wrote me because of my previous article about a Victorian Bride’s Baskets. Her Chinese basket is ALSO a …
Portrait of Male face Composed of Nude Women
DD sent me this strange portrait of a male face in profile composed of writhing nude bodies. I KNEW I’d seen this technique before: a mélange of nude women arranged …
Quality Artistry Of A Amphora Vase
This winter I bought a vacant for years 1919 chalet on Lake Arrowhead. I’m studying its architecture and decorative art of the period. Coincidence? Synergy? Everything I look at trickles …
Ashtray With A Mystery Round Thing
Coops sent me a fantastic piece of ancient history—an ashtray, classy looking in silver with a cradles for cigarettes. Now collected in a class of objects called tobacciana, vintage from …
Bride’s Basket: Silver Or Not?
As a kid JB admired a silver, now tarnished, handled basket with a clear glass lining. She calls it her grandmother’s German silver bride’s basket. It consists of a filigreed …
Young Buys Like Vintage Original Prints
Young family guy RT wrote that he likes 1940s lithograph prints in a realist style. He picked up online two nudes by Emil Weddige (1907-2001). RT wants to know about …
Finding Lost Art
MN enjoyed buying storage lockers whose owners defaulted on payments. He bought one in the early 2000s in San Diego and stuffed boxes of books and papers into his own …
Butcher Block Comes Home to John Muir Street
In my Lake Arrowhead shed lurks a beast, a four-hundred-pound vintage butcher block table. During one of its many laborious moves, it lost four legs and now only the massive …