Warmer with Wonderful History
RT sent me a unique silverplate revolving round buffet supper server set, large at 18 inches high by 24 inches diameter. She asked: WHY did they call it a warmer? …
Geoffrey Holt Owed a Lot to Bradstreet
Bet we all hold favorite memories of a job that shaped our future in our early 20s. Mine involves working for Andrea, a scatterbrained but completely confident “older” (the 32) …
The Koi Saru in the Kitchen
TR owns a big carved wooden fish she bought when a Long John Silver’s Restaurant closed about 25 years ago. She hung it on her garden wall for many of …
Provenance and Tall Tales of Your Treasures
This article underscores the important issue of provenance – which means, basically, from whence an antique comes. I hear many fantastic stories about where things came from, and I hear …
French 1890s Art Nouveau Poster
TG owns a Belle Epoch lithograph poster from Paris, and wants to know its relationship to Art Nouveau, which she loves. A huge relationship exists between the poster design of …
Giving Objects to Heirs
An estate planner I work with said “There are two outcomes to giving objects to heirs: 1. They don’t want them. 2. They fight over them.” So how can you …
Wedgwood China Making a Come Back
Back in the 1980s FG knew the private secretary for the late dancer/actress Cyd Charisse. FG bought, from the secretary, Ms. Charisse’s twelve piece Wedgwood “Charnwood” pattern bone china dinner …
One’s Porcelain, One’s Not
Diana sent me a figurine named “Ereolita,” early 20th century Capodimonte porcelain in the classical style by Giuseppe Gricci. In the mid-1700s King Charles VII of Naples, an independent kingdom …
Photography Book a Piece of Art History
JF found an old photography book, published in 1952, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment. He liked the design of the cover by Matisse. He found a piece of art history. …
Plan While You Can: Strategize Your Personal Property in Estate Planning
Suggestions from my talk with Denise Stevens, presented by Development Office, Legacy Giving, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History 3.30.2021. Few families and individuals escape making decisions about passing on …