Tsuba Sword Guards, Not a Toy

What are these “little disks?” wrote VA, a reader all the way from South Africa. She said her Uncle collected these odd tiddlywinks. She has no idea where he got …

An Ohio American Primitive Rocking Chair

CH sent me a photograph of a ladderback rocking chair given (tradition has it) to CH’s great-grandparents as a wedding gift from CH’s great-great-grandfather in Ohio. Let’s describe the rocker …

Why I Purchased This Orphan Painting

I received an overwhelming response to my article “How to Judge a Thrift Store Painting.” One reader asked if I owned an ‘orphan’ painting in my home. She wants me …