The Amazing Stevengraph
NH sent me a silk textile weaving, generically known today as a Stevengraph. Its history began in the Middle Ages, in a faraway place along the Jona River in a …
Hagenauer Family Hunch
JF sent me a deco style metal sculpture bust of a young male. I presume it’s Apollo from the laurel leaf crown around his head. I don’t see any markings …
Hubley Friendship For a Friend
I once appraised a Hubley Friendship, the only cast iron seaplane ever manufactured by any toy company, for a gifted personality. He gifted it to a friend. Hubley modeled the …
Magic Lantern Slides a Feast for the Eyes
LS owns a box of approximately 75 hand colored glass magic lantern slides at 4’ x 3 ¼’ each. What are they? He had no idea they came from exotic …
Mystery of the Black Feathers
My maiden name is Siegfried and I often see Germanic Sentimentalism mixed with taxidermy. In such blatant ways I find the Germanic culture a bit frightening. J’s objects exemplify Germanic …
Taking a Trip with Mireia Zantop
When TF picked up this work on paper at a charity auction she knew nothing about it. But she loved the octopus. She asked me to find out about the …
Do Your Object Speak to You?
Perhaps the objects in your home speak to you in these troubled times. Maybe they say, “restore me,” “donate me,” or “think of what I mean to you.” Objects remind …
Why Chefs Love Wagner Ware
A good market exists for this rugged cookware from the late 19 and early 20th century, especially for the Griswold, Sidney, and Wagner Ware brands. JE sent me a cast …
White Elephant Stores Hats and Collars
PK sent me photos of a fruitwood carved chest with three drawers towards the bottom and top section of two cabinets with wonderful carved surfaces. The two central drawers are …
Leroy Burket a Fascinating Man
How did a baby born in 1920 in Alton, Iowa, to Eunice and LeRoy, a proud Freemason, grow up to become an abstract painter in Paris? So goes the story …