Are we through with the Joy of Things?
A client cancelled an appointment with me yesterday. He said he felt sick and tired of his family and colleagues suggesting he ‘de-clutter.’ He decided he didn’t care about valuing …
The Nude Male Model
JE owns a “life study” figure by Charles Arthur Fries (1854-1940). Why did Fries, known in his later years for his Southern Californian landscape paintings, sketch a strange little nude …
A Tale of Art Forgery
This week TT came into the office with a nice oil painting signed A.G. Deacon. This oil on canvas landscape, a view of a French vineyard, came with memories, as …
F. Hopkinson Smith: An Artist with Technical Know-How
PS sends me a beautiful oil pastel on paper, signed F. Hopkinson Smith (1838-1915). The painting depicts a canal scene in Venice, but look closer, you will see an amazing …
Material Testimony to the Story an Object Tells: Judaica
DB from Oxnard sent me this photograph of a most beautiful mystery silver item, which appears to be a tea or coffee pot. But in this little item contains a …
Ancient Altar Painting Tells Treasured Story of Abraham and Isaak
JE sent me photos of a wonderful small 8 x 12 oil on canvas, a portrait of the aged Abraham, the father of the little infant at his feet, Isaak. …
High Culture Eagle Devolves to Low Culture Symbol
I possess my own theories about Early American Colonial Design style in the USA in the mid 20th century. I should know. I lived through this most unfortunate era in …
Doll with Celluloid spectacles Harbinger of 1910 Fashion
SK sends me an antique doll with spectacles, rather intelligent but haughty. Writing about dolls with spectacles, and why that became a fashion in the first quarter of the 20th …
California Colored Ceramics, a Mid-Century Delight
I grew up in a little farming area of Illinois which is now part of the sprawling Chicago metropolis, and our little red brick 2-bedroom house was close enough to …
When a Collector Becomes a Connoisseur
When I taught Decorative Arts at a SBCC, I had a room full of English speaking students, with one Japanese student, Haruto, who knew only a few English words. I …