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North Carolina is known for its beautiful forests, and since the 19th century was the state known nationwide to produce serviceable wooden furniture. My son lives there now, and some …

The week before the Thomas fire roared into Santa Barbara County, a new client asked me for an appointment for an appraisal for insurance purposes. On Dec. 5,, my photographer …

C. from Santa Barbara has an old violin bearing a paper label in the interior of the waist behind one of the F holes. I am not a violin expert, …

Old folks always have the best stuff. A framed piece of sheet music on paper always hung next to Mom’s piano, given to her by my Aunt Ann. The title …

The year was 1962 and D.’s mom spotted a great-looking, modern-style, green-, blue- and gold-trimmed vase at Ott Hardware in Santa Barbara. She displayed it for 55 years on her …

D.H. sends what appears to be a basket, produced in the 1990’s in Australia, a great example of “studio craft art.” Objects like this are typically innovative, ambiguous, true to …

J.H. of Santa Barbara owns a handled copper or brass tray passed down to her from her grandmother, who arrived in Portland, Ore., in the 1890s from Odessa in the …

D.L. has a fine little Asian ornamental bronze figure standing at about 30 inches. It is in the shape of a Japanese pagoda with seven stacked six-sided tapering roofs. Each …

J.H. purchased two copper plaques in Quebec in the 1960s. One ended up living in her husband’s law firm in Santa Barbara for 50 years; the other, in a sunny …

P.A. from the 805 sends me pictures of a unique handled glass mug which she found at a garage sale for $2, which she tells me comes from Seattle. It …