A monthly newsletter with Elizabeth’s top tips of the Month.
August 2021
This month I offer some helpful hints for simplifying your home based on my extensive research.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Having a Ball with a Regency Fan
- Shedding Light on an Oil Lamp
- I FINALLY Researched Antonio Stagnoli
- Thunder Mug Not For Bathroom Use
July 2021
Distributing your earthly goods between your offspring seems like a daunting task. This month I offer some helpful hints for tackling this project without causing too many emotional outbursts.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find five of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Fabulous Hindu Lamps
- South American Stirrups for Small Feet
- Japanese Singing Bowls “Sound Bath”
- Diego Rivera Possible Original Treasure
June 2021
If you shopped at a flea market this spring you know the post-pandemic stock is INCREDIBLE. In this month’s newsletter I give you some practical and impractical tips for browsing the spring fleas.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find five of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Wrought Iron Very Right
- Woodcut Tells Important Stories
- Silver Dresser Set a Nice Little Treasure
- Art Nouveau Lamp with Semi-nude Female
May 2021
Because the 2021 high fire season began May 3, I want to share with you tips for making an inventory of your stuff. Don’t wait for the next big disaster to strike, get that inventory done TODAY.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find five of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Lithograph Kin to Art Nou
- The Koi Saru in the Kitchen
- Warmer with Wonderful History
- Fascination with the History of the Crusades
- Gypsy Pot: Brilliant Piece of Engineering
April 2021
This newsletter discusses what to do RIGHT NOW about pulling together a plan for estate distribution; in other words, what to do if your heirs don’t want your items or they fight over them.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find five of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Weddige Lithography Not Really Midcentury Modern
- Ever hear of Capriccio Painting?
- Photography Book a Piece of Art History
- Wedgwood China Making a Come Back
March 2021
This newsletter takes you on a tour of what I’m glad I kept over the years, because I’ve looked at objects in my home MORE than usual these days of lockdown.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find five of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Cooking Up Copper Pot Origin
- Hyper Realistic Susan Krey Baby Doll
- Belly Up To This Vintage Bar Cabinet
- Train Tracks Led to Mystery
February 2021
This month I share with you a list the top trends I see along the lines of “objects you never suspected valuable.”
As always in this newsletter you’ll find five of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- From Soup to Nut Dish
- Chinese Vase with Cabbage Symbolism
- Bastidor Sculptures for a Home Altar
- Uncover the Story of this Baron Woolen Mills Blanket
- Mystery Marks on Christening Mug
January 2021
This month’s newsletter talks about how artists brought joy into 2020, a year most people long to forget.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- $40 Welsh Painting Might Bring $40K
- How do I know it’s Hepplewhite?
- Raise a Glass to this Medal
- Great Grandmother’s German Vase
December 2020
This month’s newsletter talks about why THEMED AUCTIONS are a great way to buy and sell collectables during the pandemic.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Japy Freres Reformed Clockmaking
- Santa Barbara Bowl Bob Marley Shirt
- Value of My Chagall Print?
- Chairs Carry Santa Barbara History
November 2020
This month’s newsletter offers DONATION IDEAS for everything you found these past nine long months!
As always in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- For the Love of Hollywood Regency
- Silver Overlay, a Political Issue?
- Sleuthing Out Si Non Est Satis Mementot Paupertatis
- Peep Show Prints Kin to a Photo
October 2020
This month’s newsletter centers on what we can do with this newfound reality around our homes, our living environment, and our material possessions.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- How to Date an Ancestor Portrait
- Grace Howell Gentlewoman Painter
- A Big Little Books and Disney
- Oak Dresser FREE or NO?
September 2020
Also, please check out the Kirkus review of my new book, My Darling Quarantine, and my latest article in Worthwhile Magazine™.
As always in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- When Silver Plate isn’t Plate?
- Lompoc Telephone Battle
- Marie Dorothy Dolph Pioneer Painter
- 1930s Refrigerator Market Boom
August 2020
Have you called me lately to ask what is salable – and where? Many of my clients have. This newsletter explains what’s HOT and what’s COLD. Cold objects are ‘unloadable’ during the pandemic, but hang onto them for a better market. If you consider the object a total dog, then it’s time to donate or dump.
Also in this newsletter I share the first review of my new book: My Darlin’ Quarantine: Intimate Connections Created in Chaos, a funny book (really) about strangers thrown together in lockdown. Many characters are modeled on family and friends.
Sadly, my father passed away from complications of COVID-19. His funeral took place on Facebook. I’m ready for a new world to begin, as we respect the trappings of our old world…. Makes me think family treasures are more important than before. Scan those photos!
As always in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Taking a Trip with Mireia Zantop
- Magic Lantern Slides a Feast for the Eyes
- Hagenauer Family Hunch
- Autograph Book Equal Hidden Treasure
July 2020
Family photos, paintings purchased on vacation, my mother’s pots and pans, my collection of art books from museums…all hold memories in material form. They seem more important to me today for the service they might render other people. My world, like yours, shrunk to the four walls of my condo, but my community expanded.
I feel empathy for the older man living alone in the big house across the street. I leave boxes, labeled ‘FREE’ of books I culled for him.
I leave a box of Mom’s good clean pots and pans on the sidewalk, also marked ‘FREE.’ One of the crew in the PG&E truck picks them up. Good! The objects are emissaries of my care and concern for my neighbors and essential workers. I hope those books and pans speak to their new owners as gifts from an unknown neighbor.
The article below addresses a timely question from many of my clients: How can my objects best serve the community?
Also in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Fireplace Screen, Noble or Not?
- Falling in Love with Murano Glass
- Leroy Burket a Fascinating Man
- Why Chefs Love Wagner Ware
June 2020
Urban Dictionary published a new word recently, a word called ‘bigsmall,” meaning a small thing that feels very big. The concept of bigsmall originated with the ad industry as a word to describe a small container that, when inside, seems vast. This is a good word for today! My day to day existence has shrunk, and feels small now, but my concerns for our future feel very big. As we all exist, today, in our respective small spaces, I reflect upon a world of big problems. So this newsletter aims to amuse you with tales of big and small: I take you from the smallest objects I have appraised to a few of the very largest.
Also in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Ballroom Chairs Led to Flirting
- Skeleton Sketch of Lucy Bronze Figure
- Psychedelic Poster Artist Moscoso
- Abstract Red Painting – To Toss or Not?
May 2020
This month’s newsletter includes a video tour of my house, my collections, and how I value them. I created this mini road show of my own home, and what I love, to show you MY HOUSE. If you ever wondered what I collect, click here to check out the video.
Also, this month I wrote a guide for HOW TO SELL objects, and how to photograph them so they WILL sell.
if you’re like me and dug through closets and bureaus, and found things to sell, you might wonder what to do with those things you unearthed. What value characterizes make something valuable? I created a guide to help you become your own appraiser for fine art of all kinds, silver, glass (including decorative pieces and table ware), porcelain and ceramics (including dining services and decorative figurines and lamps), and, very importantly, furniture, from mid century modern to 18th century. What the market looks for – if you want to sell – is included in this guide.
Click here for my “Inspection Guide for Remote Appraising.”
Because I cannot come to your house for a few more weeks, click here for a guide instructing you how to shoot photos of objects so I can see them, should you want my market analysis. Perhaps more importantly, this guide tells you how to photograph so BUYERS can see value characteristics.
Lastly a national appraiser’s magazine featured my guide for folks wanting to know how the appraising world works in this NEW market.
Also in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Bronze Drinking Vessel with a Nice Figure
- Anyone buying art during the pandemic?
- Determine the Value of Your Art
- Simplex Time Clock Tells Story of Its Time
April 2020
Sending to friends and clients fondest regards. I reflect on the acronym CoVid: “co” in Latin means “partnership” (as in co-habitate, or co-invent)…. “vid” in Latin (derived from videre) means “to see.” Words are powerful! We now truly see how important we are to each other.
Friend, an important thing in my life is writing poetry to share, and offering it to important people in my life, like YOU. Here’s thirteen CoVid reflections, some funny, some sad, but all proffered so you know another side of my work involves the “interiors” of our lives. Below please read the first few stanzas of each of my thirteen poems. If you’d like to read the rest of any poem, click on the title.
Photos in this newsletter are by John Flandrick, my partner, with the exception of the Botticelli image (“Primavera” or “Spring”), and the whimsical answer to the “Getty Challenge” shot by my niece Bea Walter of herself and her parents.
During CoVid time, please feel free to send me photos of objects IN YOUR INTERIOR SPACE that you have always wondered about. I will evaluate a few of them FOR FREE.
March 2020
Is the day when we ate together with fine china around a gorgeous table GONE? Read on to see my opinion of market value for objects related to fine dining. Also in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- The Story Behind this Picasso
- Signed Celebrity Photos Fraught with Pitfalls
- Martin Luther Bible, a Family Treasure
- 1950’s Ceramic Dachshund a Matter of American Taste
February 2020
The La Cumbre Center for the Creative Arts (LCCCA) artists invited me to present my thoughts about selling in today’s art market. This newsletter compiles my thoughts on this topic gathered from questions from our Santa Barbara artists that evening, as well some hints about selling YOUR OWN ART in today’s market. Also in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Rookwood Factory: a Long and Varied History
- Tsuba Sword Guards, Not a Toy
- Frederick Stuart Church: A True American Artist
- The WHY Behind Delaroche’s Napoleon Painting
January 2020
Readers enjoyed my checklist about the value of antique furniture in my December newsletter. So this month I offer you a checklist for how to judge the worth and worthiness of a work of art. Also in this newsletter you’ll find four of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Guidelines for 19th Century Furniture Authentication
- How to Determine What’s Valuable Antique Furniture
- Faded Heart Drapo Vodou
- Why I Purchased This Orphan Painting
December 2019
I received many nice comments on my November newsletter about the value of antique furniture. Readers asked me for an antique furniture identification newsletter, so here it IS. Also in this newsletter you’ll find three of my latest, hot off the press, articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Antique Pitchers Live to Tell Stories for New Generation
- Pre-Columbian Effigies Pose Problems
- How to Look at a Thrift Store Painting
November 2019
This month I discuss the good and bad news about today’s antique furniture market. Also in this newsletter you’ll find three recent articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Vintage Clothing and What to Do With It
- Capodimonte Porcelain Urns Reminiscent Liberace’s Taste
- Van Briggle Pottery Tells Many Tales
October 2019 – Issue Seventeen
This month I discuss how targeting collectors by category helps when selling a valuable object. Also in this newsletter you’ll find four recent articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Beloved Huckleberry Hound Evokes Memories
- Gate Leg Table, Jacobean or not?
- Camel Flask a Midcentury Icon of Hong Kong
- Midcentury Cool Chord Organ
September 2019 – Issue Sixteen
This month I talk about the art of connoisseurship and how it differs from the act of collecting. Also in this newsletter you’ll find four recent articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- What’s a Temple Lion, and Why a Lion?
- Confessions of a Misguided Maximalist
- Folk Pottery Redware – Easy to Ignore in a Thrift Store
- Remington Typewriter: What, No Spellcheck?!
August 2019 – Issue Fifteen
After a loved one passes away what becomes of their STUFF? Read on for strategies on how to divide up an estate. Also in this newsletter you’ll find four recent articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- School of Paris Painters Reinvented the Human Form
- The Grand Era of Dining
- Viva La Spanish Flavored Textiles
- Fabulous Art Deco Daum Glass
July 2019 – Issue Fourteen – click to read
Are you torn between the pressure to downsize and hanging onto the objects that define your life? If so, read on for advice from an appraiser with thirty years experience. Also in this newsletter you’ll find four recent articles authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- F. Hopkinson Smith: An Artist with Technical Know-How
- Ancient Alter Painting Tells Treasured Story of Abraham and Isaak
- Doll with Celluloid Spectacles Harbinger of 1910 Fashion
- How to Tell If Your fashion Doll is Valuable or Haunted
June 2019 – Issue Thirteen – click to read
A remembered experience intrinsic to an object creates value. We MOURN the death of iTunes and its iPod for this very reason. Read on for WHY this is the NEW NORMAL measurement of VALUE. Also in this newsletter are four of my latest articles, authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Souvenir Bad Elster Spa Glass with a Story to Tell
- American Empire Furniture Considered Heavy and Dark
- Humorous Moustiers Candlesticks Make a Political Statement
- Glazed Ceramic Toilette Set Now Obsolete Due to Indoor Plumbing
May 2019 – Issue Twelve – click to read
This month I discusses some short cut techniques and good websites if YOU have an item YOU need to research. Also in this newsletter are four of my custom written short articles about art and antiques that YOU own.
- Hobnail Pitcher Made Lemonade Look Sweeter
- Batik Fabric Stamp Bears Markers of Use
- History of Faience Tells History of the Conveyance of Culture
- Weller Pot Perfect for Any California Bungalow
April 2019 – Issue Eleven – click to read
Is your storage unit overfull and too expensive? You’re not alone. Below I discuss how to downsize and whether to sell or donate important itmes. Also in this newsletter are four of my latest articles, authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Rare Japanese Ivory Netsuke For Sale! Not!!
- Finding the Key to this Vintage Lock
- Family Heirloom Reflects Long History of Mirrors
- For the Love of Vintage Hats
February 2019 – Issue Nine – click to read
Did you know people develop their own attachment style to objects? Below I talk about five different ‘object’ styles I’ve observed over my 30 years of experience. Also in this newsletter are four of my latest articles, authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- Unmasking the value of a traditional Japanese art form
- Couple’s quarrel: Get rid of this mask!
- Rembrandt prints: The value may shock you
- The history of Southwest style: From Santa Fe to Jersey?!
January 2019 – Issue Eight – click to read
Recently a few big, bright things popped into my life. Number ONE…I expect to become a grandmother to a baby boy in April. Also in this newsletter are four of my latest articles, authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- The Sand Filled Paperweight That Sold for $75K
- Is it Real and Pricey Jade?
- Philo’s Philco Predicta, 1958
- “Great War” Postcard Collection
December 2018 – Issue Seven – click to read
Your personal stuff-whisper discloses RE-GIFTING protocol, along with ideas for foisting away last holiday’s seasons DOGS, in this issue. Before you send out invitations to your White Elephant Exchange/Yankee Swap/Bad Santa/Ugly Sweater party, read the cautionary tales below. Also in this newsletter are four great recent articles, authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- The Gift of a Warrior’s Kabuto
- Cuckoo for cuckoo clocks
- The Kitschy Lady Lamp
- The Great Ansonia Clock Company
November 2018 – Issue Six – click to read
My Clients have spoken! In this issue you’ll find a list of tips on preparing treasures in advance of a natural disaster. Also in this newsletter are four great recent articles, authored in response to “what’s it worth, Elizabeth?”
- The First Keyboard
- Stitch and the Contemporary Collectible
- Grandmother’s Lace Collar
- The Elephant and the Many Flowers
October 2018 – Issue Five – click to read
Along with my plea for your input about downsizing before a catastrophe, read on for five great articles:
- Fred Harvey Thunderbird Necklace
- Two Early Greek Vases: Fake or REAL?
- 1888 NY American Bible
- How to evaluate a postcard
- Celluloid Siren Box
August 2018 – Issue Four – click to read
Along with my five Tips of the Month, read on for five great articles on:
- The era of living room cocktails
- Art Deco, French-style
- Local legends in the art world: Popo and Ruby Lee
- The ultimate back scratcher
- A Saucy Paper Collectible
July 2018 – Issue Three – click to read
Along with my five Tips of the Month, read on for five great articles on:
- The surreal trajectory of a local artist
- New design style: ‘Early brothel’ chic?
- Next up: American studio craft movement
- The illuminating history of indoor lighting
- The bad boy of midcentury furniture
June 2018 – Issue Two – click to read
Along with my five Tips of the Month, read on for five great articles on:
- Leaded glass lamps
- Regency lady’s fan
- African soapstone sculptures
- Ship in a light bulb
- And, a voodoo flag
May 2018 – Inaugural issue – click to read
- TEN TIPS on dealing with your elderly parent’s stuff
- What we learned about EVACUATING our stuff, and a guide to the VALUE of that stuff
- Downsizing your MOM
- And Elizabeth’s Five Tips of the Month.