To handle an object is to handle a story. In the world of art and antiques, the story that the objet d’art narrates is called, on a mundane level, the object’s provenance. Provenance means the “from where” of an object’s history: who owned or owns it, how it got to that person, where it traveled to get there, by whom and where it was seen (as in a museum exhibition) and who wrote about it.
But an object also holds a subtle pedigree, which may not be factual or logical. This pedigree includes the object’s tradition: the object as included within a class of similar objects, for example, in historical time, in status, in gender, in size, in color, in pictorial terms, in texture, or in type. Thus an appraiser speaks of both the singular nature of one object and endeavors to place that object among its kin.
In this book, I aim to teach collectors my technique of contextual perception to ascertain the value characteristics of an object. This technique of analyzing an object in content is not limited to discovering an object’s dollar value. Only when we see the object within a group of related objects, both historically and presently, may we see the specifics of differences that include vital symbolic relevance as well, which is neither based on factual analysis of specifics and characteristics nor on pedigree and provenance.
Download Generosity of Eye. (Review the Table of Contents below with page number.)
SPECIALTY COLLECTIONS
The Peculiar Problems of Appraising Musical Instruments – 10
The Etui: For Sewing or Surgical Tools and Mourning Objects – 16
The Weirdness of Doll Collectors – 20
An Antique Gynecological Exam Table – 25
A Rebuttal from a Doll Collector to the Previous “The Weirdness of Doll Collectors” – 29
The Problem with Scrimshaw Ivory – 33
The Importance of Antique Maps – 37
A Rare Stamp from Tonga – 42
The Value of Vintage Couture – 45
Japanese Ceramics – 48
An Amazing Gift: Pre-Columbian Ceramics – 49
Fine Gentleman’s Bible: In Which We See That the First Door-to-Door Bible Was Published in AD 382 – 53
Two Antique Masks – 59
Moccasins and Really Collectible Shoes! – 62
Glass Collectors, Front and Center – 66
Rare, Vintage Postcards and Vintage Photography – 70
Master of the Legend of Santa Barbara: An Example of How Regional Marketplaces
Influence Values – 74
Timely Collectibles: Antique Pocket Watches – 77
Appraise This Teapot! – 81
Reproduction Chinese Porcelain and Ceramics: What Are They? – 84
Two Big Surprises Worth Big Bucks: Cloisonné and Capo di Monte – 87
A Plethora of Questions in the Appraiser’s In-Box: Nut Bowls, Punch Bowls, Train Sets,
and an Ancient Tapestry, Oh My! – 89
Objects for Drinking and Holding Liquids – 93
Funny Handshake Club Memorabilia from Captain B – 96
Rustic Early American Furniture – 100
Looking at Meissen: History Speaks through Porcelain – 102
The Inro and the Japanese Seal – 105
Han Dynasty Horse – 107
A Box of Love: Porcelain Dresser Boxes – 110
California Colored Ceramics: A Mid-Century Delight – 112
A Kano School Treasure – 115
An Ancient Tool Re-emerges – 118
English “Brown” Furniture Is Suffering – 120
An Ohio American Primitive Rocker – 123
A Canteen for the late Nineteenth-Century British Empire: A Collection of Silver Flatware -125
The Lion vs. the Salamander: Pewter – 127
A World War I Patriotic Poster in Good Shape – 130
A Buddhist Deity Painting: Thangka – 133
World’s Fair Glass Pitcher – 136
Material Testimony to the Story an Object Tells: Judaica – 138
Taxidermy: The Most Dead Thing I Ever Appraised – 141
Establishing Early American Revolutionary Provenance: A Medical Kit – 143
Record Prices Set for Vintage Hot Wheels – 147A Six-Thousand-Dollar Surprise: Modern Furniture – 149
Chasing Gold: Finding the Value of a Unique Work of Art – 152
Comic Books – 155
Little Titillating Bronzes from Vienna, 1900 – 158
Native American Material: The Magical Birdstone – 162
Doll Collecting: Pediophobia—it’s Probably Not What You Think – 165
A Cameo Parure – 168
Fake or Real Galle Glass? – 171
Christmas Cards from Jackie Kennedy – 173
Collectible Menus: A Delicious Bygone Era – 176
A Six-Foot-Tall, Seven-Hundred-Pound Bronze Horse at Ms. McK’s Little House – 179
A Hit and a Miss with Winnie-the-Pooh Knockoffs – 181
German Feathered Trophy Fans: The Mystery of the Black Feathers -184
Early Boob Tube (1958) That Folks Called the Cyclops – 187
Value and Meaning of Toy Banks – 190
IMPORTANCE OF STYLE, FORM, MEDIUM, AND TYPE IN A COLLECTIBLE OBJECT
Two Wonderful Garage Sale Finds – 195
Modern Speculations on a Bentwood Chair – 199
A Sculpture and a Pin Box: Two Very Different Ceramic Forms – 202
What Do You Look for in an Old Painting? – 205
The Signature Problem on Bronze Sculpture – 208
Ohio River Valley Mid-Nineteenth-Century Furniture vs. Aesthetic Movement – 210
Works of Art Picturing Horses – 212
The Commode: An Elegant Stand to Hold Valuables – 216
The Wonderful World of Antique Prints – 217
Early Twentieth-Century French Court Prints – 222
The Shocking Tale of the Renaissance Revival Style – 223
The 40K Piece on Soup Cans in Your Garage – 227
Architectural Collectible Salvage: The House is the Work of Art – 232
Is That Piece of Furniture Eighteenth or Nineteenth Century? – 237
Spanish Colonial Revival: Where the Style Originated – 242
How to Spot Mass-Produced Artwork – 245
How to Track Down the Artist Who Signed Your Painting – 247
This One Couldn’t Stump Me Either: Etchings and Engravings – 250
When Art Could be Openly Copied – 250
Trunks, Cassoni, Wardrobes, Chiffoniers, Chifforobes, and Steamers – 253
Early American Colonial Design: High-Culture Eagle Devolves – 257
to Low-Culture Symbol – 257
The Problem with Selling Hometown Artists – 261
Beyond Money: Why We Value Objets d’Art – 263