It is here that we will post educational articles on a variety of different objects or topics that we have come across through the years as personal property appraisers that you might overlook but have a rich history…in other words, Hidden Treasures.
The American Studio Glass movement started with Harvey Littleton, ceramics teacher at the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin in 1958 when he started experimenting with molten glass. In 1962 he joined the Toledo Ohio Museum of Art with the introduction of two glassblowing workshops using a smaller economical furnace designed by a glass scientist Dominick Labino. What grew out of this was a glass program that included early students like Dale Chihuly, Marvin Read more…
We had a project several years ago that had to do with a large collection of Kachina or Katsina dolls. In our research we fell in love with these intricately carved gems not only for the craftsmanship but also the history and story behind each one. The carving is an interpretation of a spirit and it is the story of the family that carved it. These Kachina totems are the basis of the Hopi religion Read more…
I had no idea how endangered this wood is until I participated in a group discussion with colleagues. I was shocked to find out that the rosewood species Dalbergia and especially the Dalbergia nigra or Brazilian Rosewood is more endangered than the Elephant and ivory, big cats and rhino horns. According to an article written last year by Annah Lake Zhu, rosewood falls into the group of most trafficked endangered species. She goes on to Read more…
Over the centuries mankind has always figured vessels for drinking, everything from stone to metal to leather to ceramics and not necessarily in that order. However, it wasn’t until Marco Polo in his excursions to the Far East brought back Chinese Tea and its porcelain drinking cups that porcelain became the rage. Here is a little walk down memory lane. Starting in the 16th c. England and European factories searched and competed for the secret Read more…
1. Earthenware: Any vessel which in its unglazed state would NOT hold a liquid. It is always opaque but with varying degrees of coarseness and fineness. Examples are “Majolica”, “Faience” and “Delft” and are all decorative, tin-glazed earthenware. It is sometimes called Terracotta. 2. Stoneware: Any vessel which in its unglazed state WOULD hold a liquid. In addition to clay, a feldspar is used as a fusing agent. When glazed, salt is the most typical Read more…
Through the generations there has always been a fascinating interest in these folksy samplers. These pieces were one of the few ways a young lady could show off her education and artistic talent. They became a part of her dowry, traveled with her throughout her life and were willed to a favorite relative. Before a girl could to to school, she had to prove her skill in plain sewing, embroidery and cross-stitching. She was expected Read more…
Animation cels are drawings done in parts on a thin, transparent celluloid acetate or “cel”, used in the production of cartoons. As computer-generated animation replaces artists painting by hand, cels have become a collectible. Some collectors got into the genre long ago when Disney and the other studios were digging ditches and buying them by the thousands because their insurance companies told them they were a fire hazard. In the 1950s and 1960s, studio Read more…
WHEN IT COMES to the finest example of pottery from the Victorian era, there is only one word: “Majolica”.