Features

Curated articles that explore the rich intersections of history, craftsmanship, and collecting culture. These long-form pieces are your gateway to learning something new, seeing the familiar in a fresh light, and connecting with the past meaningfully.

June 11, 2016 / Features, Formica, Franceen Munson, Hand-made baskets, Kitchen Storage, kitchens, Kitenchella, Storage, storage containers

Defining Your Space: Kitchen Storage

by Franceen Munson The kitchen, perhaps more than any room in a house conjures up more memories and associations than ...

May 20, 2016 / Christie's, Ed Sullivan, Elvis Presley, Features, Frank Sinatra, Kurt Cobain, Lady Gaga, Megan Mahn Miller, music memorabilia, Nirvana, Rock and Roll, Rock Memorabilia, Sotheby's, The Beatles

The State of the Rock and Roll Memorabilia Market

by Megan Mahn Miller If the art auction market is a civilized dinner party, where beautiful works of art trade ...

May 12, 2016 / Big Band, Country, Features, Gary Sohmers, movie theaters, Music, Music Posters, musical acts, posters, Punk Rock, Rhythm & Blues, Rock n Roll, touring theater

A Collector’s Take on Music Posters

by Gary Sohmers In the beginning, there was art. Then music, performance, and finally, advertising. So begins the growth of ...

May 9, 2016 / David Bowie, Elvis, Elvis Presley, Features, Graceland, Memorabilia, Memphis TN, Michael Jackson, Music, Rock & Roll, The Beatles, The Eagles, The Grammy's, The King

Finding Your Inner Music Collector and Investor

Lessons Learned from The King by Stephen Shutts, the "Indiana Jones" of Memorabilia We have been in the era quite ...

April 20, 2016 / Antique Box, Dapper Dans, Donald-Brian Johnson, Features, ground tobacco, Handkerchiefs, modish maidens, snuff, Snuff Boxes, Tobacco, tobacco leaves

Up to Snuff

Collecting Antique Snuff Boxes Story and Photos by Donald-Brian Johnson Hmmmm... Just what are those elaborate little boxes intended for, ...

April 14, 2016 / cosmetics, dressing tables, Erica Lome, Features, furnishings, toile, toilette, Vanity Table, Victorian America, wigs

In the Eye of the Beholder

The Vanity Table, Then and Now by Erica Lome Almost every home has a space for "putting on one's face." ...

April 5, 2016 / botany, Deborah Washington, Features, fragrance, frankincense, god of perfume, International Perfume Bottle Association, myrrh, Nefertum, parfum, Perfume

Perfume: Egypt to the Modern Vanity Table

by Deborah Washington International Perfume Bottle Association Perfume - The origins of the "juice." What exactly is perfume? How does ...

March 27, 2016 / Clockmakers, Features, Hilary Anderson Stelling, Library, Museum, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Keeping Time

"Clockmakers and Collectors" at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library by Hilary Anderson Stelling Director of Exhibitions and Audience ...

March 24, 2016 / Clocks, clockwork, Donald-Brian Johnson, Features, MasterCrafters, novelty clocks, sundials, Syracuse Ornamental Company, Syroco

Time to Start Livin': Kitsch Clocks of the Mid-20th Century

By Donald-Brian Johnson Clocks. We rely on them to bring just a bit of order into our hectic modern lives ...

March 18, 2016 / Alex Winter, Buster Brown, Celebrities, Features, Hake's Americana & Collectibles, J.C. Vaughn, Mickey Mouse, Superman, Watches

Comic Timing

by J.C. Vaughn After a period in which a number of character watches enjoyed values that we might call "overly ...

March 2, 2016 / Antique Clocks, Chinese bracket clocks, E. Howard & Company, E.N. Welch, Features, Fontaine's Auction Gallery, French industrials, John Fontaine, Pittsfield Mass, Seth Thomas, vintage clocks

State of the Clock Market

Fontaine's Auction Gallery Pittsfield, Mass. By John Fontaine It sounds like a cliche to say quality items sell for premium ...

February 29, 2016 / American Arts and Crafts, Arts and Crafts, Entrepreneur, Features, Great Britain, John Ruskin, Peter A. Copeland, William Morris

Fred Dennett and The Lakeside Craft Shops

An Entrepreneur Navigates the Arts and Crafts Movement by Peter A. Copeland The Arts and Crafts movement - roughly the ...

February 25, 2016 / Art, Avon Pottery, Bill Thornbrook, Features, New Mexico, Pottery, Rookwood, Van Briggle

Collecting Van Briggle Art Pottery

by Bill Thornbrook It is a longstanding tradition for travelers from the Northeast to vacation in places with abundant sunshine, ...

February 19, 2016 / Arts, Crafts, Craftsman, Craftsman Farms, Erica Lome, Features, Gustav Stickley, John Ruskin, Stickley Brothers Company, The Stickley Museum, William Morris

Return to Craftsman Farms: Gustav Stickley in the Twenty-First Century

By Erica Lome The year 1916 marked the final issue of Gustav Stickley's influential periodical The Craftsman, which introduced American ...

February 12, 2016 / Art Nouveau, Arts & Crafts, Charles Rohlfs, Features, Frederick Hurten Rhead, Gothic, Jerry Cohen, The Blacker House

The Arts & Crafts Auction Market Today

by Jerry Cohen The Arts & Crafts market, like any collectible market, has buyers at low, middle, and upper price ...

January 28, 2016 / Africa, British Museum, China, Europe, Features, Museum of Manchester University, needles, thimbles, University College London

Thimble Collecting: A Small Passion

By Bridget McConnel It is useful to have some idea of the history and the earliest known examples of needles, ...

January 26, 2016 / cotton thread, Embroidery, Features, ground fabric, Judy Nixon Kent, ribbon flowers, ribbon work, ribbons, Silk, velvet

A Fondness for Frippery: Collecting Ribbon Work

by Judy Nixon Kent For a collector of ribbon work, nothing is more beguiling than a bevy of beautiful ribbons ...

January 12, 2016 / Alex Askaroff, boot-patchers, Features, History, quilters, Quilts, sail makers, Sewing, Sewing Machine, Victorian Era

A Brief History of the Sewing Machine

By Alex Askaroff Alex Askaroff is the enthusiastic founder of sewalot.com, a wildly popular website for all things sewing-machine related ...

December 31, 2015 / Calvin Coolidge, Celebrate, Christmas, Executive Mansion, Features, History, National Christmas Tree, President, Presidential Christmas, The White House, White House Historical Association

Thirty-five Years of White House Christmas History

By The White House Historical Association In 1981, the White House Historical Association created the first Official White House Christmas ...

December 29, 2015 / Curator of Metals, Features, Janine E. Skerry, silver, Tabletop, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

To Entertain Polite Company: Stylish Silver for the Tabletop

Janine E. Skerry, Curator of Metals The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Benjamin Franklin, despite his "Poor Richard" persona, liked to shop ...

December 20, 2015 / Campbell House, Campbell's, Features, Gilded Table, Selkirk's, Suzanne Corbett, Yale University

The Gilded Table at the Campbell House

By Suzanne Corbett When Robert and Virginia Campbell's last surviving child, Hazlett Campbell, died at the age of eighty in ...

December 9, 2015 / bone china, Christmas, Christmas Tree, Donald-Brian Johnson, Features, fine porcelain, holly, Josiah Spode, Poinsettia, Thomas Frye, Tom Hegg

Come Fill The Cup: Christmas Bone China

Christmas bone china Story & Photos by Donald-Brian Johnson Most of the year, it's kept safely tucked away in drawers, ...

November 25, 2015 / America, elections, Features, George Washington, Memorabilia, political campaigns, Raymond M. Farina

Collecting Political Memorabilia

by Raymond M. Farina Collecting memorabilia from America's past political campaigns and elections can be traced to the first inauguration ...

November 16, 2015 / Amanda Sheriff, Barbarella, Features, Hollywood, movie posters, Movies, Star Wars, The Overstreet, The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Movie Posters, The Wolf Man, Walt Disney

Inside The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Movie Posters

by Amanda Sheriff What makes a movie poster attractive? In The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Movie Posters, we attempt to ...

November 10, 2015 / Dana Linett, Features, Presidential Collectibles, United States of America, US Presidents, USA

https://journalofantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/JOANov15Presidents-a.pdf https://journalofantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/JOANov15Presidents-b.pdf https://journalofantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/JOANov15Presidents-c.pdf Collecting the Presidents By Dana Linett ...