by Megan Mahn Miller If the art auction market is a civilized dinner party, where beautiful works of art trade hands, the rock and roll memorabilia auction market is a stadium rock show, complete with raucous fans, huge contracts and auction prices sky rocking like pyrotechnics. Last year saw a number of new auction sale […]
Category Archives: Features
12
May
May
by Gary Sohmers In the beginning, there was art. Then music, performance, and finally, advertising. So begins the growth of the cultural arts, a path towards enlightenment, amusement, and profitability. Most early musical and theatrical performances were promoted in printed matter in the form of broadsides, handbills and leaflets. In the early 19th century, classical […]
09
May
May
Lessons Learned from The King by Stephen Shutts, the “Indiana Jones” of Memorabilia We have been in the era quite some time now, where the average rock & roll fans have looked beyond the listening pleasure of their favorite groups and delved further by investing in memorabilia from their favorite bands or recording artists. In […]
20
Apr
Apr
Collecting Antique Snuff Boxes Story and Photos by Donald-Brian Johnson Hmmmm… Just what are those elaborate little boxes intended for, anyway? Trinkets? Change? Cufflinks and earrings? Breath mints? The answer: none of the above. These exquisite examples of design artistry are actually snuff boxes, the must-have fashion accessory which took the world by storm, during […]
14
Apr
Apr
The Vanity Table, Then and Now by Erica Lome Almost every home has a space for “putting on one’s face.” Perhaps without our conscious knowledge, dressing tables have made this a normal and routine part of our day. Like many ubiquitous furnishings, we often don’t realize how much they shape our habits. Tracing the history […]
05
Apr
Apr
by Deborah Washington International Perfume Bottle Association Perfume – The origins of the “juice.” What exactly is perfume? How does it differ from fragrance? The academic/dictionary definition states that the word perfume derives from the Latin perfumare meaning “to smoke through.” The French gave the name parfum to the pleasant smells produced by burning incense. […]
27
Mar
Mar
“Clockmakers and Collectors” at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library by Hilary Anderson Stelling Director of Exhibitions and Audience Development Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library A Generous Legacy In the face of fast-paced change in the early 1900s, many Americans sought to celebrate past ingenuity and seemingly simpler times through collecting antiques. A […]
24
Mar
Mar
By Donald-Brian Johnson Clocks. We rely on them to bring just a bit of order into our hectic modern lives. They keep things running like . . . well . . . like clockwork! For centuries, clocks had been reserved solely for the wealthy. Intricately designed and fashioned of the rarest and finest materials, clocks […]
18
Mar
Mar
by J.C. Vaughn After a period in which a number of character watches enjoyed values that we might call “overly robust,” the market has stabilized and it seems that we’re now in period of some real bargains. “Character watches have always been very popular. So many different characters have been represented, so the cross-over appeal […]
02
Mar
Mar
Fontaine’s Auction Gallery Pittsfield, Mass. By John Fontaine It sounds like a cliche to say quality items sell for premium prices, but in the world of vintage and antique clocks that is especially true. A very rare clock will always bring top dollar even in not so mint condition. That point was driven home quite […]