By Erica Lome The year 1916 marked the final issue of Gustav Stickley’s influential periodical The Craftsman, which introduced American audiences to the British-derived Arts and Crafts movement. Nearly a hundred years later, many of Stickley’s distinct products – ranging from furniture and lighting to carpets and textiles – continue to appeal to collectors. Yet […]
Category Archives: Features
12
Feb
Feb
by Jerry Cohen The Arts & Crafts market, like any collectible market, has buyers at low, middle, and upper price ranges. At the peak of interest during the second half of the 1990s, every price range of Arts & Crafts material was repeatedly climbing to new highs, thanks to both the exceptional wealth being created […]
28
Jan
Jan
By Bridget McConnel It is useful to have some idea of the history and the earliest known examples of needles, awls, pushers and thimbles to understand why people collect thimbles – a rather insignificant industrial device to stop fingers from becoming pin cushions. Sewn work appears as early as ca. 30,000 b.c. on the Cro-Magnon […]
26
Jan
Jan
by Judy Nixon Kent For a collector of ribbon work, nothing is more beguiling than a bevy of beautiful ribbons skillfully twisted and sewn into a garden of glorious flowers. It is an art that most are unaware of, yet for those who have been seduced by its charms, acquiring and admiring it can easily […]
12
Jan
Jan
By Alex Askaroff Alex Askaroff is the enthusiastic founder of sewalot.com, a wildly popular website for all things sewing-machine related and officially named the number one antique sewing machine website. With millions of visitors, his enterprise is noted for its extreme depth of information and ease (and great humor) with which the information is disseminated. […]
31
Dec
Dec
By The White House Historical Association In 1981, the White House Historical Association created the first Official White House Christmas Ornament, establishing a tradition that honors the presidents of the United States and reflects on the history and events that have taken place in the President’s House. Produced by the White House Historical Association, a […]
29
Dec
Dec
Janine E. Skerry, Curator of Metals The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Benjamin Franklin, despite his “Poor Richard” persona, liked to shop. Letters written from London to his wife Deborah in Philadelphia document a cornucopia of purchases, including his February 19, 1758, description of “a compleat Set of Table China, 2 Cases of silver handled Knives and […]
20
Dec
Dec
By Suzanne Corbett When Robert and Virginia Campbell’s last surviving child, Hazlett Campbell, died at the age of eighty in 1938, many thought the Campbell’s palatial old townhouse that graced St. Louis’ once-fashionable Lucas Place neighborhood would pass away with him. The Campbell House had been willed to Yale University in honor of Hazlett’s late […]
09
Dec
Dec
Christmas bone china Story & Photos by Donald-Brian Johnson Most of the year, it’s kept safely tucked away in drawers, or on display behind the locked glass doors of a dining room cabinet. And then the holiday season is upon us. Those fragile china cups and saucers blink their way into the spotlight, emerging from […]
25
Nov
Nov
by Raymond M. Farina Collecting memorabilia from America’s past political campaigns and elections can be traced to the first inauguration of George Washington and the several varieties of then expensively made clothing buttons produced to commemorate that memorable event on April 30, 1789. There are over 27 different known varieties of uniform-type clothing buttons manufactured […]