Up to Snuff

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

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: ...

In the Eye of the Beholder

cosmetics, dressing tables, Erica Lome, Features, furnishings, toile, toilette, Vanity Table, Victorian America, wigs

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 ...

Perfume: Egypt to the Modern Vanity Table

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

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 ...

Keeping Time

Clockmakers, Features, Hilary Anderson Stelling, Library, Museum, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

"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 ...

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

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

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 ...

Comic Timing

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

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 ...

State of the Clock Market

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

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 ...

Fred Dennett and The Lakeside Craft Shops

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

An Entrepreneur Navigates the Arts and Crafts Movement by Peter A. Copeland The Arts and Crafts movement - roughly the period from 1895 to 1915 - had its origins in ...

Collecting Van Briggle Art Pottery

Art, Avon Pottery, Bill Thornbrook, Features, New Mexico, Pottery, Rookwood, Van Briggle

by Bill Thornbrook It is a longstanding tradition for travelers from the Northeast to vacation in places with abundant sunshine, magnificent scenery and, let's not forget, unique souvenirs to bring ...

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

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

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 ...

The Arts & Crafts Auction Market Today

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

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 ...

Thimble Collecting: A Small Passion

Africa, British Museum, China, Europe, Features, Museum of Manchester University, needles, thimbles, University College London

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 ...

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