by Melody Amsel-Arieli Simple magnification devices, like water-filled spheres and rock crystal (quartz) “burning glasses” were known around the Mediterranean and across the Middle East in ancient times. These evidently served not only to light kindling but also to cauterize wounds and enlarge texts. According to Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder, Nero viewed gladiator […]
Results of Recent Auctions From Near and Far by Ken Hall A 1926 photograph by Edward Steichen (Fr., 1879-1973), titled Brancusi’s Endless Column (in Steichen’s garden at Voulagis, France) sold for $20,000 at a Photographs Auction held June 14th by Doyle in New York City. Also, Consuelo Kanaga’s (Am., 1894-1978) She is the Tree of […]
Carriage Clocks by Jessica Kosinski Human beings have been interested in time for centuries, but keeping track of how time passes has changed a lot throughout different cultures and time periods. One of the most notable advancements was the invention of the carriage clock. In order to understand why some carriage clocks are still highly […]
A Fan’s Fan My name is Sylvie, I was born in Paris, France and I’m residing near Atlanta, GA. My passion for fans started at an early age, my first fan, now lost, was a new Spanish fan sold outside a bull ring in Bayonne, France. It was followed in the early 1960s by my […]
The Story Behind Lalique By Chad Smith If you’ve ever looked at a piece of Lalique glass and wondered what the story is behind that matte, smoky finish and those perfectly smooth lines, where those exotic and provocative motifs come from and why the work of René Lalique and the Lalique Company even to this […]
Ken’s Korner: Mammoth, mastodon finds in France, U.S. News & Views From the World of Antiques & Collectibles By Ken Hall Eric Stamatin and his cousin Andrew Gainanu, both 11, were exploring the wooded backyard of Eric’s family property in suburban Detroit when they came upon something they initially took for an odd-looking rock. But […]
Ken’s Korner: Man attacks urinal art in Paris, gets arrested – The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles – March 2006 A 77-year-old French performance artist took a small hammer to Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” — the factory-made porcelain urinal considered to be the cornerstone of Conceptual Art — and was promptly arrested by police in Paris, where the attack […]
