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Geyer Family Collection of Tiffany Masterworks
Over a span of 40 years, Burton and Paula Geyer have assembled one of the finest private collections of works by Tiffany Studios, with a special emphasis on museum-quality lamps and fancy goods. Starting in Brooklyn as schoolteachers, Mr. and Mrs. Geyer were enthusiastic collectors of Tiffany Studios works early on, often buying pieces on installment plans from top galleries. They learned from many of the pioneers of [...] Click here to continue reading.
George Nakashima (1905-1990)
George Nakashima was born in Spokane, Washington in 1905, the son of Japanese immigrants. His educational pursuits began in the 1920′s at the University of Washington, and from there he studied in Paris at the Ecole Americaine des Beaux Arts and ultimately graduated from MIT with an MA in Architecture in 1930. He also learned traditional woodworking in Japan and India.
In 1931, when Nakashima began his professional life as [...] Click here to continue reading.
Garden Museum Collection of Art Nouveau Masterpieces
This sale comprises 130 lots of Art Nouveau masterpieces by Emile Galle, Louis Majorelle and Rene Lalique formerly in the Garden Museum, Nagoya, Japan.
Quoting from the Sotheby’s press release for this sale:
This exceptional collection was assembled by Takeo Horiuchi, a real estate magnate and prominent collector with a passionate interest in the Japanese influence on Western art around 1900. Horiuchi teamed up with [...] Click here to continue reading.
The late Angela McCrory Kilroy, “Ingie”, and Edward A.,”Ted”, Kilroy of Shaker Heights, Ohio, pursued their passion for collecting American Decorative Arts throughout their 60 years of marriage. It was Ingie’s avocation and Ted gave her his unwavering support.
Ingie and Ted’s love of American history was shared with their children. There is not a plantation or historical monument between Cleveland and Florida that the family did not visit while Ingie delivered a [...] Click here to continue reading.
Gertrud and Otto Natzler – American Art Potters
Otto Natzler (Austrian/American, 1908 to 2007) and Gertrud Natzler (Austrian/American, died 1971) are well known to collectors of art pottery. They married in Vienna in 1938 and then removed to Los Angeles, California and began their work together with Gertrud as the potter and Otto as the glazer. Their work is represented in dozens of the world’s museums, including the Jewish Museum, New York, The Metropolitan [...] Click here to continue reading.
Zoar
In the 1810s, a group of German religious separatists left Wurttemberg in what is now southwestern Germany, after several decades of separation from the primary church in the region, the Lutheran Church. After years of persecution and oppression which included imprisonment and property seizures, the separatists, under the leadership of Joseph Bimeler (sometimes Baumeler), decided to flee to the United States in the hopes that they could establish a new community there.
One [...] Click here to continue reading.
Captain Hall J. Tibbits (American, 1797 to 1872)
This article about the life and career of Captain Tibbits by Eric C. Rodenberg appeared on the 4 November 2013 front page of Antique Week’s National Section. Used by permission. http://www.antiqueweek.com.
1800s Sea Captain’s Life Told Through Collection
At 6 foot, 4 inches tall and “powerfully built” Capt. Hall Jackson Tibbits would brook no foolishness.
After his “religious principles” were violated by passengers dancing on [...] Click here to continue reading.
Bakelite
Scandal & the Story of Bakelite Bakelite hit the market in 1907, heralding the arrival of the modern plastics industry. Bakelite was the first completely man made plastic, as until then, plastics such as celluloid, casein, and Gutta-Percha all had as a base a natural material. It was developed by Belgian-born chemist Dr. Leo Hendrick Baekeland who started his firm General Bakelite Company to produce the phenolic resin type plastic. Bakelite was inexpensive [...] Click here to continue reading.
The Sarcophagus in Decorative Arts
Derived from the Greek sarx, meaning flesh, and phagein, meaning eat, a sarcophagus is, essentially, a container for a body, much like a coffin or casket. Historically, sarcophagi were typically made of stone (though sometimes of other materials, such as wood or metal), with a relief-carved or pediment top, and designed to be above ground, and have been used by many cultures since ancient times.
An ancient [...] Click here to continue reading.
Paul and Virginia Girandoles
The design inspiration for the Paul and Virginia girandoles was the 1787 romantic novel Paul et Virginie by the French author Bernadin de Saint-Pierre (1737 to 1814). The novel tells of star-crossed lovers, the children of misalliances whose mothers have sought refuge in the tropical French Colony of Isle de France (Mauritus). Raised as siblings, Paul and Virginia develop a deep and innocent love broken only by Virginia’s return to [...] Click here to continue reading.
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