Displaying items by tag: Antiques

The 18th-century cabinetmaker Nathaniel Gould left inkblots in his battered gray notebooks as he recorded the luxurious mahogany output of his workshop in Salem, Mass. His listings of clients and fees, found seven years ago in forgotten boxes at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, have enabled researchers to attribute his mostly unsigned antiques. Next weekend, about 20 of these pieces will go on view at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem in the exhibition “In Plain Sight: Discovering the Furniture of Nathaniel Gould.”

The show’s catalog blends tragic family lore with statistics. Gould’s clients lost their furniture in fires, their fortunes in bankruptcies and war and their family members in shipwrecks. Coffins for children were among his workshop’s frequent commissions.

The distinguished San Francisco Fall Antiques Show (SFFAS) will kick off its 33rd iteration with a preview gala on Wednesday, October 22. The event will give collectors, enthusiasts, and SFFAS supporters exclusive access to the show’s remarkable offerings before it opens to the public for its four-day run on Thursday, October 23. Proceeds from the gala will benefit Enterprise for High School Students, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that helps Bay Area youths develop life skills vital to the successful transition from high school to college and the world of work.

Held in the Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion in the upscale Marina District, the SFFAS will bring together approximately sixty preeminent dealers from across the United States and Europe.

A painting of the French king Henri III (1551-89) that disappeared from the Louvre during the Second World War turned up at a Paris auction last week. The work was found by a curator at the Château de Blois thanks to an internet search alert, and will soon return to the Louvre.

The small portrait depicting Henri III at prayer, estimated at €400-€600, was due to be sold on Friday, 17 October, in an auction of antique paintings, furniture and art objects held by Ader-Nordmann at the Hôtel Drouot.

Diane Keaton is paying Nashville a visit next year.

The Academy Award winner will be the keynote speaker at the 2015 Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville, taking place Jan. 30 through Feb. 1 at Music City Center.

Few people have ever visited Oak Spring Farms, the grand home here of Rachel Lambert Mellon, better known as Bunny. If they had, they would have seen a Pissarro, unframed like a flea market find, above the living room fireplace. Upstairs, a still life by van Gogh hung above her bathtub. Antique porcelains — cabbages, asparagus, artichokes — were artfully arranged on practically every surface.

Mrs. Mellon was the matriarch of an American dynasty whose fortune and art holdings rivaled that of the Fricks, Carnegies and Morgans. But perhaps most notably, she was a passionate collector of a bygone era. She didn’t pay attention to what was in fashion; she didn’t think about future financial returns.

On September 11, 2014, the 27th annual Biennale des Antiquaires will open to the public. The prestigious show, which is held at the Grand Palais in Paris, is celebrated for its elegant atmosphere, blue chip offerings, and elite guest list. A VIP preview was held on Wednesday, September 10, 2014, offering select patrons a sneak peek of the show’s treasure-trove of rare antiques, fine art, jewelry, silver, porcelain, and contemporary design.

This year’s Versailles-themed Biennale was designed by the celebrated French interior decorator Jacques Grange. A chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur, Grange recreated the royal gardens of Versailles under the Grand Palais’ iconic glass dome.

The much talked about Greenpoint Expo Center will open its doors this September when it hosts the first ever Brooklyn Antiques and Book Fair.

Over 100 exhibitors from across the country will make their way to the huge glass structure on Franklin Street to sell fine antiques, vintage books, posters, and a vast variety of prints.

The event is being put together by Marvin Getman, the founder of Impact Events Group, best known for the antiques and vintage book fairs it organizes throughout the northeastern part of the country.

Digging up forgotten treasure in grandma's dusty attic sounds like a tale too good to be true.

But for some, that dream has become a reality. The popular PBS television series "Antiques Roadshow" has earned some local antique owners a small fortune. From art to toys to clothes, people bring in all sorts of goodies to be professionally appraised by experts. Most leave in disappointment, but a lucky bunch have walked away with more than expected.

A growing desire to understand and prove the provenance of goods in the fake-ridden Chinese antiques market has led to a boom in old auction and exhibition catalogues. This trade has been driven by China’s tens of thousands of art advisors, auction houses and dealers, who in recent years have been building private reference libraries for experts and clients. Book collectors and dealers in Hong Kong and Europe have been quietly doing a thriving business in catalogues for exhibitions and auctions of Chinese arts and antiques.

While China has always had a black market for imported art publications that cost a few dollars each, in-demand catalogues command prices in the thousands of dollars.

On September 9 and 10, Christie’s London will offer the first portion of the collection of antique dealer and interior designer Christopher Hodsoll as part of its “Interiors” auction. The second part of the collection will be featured on September 16 at the auction house’s “Interiors -- Style & Spirit” sale. Hodsoll, who is based in London, is well-known for his idiosyncratic taste in antique furniture as well as his ability to create striking interiors that blend classical pieces with the rare and unusual.

Hodsoll began dealing antiques with his mentor, the late design legend Geoffrey Bennison. Bennison’s predilection for the decadent as well as the eccentric rubbed off on Hodsoll and has had a profound influence on his style.