On October 6th, Pook & Pook will auction Chinese botanical watercolors from the Estate of Peter Tillou. Three pairs of watercolors, lots #344, 345, and 346, attributed to Win Achun and other artists, have provenance from Peter Tillou, “According to…
Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk (1567-1607) was an explorer. Before he captured the treasure ship Santa Caterina in the Straits of Malacca, and died defeating the Spanish fleet off Gibraltar, he was already a hero of an epic book, Nova Zembla.…
Why do we all love blue and white china? Perhaps because it is hard-wired into our system. Across history and continents, the love of blue and white Chinese porcelain has launched ships and industries. For a thousand years, China…
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Delftware was the most common type of ceramic export to the American colonies, the wide range of products doing everything from adorning elegant tables and displaying flowers to serving utilitarian purposes in apothecary shops…
Pewter is undoubtedly the crown jewel in the Herr collection. Auctioneer and appraiser James Pook discusses a highly important Lancaster, Pennsylvania pewter flagon, ca. 1770, bearing the touch of Johann Christoph Heyne (Germany, Lancaster 1715-1781), 11 1/4″ h. James explains,…
Owner Debra Pook explains what distinguishes an important Chester County, Pennsylvania needlework grouping of sewing articles. Made by Hannah Darlington, ca. 1785, each piece bearing the maker’s name or initials, included are a rollup sampler pinball dated 1785, initialed HD,…
Pook & Pook is honored to present the Pennsylvania German Folk Art Collection of Drs. Donald and Patricia Herr on Thursday and Friday, June 9th & 10th. Descended from Hans Herr (1639-1725), the first Mennonite bishop to immigrate to America,…
This little painting is quite special. The mother, in a black dress with fancy lace collar and cap, is seated. One arm and the curve of her body envelop a small, intelligent-looking child at the bottom of the frame. The…
In 1840 an English folk hero was born. Little Wonder, a rank outsider of diminutive, nearly pony-like proportions, was entered in Britain’s most prestigious flat race, The Epsom Derby. Ridden by a little-known jockey named Macdonald, Little Wonder worked his…
Émile Lepron achieved sporting immortality. Champion of France in the single scull 1890, 1892, and 1893, Champion of the Seine in 1889 and 1892, and Champion of the Marne from 1888 to 1894; Lepron could rest on his oars, his…
On December 21st, 1792 in the Bay of Bengal, a small party fatefully disembarked the ship Shah Ardaseer to hunt deer on Saugor Island, resulting in an event that would resonate for decades to follow. In the words of party…
The Midas Head was created in 1989 by Dame Elisabeth Frink (British 1930-1993) as an emblem for the BBC program The Midas Touch, directed by her stepson, Mick Csaky, and presented by Anthony Sampson. With influences from the classical (see…
On October 28th, Pook & Pook is excited to offer at auction two brooches created by one of the greatest artistic pioneers of the 20th century, Georges Braque (French, 1882–1963). Perhaps most famous for revolutionizing painting by founding, together with…
Malvina Hoffman (New York, 1885-1966) was taught by Auguste Rodin from 1910 until 1917, learning to sculpt in a realistic style. Moving back to New York after Rodin’s death, she rented a mews apartment in a little cul-de-sac called Sniffen…
Elie Nadelman (New York/France, Poland, 1882-1946) is known for abstract, elegant, stylized sculptures, and for his original, modern aesthetic. Nadelman’s style evolved throughout his career as he sought new ways to achieve perfection. He explored influences from long ago and…
The September 15th Decorative Arts sale features a number of objects with a nautical theme. Lot 2544 is an ingenious shipboard light fixture: a scarce wrought iron gimbal-mounted ship’s fat lamp, mid 19th c., with three inner gimbaled hoops. In…