Beached in Brighton
More than two hundred works by John Constable (1776 – 1837) are related to time he spent in Brighton between the years 1824 and 1828, half of which are small, vivid sketches such as lot #435. In this ink wash,…
Pick of the Week
A Tablescape for the Ages
From the end of the War of 1812 until around 1860, the Staffordshire potters of Britain produced millions of pieces of transferware for the American market. Using brilliant white pearlware and ironstone printed underglaze with deep cobalt blue, Staffordshire potters…
The Auction Buzz!
Lot 7576 is a spectacular 18k yellow gold and diamond bee brooch by famed jeweler Herbert Rosenthal (American, trademark active 1962 – 1987). In the mid-1960’s, Rosenthal created his first iconic bejeweled bees. His design became famous, inspiring a generation…
Don’t Throw Away Your Shot!
My job always affords me the opportunity to make new and interesting discoveries. My pick this week is just that. It isn’t the best size, nor is it the best color. It was a mass-produced item in the early 19th…
A Fancy Fat Caterpillar
This fancy, fat caterpillar is a gem. The brooch is a design of Robert Wander (American 1943 – 2019), who was famed for his work with colored gemstones. The caterpillar is carved from a solid piece of citrine, highlighted with…
Silver Spout Cup
This rare Boston silver spout cup by John Dixwell is typical of the American Colonial period. With a narrow, sharply curving spout and handle set at a right angle, the cups were designed for a caregiver to easily feed an…
The Sycamore Tree at the Moses Rice Farm
Captain Moses Rice (1694-1755) was a soldier on the Massachusetts frontier at Rutland garrison. In 1742 he purchased 2,200 acres from the City of Boston and became the first colonial settler in the area. According to family tradition, it was…
Philotesia Owen
Philotesia Owen was born in Coulsdon, England, and in 1716 married Quaker merchant Robert Strettell (1693-1762). She is depicted in her portrait dressed in the typical attire of a young Quaker woman, unadorned, in modest brown silks, her shawl providing…
Great Uncle George
Elizabeth Fisher Washington, born in Siegfried’s Bridge, Northampton County. She first studied at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, and then at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Hugh Breckenridge and Fred Wagner. She was a successful…
Chinese Botanical Watercolors
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…
Northern Lights
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?
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…
A Delft Touch in Colonial America
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…
Where there’s a Will
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,…
The Fabulous Flame Stitch!
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,…
In a field of horses, be a unicorn!
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,…