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…
What drew me to this pick of the week was the amazing patriotic gessoed frame. Lot 2368 in our July 28th sale, the frame is loaded with stars, shields, crossed cannons, and topped with a spread wing eagle crest. It…
Over two hundred years ago, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, an artisan known as The Compass Artist produced colorful, intricately decorated furniture and objects in a distinctive style. Research has revealed the pieces were owned by German Protestants of a variety…
…Blue, blue, electric blue That’s the color of my room Where I will live Blue, blue… The auction hall at Pook & Pook this week is full of 18th and 19th century painted furniture. There are pieces in ochre, salmon,…
I have an announcement to make. I have managed to find the time to make a pick of the week two weeks in a row! Please be prepared for heavy snowfall this week! The auction for June 24th and 25th…
Finding something I love in any given auction is usually a very easy task. The hard part is narrowing it down to just one item to write about. There are so many categories that make my heart skip. The upcoming…
A pick of the week two weeks in a row? It very well might start snowing here in May. Pook and Pook Auction has a problem in that we are filled to the brim with great Americana. The shelves are…
We all have good intentions, but things just seem to get in the way. I was going to get back into fishing. I was going to take that vacation to that special spot. I was even going to take my…
Lot 1390 in the March 25th Firearms, Militaria, and Sporting auction was a lovely example of a W. J. Jeffrey & Co side by side shotgun. The barrel bears the inscription “W. J. Jeffrey & Co. Ltd., 13 King St.,…
A recent crossing of the the auction block in our March 25th Firearms, Militaria, and Sporting auction was a fine, untouched example of a Nathan Starr model 1816 musket. This particular example was made for the Delaware militia, with a…
As objects of Chinese culture, horses carry us beyond the borders of any one area or aspect. Closely related to dragons, horses flew, sometimes with wings and scales, through myth and fable in ancient China, carrying deities across the heavens.…
One of my favorite lots in our upcoming January 28th and 29th, 2021 Americana & International Auction is this group of sterling serving pieces by Gorham. The Versailles pattern was created in 1888 by the Gorham’s chief designer, Antoine Heller.…
Where do 17th century art and science collide with a Doomsday cult? On the pages of “Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium,” a lavish folio of plant and insect engravings published in 1705 Amsterdam by the world’s first entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, and…