A March 3, 2012 automotive auction has plenty of surprises for collectors. The vintage petroliana category is packed with the best examples of gas pumps, metal signs, pump globes, a collection of approximately 60 ashtrays, dozens of vintage license plates and more. Read More +
For 24 years, the San Francisco Antiquarian Book Print and Paper Fair has drawn bibliophiles together to refine their collections. The fair was Feb. 4-5, 2012. The report from Fair exhibitors was positive. Rosemarie Rustico of San Francisco’s W C Antiques described the first day as “killer busy.” The second day was a bit easier (Super Bowl XLVI might have had something to do with that). Read More +
Second only to the stunning photography, “Symbols on Chinese Porcelain” offers valuable context on why this porcelain style matters to the fine-art world, collectors and even philosophers. The book reveals the secrets of the symbols of good luck and the visual imagery of Chinese decorative elements by means of approximately 80 masterpieces of Chinese porcelain spanning 1,000 years. Read More +
Hundreds of pieces of art from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. collection will be sold Feb. 10-12, 2012 to benefit arts organizations and individual artists. Many of the works are by local and North Carolina artists, including Claude Howell, Elsie Popkin, Edd Presnell, Sally Prange and Catherine Ryan. They include oils, watercolors, prints, sculpture, pottery, ceramics and textiles, as well as antiques and decorative items for home and office. There are substantial selections of dishes, flatware, and crystal. Read More +
The Friends of Rockwood, in support of the Rockwood Museum in Wilmington, Del., is holding its second annual Victorian Costume Ball Feb. 25, 2012. Read More +
The Philadelphia Antiques Show announced recently the show will move to a new home in Center City Philadelphia: The Pennsylvania Convention Center. The change in venue invites fantastic updates to the 2012 show, including a larger floor plan and a fresh, new logo to bring antiques into the 21st century. Read More +
The U.S. Postal Service today issued the 45-cent weathervanes first-class mail stamps in five designs featuring a photograph of eye-catching 19th century weathervanes made in the United States. All the weathervanes featured are part of Shelburne Museum’s collection: a cow, an eagle, two roosters and a centaur. Read More +
SAN FRANCISCO — “The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde, 1860-1900,” coming to the Legion of Honor Feb. 18, 2012, is the first major exhibition to explore the unconventional creativity of the British Aesthetic Movement. Read More +
The design behind Aesthetic Movement ceramics is gaining new popularity in 2012 with a new museum exhibit and better-than-expected sales in Europe and the United States. No other medium reflects the diversity and personality of the movement than its ceramics. Objects and forms are as functional as they are unpredictable, colorful, and, well, just plain odd and very affordable. Read More +
BEVERLY, Mass. – Kaminski Auctions of Beverly, Mass., closed out 2011 with a successful two-day evening pre-New Years Eve auction. The first lot of the night set the tone of the evening as a bronze horse sculpture on a wooden … Read More +