Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from June, 2016

Purple Transferware cups and saucers

I"m feeling better lately so I'm back at the blog.  Here is some purple transferware I bought from an auction in Bainbridge.   I am always fascinated by the movements of the people.  They always seem to be so busy.  Where have they been?   I read that the saucers were deep so as to hold the coffee -  that it was impolite to drink from the cup.  I've heard other victorian stories that were just made up ( such as the petticoat table myth)  so I never know if these tales are true or not. I remember the old folks here pouring their coffee into their saucers and blowing on it to cool it, so there is some truth to the drinking from the saucer part.  I saw that myself. Where is she going?  Who are these people telling her goodbye? 

Portrait of a young boy from Valhalla, NY

A portrait of a young boy has arrived from an auction in NY.  He has no frame and no identification for either himself or the artist who painted him.  There will need to be a touch of dark infilling around his collar. The canvas measures 28 1/4 x 23  1/4.     He will need a gold gesso frame with an oval insert to fit. That hunt might take a while.

Crazy Quilt craze lately

Crazy Quilts seem to be popping up in a lot of auctions lately all over the country.  I've purchased three in June and can't seem to get enough. Unless a person sews, there is no way of realizing how much time went into their creation. The quilt collector books seem to agree that the fad of the crazy quilt was a late victorian thing. Silks, satins, wools, velvets.... All have the same format, yet some of them show greater skill and artistic ability.

Portrait oil on canvas of young man

He is a large oval  43 x 35 frame  from an auction house in Pennsylvania, ca. 1850. He holds a book which some say signifies that he can read. Other just call it a prop. Usually a person well off enough to pay for an oil portrait was well off enough to have some education.  The canvas is 35 x 27.    I think the gesso decoration on this frame is going to be some of the best examples I have of that lost art. He should arrive within two weeks.  I need more wall space.