It's not on too many products that you find "authentic small dents and scratches" listed as a selling point and a good thing, but the case of these Vintage Airline Food Carts is one of the few exceptions. Available in several fun exterior finishes, the interiors all feature a retractable serving tray and 14 racks to hold drawers and shelves (which you can buy separately). The doors close with standard latches and each has a magnetic catch to help it stay open while you're using the cart, plus of course all the carts come equipped with the handy pedal-locking wheel brakes flight attendants rely on so dearly. $1450
Interested in owning the skull of a martyr or the tooth of a saint? Apparently lots of people are, as the market for religious artifacts is booming. It takes a lot of faith to both be in the business of dealing holy relics and in that of buying them, as very few can be proven authentic beyond a shadow of a doubt. Although many newer pieces (i.e. objects touched by the Pope) are easily verified through photographs (when they're available) historical items from ages past are more about believing than anything else. And why else would you spend $975 on a wooden splinter from the True Cross that's so small you need a magnifying glass to see it, if you didn't simply believe?
The tiny principality of Liechtenstein is selling off property from five centuries of European art history. The private collection of the prices of Liechtenstein will be sold at Christie's Amsterdam on April 1. The auction is 450 lots of furniture, paintings, clocks, sculpture, tapestry and works of art with estimates ranging from €300 to €300.000. The sale is being held so that the family can continue to invest in the many works of art which will remain in their private collection. Highlights include rare bronze statues from the Italian Renaissance, a pair of celestial globes created by Willem Janszoon Blaeu who studied mathematics with the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, and a Dresden cabinet.
Hand-stitched samplers are a bit of Americana that is highly collectable. Ken's Antiques & Auction in Kingston, Georgia is offering up 13 of these antiques from one collection on January 1, 2008. The samplers, which were originally created to teach generations of schoolgirls various sewing stitches and patterns, usually feature alphabets, prayers and poems and small pictures. Thousands of samplers still exist today and depending on the age, condition and provenance they can sell for $50,000. There's something tender about the samplers and their carefully done stitches, they represent a connection to the hopes and dreams of young girls living in a very different world than our own.
September's Vanity Fair introduced me to Aaron's Adding Machines, unique creations that combine LED lights, antique switches and old wooden boxes into uniquely functional calculators that look like nothing else I have ever seen. The calculators are all handmade and are beautifully individual. They are also a great way to thumb your nose at technology with today's tiny gadgets that obviate the need for things like calculators and wristwatches.
Some day I have to make a pilgrimage to a Red Baron auction in Atlanta, Georgia. Too bad I can't go this year for their auction on June 23-24 they have a wide variety of gawk-worthy items. The auction also features the usual Red Baron lots like massive fountains, stained glass windows and rare cars. One of the most interesting items is the Evinrude Heli-Bout, a one of a kind prototype, that has both an outboard motor and an electric propeller. Another hot lot will be a prop Nascar car used in the movie "Talladega Nights." The race car has a Ford 302 engine with SVO aluminum racing heads. And the car was driven by "Ricky Bobby" in the movie so this is a chance to plant your behind where Will Ferrell has sat.
World Relics specializes in exactly what you would think, relics from around the world. The website is full of antique finds from around the world but with a definite European bent. They have a variety of terracotta and stone garden ornaments with a beautifully aged patina, wine barrel tops, vintage wine presses, statues, and salvaged wrought iron. One of the fun features of the site is that they have a section for containers that will be arriving soon so that you can reserve finds that haven't even made it to their San Francisco warehouse yet. I'm not sure how you would utilize these antique iron window frames but they are very charming.
When my mother recently had her estate sale, the one thing she wasn't interested in getting rid of was her collection of canes. If you are interested in your own cane collection then you need to check out the cane auction on April 21 in Salem, Massachusetts. Tradewinds Antiques is selling over 200 canes. The evening before the event, April 20, will feature a preview and a lecture by Barbara Staples, author and noted authority on Boston Post gold presentation canes. The canes up for bid include a wide variety of carved ivory figural canes, decorative canes that include a floral cloisonné, a bowenite w/rubies, a lapis w/rings, a blue enamel w/diamonds,, a Delft tau and the rock crystal and sapphire cane shown here .There are also "gadget canes" that include a sword, a barometer and a mechanical monkey. The rock crystal cane is estimated to sell for $1800-$2800. It's almost enough to make a woman wish for a little minor injury, a broken toe perhaps, in order to carry one of these around.
You could hope your new house comes with a really cool piece of stained glass or vintage fireplace mantels or you could make your own luck by picking up a vintage piece from Architectural Artifacts, a company which I wrote about back in 2005 for their wrought iron specialties. They have stained glass, wood and marble fireplace mantels, lighting, doors, tiles, religious artifacts and amazing artifacts such as a the entire entrance of the Hillbrook mansion. The carved limestone entryway from Hillbrook, the estate of George Arents in Purchase, N.Y., includes a raised panel entry door. It sells for $135,000.
I've noticed that powerful businessmen often have a love of slot machines and games of chance in their homes. Those with a taste for vintage machines may want to know about this one-of-a-kind machine, a 5 cent Schiemer-Yates "Gibson Girl" floor model slot machine. It was manufactured in 1905 and will be auctioned off as part of the Victorian Casino two day antique auction March 3, 2007 and March 4, 2007 on eBay Live Auctions. The auction will feature over 1,000 lots of antiques and collectibles including juke boxes, calendars, and bar fixtures. The slot machine is in beautiful shape and has been in a private collection for 30 years. It should bring in $100,000 to $300,000.
Modern design seems to have a natural home in Florida, sunnier climates seem to be a better setting for clean lines and spare style. 2120, a modern design store in West Palm Beach is a haven for lighting and furnishings that are contemporary, witty and highly individual. Their website reveals many design finds including plenty of Philippe Starck, a splash of Eames and the sleek and simple pieces of Jasper Morrison. I am enthralled with this lucite armchair which sells for $3,750.
A listing in March's Architectural Digest brought me to the unique New York gallery of George Glazer. Glazer, a former lawyer is dedicated to antiques that focus on science and exploration. He specializes in prints, maps, globes and planetary spheres. If you are looking for something perfect for your library, this is the place. I have a particular weakness for antique celestial engravings and Glazer offers a variety, some of which can be see on his website. The print shown here is from Andrea Cellarius' Harmonia Macrocosmica, a celestial atlas originally issues in 1660. The print shown here, an astronomical chart in the form of the concentric rings of an armillary sphere, showing apparent movements of sun, moon and planets around the earth is from the reissued 1708 edition and sells for $3,900.
It's time for Americana week in New York yet again. Dueling auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's have come up with sets of auctions featuring Colonial art and precious heirlooms. Early American silver, decoys, folk art, Shaker furnishings, painted trunks and gameboards are just some of the items up for bid at various auctions. The Americana Collection of Marc and Laurie Krasny Brown, which will be auctioned at Sotheby's on January 21, features the results of 25 years of solid aggressive collection by the founder of Parfums de Coeur. The Laracy collection, which was profiled extensively in a New York Times article, is described as being charming and playful. The Laracy's aren't giving up the collecting world but they are selling their Georgian colonial house in New Canaan, Conn., and moving into Manhattan where they plan to focus on more modern finds.The pictures shown above are a pair of portraits of Major Daniel Coffin and Elizabeth Stone Coffin by John Brewster which ares estimated to sell for $150,000 to $300,000.
I've mentioned the amazing auctions held by Red Baron Antiques before. The latest one, which will take place on November 11 and 12 in Atlanta offers the usual display of antiques such as a massive bronze sculpture of Apollo and his winged chariot and a 60-foot-long wrought iron and stone fence and stained glass windows. One of the most fascinating pieces is former President Dwight D. Eisenhower's library from Boulevard Lundy in Reims, France where he lived in 1945 at the end of WWII in Europe. President Eisenhower used this room as his office and worked on the treaty of unconditional surrender within these walls. The oak paneled library is carved in high relief and has panels which open to reveal shelves. There is also a rouge marble veined mantel with fluted columns that sits under a large beveled mirror. If you've got the money and the space you can bring history into your own home.
Call it schadenfreude
but it's hard not to take a certain pleasure in watching the ill-gotten gains of disgraced Congressman Randy Cunningham
hit the auction block. Cunningham, who accepted bribes from defense contractors, is currently serving a long
prison term. Cunningham had a lust for antiques and his Oriental rugs and marble-topped armories currently share space in a government
auction warehouse with goods seized in smuggling and money-laundering operations. Cunningham's goods go on sale
Thursday in Santo Dominguez, California. The proceeds from Cunningham's loot will FBI and the IRS (he still owes $1.8
million in back taxes). The list of everything available at the auction can be found here.
It's not on too many products that you find "authentic small dents and scratches" listed as a selling point and a good thing, but the case of these Vintage Airline Food Carts is one of the few exceptions. Available in several fun exterior finishes, the interiors all feature a retractable serving tray and 14 racks to hold drawers and shelves (which you can buy separately). The doors close with standard latches and each has a magnetic catch to help it stay open while you're using the cart, plus of course all the carts come equipped with the handy pedal-locking wheel brakes flight attendants rely on so dearly. $1450
