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1810 English Globe Writing Desk Offered By Rau Antiques

Filed under: Decor

As long as we have had organized society we have had trendy stuff. At points in the 18th and 19th century, globes were hot. Map making was a bit of a romantic thing at the time, intrinsically mixed with exploring the world and conquering new places. Having a map of a region meant you knew and understood that far off place - instantly making you pretty darn cool. Everyone wanted in on the "worldly" action, and people with wealth all wanted world map globes. These globes had to be hand-made and done with pretty extreme precision - although they weren't exactly as accurate as they are too. Ahh, the virtues of modern cartography.

In addition to globes themselves being hot - globe-like objects were equally hot. This for instance is a very rare writing desk that was meant to fold closed and look like a globe. How cool is that? I think that Ikea should carry these. This one was made around 1810 during the Regency Period in England by Morgan & Sanders. It is referred to as "metamorphic furniture." Meaning that it changed in someway. Today we would probably call it "transformer-orphic furniture!"

Tags: antique, desk, globe, globes, rau

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Pocket Watch Gifted By Jonathon Swift In 1728 For Sale At $14,500

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

New Orleans based antiques store Rau Antiques has an interesting new acquisition. A pocket watch that was given as a gift by the English writer Jonathon Swift to fellow Englishman (also a writer and dramatist) John Gay. Personal engravings on the pocket watch allude to a literary group that each where members of called "The Scriblerus Club." The pocket watch was given by Swift to Gay upon the completion of his work known as "The Beggar's Opera." The personal engraving reads "JG [John Gay] may ye not be a Beggar after the opera, your confidant, Jonathon Swift Scriblerus Club, 1728." The engraved is located on the outside edges of the watch case.

The pocket watch itself is in beautiful condition and likely a product of English watch making. In 18k gold, the dial is porcelain, with blued steel hands, and contains a wonderfully decorated movement. The watch of course has been restored, and should be in working order. Aside from the ties to literary history and English comedy from the 18th century, the watch itself is a fantastic example of artful watch making of that era. In addition to telling the time, the watch is indicated as being a quarter repeater. This is a family of chiming watches whereby the timepiece chimes each 15 minutes (on the quarter hour). Price fro this one of a kind rarity is pretty reasonable sounding at $14,500. A great collector's piece for pocket watch lovers and Jonathon Swift or English satirical author fans.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: antiques, john gay, Jonathon Swift, pocket watch, rau

Very Rare WWII Enigma Cipher Machine For Sale At Rau Antiques

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

While it was built before, and used during World War II, the US never mentioned the Enigma Machine details until the 1990s when it was declassified - though it is not American at all. The little unassuming box that looks like a typewriter is the subject of legend, and was a large factor in the US (and Allies) winning the war. It is unclear how things would have turned out if our greatest minds were unable to unlock the secrets of the Enigma Machine.

Built and designed by the Germans, the Enigma Machine came in a few varieties and where code creating and deciphering machines. Originally commercial units since 1926, they are quite possibly the most complex non-computerized code machines ever made (though they are a mixture of mechanical and electronic parts). The Germans used them to send coded messages during the war, relying on the machine's ability to have over a billion combinations. No one was ever able to break the code just by seeing it. Breaking the code involved secretly capturing working Enigma Machines, but that was only half the battle. Merely having the box wasn't enough. You needed to have some manner of pattern or other code, the helped you decipher the code you were trying to decipher in the first place - at least this is my understanding of it. The link to the Wikipedia page above has lots (and lots) more information. So being able to decrypt a code that required other codes was very tough.

Tags: cipher, Enigma machine, German, rau, sale, world war II, WWII

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