It is said that in 1930, Charles Arpels of Van Cleef & Arpels saw society lady Frances Gould, wife of wealthy philanthropist Frank Jay Gould, had hastily thrown her accessories into a tin cigarette case so she could join him for a meeting…and the minaudière was born. Arpels named the revolutionary accessory for his wife; minaudière […]
The earliest monument in the Roman Forum and a crucial example of a pre-existing pagan building being converted into a Christian sanctuary, Santa Maria Antiqua provides a singular visual map of the shift from Antiquity to the nascent Christian era. Founded in the mid-fifth century, abandoned and effectively sealed off by the ninth, the church’s […]
The rich tradition of bohemian glass-making dates back to the 16th century in the regions in and around Bohemia, the present-day Czech Republic (CollectorsWeekly.com). Due to its costliness, bohemian glass was once reserved only for loyalty. Yet it was the introduction of “marbled” glass techniques in the 19th century that paved the way for the […]
Claude Monet once mused flowers may have been the reason he became a painter. His legendary garden in Giverny, France was well-known to have been a source of inspiration and restoration for the French impressionist, who was himself an avid gardener. From May 19 to October 21, 2012, the New York Botanical Garden presents a […]
Magnificent evidence of the unearthly wooly mammoth that lived from over 1 million years ago to as recently as 40,000 years ago, mammoth tusks have been unearthed in parts of Europe, North America and Asia since the last ice age (canadafossils.com). The carving of these spectacular artifacts, however, is art that has been mastered in […]
One of the most popular ongoing exhibitions at the stately Morgan Library & Museum, is the Pierpont Morgan Library’s collection of ancient Near Eastern seals, which is among the most prestigious in the U.S. Pierpont Morgan collected nearly three thousand cuneiform tablets, the bulk of which are now part of the Yale Babylonian Collection while […]
The New York Historical Society presents Stories in Sterling: Four Centuries of Silver in New York, which features 150 prime silver objects selected from the Society’s 3000 piece collection that tell the tales of significant New York moments. The exhibition pieces span across the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries and encompasses objects as embellished as […]
The Manhattan Art & Antiques Center is delighted to welcome Alpha & Omega, a new gallery specializing in watches, paintings, Chinese porcelains and fine jewelry such as the stunning David & Webb gold dial and bracelet with a blue concealed watch face above. This beauty has a 14K gold watch back, is 9 inches in […]
Nine leaders of the industry, including Glen Adamson, Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Jane Nylander, preservationist and adviser to the Castle Preservation Society discuss the changing fine arts and antiques market, and the new opportunities the internet age has provided. Read the article at The Magazine Antiques.
On loan at the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in the Bronx starting July 1, will be more than 100 pieces of landscape architect Mark K. Morrison’s exhaustive collection of garden tools. Learn more about the show “Dibbles and Daisy Grubbers: The Art of the Garden Tool in this New York Times article by Eve M. Kahn.