The symbols depicted on a textile can tell you quite specifically what the function was and who would have owned it. Chimes, twin fish, and double happiness characters are symbols for blessings in marriage, designating a marriage robe. At the same time, Imperial dragons were strictly only used on Imperial textiles until the later parts of the Qing dynasty.
Manchu Wedding Robe, China, 19th century. Sold for $9,225 in September 2019.
As a teenager in the 1980s, wristwatches, especially Swatches, were what got me and a lot of my friends into wearing timepieces. I recall owning Swatches, Seikos, and a few Victorinox “tool” watches. I remember receiving a small diameter, 34mm I think, white or ivory dial Seiko with simple stick hands and indices for my 8th-grade graduation. I loved it, but years passed and like many things it found its way to the back of a drawer (my dad found it back there—he wore it for decades, and my mother still wears it today, with an olive green leather Hirsch strap).… Read More
Starter cellars are designed to fit within your interests and your cellar and are curated to allow for exploration, education and growth. The collections vary in bottle size, regions and vintages, giving you the flexibility to decide what type of collection you would like to build and the advantage of having bottles already aged ready to open and others to lie down and appreciate in value and drinkability.… Read More
Dr. Shirley Mueller will be speaking about her book, Inside the Head of a Collector: Neuropsychological Forces at Play. Join us in the Boston Gallery for the reception starting at 5:30PM, followed by the talk at 6PM.
This event is held in conjunction with the October 12 European Furniture & Decorative Arts auction.
Shirley M. Mueller, MD is an internationally known collector and scholar of Chinese export porcelain, as well as a physician board-certified in Neurology and Psychiatry.… Read More
Joel and Sharon Schwartz began collecting together just prior to their marriage. Having purchased a Georgian brick home in Newton, MA, they felt the need to fill it with wonderful objects that were both fun and consistent with the character of the house. A wicker cart with “more panache than utility” as Joel puts it, was their very first purchase. This cart can be found as Lot 1800, the first lot of their collection offered for in our current Discovery – Interiors online auction.… Read More
Prior to its annexation as the 28th state by the United States, The Republic of Texas was its own sovereign nation. Having fought for and gaining their independence from Mexico by 1836, the young republic found itself with significant financial/economic and political issues, leading to their eventual annexation in 1845. These nine tumultuous years in-between originated some of Texas’s rarest and most sought after currency.
The Panic of 1837 halted commerce to a standstill, sending Texas’s land prices and the value of its paper currency on a downward spiral.… Read More
What are the Asian countries represented in the current auction?
Primarily China and Japan. We do have a very unusual piece from India: a dark wooden valuables chest with decorative straps around it—in the right space, it would be very dramatic (Lot 1520).… Read More
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25 | RECEPTION 5:30PM | LECTURE 6PM
Anna Winestein, a historian of Russian visual culture, will speak about the international reception of art and artists from the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union in the last 150 years. The lecture will be illustrated with select artworks from Skinner’s January 27 Fine Paintings and Sculpture auction, supplemented with images of artworks in American and European collections.… Read More
Funky, quirky, out of sight, wild! Such words are heard repeatedly as people come upon the eclectic Elaine Rush collection in Skinner’s Marlborough gallery as it awaits the online auction that will run from November 30 to December 16.
It’s tempting to call the furniture, accessories, architectural elements, found art and decorative pieces a “cool-ection,”, because cool is the word most often uttered by passers-by.
The auction is presented by the 20th Century Design Department, but like the collector herself, the collection defies boundaries.… Read More
The objects of everyday life, folk art, are the carved and decorated objects (weathervanes, whirligigs, and paintings) often made outside of urban areas by itinerant or self-taught artists and craftspeople. These naive and sometimes primitive objects are often colorful, highly individual and whimsical interpretations of utilitarian or decorative forms. A simple box can be transformed by colorful paint or wind-driven whirligigs can be fashioned in endless variation.… Read More
