The New Antiquarians

Is Modernism really dying? I am not so sure, but here is a great article about people interested in the past and who decorate their homes in the manner from the NY Times. Make sure you look at the slide show too. These are my kind of people.

Black Adder Costumes Sell Well at Bonhams

Bonhams had their latest Entertainment memorabilia auction in Knightsbridge this month. Some highlights were exquisite costumes from the various Black Adder Series.

These shoes with the following catalogue entry; "A pair of comical black leather pointed boots, of the poulaine style, with exaggerated point attached to front and scale effect leather overlay, having high back, formed from a pair of size 10 shoes, 22 inches (56 cm) long 1983" sold for £1,920 incl. BP. 'The Black Russian' was not included in the sale.

Catalogue link with prices here.

Keats House in Hampstead Opens After Restoration

Keats's House, where he wrote some of his best loved poems, has been upgraded with a £424,000 Lottery grant. In the care of the City of London, the house has been a museum since 1925. It was saved from demolition by an international appeal, its original interiors under layers of later redecoration.

The house was built as two cunningly disguised semis: 18-year-old Fanny Brawne was the daughter of the family lodging next door. Described as "beautiful, elegant, graceful, silly, fashionable and strange" their affair is now on screen in Jane Campion's new film 'Bright Star'.

Amongst the objects on display; a lyre-shaped gold brooch, strung with the poet's hair. The lyre is a replica of Severn's design for the tombstone. Fanny's brooch is simply inscribed "Keats".

Guardian article here. Picture Gallery of the house here. Website for the house here where you can search the collection.

Nice Work if You Can Get It

Not only does The Brimfield Antique Show in the USA stretch for a mile long, designers are paid by corporations to shop there - how do you get that job? See what the designers purchased to fit out Tommy Hilfiger's new shop in Manhattan here.

If you are in the mood for an Antique Fair and live in Auckland, you are in luck this month, on August 22nd & 23rd at Alexandra Park. See other listings for around NZ on this site.

Auctions Aplenty

Last Thursday night Webb's had another successful and well attended antique sale with many decorative items selling well over estimate. Read Webb's illustrated highlight report here. My favourite items were the framed bolt displays (lot 587 and 588). Estimated at between $2,000-$3,000 each they sold for $6,100 (hammer price) Where would you ever find another one?

It has certainly been a fortnight of sales. (Cordy's Antique Sale and Webb's Art and Photography were last week). This week Dunbar Sloane is selling the crème de la crème of Florence Court, silver, jewellery, collectables, Maori artefacts and NZ historical lots over the next three days. You can download their catalogue free here.

In the art world; International Art Centre have their "Important, Early & Rare New Zealand Heritage Art & others Sale" on Tuesday night. Catalogue here.

And not forgetting Art + Object's Important Painting and Sculpture Sale on Thursday night. See catalogue and video introduction on their website here.

Good Luck!

Museum Loses Hoffmeister Collection To Recession

The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (MKG), Hamburg, has lost the long term loan of 400 pieces of Meissen Porcelain as the owners, Horst and Dieter Hoffmeister, auction the collection to "offset their losses from the worldwide financial crisis". The collection has been on display over two rooms at the museum since 1999.

"I have not heard of this happening before. I think it sometimes happens to museums of contemporary art - a collector may take back a piece or two to sell - but not whole collections," remarked MKG press representative Michaela Hille. The collection is worth an estimated 14 million euro.

(Full article from LiveAuctioneers here)

Telling Tales : Fantasy & Fear In Contemporary Furniture

Here is a great contemporary spin on a pair of Victorian chairs.

"The 'Lathe Chair' series was conceived by rotating 19th-century chair shapes around a central axis to stretch them. The finished chairs were cast in bronze, like sculpture, but remain functional as furniture. The upholstery was digitally designed. The result is a marriage of tradition and modernity." Artist: Sebastian Brajkovic.

These chairs and other 'melded' objects feature in Telling Tales: Fantasy & Fear in Contemporary Furniture an exhibition currently showing at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. See the web version of the exhibition here.

Complaint over Hone Heke Flagpole Auction

Update: This piece has been withdrawn from auction.

The second attempt by Dunbar Sloane to sell a 'piece of wooden flagstaff'' has again met with complaints by Ngapuhi. In March this year the item was pulled from auction, the reason given by Dunbar Sloane Jnr at the time was that "We need to get our facts dead right on the piece of timber itself." (Article here). The catalogue description explains the wood has been tested and found to be Baltic Pine, similar to the flagpole held at Te Papa. They believe the piece of flagpole therefore may have been a "temporary one" erected and cut down by Hone Heke in 1845. The catalogue description has the following disclaimer "However, we do not know for certain that Heke chopped this temporary flagstaff down as it was not from the wood grown in his forest". Paul Moon, AUT's history professor said the piece is "almost certainly a fake".

A Man with His Dollhouse

Here is another image of piece and owner from the latest World of Interiors (August 2009). It shows writer and artist Denton Welsh with his 1783 doll's house. "The stair rail is almost entirely gone but I am nearly certain it was a Chinese Chippendale fret" "I'm slowly but surely designing and remaking it" he writes...The doll's house is now part of the V&A Museum of Childhood's collection.

Teddy With Previous Owner

Every so often auction catalogues include, together with the catalogue description, a photograph of the object with its previous owner. This adds a personal dimension to the provenance of the piece. Here is a sweet example from Dunbar's latest Toy catalogue. Lot 277 'c1939 'Stephen' Chad Valley Blue Teddy Bear, kapok filled complete with button in ear, photo of original owner and hand made wardrobe 48cm'. I think we can be sure he was well loved. It is not clear who handmade his khakis.

Another Sleeper - This Time in The USA

Here is a great story from the Nebraska based auction house Jackson's. (Scroll down for the story underneath the photographic headline). This illustrates well the trials and tribulations of cataloguing for auction which can be a race against time.

Checklist : Is Your Interior Outdated or Retro?

Just in case you weren't sure, here is a checklist to see if your interior is Outdated or Retro.

Notes From a Soldier

Here is a great story by Tim Hume from yesterday's Sunday Star Times.

In my line of work I have heard of instances where family's medals and related war memorabilia were thrown out in estate clearances. In recent years our military history has become more important to us, now seen for the important social history of the time and in wonderment at the huge affect these wars had on everyone, not just those fighting in the trenches. The anger at the theft of the medals from Waiouru Museum and the mass influx of the young New Zealanders to Gallipoli on Anzac Day is a clue to this and it is also reflected in the marketplace. War artist's such as Peter McIntyre, A.A. Deans and Horace Moore-Jones have seen a renewed interest at auction and in print. A small version of the most famous image from Gallipoli - 'Simpson and His Donkey' by Horace Moore-Jones (illustrated above) sold at Webb's in April 2008 for $110,000. A larger version is on permanent view at the Auckland Museum.

Frida Kahlo Archive

An archive of items once owned by Frida Kahlo, which include suitcases, recipe books and jewelry, is the subject of a new book. Have a nosy here.

Another Copy of The Declaration of Independence Found

A rare copy of America's Declaration of Independence has been found in the National archive in Britain. There are around 200 known to have been printed, and a copy sold at auction for $8.14 million in 2000. Read the article here.

100 Abandoned Houses

In the late 1990s Kevin Bauman began photographing Detroit’s derelict houses intending to document the homes before they were torn down to make way for new development. Unfortunately the development didn't come and the houses still stand. This project is a haunting ode to a lost Detroit.

Philip Mould Has Done it Again

Philip Mould art dealer and regular Antiques Roadshow valuer (that's him valuing the million pound Gormley) has found another sleeper. This time a Gainsborough, for extreme profit, if he can sell it. Read the article here.

Many Great Interior Ideas

Have a look at this clever interior on flickr using vintage items. Apart from her thrifty style, I really admire the number of photographs provided for us nosy viewers, there is nothing more disappointing than an interior feature in a magazine that has a total of three pictures.

There should be some ideas for you here in how to display that collection you have hiding away in boxes.

Display of Your Vintage Photographs

Here is an effective way to display your collection of vintage photographs, especially a collection based on a theme. (source: something's hiding in here vintage dog photographs)

Ron Brownson's latest blog talks about his research into 'vernacular photography'. I spy a trend.

My Own Decor Warp

Here are images from my own Decor Warp. These rooms have changed since these photographs were taken a year ago. The carpet was ripped up to expose the beautiful matai floors and because it had absorbed the smell of 20 years of roast dinners. We are currently still living with the avocado faux marble bathroom. Some Decor Warps must go!

Time Warp Interiors

This is an amusing slide show from The New York Times featuring homes that haven't had a makeover in a few years. They seem to imply there is something wrong with it. The full article is available here.

Back here in New Zealand original interiors are also sought after for photo shoots. Here is one of the best I have seen in a while from NZ House & Garden (click on the photo gallery for more pictures). The house is still in amazing original 1950s condition and was listed for sale on Trade Me last year. I am not sure if sold but it would be a tragedy to alter any of the interior. Keep the MDF away!

Million Dollar Valuation For US Antiques Roadshow

Four pieces of Chinese carved jade and celadon from the Chien Lung Dynasty (1736-1795), including a large bowl crafted for the Emperor, has been given the US Antiques Roadshow's highest valuation to date. The woman, ironically named Jinx Taylor, inherited the jade pieces from her father and was given a conservative auction estimate of up to $1.07 million by expert James Callahan. The episode has yet to air so an image of the pieces has not yet been released. Reuters article here.

The BBC version of The Antiques Roadshow had their highest valuation ever at The Sage, Gateshead in 2008 for a one metre bronze marquette of 'The Angel of the North'. I hadn't seen or heard this before and found it pretty exciting stuff. Watch it on You Tube here.

Another gem from You Tube is this Old Man Disappointed. Unfortunately, as a valuer, I have experienced this reaction all too many times.

Burton Brothers' Wonderland

Currently on show in Auckland is 'Picturing History: Goldie to Cotton' at the New Gallery. (You should go - it's free!) Featured is "one of the most significant albums of late 19th century New Zealand photography, the Burton Brothers' Wonderland Album" (ref: On Show June-Sept 2009). The album, in fine condition is encased, but ingeniously a digital photo frame flicks through the images on screen above it. These photographs are engaging and show a New Zealand long lost to modernisation.

Ron Brownson, Senior Curator of New Zealand and Pacific Art, provides some background to this album on the Auckland Art Gallery's Blog 'Outpost': Part One and Part Two.

In 1981 a film was made about the Burton Brothers. It is entitled 'Pictures' and I can only find a copy on video tape at Videon in Balmoral, so have not bothered to hire it again. Perhaps TVNZ would be kind enough to rescreen it soon.

[[Image credits: The Wonderland Album – New Zealand circa 1898-1899Auckland Art Gallery Toi o TamakiThe Ilene and Laurence Dakin Bequest, purchased 19991999/18/1-184]]