Centennial Ceramic

Modernist Pottery - An anomaly for the company Rosenthal, Germany, as they are among the best known makers of porcelain in the world. This ceramic may be a re-issue of an earlier design, for it is incised "100 Year" anniversary (1979-80). There is something very Japanese about this shape...a simple and elegant form - great for a single orchid stem.
4.5" tall
6" diameter

Abstract Expresssion

Signed oil on canvas by Noboru Yamashita, 1963

Original Frame

48" x 32"

Turning Japanese

Although we are best known as purveyors of accessories from the 20th Century, we can't resist an exquisite exception. Such is the case with this lovely hand-painted piece from Japan, circa late 19th century. The scene makes one long for the tranquil birds and blooms of spring, seemingly an eternity away given our current inclement weather.
16"

Hirsute & Handsome

 

A hauntingly good looking male bust by the famed American artist Edward Melcarth, signed and dated 1968. Most of his works were purchased by Malcolm Forbes and later by Forbes' son.

UPDATE: I was pleased to be contacted by the nephew of Melcarth and informed that the bust is made of a type of resin and that this piece is often referred to as the "Heroic Head" or "Roman Head". The subject model likely a friend or lover of the artist.

Melcarth had another important friend and patron in Peggy Guggenheim for whom he designed the most fabulous sunglasses of the 20th century.
12" tall

Luscious Lucite

2 x Trios of American-made Lucite candle sticks from the 60s ~  retro-futuristic illumination triplicated in fantastic acrylic and brass

Top: 10", 14", 18.5"

Bottom: 4", 7.5", 10.5"

Beyond Blue

The word of the day is...Cerulean. It's that particular hue of blue, somewhere between cobalt and blue-green. We just love the great saturation and gorgeous crazing of this french 1930s ceramic vase. Although unmarked, it is quite possibly from the French studio of Edmond Lachenal.
 12"

Checkered Past

Is it just me...or does this 1950s gold and brown Bavarian porcelain vase remind anyone of a certain French luxury brand?
11"

Out of Africa

African art is incredibly difficult to date, but lucky for us we have a terrific clue in a paper label showing that this pair is from a country that only existed in name for a very short period. From 1961-1964 the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa... and is now known as Tanzania. These two native women are carved from a very dense, dark, hard wood, likely ebony.
7", 6"

Table Talk

A rather special occasional table...Mid-century Murano glass from the base to the leg with the original matching green tinted clear beveled top. Teal glass with brass fittings in a sleek modernist shape. So exciting - It looks like an exclamation point!
29.5" tall and 23.5" in diameter

Monkey Business

Looks like mother has her hands full. Another charming animal figurine from the prolific Knud Kyhn for Royal Copenhagen...this one is a simian scene that gives form to the term "monkey on your back". Dated 1958 and incised with Knud's mark.
14"

Trunk Show

A precious pachyderm from mid-century Murano. A generous portion of gold decorates this classic elephant sculpture.
10 x 10 

Patterned Pottery

Gilty pleasures from Bitossi...and always preferable to have a matching set. A box with vase in a blue and green basket weave pattern. Italy, 1950s.

Vase: 14"

Box: top, 7"x 4", 2" high

Scandi-labras

Bronze and Ebony candelabras from either Denmark or Sweden (country origin unknown). Circa 1930...a period where there was a transition from Rococo to streamline. This fanciful pair certainly seems to tow that particular design line.
12.5" tall

Winning Horse

The horse ...a classic design motif that spans the millennia. This mid-century version is a reproduction of a classical Roman style Equine and is a major statement maker! Cast bronze mounted to a black marble base. 
31" Tall

Love Birds

Poultry in pottery...a mid century rendering of a rooster and hen by the masterful Danes Michael Andersen & Son. This sculpture has all the hallmarks of the company's artistic director Marianne Starck's work.
10.5 x 10.5

Turning Japanese

A modernist solid bronze vase from mid-century Japan. A great meeting of aesthetics, the shape is space-age and Asian all at once. Plus an interesting patina that seems to indicate the application of rice-paper, perhaps, in the process. 

20"

3-of-a-Kind

The use of repetition in design is always good for creating visual impact. Turquoise, Emerald and Orange - three classic genie bottles from Empoli, Italy. From our experience, we only see this particular shape stopper from sources in England or Germany. 

21-23" tall

Rare Birds

Two bird figurines in the rarest of styles. Designed in the 50s by Aldo Londi for Bitossi. Ecru incised with s-curves, burgundy eyes and beaks, & standing on brass legs.
14"

Bowled Over

Like the visage of a natural tidal pool (see below) is the intricate glass glaze design of this enormous stoneware ceramic bowl from Søholm Stentøj (pronounced 'Soorholm Staintooy'). It dates from the 60s, which means it was most likely by the famed ceramicist Noomi Backhausen.

A major statement at 14" in diameter

Hole in One-of-a-Kind

A masterful Murano vase with a multi-tonal sommerso. Lovely in it's organic liquidity, hole included.
17.5"

Really Good Geodes

1950s Murano Sommerso bowl where blue + fuscia makes purple in a delightful light play.

6.5" in diameter

Another magnifiscent opalescent mix with a major twist - a glass pedestal base

Attributable to Seguso, 1950s

7" diameter, 3.5" high

Towering Barovier & Toso

Elegance embodied in a Venetian floor lamp. At just shy of 6', a towering achievement indeed...from the venerable Murano factory of Barovier & Toso, circa 1950.  Rewired for the modern world and finished with our own custom Lucite base.

Ceramic Sensation

An Italian ceramic lamp with a cork-like texture in a gorgeously golden glaze. Monumental and heavy - if this was a vase, it would certainly be the biggest single piece of Italian pottery we'd have seen. Likely a Raymor import for the mid century American market.
32" tall with shade and 15" wide

"Still Life"of Pi

A truly unique (as in one-of-a-kind) circa 1960s Murano glass tiger sculpture with a fascinating provenance...from the private collection of the Cenedese family estate itself. This Bengal beauty is grand in both scale as well as importance - 13" tall and 15" from nose-tip to tail!

The End of History on TV

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Lifestyle expert Colin Cowie shares our wares on yesterday's Today show. In a piece on creating Zen in the home, Colin adds the Pantone color of the season - Emerald Green. Our mention comes up in the segment at around 2:15

Ultra-Fine Friberg

Berndt Friberg was one of the great potters at Gustavsberg in Sweden. He began throwing for no less than the likes of Wilhelm Kåge and Stig Lindberg. Eventually gaining enough experience to have his own studio within the company and developing a distinctive aesthetic all his own. The three pieces above are in a surface he developed called "Hare’s Fur" glaze. Known to be a perfectionist, he never allowed for a work to be released that wasn't up to his high standards. As a result, he was an award winning ceramicist and we have museum quality works that hold tremendous value today. 

Bookmark These Bookends

Attributable to Seguso, this pair of rich amber colored Murano bookends are paperweight heavy and gorgeously bubbled.
6" high each

Scandinavia Ephemera

Proof positive of the refined nature of Rörstrand pottery. Evidenced by this original advertisement showing that, even in 1951, these works were considered gallery worthy, to be shown on Madison Avenue...the center of the art world at the time.

Feeling Dotty

A return to Upsala, Sweden, for this Ekeby lamp by Ingrid Atterberg. Hand painted with what seems like a thousand yellow glazed dots on matte brown pottery and finished with teak fittings.
36" to the top of the drum shade

Table-Scape

You know I love a still life, especially an Italian tile table top such as this, painted by Enzo Borgini for Alvino Bagni. The perfect little occasional pop of color. Cubism with legs.
12" square, 16" high

Op-Art Opulence

A dizzying pair of amethyst colored Bohemian cut crystal vases from Germany in the 60s - bring to mind the Op-Art works of Victor Vasarely or Verner Panton.

Back to School

UPDATE: A spectacular underwater garden scene or "Havsflora" as the line is called by Upsala-Ekeby...as a way to continue the motif called Spectra that was originally designed by Anna-Lisa Thomson. Matte chocolate brown stoneware decorated with shells and a school of fish with a hand-painted glaze technique - which makes this large charger a true piece of art. 
15" diameter
*Note we have the original Spectra lamps and vases to match.

More Martha

A lovely way to start the new year...with an editorial in this month's Martha Stewart Living on all things Scandinavian...

3 mottled glaze ceramics, all by Gunnar Nylund for Rorstrand, Sweden 1950s

from l to r: Blue spherical vase from Marsellis, Sweden, 1940s

Small bud vase from Stig Lindberg for Gustavsberg, Sweden 1950s

Blue vase by Wilhelm Kage for Gustavsberg, Denmark 1950s

Bowl from Stig Lindberg for Gustavsberg, Sweden 1950s

A Horse of a Different Color

It never ceases to amaze that we can be surprised by yet another new iteration of a classic. This 1950s horse by Aldo Londi for Bitossi has never come in this particular glaze - Mottled Chartreuse!

UPDATE: And then there were two...the even rarer Bull just arrived!
10" x 10" (Horse)
12" x 6" (Bull)

Our Latest Twins

Meet the Murano duo that has just arrived stateside. Late 20th Century meets Neoclassicism with gold leaf floating in amber glass. Fabulous for the mantle and a great shape for flowers.
13.5"