Happy Gay Pride!

In recognition of this banner year for gay rights we will be closed today and resume regular business hours tomorrow...Enjoy the parade and festivities if you are down in The Village today!

Ultra-Fine/Semi-Precious

Heavily encrusted with stones sometimes referred to as "Fools Gold" - loads of iron pyrites glitter atop this handsome brass box, lined with rosewood. Fantastic for keeping your genuine gold rings and cuff links in.

NOTE: We will be closed Sunday in recognition of the annual Gay Pride Parade.

Shark Tale

A Faux Shagreen Chinese porcelain vessel topped with a gorgeously minimalist bronze lid. Hong Kong in origin - likely a purely decorative object for the well-to-do traveler wanting to bring a bit of the Orient back to the states or Europe in the mid-century.
12" x 9"

Renaissance Revivalism

White bisque porcelain lamps in a Neo-Renaissance style - Made in Italy, 1950s. 

These obelisks with fanciful rococo decorations sitting atop gold leafed bases are great examples of a return to romanticism in design.
40" to the top of the finials

Fantastic Fantoni

This 1950s cubist still life realized in ceramic by Marcello Fantoni is referred to as a "Portrait Plaque Bowl" - meaning it was always intended to hang. This particular example has an extra enticing provenance in that it was created for the showroom of the renown Los Angeles firm called Marbro...the company responsible for assembling the best mid-century lamps in the 50s & 60s - including those by Fantoni. So, just what is this scene? Is it a summery sangria?
12" x 10"

Black is Beautiful

1950s women of color cast in terracotta...European in origin. The lovely bust on top is French and marked 1958. The demure Venus on the bottom is Austrian from the well-known studio called  Goldscheider.

Top: 10" x 6"
Bottom: 12" x 4"

Fancy Barbini

A rather grand size for a lidded jar from the venerable Murano factory of Barbini, circa the fabulous 50s. Wonderful for the powder-room - its blue color and fluted pattern with controlled bubbles reminiscent of running water.

9" x 9"

Best Buds

Porcelain bud vases from top to bottom:

Richard Ginora, Made in Italy 1950s

Rosenthal, Studio Line, Germany 1960s

Rosenthal, Studio Line, Germany 1960s

Heinrich, Germany 1960s

Thomas, Germany 1960s

all under 5"

German Geometrics

Hand carved graphics - circles, squares, ovals - set in a terracotta base. German Studio Pottery from a factory called Terraform, 1960s.
11h x 10w

To the Sea

Great for an estate on the shore or for the urban dweller who daydreams of the beach - a giant conch shell in glossy white ceramic made mid-century in Italy. Perfect as a planter, but spectacular as a sculptural object.

18 x 12

Star Power

"Starburst" -  Gold plated bronze sculpture by Marion Walton Putnam, 1960s

approximately 18" x 10"

Marion Walton (1905-1996) born in New Rochelle, New York. During the 1920s, she studied at the Art Students League and from 1922 to 1924, at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris under sculptor Antoine Bourdelle where she was a contemporary of Alberto Giacometti.
In 1933, Walton had a solo exhibition at the Weyhe Gallery and later participated in numerous group exhibitions primarily in New York City and in Paris, France. Her work is represented in private collections in the United States and abroad, and in the museum of the University of Nebraska.
Walton taught students in her studio in New York City and at Sarah Lawrence College. She was also a member of Artists Equity and a charter member of the Sculptors Guild.

Important Import

This piece of glass history has today arrived from a dealer in Venice, Italy, its very place of origin...as it was made in Murano by the famed maestro Giulio Radi circa 1950. As founder of the factory known as AVeM, Radi was among the most acclaimed glass blowers of his time. This piece has everything going for it. A fiery Red/Orange base covered in layers upon layers of both gold and silver foil that split apart in the cooling process to reveal the lava like striations underneath.We also love the shape and balloon-knot-like opening. Just one of our most valued new acquisitions!
10" x 7"

I'll Drink to That

Called the "Shot Glass Decanter" for the (obvious) reason that the stopper is actually shaped like a shot glass. Designed in 1960 by Wayne Husted for Blenko - arguably the most coveted American glassware company to collect. This gradated coloration is commonly referred to as Amberina or Tangerine.
17" 

Meet Mr. & Mrs. Giacometti

Bronze sculptures from the 1960s with an obvious nod to the surrealist sculptor Alberto Giacometti. Slightly more refined, figuratively speaking, but certainly influenced by the proportions and brutalist textures of the late great Swiss artist.
21" including the white marble base

Happy Father's Day!

An Art Deco Olympiad - Because Dads Are All Champions Today
(We will closed for the holiday)

Glamour Cubed

16" square mid-century mirrored occasional tables...and what a glamorous occasion this is! The design is embedded on the inside of the glass, so that the surface is smooth, except for a wonderful etched detail around the border. They are quite movable as well, as they are on wheels.

Let's Neck

Crimson red Murano glass, 31" in height...and that's no tall tale!

Behind The Candelabra

I'm anticipating renewed interest in this over-the-top baroque style after seeing Steven Soderbergh's "Behind The Candelabra" - the critical darling based on the life of Liberace, currently airing on HBO. Illustrious illumination from Barovier & Toso, circa 1950. This type of lamp is reserved for the daring decorator with a flair for the fancy.
Giant to the top of the drum shade - 47"

Deco-Rate

A sterling silver stunner created circa 1935 by the famed Walker & Hall of Sheffield, England (the epicenter of fine silver production for Great Britain at the time.) The tiered perimeter of this footed silver dish, with its unusual asymmetry, gives this piece a sort of unexpected "edge". A true artifact of the rule-breaking "Deco" design period.

The company was so renown that they actually put their maker's marks on the top of this piece - a kind of status symbol for the discerning collector.

Rare Amphibian

Japanese in spirit, Scandinavian in origin. A bronze and sterling censor from the coveted metal master Knud Andersen for Royal Copenhagen. He was generally known to be a collaborator with other great artisans at the company, crafting the jewel-like lids to fine ceramics...so to see a bronze and silver piece wholly created by his hand in the 1930s is a rare treat indeed. The tree frog makes this piece surreal and stupendous at once.
5.5"high x 5"wide

Keeping it Real (Simple)

Here's a cover story: One of the pieces currently donning the June 2013 issue Real Simple is from our shop. The vintage fluted covered box seen here is by the Danish company Schollert.
Loads more items inside the magazine as well:

Bitossi Anomaly

It never ceases to amaze that we can still discover yet another rare iteration of the classic Bitossi figurines. The bull shape is rare enough, but to find a black one where all the incised areas are highlighted by a different pastel color is, to the avid collector, a major find!
12" x 7"

Brutal Beauty

An unknown artist created this sculpture in 1966 in the Brutalist manner. There's a beautiful upward fluidity to the form. It can look like flames at one angle and a rock formation at another angle. Very heavy bronze atop a black marble base.
14.5" tall

Oh My Demigod

An Italian bronze coin replica paperweight, 1950s. At first I thought this was the image of a handsome Roman General...but on closer inspection, I realized he was sporting a horn and is in fact a Satyr! That makes him somehow much sexier.
3" in diameter

China by Way of Italy

Attributable to Guido Gambone for its coloration, rough hewn textures, smattering of gold, and Asian theme (he is famous for the highly sought after Buddha heads he created)...this is a rare lidded box in the form of a chinese ceremonial censer (incense burner). 1950's, Italy.
8" x 6"

Hedging Our Bets

Since we've never actually had a glass Hedgehog paperweight before, we'll be giving this little guy our best educated guess as to its origin. The grey tint to the glass and the size and pattern of the controlled bubbles suggest to us that this is from Whitefriars Glass - the centurys old English company that was purchased by James Powell in 1834. Regardless, he's 20th century vintage and in need of a good home! By the way, his face is actually purple glass...so cute.
6" x 4.5" high

The Beauty of Basalt

'Gothic Classicism' is how I would describe Wedgwood's wonderful Black Basalt Ware. First introduced in the 1790s by none other than Josiah Wedgwood, the line was inspired by Egyptian stoneware which gained its pitch black color from the volcanic mineral, Basalt. This gorgeous pair (Stamped: Made in England, 1953) of tapered flower vases with fluted decoration feature built in frogs for easy arranging of the stems, creating the perfect floral splay.

Adventures in Aventurine

All that glitters can sometimes be copper...or Aventurine as is the correct term for this use of the ore in glass. Another giant achievement, quite literally, from mid-century Barbini. This very large centerpiece measures 18" x 13" in diameter.

Towering Pachyderm

Elephants of all ages piled high in one trippy drippy Kelly Green sculpture. The original Rosenthal-Netter paper label tells us this was made in Italy for import in the 1950s. UPDATE: A knowledgable reader has contributed the fact that this was created by Gli Etruschi, out of Firenze, Italy.

Monumental Masterpiece

This is certianly the single largest piece from Gunnar Nylund that we have had the great fortune to acquire. Where the average height among others in this off-white coloration is typically around 9" - this behemoth beauty stands at an impressive 26" tall! Made for Rörstrand in the 1950s. I feel that this was made expressly as a presentation or showroom piece (as in not for export) as the country of origin mark on the bottom is incised "Sverige" ...in other words, the Swedish spelling for Sweden.