Quan Yin Porcelain

Intended to suggest the Chinese figurines that were once carved from a single ivory tusk, this is, in reality, a rare American porcelain figure created by the Boehm company. While there were only 81 ever made, this is from the first edition from 1956 (1 of 60). Quan Yin is an enduring decorative motif, as she is considered Buddha in female form.
16"

Brightly Bitossi

A perfect pairing of Italian ceramics in yummy lemon yellow, chocolate brown, and a dash of vanilla.
Bitossi, Montelupo Italy, 1950s
12", 9"

Eighties Oddities

A technique in blown/cut glass we believe is unique to Antonio Daros for Cenedese circa the new wave 1980s! Classic Murano fused caning with an important twist - hand etched with a diamond wheel to create added textural interest to the exterior of the vases.
top: 12"
mid: 9.5"
btm: 12.5"

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Some bubbly from Karl Leutner for Heirich's special Gemmo line.
Germany, 1950s
9" and 11" 

New Year's Eve etc.

REMINDER:
Closed New Years Eve- 1/2/13!

Re-Opening 12 noon-7pm on January 3rd
Enjoy!

Almost Time for Auld Lang Syne

50s Revelers...just because.

Trio of Geodes

Seguso in triplicate...glass bowls in dual colored jewel tones and atomic age shapes.
all around 6-7 inches in diameter

Bang-up Collection

 Just in from our shipment from Denmark is this extensive collection of Arne Bang bowls from the 1940s.

Masculine and Machine Age and deliciously mottled.
Sizes vary from 5.5" - over 10" in diameter

Fratelli Toadstool

Despite my cheeky title, this is actually a rather important footed bowl from the renown Murano factory of Fratelli Toso called the 'Milleocci' Bowl (considered one of the top glass designs to collect) dated 1962. An ultra-modernist compote, if you will.
5.5" high, 7.5" in diameter

Opalescent and Magnificent

Sven Palmquist for Orrefors, 1960s
13" diameter

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Murano Bulbs c. 1960

Hours for the Holidays

Please note we have adjusted hours for the holiday season:

Open Christmas Eve 12-5

Closed Christmas Day- the 28th of December

Open Sat. 12/29, Sun. 12/30 12-6pm

Closed New Years Eve- 1/2/13

Re-Opening 12-7 on January 3rd!

enjoy all of your festivites

All About Aubergine

Call it Purple, call it Plum, call it Aubergine, call it what you will...but this "Mauve-u-lous" color is hot for interior designers and, of course, among the most difficult hue to find in Empoli cased glass. Here we present a generous sampling of our vintage Italian wares...just an idea of how to mix shapes in groups of three for an instant plummy collection from The End of History.

Polar Bear Expression

A large and fierce hand molded Polar Bear sculpture signed by Michael Andersen, the famed ceramicist himself...made in his studio in the town of Ronne on the Island of Bornholm, Denmark
in 1943.
16" from nose tip to tail

Woven Wonder

A singularly spectacular Italian ceramic lamp, created in the 50s, in a sort of abstraction of perhaps driftwood or asps, but in a glossy glazed finish. Gnarly.
39.5" to the top of the drum shade

Deco Dancer

A few things we know for sure....it is stoneware in a Sung Glaze. It is an original 1930s prototype for an eventual Royal Copenhagen commission by well known sculptor Helge Christoffersen.  It is Danish in design, but is she a Cambodian or is she a Thai dancer? 'Tis a puzzelment.

18" x 18"

Urchins Under Glass

Murano glass bookends by Galliano Ferro, circa 1950s, in what, to my eyes, feels like underwater sea creatures...jellies, anemones, or of the urchin variety.
Each measures between 6" x 6"

Terrific Toft

Another rarity ~ the surprising use of color for Thomas Toft. We generally see from him a strictly brown and white palette, so we are delighted to discover this design departure...with glazed highlights of yellow.
Small but significant @ 6" in diameter

Cubist Carl-Harry

An unusually cubist look for the usually austere Carl-Harry Stålhane for Rörstrand, Sweden ...circa 1970. Olive green with cross hatches of navy, rust and dots and dashes in white. From his atelier numbered 57/200.
14"

Lucious Lucite

Hand lathed solid Lucite, late 20th Century

Created by Maya and Terry Balle

Signed 1992

Monumental ~ 20" tall

Another Serving Suggestion

Red anyone? An impossibly intricate copper fishnet design, likely Salviati or Fratelli Toso. Four goblets and a gorgeously glam carafe to decant your finest wine.
15", 9"

Serving Suggestion

With the Holidays upon us, how about a 1930s French Art Deco Ice Bucket? Silver-plated and professionally polished to mint condition...perfect for that bubbly we will all be indulging in!

How Swede it Is

A bright light is illuminating our store window at this very moment. 50" of stacked yellow ceramic sections make up this curvaceous stunner. Sure to add a pop of color to the lucky home that inherits this oh-so-sixties Swedish floor lamp.

Cover Story

What a great start to the New Year! We've made the cover of the January 2013 issue of one our most consistent supporters: Real Simple Magazine. Our vintage Rosenthal porcelain piece is put to doubly good use as both a vase and as a bookend. Designed by Bjørn Wiinblad in the 60s, this vase features both shine and a matte floral patterned neck. Still available, by the way, if you'd like to have a published piece for your very own!
7"

Coral Relief

A ceramic deep-sea moment for the coral and periwinkle enthusiast. 

I think it's particularly clever of the Italians to utilize the Lava-Glaze technique to so closely replicate the look and feel of genuine coral.

Made in Italy, circa 1950s. 

Measures 12" across and 5" high

Super-Graphic Ceramics

Danish dishes in amoebic shapes from Schollert (pair at top) and Michael Andersen & Sons, 1950s. Dark chocolate brown matte pottery with playful lines of contrasting white glossy glaze.
All approximately 8-9" in diameter.

Honoring Niemeyer

Maybe I've got Oscar on my mind, or maybe it's a happy coincidence, but we just received this very architectural table-top sculptural piece from the 60s in a particularly Niemeyer-like design. An anonymous American welded steel structure, perfect for the fan of both Modernist and Brutalist works alike.
16" tall

Harlequin Lamp

A stunning ceramic lamp from Guido Gambone, Italy, circa the 1950s. Chocolate brown and off-white with just a hint of green shadowing - giving the graphic a cool 3rd-dimension.
32"

Royal Vessel: The Sequel

Another crackled stunner from Thorkild Olsen for Royal Copenhagen, circa 1940s.

The intricately detailed lid features a gilt twig and fruit design.
10"

Oscar Niemeyer: In Memoriam

December 15, 1907 - December 5, 2012

Royal Vessel

A Danish design collaboration for Royal Copenhagen circa 1940s. The crackle or "Craquelure" glazed porcelain jar is by Thorkild Olsen. The crown...an extraordinary Bronze lid created by Knud Andersen.
9"

Deadstock Discovery

We are so lucky to be in the business of uncovering buried treasure. This fluted opalescent grape colored lidded jar was made in Murano for export in the 1950s. Somehow it never made it out of its original box while en route to a fine New York retailer. During this pre-bubble wrap era, the factories in Venice would protect their goods for Trans-Atlantic travel with what appears to be fine wood shavings.
box measures 6" high

Butterscotch Pottery

An Italian ceramic floor vase (16") from the 60s with a multitude of tasty butterscotch kisses applied to the surface.

Get Roped In

A very literal iteration of the "Golden Rope" or Cordonato d'Oro technique in a Robin's Egg Blue bowl by Ercole Barovier for Barovier & Toso, circa 1950s. 
6" high 11" wide

Towering Turquoise

An absolutely intense color saturation and monumental scale piece of Empoli cased glass...in a shape we've never seen. Standing tall at 20.5" and 12" wide.

Lavender Lovely

A monumental achievement in Murano glass, from one of the more important factories in Venice, we're guessing Barovier or Seguso, circa 1940s.
Statement making at 14.5" tall