Delizioso Dish

The new April 2013 issue of Food & Wine is dedicated to all things Italian with celebrity chef and guest editor Mario Batali. Included is our large Barbini bowl...seen here as a serving suggestion for fusilli and shrimp. Scrumptious.

Little Caesar and His Little Lady

Petite Julius Caesar in Italian bronze on alabaster from the 1950s. However, the question remains...which wife is accompanying him? He was married thrice: is this Cornelia, Pompeia, or Calpurnia? 
7" each

Emerald City

With "Oz the Great and Powerful" doing huge numbers at box office this past weekend (over $80 million in the US), it got me thinking about Pantone's color of the year: Emerald & that specific shade of colored glass. All three above are from Empoli, Italy, 1950s.
l to r: 15", 16.5", 9"

Fruitful Find

A stunning still life hand-made in mid-century Italy. Ceramic fruit, piled high in a bowl with incredible details. But, even more incredible is the fact that this centerpiece is in such mint condition. We have never featured this type of Italian pottery before, for the very reason that they are never in perfect form. The other appealing aspect is the pure white color. Can you imagine this in the center of a white marble Eero Saarinen Tulip Table? We can.

Fine Feathered

A Bavarian porcelain hanging platter with an exotic peacock decoration from a line called 'El Dorado' by Karin Nossek - one of the chief designers at Kaiser, West Germany, 1960s
12" in diameter

Grey Matters

Country of origin comes into question on this one, but our best educated guess would place this from somewhere in Scandinavia. A vase of vast scale (18"!) and even greater interest - given its oh so chic gradation of grey tones. It's like a towering dowel or modernist take on the classic bamboo motif.

Scrumptious Sgrafitto

These golden oldies from 1950s Italy are likely Bitossi. We have had the vase before, although in another coloration, and I'm sure we've sold variations of the compote...but I can't recall ever a matching pair. Great texture and gorgeous gilding, but it's the green apple glazed interior of the bowl that makes this pairing so tasty.
Vase:15"
Bowl:5" high and 5 3/4" in diameter

Architectural Accessories

A heavy subject...a trio of solid Italian Travertine decorative objects created in a rather masculine manner. Imported from Italy by Raymor in the 1960s.
Obelisk 12"
Spheres 6"&4.5"

Earning Our Stripes

A most elegant example of a Zebrati glass bowl from Barovier & Toso. The zebra stripes are a perfectly plummy color and the amount of gold enough to effect the stock market.
6.5" in diameter 2.5" in height

Deco-Rate

A rare piece of Japanese Satsuma porcelain, made during the Taisho period, circa 1920s

10.25" tall

Mane Event

A winning pair of vintage Murano glass horses, stunningly expressive and realistic given the material. Observing the particular style of the mane, I strongly believe these to be from the same Venetian factory, albeit from different eras. The top is from the 40s while the other was made in the 60s.
Top: 9.5"long x 9.5"high
Center:  12" long x 9" high

China by Way of Mexico

An amazing cross-cultural find from the most famous department store in Mexico City - Sanborns (see below). Created in the 1940s, this Mexican sterling silver humidor is bejeweled with a 19th century Chinese rendering of a junk boat carved in red jade. The setting is exquisitely intricate and another perfect example of East-Meets-West design.

box measures 3.5" x 6" and 1.25" high

Gentlemen's Quarters

In the March issue of GQ - for "Wake Up Your Bedroom," a special section dedicated to tips for updating the gentleman's interior, prop stylist Noemi Bonazzi for Brydges Mackinney pulled masculine looking ceramics from The End of History to help spice up the space.

Photo credit: Ditte Isager

Ancient History

We step again into our time machine with these antique glass objects that can be categorized as "Grand Tour Souvenirs". This prized pair of Amphora are ancient Roman style glass housed in reproduction bronze Pompeii stands with lion's heads & claw details.  This type of keepsake would have been sold to wealthy travelers in Italy during the 19th century. The glass has a beautiful opalescent sheen and almost iridescent quality to the green coloration.
12" tall & sold only as a pair

Delicious Nautilus

Our time travel through the world of decorative arts brings us back to 1883 and the Victorians newly found hunger for all things Japanese. After the 1854 trade treaty, Japan's wonders were made available in vast numbers for the first time to the west. Extravagant displays of decorative arts at all the major worlds fairs of the 19th century resulted in Japan having great influence in western art. A great example can be found here from the venerable English firm of Royal Worcester Porcelain (founded in 1751). A pair of delicate and surrealistic renderings of Nautilus shells held by coral branches on a glittering seabed.
7" each

Big Bang

Monumental museum quality pottery from the masterful hand of Arne Bang, circa 1940. A form that embodies the aesthetic transition from Art Deco to Machine Age. An impressive scale at 14" in diameter and 4" in height. Expand the photo to closer inspect the speckled glaze technique that lends his work a desirable depth of texture by mimicking the patina of aged bronze.

Time for The New York Times

 

Rebecca Flint Marx has written a wonderful profile of our shop entitled "Obsessions in Color, Form and Glass", for today's Sunday New York Times. The image above is of a satisfied customer who happened to be in the shop while Marx and photographer Elizabeth D. Herman were covering our store for the article. The result is a terrific overview of our history, our design philosophy, and a testament to the indie spirit our store has been fortunate enough to maintain for going on 16 years in the same West Village location - in an era and city now dominated my multi-national brands. For more (plus a slideshow) see link below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/nyregion/at-the-end-of-history-obsessions-in-color-and-glass.html

Fine Pharoah

King Tut as realized in 1959 by the famed Italian ceramicist Urbano Zaccaganini. It has purposefully aged quality to the crazing and glazing...as if it were actually dug up after thousands of years. Interesting side note: Our shop's proprietor Stephen has a real family connection to the original discovery. Stephen's maternal grandmother was actually present in Egypt when Tutankhamun's tomb was excavated and she even knew Howard Carter. How's that for a little bit of history repeating?

Another Great Gunnar

A circular stunner...this great graphic mid-century porcelain bowl is by Gunnar Nylund for Rörstrand, Sweden

9" in diameter

Vanity Fair

Ahhh...the sweet smell of success. This lovely 1950s Murano Barbini bullicante perfume bottle is rich with gilt and perfect to add fancy to your vanity or pretty to your powder room.
7.5"

Back in Black

Expanding our horizons into the 21st century (our first foray into new millennial glass works) with an onyx trio from contemporary artist Massimo Micheluzzi, 2003. Rare to see solid black glass for sure, but the major draw here is the carving technique. Known as "battuto", Micheluzzi utilizes a diamond cutting tool to create fluid canals, not unlike the waterways of his hometown of Venice. This work seems to bridge traditional Venetian glassblowing methods with a decidedly modern viewpoint.

 9"-11"

Provinance: Originally sold through Barry Friedman, Ltd.

Legendary

Mid-Century goes Mid-Evil with this classic story - set in stoneware. "Saint George and the Dragon" created as a limited edition sculpture (marked 34/200) by the great Gunnar Nylund for Rorstrand, circa 1950s. This story dates back as far as the 10th Century and its hero is considered the patron saint of England.  Not to mention, it's also reminding me of one of my favorite HBO series, Game of Thrones.
13" x 13"

Bowled Over

Attributable to Bitossi, this striated Italian bowl of royal blue, a touch of metallic, and a myriad of fabulous 50s glazes is a real artifact of that color-filled era. A great size @ 11.5" in diameter.

Amazing Amethyst

A geode of a different style. Surprisingly, this piece is not Italian, but actually Swedish from Strömberg. Technically, cut crystal (which is really unusual in a geode) giving it a wonderful optical effect. Not to mention the center is a beautifully saturated Amethyst purple.
5 1/4" in diameter

Small Wonders

We are known for being able to provide not only choice, but the satisfaction of creating an 'instant collection' if one was so inclined. Right now, we have a wonderful selection of the works of a small Danish studio called Palshus. Formed in 1948 by ceramicist Per Linneman-Schmidt and his wife Annelise, the Palshus studio created ceramics with an admittedly Japanese aesthetic - matte glazes and fine lines. A lovely signature to their work is the almost illuminated look of the highlighted rims.
Most are no more than 6" or 7"

Little Boxes, Little Boxes

Keepsake ceramic boxes by the likes of  Bitossi and others for import by Raymor or Rosenthal Netter are a mainstay at our shop and no mid-century bedside or coffee table should be without one. Just a sampling above of our always in-stock selection.
Sizes tend to be consistent at around 8" x 4" (lid) x 2" high

Recommended Reading

When noted designer Shawn Henderson wanted to add exquisite objects to his sophisticated and urban interior for his celebrity client, funny man Will Farrell, he came to The End of History. Will's wife is Swedish, so who better to provide rare Scandinavian pottery than our emporium rich with hundreds of recent acquisitions sent by our partners in Copenhagen?! It's all featured on the glossy pages of the March 2013 celebrity packed issue of Architectural Digest.

Valentine's Finds

Need a last minute shopping hint for Valentine's Day? Let me play cupid for a moment...May I suggest a vintage heart shaped Barbini glass bowl from the 50s - perfect for your sweetheart!
6-8" in diameter

Modernist Obelisks

Three decorative glass Obelisks from Cenedese, Murano, 1960s. I'm particularly wild about the gold leaf bubbles trapped in glass.
9"

German/Roman Bronze

Three views of the same diminutive bronze vase, decorated on all sides with female nudes in various poses and activities of an Ancient Roman style. Made in Mid-century Germany by Professor Fritz Nuss, better known for his more modernist life size public works (think Henry Moore). 1950s
4"