May 25, 2012
Monsters need not be frightening, intimidating or covered in scales. Monsters, as originally defined in Rome, are just different or unusual things.
Robert Maxwell was a prolific ceramicist and made a significant part of his living making monsters (typically called beasties or critters by collectors) in addition to some really fine studio pottery. Unlike the creation of Dr Frankenstein, Maxwell’s monsters never upset local villagers or resulted in their creator last being seen headed north on an Arctic ice floe. Produced prolifically in the 1960′s they did bring a sort of lasting recognition to their creator.
These are low number figures indicating they are earlier pieces. The gaping mouth monster is Figure 10 and stands 3 1/4 inches tall. The snouty monster is 4 3/4 long and is numbered as Figure 11. They are in perfect condition and we’re offering them as a pair.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $31-$40, 20th century, Ceramic, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Mid-century, Mid-Century Modern, Modern, Sculpture, Vintage |
Leave a Comment »
May 24, 2012
Very nicely executed hand painted light globe. It is 14 inches in maximum diameter and fits a fixture which is 12 inches in diameter. Since it is a relatively low-profile shade (5 1/2 inches) I presume it came from a ceiling fixture.
The painting depicts three roses and it is signed J. Noma.
My guess is that it dates to the 1920′s or 1930′s.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $26-$30, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Glass, Lighting, Painting, Vintage |
Leave a Comment »
May 24, 2012
This is a great piece. It’s especially interesting as it provides a diametric counterpart to our last Scandinavian modern styled bar cart and shows how good design can accomplish the same goals but end up in radically different places in the process.
At first glance this is just an unassuming, squarish wheeled stand. However it is finished in fine rosewood veneer with a black colored laminate top. Then, the front door opens and tucks back inside so you can access the revolving mufti-tiered carousel / lazy Susan. It is a compact yet elegant solution to a storage problem.
The cart is about 17 inches deep, just over 17 1/2 inches wide and stands 30 1/2 inches tall. It is in fabulous condition and there is a manufacturers label on the base that I didn’t decipher except to read that this item was made in Denmark.
$225
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $201-$250, 20th century, Artistic wonder, AVAILABLE!, Glassware / barware, Kitchenware, Mid-century, Mid-Century Modern, Otherwise useful, Sculpture, Storage, Vintage, Wood |
Leave a Comment »
May 19, 2012
Three vintage paintings title AM, Noon and PM. They’re pretty simple but make a nice little themed triptych so we’re selling them as a set. One of them bears a signature on the back that appears to read V. Kandris with the notation that it was done at Yokoto AFB Japan and there is also the inscription Geni which probably meas something.
Each picture measures roughly 5 1/2 by 7 inches.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $16-$20, 20th century, Eclectic, Fabric / Fiber, GONE! SOLD!, Kitsch, Other Natural Materials, Other Unnatural Materials, Painting |
Leave a Comment »
May 16, 2012
With the passing of the rainy season and the return of sunlight we’re once again faced with a great problem: how to block the light so it doesn’t stress our unaccustomed eyes.
You could wear you sunglasses indoors or you can hang light filtering devices in your windows to break up its terrible natural brightness. Cardboard and tin foil are the traditional ‘go to’ methods of doing this, but why not step up your game a bit and use something just a tad more refined?
For example stained glass panels. They are mostly clear or textured glass so they’ll still let a lot of light through, but they have great decorative patterns too.
We have two pairs of these. The larger set is comprised of panels 26 by 14 1/2 inches and they depict a stylized dragon-fly. They are in OK shape although there are some cracks and one very small fragment of missing glass. SOLD!
The smaller set is 20 by 14 inches and shows a rose and a blue bird. They are in good shape although each panel has one cracked piece of clear flat glass. SOLD!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $101-$150, 20th century, Art Deco, Art Nouveau (real or inspired), Artistic wonder, Glass, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Metal, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
Leave a Comment »
May 15, 2012
I’ll admit that ‘modernist art print’ isn’t exactly the most evocative turn of phrase, but I’m a second-rate charity fundraising sales hack with a penchant for furniture, not flat work or art history, so you’ll either have to bear with me or go in search of a real art blog.
If you’re still reading I’ll presume you’re ‘bearing with’ and move on.
This is a big print 48 1/4 inches by 76 1/4 inches. It’s numbered 193 of 210 (or 250) and signed in a scrawl that would do a doctor who is the seven doctoral son of a seventh doctoral son proud.
In other words I can’t figure it out even though I’m fairly certain the artist’s name begins with ‘M’.
The print was framed in Anchorage, Alaska, which could be a clue or a frozen red herring. I’ve chased the herring angle and come up with nothing, not even a bit of bait, oil slicked rock, or traces of cocaine done off an oil drum.
Apparently what happens in the frozen north stays there even if it is an interesting art piece that is sort of evocative of a bastard stepchild of Chuck Close’s work crossed with a flat color cubist paint palette and the Cartesian grid system as seen in a parallel universe.
Or something.
It’s an interesting piece but it’ll need a big wall to look its best.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $151-$200, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Paper, Print, Seemed like a good idea . . . |
2 Comments »
May 7, 2012
Two original contemporary impressionistic streetscapes by Charles Nivens (born in 1943 in Missouri, he now lives in Georgia).
15 1/4 inches tall by 12 3/8 inches wide in frame. Both are in great condition and we’re selling them separately (but will work a deal if you want both).
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $300-$350, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Other Natural Materials, Other Unnatural Materials, Painting |
Leave a Comment »
May 5, 2012
This picture has been here for a long time. Not so long that it’s eligible to vote in city wide elections (don’t forget to get your ballots in by May 15th!) but long enough.
Oddly it never made it online before now, probably because I was too lazy to get the ladder,
This vintage print is titled Gusty Weather and was made by Roger Berhoff, It measures 27 1/4 inches wide and 22 1/4 inches tall in frame. It is signed, both ‘in plate’ and over the print in what might be chalk or perhaps oil crayon.
My understanding is that Berghoff studied with Elton Bennet since their styles have marked similarity (see some examples in pieces we’ve had before, here and here) and he taught high school art in Ellensberg Washington before going out on his own (1964). Although primarily known for ‘flat’ art he also did at least some sculpture, including 20 characters for Never, Never Land in Tacoma Washington. Business on his own must have been choppy for a few years since by 1972 he was doing custom portraits, at department stores, for $17 a session (total time about 40 minutes!). By the 1980′s he was making the works that made him well known in the northwest and department store portraiture was a thing of the past.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $51-$75, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Paper, Print, Vintage |
Leave a Comment »
May 2, 2012
This vintage kitsch painting of of a sail boat regatta (at night?) was done by someone named Thompson, who lived on the Roxwell Rd. in Chelmsford, Essex.
I’m having a tough time reading the first name but it could be Paul, which doesn’t help a whole lot. Regardless someone had this shipped across ‘the pond’ and then to Oregon where we ended up with it. Hopefully its journey still has many miles to go and maybe at the end one of the boats will cross the finish line.
This painting is 18 inches by 37 inches. Mostly it is simply paint on board, but the sails have been outlined in relief with some sort of glue-like substance. It is in good condition.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $76-$100, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Mid-Century Modern, Other Natural Materials, Other Unnatural Materials, Painting, Vintage |
Leave a Comment »
May 1, 2012
Mr. Fox we presume?
Yes, if you insist . . .
Mr. Fox, we’re here on behalf of the firm of Beeblebrox and Dent, intergalactic debt collectors.
Ummm . . . in what capacity?
Mr. Fox, there is a small matter of library fines for overdue books.
Overdue books? I haven’t checked out a book since . . . Gutenberg was in diapers and I think that was back in oh-two . . . 1402.
Exactly Mr. Fox. You see you failed to return De vulgari eloquentia on time.
But it was only a few days late!
Mr. Fox, we’re just here to help you clear up this matter and our records indicate that “a few days late” was roughly 37 years.
Details! Details!
Yes Mr. Fox, details. Our records also show that you never paid the fine for this transgression which was assessed at 1/2 sou per week.
Let me see . . .1/2 sou per week at 37 years, 1,924 weeks, divide by two . . .so you’re here after a debt of 962 sou? 962 sou in a currency that went out of circulation in 1795? Seriously?
If it were only that simple Mr. Fox . . .you see there is the small matter of compound interest. If we were to calculate it at this moment in your time it would be the trifling sum of only 166,528,734.54 sou, or 33,305,746.91 livre, roughly equivalent to 133,222,987.60 United States Dollars.
That’s a lot of cash; would you take a check?
We’re not done Mr. Fox. as you may have noticed we’re not your average debt collectors, sure, we may LOOK like your average BEMs, but we are rather different. You see we recently took payment on Dave Lister’s unpaid* light bill. We’ve now travelled from three million years in the future and we’re going to assess you at the rate from that point in time.
What?!
Well Mr. Fox we wouldn’t want to upset the time space continuum and alter the course of history or anything, now would we Mr.Fox?
I suppose . . . so exactly what is due by your reckoning?
Mr. Fox we show that you owe us one Galactic Reynard.
A Galactic Reynard?
Yes, it is a unit of currency that we named after you; you should be honored at such consideration. The Reynard represents all the wealth of all known species plus one dollar and fifty-seven cents.
So . . . would you take a check?
No.
Visa?
Sorry, but your visa is expired.
Damn.
Well Mr. Fox?
Uhhh . . . would you care to step over to the ‘banking cage’ and I’ll be by in just a moment to give you the funds….
Of course Mr. Fox!
Suckers.
Reynard would like to take this opportunity to announce the sale of two (TWO!) genuine bug-eyed-monsters. The proceeds from the sale of these monsters will (of course) go to repay his massive library late fee debt and will not (of course) be squandered on a chicken dinner.
The big green monster is 5 inches tall, the not-so-big purple monster is 3 inches tall. Although they have travelled from 3 million years in the future and bear small amounts of dust (or the soul-dirt that all debt collectors bear) they are in good condition.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
*Holly: Also you left seventeen pounds, fifty pence in a
bank account. Thanks to compound interest you now own
ninety-eight percent of all the world’s wealth, but since
you’ve hoarded it for three million years nobody’s got any
money except for you and NorWEB.
Lister: Why NorWEB?
Holly: You left a light on in the bathroom. I’ve got a final demand
here for one hundred and eighty billion pounds.
Lister: A hundred and eighty billion pounds!
Posted in $6-$10, 21st century, AVAILABLE!, Eclectic, knickknack, Other Unnatural Materials, Sculpture, Seemed like a good idea . . . |
Leave a Comment »
April 26, 2012
Unusual hand painted round dining table with two leaves. This isn’t the sort of thing we give to families, so here it is in the store.
I have two questions: if He is omniscient why is there a pocket watch, and what happened to the pepper shaker?
This table is 42 inches in diameter/across and each leaf is 11 inches wide.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $76-$100, 20th century, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, Otherwise useful, Painting, Tables, Wood |
1 Comment »
April 24, 2012
The Maltese Falcon got all the attention in Hollywood, but everyone knew the Corsican Owl was the brains of the operation.
The Sardinian Kestrel had thought of doing something to change that and had even gone so far as to talk about it with close friends. This was a key oversight (he forgot that even the most muted conversations would eventually be overheard).
For years later every-time someone asked about the Kestrel, the Owl would just turn, vacantly stare and ask “Who?”
The Owl is 8 1/4inches tall, the other raptor is just under 6 inches tall.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $11-$15, $6-$10, 20th century, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Sculpture, Wood |
2 Comments »
April 23, 2012
What’s better than making things out of endangered species? Making trinkets out of extinct species! this piece of native crafted art uses fossil Walrus ivory, Mammoth ivory and Whale baleen
Signed J Kokuluk (for Jon or John) and originally sold at the Scanlon Gallery in Ketchikan, Alaska. It stands 4 1/2 inches tall and is in good condition.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $26-$30, 20th century, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Other Natural Materials, Sculpture, Seemed like a good idea . . ., Vintage |
Leave a Comment »
April 23, 2012
He’s got the time for you.
In John Wayne‘s world* it’s always a minute before high noon, the sun is in your eyes and there is a cheery benevolent looking guy named Marion gazing down from on high. But with the investment of one AA battery it could be anytime you like, even party time, and the fake sun will shine in the face of Marion all through the darkest night.
10 1/4 inches wide, 12 1/4 inches tall.
“*It’s Wayne’s World, Wayne’s World, party time, excellent!
Posted in $11-$15, 20th century, Clock, GONE! SOLD!, Kitsch, knickknack, Plastic, Print, Seemed like a good idea . . ., Vintage, Wood |
Leave a Comment »
April 19, 2012
Ohh look it’s Carmen Miranda* in the afterlife but instead of fruit she’s wearing flowers…
14 1/4 inches in diameter and has pierced holes in the back so that it may be hung as decoration.
Made in Mexico with lead free glazes and in excellent condition.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
*Carmen Miranda was actually Brazilian so we’re improperly mixing metaphors by associating her with Mexican iconography of the Day of the Dead. The Brazilian celebration of the Day of the Dead is rather different.
It should be OK to mix these ideas for the purposes of this post; we’re highly trained professionals working under carefully planned laboratory conditions and with excellent ventilation. In other words: don’t try this at home.
Posted in $21-$25, 20th century, 21st century, Ceramic, Contemporary, Dishes, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, Painting |
Leave a Comment »
April 18, 2012
“Is a tractor bad? Is the power that turns the long furrows wrong? If this tractor were ours, it would be good – not mine, but ours. We could love that tractor then as we have loved this land when it was ours. But this tractor does two things – it turns the land and turns us off the land. There is little difference between this tractor and a tank. The people were driven, intimidated, hurt by both.”
- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
What then when the plow is thrown aside in a great conflagration of degradation, false poverty and displacement?
The day will come when the destructive effects of the plowmen will pass and the great dust will settle, the plow and the tractor will slowly succumb and return to their elemental ferrous natures and the land will regrow, with or without the descendents of the plowmen and the bankers and speculators who took claim of the land for a short time. The fences will remain and rot as boundaries ever do and the grass and chokeweeds and vermin will survive long after their original hosts (and nemeses) are gone.
This original painting is unsigned and measures 24 3/4 inches by 28 inches in the frame. It moderately well done although numerous comments from our team of critics (including some of the volunteers and I) indicate that it could benefit by being ensconced in a different, more fitting frame.
Posted in $31-$40, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Fabric / Fiber, Other Natural Materials, Other Unnatural Materials, Painting |
Leave a Comment »
April 11, 2012
Dear Mr. Modern Movie Director / Producer,
Please, please for the love of all that is in film and cartoons, read this book BEFORE remaking yet another classic and utterly ruining it.
Heck, read it before making any film, you might get some good pointers.
How To Make Good Movies by the Eastman Kodak Company. It’s undated but there are some example of shots that show 1951 and 1952 in them and this seems like a pretty reasonable guess for when it was printed.
Interestingly a fair number of old pictures made it into the book, including a film marquee advertising The Great Gambini starring Akim Tamiroff which was released in 1937.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Artistic wonder, Book(s) & bookends, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, Mid-century, Mid-Century Modern, Otherwise useful, Paper, Vintage |
1 Comment »
April 11, 2012
It’s so awkward. Not only are you naked, but at the top of the stair you trip and fall and you can’t even blame the designer stiletto heels you picked up (for almost nothing) at the Garage Sale.
Bloody hell.
And of course society mavens, the gatekeepers, are there to see the whole thing, your whole thing, tumbling behind over forehead.
This print by Barry Kite is signed in pencil and measure 16 3/4 inches by 20 3/4 inches in frame.
It’d make a good gift for an awkward friend, or to remind someone who you care for that you haven’t for gotten about the things in their past that they’ve spent so much time dis-remembering (like a pal of mine and that one hip-wader . . .).
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $31-$40, 20th century, Contemporary, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, Paper, Print |
Leave a Comment »
April 10, 2012
Whoever painted this was a far better artist than you might think at first glance. It’s a simple design but it is well executed. In frame it is about 16 inches by 20 inches and signed by Anna.
Is it just an idea? A commentary on the human condition? A commentary that we are candied apes? Just art?
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $31-$40, 20th century, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, Other Natural Materials, Other Unnatural Materials, Painting, Seemed like a good idea . . . |
Leave a Comment »
April 9, 2012
So now I’ve lost another night to unsuccessful research. This time the 1940 census is to blame. I’ve looked through hundreds of pages of records, trying to find my family, but instead I’ve just found distant relatives, possible distant relatives and enigmas.
The trouble is that the records aren’t searchable by name. They are ordered by enumeration district (residences) but no one now knows exactly where they were at the time. We know the city, but that’s a big place . . .
So, I’ve been on a tour, of places where the names seem familiar and streets I remember for some reason but not what that reason is. In the process I’ve discovered some the people that were my father’s friends in childhood, maternal grandparents, grandparent’s siblings, miscellaneous relatives of best men at ancient weddings and persons who seem familiar but who I can’t place.
If nothing else it’s a good exercise in remembrance, and it illuminates the memories that are gone, lost in time in another persons mind that can’t be reclaimed now, regardless of the trying.
It could be worse though, I could be searching for a walrus.
The trouble with finding a particular walrus is that not only do they all look very similar to the uninformed but there are no censuses to provide guidelines for historic research.
I’m sure the carved of this sculpture would have some insights into recognizing walruses as the figure bears a Made in Canada Eskimo Art paper label.
It is about 6 1/2 inches long and stands roughly 4 3/4 inches tall. It is in good condition with some slight dents and bruises from age.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $21-$25, 20th century, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Other Natural Materials, Sculpture, Vintage |
1 Comment »
April 4, 2012
Thanks to an awesomely helpful customer we now know that this mask was made by the Baule Tribe of the Ivory Coast. I did a bit of looking but my references are not the best for this sort of thing. Thanks awesome customer!
The Baule are relatively recent immigrants to the area (a few hundred years) and probably adopted carving from their neighbors.
This is one of three types of mask, a Kpan mask worn during Goli dances and represents an idealized beautiful and wise woman.
This one is 18 inches tall, 9 1/2 inches wide and 7 inches thick. It is in excellent condition so it was probably made to be sold.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $151-$200, 20th century, GONE! SOLD!, Otherwise useful, Sculpture, Tools, Vintage, Wood |
Leave a Comment »
April 3, 2012
Many, many years ago a madmen worked for a large local scrap metal dealer with a yard on the Willamette River. Every day he’d take a choice piece of scrap iron home in his lunch box and that night in his basement laboratory he’d try to combine it with living tissue.
Since his wife wanted nothing to do with this crazed experiment (and in fact soon left to go live a “normal life” at an organic asphalt commune in Eugene) he had to draw on the nearest supply of tissue that wouldn’t run away. The cat was smart enough to get the heck out of there so only the dog remained to donate living material.
After years of patiently working and with the energetic help of one well-timed thunderstorm (It’s ALIVE!) he finally succeeded in combining living flesh and iron and created not just one, but two steel hounds.
Unfortunately they were not stainless ones AND they were located in sunny Portland, Oregon.
It was one of those small oversights that mad scientific geniuses are prone to make, but that prove to be a fundamental error upon further review.
At first the dogs were able to go out for their ‘daily constitutional’ walks with no trouble, but as the rainy season progressed they moved slower every day. A record rainy March proved their final undoing and they ground to a halt, subdued by the great nemesis of the iron dogs of mad scientists everywhere, rust.
Although they were a failure in the end he decided that they were technically a success and better planning with materials would make the next one a stunning success. The next day he requested a transfer to the non-ferrous metals division.
The iron dogs, now completely immobile, were confined to a far corner of the overgrown garden, where they spent the next several years looking more and more like figurative sculpture and less like an experiment gone awry.
The longest one is about 9 1/2 inches long, the other is the tallest at about 7 inches. We offer them as both a cautionary tale and as decorative objects. We categorically deny any and all responsibility for what might happen if you were to dip them in a vat of a powerful rust removing solvent. Besides, they’re probably quite hungry after all this time and neither of us is the master they knew so long ago.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $11-$15, 20th century, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Metal, Sculpture, Seemed like a good idea . . . |
Leave a Comment »
April 2, 2012
1970′s vintage Panasonic Toot-A-Loop AM radio. Perfect for hanging off the handle bars of your Schwinn Stingray or Pixie and it’s a great accessory for roller skating too.
Powered by a 9 volt battery, this one works and is in good condition.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $21-$25, 20th century, Electronics, GONE! SOLD!, Mid-century, Mid-Century Modern, Otherwise useful, Plastic, Sculpture, Vintage |
2 Comments »
April 2, 2012
I had a hard time finding out much about the artist, Sam A. Roberts. What I did discover is that he was fairly prolific, fairly competent and he did nice ornamental stuff.
This is a wide painting, suitable for hanging behind a sofa and it measures 27 1/4 inches tall and 55 inches wide. It is signed and dated 1968 in the lower right corner.
In very good condition.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in Vintage, GONE! SOLD!, $101-$150, 20th century, Painting, Other Natural Materials, Other Unnatural Materials, Rustic |
Leave a Comment »
March 30, 2012
Robert Sonneman is one of the great American designers of lighting in the second half of the 20th and early 21st century. His design grammar is obviously based in the mid-century modern aesthetic but he’s worked to stay current in the contemporary design environment too.
He started his first lighting company in 1967 but then in 1974 launched Sonneman Design Group which designed lighting for both the Sonneman brand and for other manufacturers.
This light bears a Robert Sonneman Associates sticker and is stamped on the base with “Luci Cinisello Milano T395 Made in Italy.”
Most references I could find for this light suggest that it was designed “circa 1965.” Although there isn’t a lot of reference material out there it seems that the Sonneman Associates name was only in popular use for a brief period in 1970 and 1971 so it is more likely that this was designed for Luci by Sonneman Associates sometime in the early 1970′s.
The lamp has a red enamel metal base with slots that allow the chrome stem and head to move forwards and backwards and to each side. It stands roughly 19 1/2 inches tall and is in good condition except a small bend at the angle where two of the slots meet. This is minor defect and is not immediately noticeable on casual inspection and does not hinder the use of the lamp.
The light head also pivots so you can shine light better upon the object you are working upon.
$200
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in $151-$200, 20th century, GONE! SOLD!, Lighting, Metal, Mid-century, Mid-Century Modern, Modern, Sculpture, Vintage |
Leave a Comment »
