CHARITY ROW:
Fabulous or horrible?
Horribly fabulous or fabulously horrible?
At Ed’s House-Of-Ugly we don’t care about these fine distinctions because in our eyes it’s wonderful.
This English cottage garden picture is stitched using yarn and is roughly 22 inches tall by 30 inches wide. Someone spent a lot of time on it and they even had it professionally framed.
I especially like the fancy knot work required to make the flowers.
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I can’t decide if I should attribute this to the Arts & Crafts movement of the early 20th century or the Art Nouveau style of the late 19th century. Let’s consider the pragmatic solution to be calling this a turn of the century (plus or minus 20 years) piece and move on.
It shows a frog and lily pad in a hand hammered copper basin that is reminiscent of a flower. The edges are crimped over to create a nice rolled (and not sharp) edge. It’s the sport of detail that speaks of craft pride. The radial lines were punched with a largish chisel however the fine detail of the frog and lily pad were done with smaller punches, or possibly even a nail.
Given the small size of only about 3 3/4 inches in diameter I‘m calling it a pin tray although it could be used as a coaster.
Unfortunately this piece is entirely unmarked although I’m sure there was once a good story behind it. I’ve seen pieces sort of like this that were called trench art, but without any evidence I think that’d be an unwarranted naming.
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Yessireeeeeeee it’s Chair Affair time again!
The Community Warehouse Chair Affair is our largest single fundraising event of the year. We ask out ‘stable’ of wonderfully talented artist to take a piece of marginal furniture form the warehouse and transform it into a piece of art. As always they’ve risen to the challenge and done some spectacular work!
Here’s some examples of some work in action:
The event will be held on March 15th and this graphic show all the basic info you need to know. Even as a Warehouse employee and five-time artist I still think it’s well worth going to. I hope to see you there!
Here at the House-Of-Ugly we have standards. Admittedly they’re kind of loose standards since we’re not terribly fond of rules. The practical result is someplace there’s a point where ugly is too ugly, where something isn’t cool even if aesthetically questionable.
Welcome to the border.
I can’t decide which side of that line between ugly/cool and ugly/ugly this lies on. It’s best if you do.
This lamp features an old handbag with some lovely accoutrements attached. It still works OK and stands about 19 inches tall.
My understanding is that this was a white elephant gift at a long ago holiday party. It’s unclear to me how it all went down but apparently there was some sort of big conflict over this lamp that nearly resulted in a fist fight. The ‘proud’ owner of the lamp at the end of the night hasn’t been to a white elephant exchange since and I think that was some 20 years ago.
Now’s your chance to light a dark corner, own a spectacular piece of vernacular assemblage art and/or sew discord amongst your peers.
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One of the more unusual finds of the week is this pair of tile topped side tables. They each depict a seahorse and are 18 1/2 inches wide, 22 inches deep and 21 1/2 inches tall.
They are both signed on the bottom by the artists and are the product of Tile Excursions, a company about which I found little info except they seem to travel on the trade-show and craft fair circuit.
Both of these tables are in good condition and I’d like to see them go as a pair.$150
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It looks like they’re having fun doesn’t it? Or at least they’re starring in an off-Broadway musical . . . and nothings quite as off-Broadway as the famous Hofbrauhaus brewery in Munich, Germany. Unfortunately there are now Hofbrauhaus locations world wide (including such traditional German beer loving locations as Las Vegas) so we’re not sure of the actual origin of this specimen.
Regardless the folk depicted on this stein seem to be having a grand old time and I’m sure they’re all doing something they’ll regret (either individually or collectively) in the morning.
In the meantime though they are enjoying their beer, like you could in this lovely 1/2 liter (1.056 pint) beer stein. In keeping with the great German beer stein tradition ours has a pewter lid, to keep out stray insects and errant casino chips.
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One thing that’s especially interesting about this stein is the figure on the lid. It shows a dancing, cavorting shrouded figure named Eugene Meyer. One has to suspect that this isn’t the same Eugene Meyer that once published the Washington Post and served as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve during the especially bleak years from 1930 to 1933 (and later was the first president of the World Bank), but if the double weight of banking and the newspaper industry doesn’t drive one to drink I’m not sure what would.
Well, I actually have a good guess what would: The Kennedy Assassination/World Dominating Secret Group Uber-Conspiracy. There’s some folks who seem to think that there was a huge conspiracy (demonstrably bunk) involving booze and drugs between a Greek shipping magnate named Onassis, a gangster named Lansky, one Joseph Kennedy, Eugene Meyer, the mafia and possibly Prescott Bush and his descendents.
But this is just the beginning. The proposed conspiracy is so broad that even the Catholic Church is in thrall to this vast covert conspiracy (apparently it’d ruin shareholder value if it ever came out that Jesus was actually an Arab), and a secret cabal runs the world (and manages to keep their presence secret). Heck, they even killed Estes Kefauver.
Anyway I know it’s not true since my uncle, the spook, con man, war hero (and war criminal), the guy with the secret arsenal in New Jersey and the uncanny timing of being in foreign countries when governments fell was funneling money from the government to the mafia when Kennedy was killed. My understanding is that the story is not so tidy as the conspiracy theorists would have you think.
Hey there barkeeper I think another beer would be in order. . .
What? No more you say?
Yes, a good nap might be just the thing…
The noble sporting dog (a retriever or possibly a hound) graces the foot of this stirrup cup. Stirrup cups were traditionally used to get one last drink in as one departed on a hunt, when one’s feet were in the stirrups and the dogs had been loosed. It’s the original version of “one for the road” but also includes firearms.
It is 5 1/2 inches tall, silver plate and in excellent condition. As the picture shows it could use a bit of polish.
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The profile of this dog’s head makes me think of the sergeants during my brief ROTC stint. They all rocked flattop hair cuts and carried their heads in about the same fashion.
They were good guys. After the incident when I surprised the Captain of Air Defense Artillery during lunch and he snorted soup out of his nose (noodles and all), they were the only members of the command structure I still respected. Sure, they may have been the dogs of war, but they weren’t going to choke on minestrone soup immediately upon signing my court-martial for insubordination. They were also courteous enough to hold the door for me on my way to civilian life.
When I was doing archaeological field work there were two broad categories of things which we didn’t know what to call. Natural objects fell into the category of love stones* and human modified ones were typically called ceremonial objects.
Since I don’t know what this is, but since it has obviously made by a person let’s call it a ceremonial object. It is a section of bone (probably bovine) that is just under 6 inches tall and bears five lizard-like designs upon it. One end has been close with some sort of compound and the other is open.
As we’ve seen before in the Yoruba chairs we had some time ago: “the lizard is can be interpreted as a symbol of power and status and represents the Monitor Lizard (Awonrivon or Awonriwon). Part of the allure of the Monitor Lizard is that it is at home both on land and in water, it’s very nature is transcendent. As a result it is used, spiritually and medicinally, to protect against evil influences and manipulation.”
Given the importance and long use of the lizard symbology in Africa I presume that’s where this is from too.
I fully accept that this may have been made for the tourist trade and is not actually a ceremonial object, except in the sense of making tourists part with their spending money.
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*Love stones are oddly shaped stones produced by natural activity. Crew bosses usually used the term with newer crew members. The typical dialogue went like this,
New Crew Person: “What’s this funny looking pebble?
Crew Boss (Using their best you just found something really really cool voice): ”Why it’s a Love Stone!”
“What’s a Love Stone?”
“It’s just another F——g rock, now get back to work.”
Or rather who since it’s a on owl made out of little shells, and carefully cut bits of shell, and two googlie eyes; all glued to a piece of Styrofoam. Isn’t that clever?
With this the documented Estate Store collection of birds made out of molluscs officially doubles. Once upon a time we had the shell chicken, now this. This represents a major evolutionary step however, the shell chicken was just a bunch of little shells glued together but this has a cape made of shells that have been specifically cut for the job. That must have drove production costs way up. . .
Regardless, if you’re a collector of birds made of marine items, oddities, owls, grotesqueness, or are looking out for a good April Fool’s gag gift then you might want to give us a call.
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This is a nice vintage Turnabout “4 in 1″ Dumbo cookie jar. The head and body can be rotated to display four different configurations of Dumbo (and was used for other characters too, like Mickey and Minnie and my favorite, the Donald Duck/Jose Carioca combo).
He stands 13 1/2 inches tall and is in good to very good condition with no chips or cracks. Even the over-glaze paint is in much better than average condition. Often on these jars the paint is largely gone, due to handling wear and washing.
Not surprisingly the design is patented*. What is surprising (to me) is that the patent for a reversible cookie jar of this sort wasn’t issued until 1944 (and again for good measure).
It’s odd when one considers that Dumbo (the film) was released in 1941 and Dumbo (the character) was nominated as Time Magazine’s mammal of the year in December 1941, even in the face of more pressing world events. He had originally been intended to be the cover character for the final issue of the year, but with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the American entry into the World War he was demoted in favor of General MacArthur.
Given the divergent dates between the release of Dumbo and the successful patenting of the reversible cookie jar (note the patent was issued when this piece was made) I suspect this particular piece was made after 1944 and may be from the early post-war period.
*The patent holder was an employee of the American Pottery Company. This company made the cookie jars and then they were sold to the Leeds China company, which was a distribution firm that had the license to sell Disney products.
To further confuse things American Pottery Company was involved in cooperative efforts with the American Bisque Pottery Company (which in turn worked with Ludowici-Celadon Co., Terrace Ceramics and made and decorated jars that were distributed by Cardinal China Company).
Just yesterday we offered another Carol Grigg print, Wearing the Robes. We have two copies of this one, titled Learning the Song and they came out of the same collection of unfinished projects. Like the other print these are 24 inches by 18 inches and have some minor crinkles (notably in the corners). Unlike the other print these do not have any faint stains. $30 each.
UPDATE 2/4: One has been sold.
Funny the things people find when they’re cleaning out the house. Take this Carol Grigg print for instance. It’s been packed up for a long time and was never framed. One of our generous volunteers brought it to us in recognition that if it takes 20 years to start a project it stands a good chance of never being completed and one might be better off without it at all.
So here we are. This print is 24 inches wide by 18 inches tall. It’s in good condition with a couple minor wrinkles in the corner and three really hard to see reddish spots near the upper edge (almost directly over the rider’s left hand). They’re barely discernible in the picture.
Because of this minor damage and since the print is unframed we’re willing to let it go for $25.
In real life Big Bird is an “eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright primrose-yellow bird.”
Really, he is.
He’s known for being both easily confused and for being surprisingly talented. Among his many talents are skating, dancing drawing and riding a unicycle. This is a little incongruous since he is described as a six year old in the TV show’s writer’s guide. Luckily slight inconsistencies like this haven’t undermined his career.
He’s also know for saying wise phrases as “I guess it’s better to be who you are. Turns out people like you best that way, anyway” which seems equivocal and subject to revision at a later date. Maybe he’ll decide that people will like him more if he’s a cookie jar? Obviously, if this really were Big Bird’s favorite cookie jar it would be more than just a touch narcissistic.
What Big Bird is here, for us, now is a cookie jar.
He’s 12 1/2 inches tall. Although he looks like he is from about the same era as the E.T. lamp we just had the text along the edge of the base shows the design was copyrighted by the Muppets in 1971.
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Mr. Froggy went a courtin‘ and since he was a bank he only paid 15% taxes on the income earned while he was doing it.
Meanwhile the hard working blue tailed fly was holding two jobs just to keep current on his mortgage for a little dung heap that was worth less than he paid for it. He paid 30% on his income.
Seething with the injustice of his exorbitant tax rate Mr. Froggy ate Mr. Blue Tail Fly as he was commuting to his second job one afternoon. Then he foreclosed on the fly family dung heap.
He was a model business-amphibian.
Vintage ceramic frog bank. He’s about 10 1/2 inches tall and in great condition. Like investment banks, retirment plans and ponzi schemes everywhere he does not have a hole by which one can remove one’s deposits. You can attempt to fish money out via the slot you put it in or you can smash the whole thing and start over.
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He grew up to be a fierce latch hook dragon rug. It was a long way from when he was just a scrawny little scaly latch key reptile.
It shows you never can tell, that awkward kid you knew in elementary school might now be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a nightmarish terror straight out of a fairy tale.
The rug is about 67 inches wide and 35 inches tall. As you can see in the picture above the edges were never bound so it looks unfinished. The rug could also use some backing and it is slightly soiled (maybe a real good vacuuming would do the trick?).
Rupert knew he was special, not just because his mother told his so, but because the light of the world emanated from his hind-end.
Approximately 20 inches tall by 14 inches wide and features a plastic giraffe 3/4 mounted on a brushed copper plate with savannah scene. The photo doesn’t do it justice as it’s not quite as red as the picture above, yet not as pale as the picture below and the strange effect of the light is best viewed in person.
The Watercloset Gallery will be open from 10 am to 4 pm.
We just received 12 cool prints produced* for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial (2003 to 2006). Luckily they stand up well on their design merits and don’t show prominent dates. This means they aren’t outdated like so many other commemorative pieces (think of gallery opening posters, or music festival posters: Immediate obsolescence).
Eleven of the posters are framed in a 13 1/4 inch wide by just under 26 inch tall frame. These are in great condition although one poster is unframed. There are two duplicate prints, one each of the Clatsop (which are slightly different tones) and of Fort Clatsop (one framed, one is not framed and it is a little wrinkly).
UDPDATE: They’ve been flying out of here! The prints we still have available at this time (4:30 pm on 1/26/2012) are the the two copies of “The Clatsop”, “Ecloa” and the unframed ”Fort Clatsop”. The one last remaining print is the greenish colored version of ”The Clatsop”, all the others have been sold.
*According to the publication of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (Volume 1, Number 19, 2005):
NOBLE ERICKSON INC., Denver, CO, working with a team of partners including the National Park Service, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Association and Washington State Parks, created artwork for interpretive panels, posters, and collector memorabilia to unify signature sites throughout the recently dedicated Lewis and Clark National & State Historical Parks.
Moriage is a Japanese ceramic decoration technique where ceramic items are decorated with the application of raised slip lines and dots. This gives the pieces a wonderful textural quality although they are prone to being easily damaged.
There is a lovely coffee or large tea-pot, a smaller pot that could be used as a tea-pot or overly generous cream pitcher, a lidded jar that’d work for sugar, tea storage or biscuits, six plates, five teacups and six saucers.
So, it is a nearly complete set for six except for one teacup.
The main scene features Kannon (a.k.a. Guanyin) a Bodhisattva of kindness surrounded by four rakan. Above her head is the traditional heraldic symbol or crest of the Shimazu clan.
According to our source (see item #1230) these ware were produced for export from about 1915. The end date of production of these is less clear but it is seemingly ends during the early Showa Period (i.e., the reign of Emperor Hirohito). Given this uncertainty these pieces could date from the 1930′s to the 1950′s (my guess is the 1950′s).
The tea cups have a lithophane geisha on the bottom much like the ones in the Kutani golden dragon set we had last August which makes sense since I think they bear the same makers mark, which consists of the words “Made In Japan” and a view of Mt. Fuji.
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I know it feel like no one knows how it is, but we’ve been there Wally, we have. The first step though is to recognize you have a problem . . .
Eight inches in diameter, by Wallyware.
“Horace you really shouldn’t try to kill the guy at the Community Warehouse.”
“Bah Helena, one runs some risks in dealing with vintage stuff, he knows this.”
“But Horace you’re not even giving him a chance.”
“Whatever.”
“I shall sprinkle plaster roses on his grave.”
Thank you Mr. Circuit Breaker for doing your job and saving me from a serious zapping. As you may have guessed one of these lamps had a serious short-circuit that caused the circuit breaker to trip which in turn has resulted in some rewiring.
This is why I usually test things by plugging the into outlets with multiple breakers in the circuit. Thankfully I only average one minor zapping every two years (except for the incredible smoldering slot machine, which is a story for another time).
This plaster figurative lamp set was made (or copy righted) in June 1952 by Chesterlamp of Los Angeles, California. They stand about 36 inches tall with the shade and are pretty heavy (nearly 10 pounds each). Since they weigh so much and are plaster they could be shipped but it’s going to cost a fair amount.
If one wants them, these lamps even come with age appropriate funky fringed shades that only slightly smell of cigarette smoke.
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*Long before the Electric Light Orchestra came along there was the electric light near-death experience with their big hit Mr. Blue Lips. . .
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was the smash movie hit of 1982 and retained the title of all-time biggest grossing box office film for the next 11 years.
The voice of E.T. was largely done by Pat Welsh who also appeared in Waterloo Bridge (1940) (starring Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh in “Her greatest role since Gone With The Wind“) and as the voice of Boushh in the Return of the Jedi installment of Star Wars.
I’m not sure how or why she got the 1940 role, but her later two roles were intrinsically tied to the fact that she was a chain smoker who consumed an average of two packs a day. She had a very raspy voice that was well suited to alien characters.
Go figure, smoking is bad but intergalactic bounty hunters and alien botanists are all into it…
How does that fit with this lamp? Well, it’s not just an E.T. lamp since the lower part is also an ashtray.
Since times have changed a bit since the early 1980′s it might be a good spot to put change (providing that E.T. can still find a pay phone) or batteries for a hearing aid (so E.T. can hear on the phone) or whatever other knickknacks you might have.
Not including the bulb this E.T. is about 14 inches tall. For a 1980′s slip cast do-it-yourself ceramic lamp it is in great condition.
The ashtray appears unused.
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Stylized blown and hot glass application cat after the work of Livio Seguso (born 1930, active in Murano). It is about 8 inches tall, 8 inches long and 7 inches deep. There is an etched or incised signature Seguso A.V. on the underside as well as a gallery label from Florence, Italy.
In perfect condition.
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L’Europe divisée suivant l’estendue de ses principaux Estats subdivisés en leurs principales provinces.
A recent reproduction of a map of Europe originally published by Alexis-Hubert Jaillot (1632-1712)*, who drew on the earlier work of Nicholas Sanson**. The title roughly translates as “Europe divided along the expanse of its main states subdivided into their major provinces.”
This would be really cool if it were real, but unfortunately this is not and it is a good example of why you should never buy an antique map without removing it from the frame. When removed from the frame one can see that the paper is wrong, the margin around the edge of the engraved plate mark and the paper is far too wide, it’s obviously not copper plate engraved, etc.
The most interesting part of its fakeness is that it looks like it was removed from an atlas and then framed. There is a cut and match line down the center of the map, like one would find at the folds of a book.
It still has some redeeming qualities as a decorator piece or conversation starter since the map shows a wonderful view of Europe in the late 17th Century. There are great details to be unearthed including notable the location of the prime meridian intersecting Iceland (the modern site of the prime meridian wasn’t settled as running through Greenwich until 1884), the various measurement scales in use at the time and numerous archaic political divisions (Prussia and Petite Tartarie for example).
The map is about 40 1/2 inches wide by 28 1/2 inches tall in the frame.
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Sanson and his sons (Guillaume and Adrien) were important French cartographers. Nicholas’s work was taken over by his sons after his death however before he died he also partnered with Jaillot on a variety of maps and after his death Jaillot continued to publish and update Sanson’s maps.
After the death of Sanson, Jaillot collected his maps and published a great compendium, the Atlas Nouveau. It was originally published in Paris in 1689 (though other sources have dates as early as 1674 and 1680). Later editions were issued in 1691 and 1695. Interestingly even more editions were published in Amsterdam in 1692, 1696 and 1698 by Pierre Mortier. The legitimacy of these editions is debated, but all bear proper attribution to Sanson and Jaillot.
If by some chance you have an interest in the peculiarities of Sanson and Jaillot’s careers or the general history of maps in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries a perusal of Sir Herbert George Fordham’s 1929 work on the subject is highly recommended.
*Alexis Jaillot:
“Alexis Hubert Jaillot (c. 1632- 1712) followed Nicholas Sanson (1600 – 1667) and his descendents in ushering in the great age of French Cartography in the late 17th and 18th century.
Hubert Jaillot was born in [Avignon] Franche-Comte and trained as a sculptor. When he married the daughter [Jeanne] of the enlumineur de la Reine, Nicholas Berey, he found himself positioned to inherit a lucrative map and print publishing firm. When Nicholas Sanson, the premier French cartographer of the day died Jaillot negotiated with his heirs to republish much of Sanson’s work.
Though not a cartographer himself, Jaillot’s access to the Sanson plates enabled him to publish numerous maps and atlases with only slight modifications and updates to the originals. As a sculptor and an artist, Jaillot’s maps were particularly admired for their elaborate and meaningful allegorical title cartouches and other decorative elements. Jaillot used his allegorical cartouche work to extol the virtues of the Sun King Louis IV, and his military and political triumphs. These earned him the patronage of the French crown who used his maps in the tutoring of the young Dauphin (and continued long after youth passed since at time of the publication of this map he was 35).
In 1686 [or 1675] he was awarded the title of Geographe du Roi and with it significant prestige and the coveted yearly stipend of 600 Livres. Jaillot was one of the last of a generation of French map makers to acquire this title. Louis XV, after taking the throne, replaced the position with the more prestigious and singular title of Premier Geographe du Roi. Jaillot died in Paris in 1712.”
-Biography courtesy of Geographicus.com, notes in brackets are taken from Fordham, those in parentheses from other sources.
**Sanson started his career as a historian and used cartography as a way to illustrate his historical studies. Some of his maps came to the attention of Cardinal Richelieu who in turn introduced them to the king, Louis XIII. The king appointed Sanson Geographe Ordinaire du Roi. Sanson’s duties included advising the King on matters of Geography and compiling the royal map archive. In time he built a legacy of roughly three hundred maps and is largely responsible for initiating the ”golden age of French Cartography”. After his death, Sanson’s cartographic work was carried on by his sons, Guillaume and Adrien Sanson by A. H. Jaillot and Pierre Duval, with whom the partnered.
There’s a reason that the blue in this pair of Agate bookends is so vivid and unreal. It’s because they’ve been dyed. There’s a largely illegible paper label on the bottom that seemingly indicates that they are from Brazil.
This makes a certain sense when correlated to a poorly referenced part of the Wikipedia page on agate, “Another type of agate is Brazilian agate, which is found as sizable geodes of layered nodules. These occur in brownish tones interlayered with white and gray. Quartz forms within these nodules, creating a striking specimen when cut opposite the layered growth axis. It is often dyed in various colors for ornamental purposes.”
Dyed like these bookends for instance. They stand 5 1/4 inches tall and weigh about 4 pounds so they’d be good for paperbacks and smallish hardcovers.
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It took quite a few drafts for Laura Ingalls Wilder to get the Little House series figured out.
This was one of the results of an early draft.
Memories of the Little House “Out Back” is a set of twelve photos of out houses in a mailing envelope (just one cent to send).
Each picture is about 2 1/2 inches by 3 3/4 inches and is annotated with a cute saying, reminiscent phrase or droll quip.
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