Innehållsförteckning för May 20 2020 från Kovels Antique Trader

DALLAS – The coronavirus pandemic appears to be playing a dramatic and increased role in online auction sales, reports the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the U.S. Heritage Auctions said more than 16,000 online bidders participated in 23 auction sessions from April 20-27, realizing more than $41 million across multiple categories as the house saw a surge in online bidding. Spring auctions spanning rare U.S. coins, historical manuscripts and art genres ranging from illustration to modern and contemporary all beat expectations said Jim Halperin, co-founder of Heritage Auctions. “What were once concerns that participation in the middle of a pandemic would hurt the auctions turned into a record-setting number of online bids by more than 16,000 clients all over the world,” Halperin said. The 23 auction…

Just as the sight of medical professionals in hazmat suits and full-body scrubs and surgical masks is more commonplace than ever with the coronavirus pandemic happening, the common sight in the 17th century was doctors looking like giant bird men. During the epidemics of bubonic plague that swept western Europe, plague doctors, who exclusively treated the infected, wore costumes to protect themselves from the miasma or “bad air” believed to carry disease. This fanciful-looking costume typically consisted of a head-to-toe leather or wax-canvas garment, large crystal glasses, and a long snout or bird beak. Inside the beak were aromatic spices such as mint, myrrh, camphor, and cloves, dried flowers such as roses or carnations, or a vinegar sponge. The strong smells of these items — sometimes set on fire for…

Charles Stockstrom was a co-owner of the Quick Meal Stove Company. Founded in 1881, the company’s St. Louis plant employed 2,000 people in its heyday. Through mergers, it became, in 1901, the American Stove Company — at one time the largest stove maker in the world, with up to 40 percent of the market. In 1914, the company introduced the first oven temperature-control device, and became known for dependable and convenient gas ranges. Stockstrom was president until his retirement in 1927; when he died, his brother Louis took over. The company prospered until World War II. In 1951, it became Magic Chef Inc. (a brand name since 1929), but the company was unsuccessful in expanding beyond gas stoves to other appliances. After a couple of mergers, its assets were sold…

I AM SLOWLY READING a book by Brian Doyle, One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder. The reading is slow, but not because it’s difficult. The reading is slow because it’s a joy. In the morning, over coffee, I’ll take a moment to read one of his essays. It’s like a vitamin. One and I’m good for the entire day. And sometimes, in the evening after dinner, Doyle’s essays are like the chocolate chip cookies my wife makes. I start with one and end with four. They are that tasty. If you want to know why I find myself thinking about wonder and joy today – and hinting for my wife to make more cookies – look at the photo below. That’s writer, author and renowned toy expert Mark…

It was May 22, 1980, and American kids – as well as their poor, bewildered parents – had no clue what was about to hit them. Pac-Man, the revolutionary video game released by the Japanese company Namco, emerged from the Far East like a modern-day Godzilla, laying waste to anything and everything in the video game landscape. With its colorful design, likeable character and simple eat-the-dots maze gameplay, Pac-Man was instantly addictive. What’s more, the cute and cartoonish game was attractive to women and teenage girls, a breakthrough in the burgeoning video game world dominated by testosterone. By one count, Namco sold 400,000 Pac-Man machines, head and shoulders above anything that had come before, or since. But Pac-Man was more than a hit video game. It was a happening. Everywhere…

Edmonia Lewis had many odds against her and she beat every one to shatter expectations about what women and minority artists could accomplish. Lewis was the first woman of African-American and Native American heritage to achieve international recognition and fame as a sculptor in the fine arts world. Her work is known for incorporating themes relating to black people and indigenous peoples of the Americas into Neoclassical-style sculpture. Some of Lewis’ life is still a mystery, so it’s not known exactly when she was born, but it’s commonly believed to have been in Ohio or New York between 1843-1845. Her father was a free African-American and her mother a Chippewa (Ojibwa) Indian and she was given the name Wildfire. Orphaned before she was five, Lewis lived with her mother’s nomadic…

To list your antiques-related event (show, auction, convention, etc.) for free in Antique Trader, send event information (date, location, contact information, times) at least six weeks in advance to: AT Calendars, C/O Antique Trader Editors, 5225 Joerns Dr., Suite 2, Stevens Point, WI 54481 OR email to ATNews@aimmedia.com. Listings will be included on a space available basis. Antique Trader assumes no responsibility for any show not listed. EDITOR’S NOTE: The cancelations or postponements that we have received are marked with asterisks. Be sure to check if events you are interested in are still on before you go. We will be updating this calendar and the one online as we receive official notification of any cancelations/postponements. ARIZONA ***CANCELED May 23-24, 2020 Prescott. Prescott Antique Show & Vintage Market, Prescott Rodeo Grounds,…

The small bird sits there with its neck stretching upward toward the sky. Its beak is wide open, as if singing its melodic song. But this little bird never takes flight, unless it’s one of fancy. Who doesn’t remember that old nursery rhyme, “Sing a Song of Sixpence?” Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie. When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing … Does a “pie bird” have anything to do with this old nursery rhyme? As the name implies, pie birds are used in baking pies. They are actually vents, usually made of ceramics, to let the steam escape from the pie as it bakes, and thus they are also referred to as pie vents or pie funnels, as they were known in England. These…

When selling at Bottle and Collectibles shows, the most asked questions are: “What makes a bottle old?” and “What makes a bottle valuable?” But the question that usually leads to a discussion about the importance of trademark identification is: “How can I identify a bottle when it has no label or embossing?” While bottle collectors rely on certain factors to determine age and value, such as condition, color and rarity, in addition to mold types, seam lines, and pontil marks, trademarks are often overlooked. Trademarks can provide the collector with additional valuable information toward determining history, age and value of the bottle, and provide the collector a deeper knowledge of the glass companies that manufactured these bottles. I have been collecting bottles for 47 years and on many occasions, trademarks…

In 2014, The New York Times proclaimed that fashion photography was “art’s rising star.” Although fashion photos have long been an important feature of photography auctions before and since then, Christie’s specialist Jude Hull says that last year particularly saw an increase in momentum in the market and it continues to boom. Fashion magazines are filled with idealized images of glamor and beauty and the best of these photographs, which Hull said intersect fantasy and the sublime, have become increasingly collectible in recent years. She said that images taken by noted photographers including Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh and Herb Ritts regularly appear in the Top-10 lists of auction results. Other iconic fashion photographs have been taken by Cecil Beaton, Norman Parkinson, Irving Penn, Erwin Blumenfeld and more. Smart…

The stupefying house beckoned like a fairytale castle of towers, spires, and terra-cotta ornament. The French Renaissance-style mansion sat in its own two-acre park in the heart of St. Louis. A for sale sign stood in front. Shelley Donaho, who’d restored a handsome Victorian just half a block away, couldn’t resist taking a peek. It was like stepping back in time, because nothing had changed for more than 80 years. The house was built in 1908 for Charles Stockstrom, owner of the Quick Meal Stove Company, later renamed Magic Chef and one of the largest stove makers in the world. After Stockstrom died in 1935, at age 83, his daughter, Adda Ohmeyer, lived here until her death in 1990, at age 94. Dedicated to preserving her father’s memory, she had…