Maryann Adair
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Recent Posts
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- All the Camp Dogs Sing This Song
- Suggett | I’m Going Down the Corridor via an Ex-Goods Repository
- A Swine Young Family
- Maersk | Warning: May Contain Traces of Smart Art
- Compare the Pair #19 | This is Wild Man
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- The Art of UNICEF Never Gives Up
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Archive
Category Archives: Collectibles
Diamonds Are Forever
[Above: The Schomberg Diamond Ring (ca 1855) contains a Brazilian cut diamond (sometimes called cushion cut or old mine cut) of just under 1 carat, set in high carat yellow gold (not hallmarked). It is set in four claws within … Continue reading
Take Potluck or be Thunderstruck
[Above: Two issues of Pluck and Luck: Complete Stories of Adventure] Left: Issue No. 76 November 15, 1899. “The Rocket or Adventures in the Air” by Allyn Draper. Frustrated pursuers stand agape as their quarry lifts off for a trip … Continue reading
Posted in Collectibles, Cover Art
Tagged children's magazines, dime magazines, dime novels, Frank Tousey, Harry WQolff, Pluck and Luck, Westbury
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Rucker’s Musical Ruckus
[Two-manual harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers, Antwerp (ca 1628) inscribed Joannes Ruckers] The Ruckers family were harpsichord and virginal makers from Antwerp in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Their influence stretched well into the 18th C and to the harpsichord revival … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Collectibles, DecorativeArts, Gallery Art, Paintings, Performing Art
Tagged Antwerp, Couchet family, Guild of St. Luke, harpsichord, piano, Ruckers family, virginal
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Soup de Jour? | Can Do
Warhol proved you can make Souper-Art – but why Broth-er? Pop art is the art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art presented a challenge to traditions of … Continue reading
Posted in Artists A-Z, Collectibles, Edible Art, Illustrations, Paintings
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Cereal Collectors? – Not as Corny as it Might Seem
Cereal boxes – from 2016 Open House “Cabinets of Wonder” ephemera collection at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. This collection is entitled ‘Breakfast is Good for You’. The collector is identified as ‘IS’ and their occupation: Cleaner. IS claims: … Continue reading
A Bit of Hanky Panky
“Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases – So Trap Them in Your Handkerchief.” A handkerchief also called a handkercher or hanky, is a form of a kerchief, typically a hemmed square and made from thin fabric that can be carried in the … Continue reading
Posted in Collectibles, Fabric, nostalgia, Textiles
Tagged handkerchief, hankies, hanky
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May Your Cup Runneth Over and Be Squashed
Left: Paper cup and straw by Jasper Jacobsen, Time’s Black Arrow (2014). Jasper Jacobsen is a Melbourne-based artist currently completing a Master of Contemporary Art degree at the Victorian College of the Arts. Centre: This paper cup was found in … Continue reading
Posted in Collectibles, QuestionableArt, RubbishArt
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Scusi, Venice the Next Vaporetto to Murano?
Murano Glass is a famous product of the Venetian island of Murano. Most Murano glass art is made using the lamp working technique, where the glass is made from silica, which becomes liquid at high temperatures. As the glass passes … Continue reading
Posted in Collectibles, DecorativeArts, Glass
Tagged millefiori, Murano, murano glass, Venetian glass
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Bathroom Blues? Let Freddie the Frog Come to the Rescue On Demand
Arkie by Brett Whiteley (1967) oil mixed media on canvas on board (Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria). Australian Avant-garde artist Brett Whiteley (born Sydney, 7 April 1939 – died 15 June 1992) is well represented in many Australian galleries and was … Continue reading
A tureen to help store your emotional cabbage?
Above: Cabbage Tureen by Paul-Antoine Hannong, from Hannong Factory Strasbourg, Alsace, France (ca 1754-1762) – Faience earthenware (tin-glazed), 21.2 × 34.6 × 33.1 cm (Collection of National Gallery of Victoria, International). Faience (tin-glazed earthenware) and porcelain were the principal products of the … Continue reading
Posted in Ceramics, Collectibles, DecorativeArts, Gallery Art, Porcelain
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There is Nothing Harder at Task for Haida the Mask
Among the Haida people from the Pacific Northwest of North America existed secret religious societies that performed dances in which they wore wooden masks or carried wooden puppets that represented gagid, or the spirits of the forest. A gagid mask … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Carvings, Collectibles, DarkArt, DecorativeArts, Sculpture
Tagged gagid, Haida Mask, Haida Masks, potlatch
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Callooh! Callay! for Calouste is Okay
Above: Dragonfly brooch once adorned by Sarah Bernhardt to whom it was lent by friend Calouste Gulbenkian. A corsage ornament which consists of dragonfly with griffon’s paws and green female torso whose face is supposed to be of Sarah herself. … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Collectibles, DecorativeArts
Tagged Calouste Gulbenkian, Dragonfly brooch, Lalique, Sarah Bernhardt
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Whoop Oop De Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. According to Wikipedia, the caricature of a Jazz Age flapper, Betty Boop was described in a 1934 court case as:”combining in appearance … Continue reading
Posted in Collectibles, Illustrations
Tagged Betty Boop, caricatures, cartoons, Comic heroes
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There’s a Bear Out There… and What The Steiff Would I Know!
Above: Teddy Bear by Steiff (ca 1912) 48cm. German designer Richard Steiff was born on February 7, 1877 in the German city of Giengen. In 1897 at the age of 20, Steiff joined his aunt Margarete’s toy making enterprise. While … Continue reading
Posted in #Games&Toys, Collectibles, nostalgia
Tagged Richard Steif, Steiff Bears, Steiff Teddy Bears, Teddy Bears
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Try Your Luck and Maybe Spend a Buck at the Fryerstown Antique Fair
Fryerstown Antique Fair will celebrate its 42nd anniversary in 2017. It is held on the surrounding days of the Australia Day holiday on January 25th each year. The popular annual event has grown from strength to strength each year and … Continue reading
Posted in Bone China, Ceramics, CigaretteCards, Collectibles, Crystal, Glass, Hard Paste Porcelain, Marbles, Paperweights, Perfume Bottles, Porcelain, Postcards, Sculpture, Snowdomes, Soft paste Porcelain, Stained Glass, Stamps, SwapCards, Tea Towels
Tagged Fryerstown Antique Fair, Fryerstown Antique Market
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