When I arrived at the Woodmere Art Museum exhibit in Philadelphia, I had one thing in mind: I wanted to see where the museum had hung the two paintings I had loaned for the exhibit. Two…
Month: September 2015
Engravings of African Americans from Civil War book
Posted in Black history, Books, Civil War, and history
The engravings of blacks were the first that caught my eye. They were among a group of eight from a book published in the late 19th century by a woman named Mary A. Livermore, a…
When I first saw the wrought iron piece, I wasn’t sure what it was or how it was used. It was decorative with a daisy flower displayed on the top, but it looked medieval. It…
Weather-beaten outhouse with crescent-moon cutout
Posted in Architecture/Buildings, Home, and Unusual
The outhouse was the first thing I spotted when I turned the corner on the ramp overlooking the back lot at the auction house. There it stood without leaning, with its gray weather-beaten boards and…
The transcendent beauty of Chinese snuff bottles
Posted in Art, bottles, and collectibles
The bottles were breathtaking. The colors looked as if they’d just been lifted from a rainbow and the carvings from a work of nature. They were Chinese snuff bottles, and I was looking through more…
I bought a cute little Singer child-size sewing machine at auction this week. I was hoping that I’d be the only sewing enthusiast in the room to keep the price low. There was at least…
For most of the auction I could only see the back of Faith Ringgold’s head. She was wearing a fabric cap, burgundy on top with a wide black band. At one point, she turned her…
I couldn’t wait to buy the 45 for Jr. Walker & the All-Stars’ new record. I don’t recall where I had heard it, probably on the radio, but I knew that it was a record…
When I saw the little black item with the small square on top, I instantly shot a photo of it. In this particular form, the item was a far cry from its descendants of today.…
Looking along the row of furniture on the back lot of an auction house recently, I was a bit confused about whether it was the end of summer or the beginning of spring. Fall will…