Antiques & Antiquities
Modernism – Innovating Design Styles in the 20th Century
Modernism is a term the art and design community of our contemporary western world has adopted to describe a diverse range of architectural and interior decorative styles, as well as applied and graphic arts created between approximately 1880 and 1940 on an international scale.
Mossgreen Auctions – Collection Thomas Hamel and Martyn Cook
On May 20 at Sydney Mossgreen Auctions will offer for sale a collection from Thomas Hamel Interiors and Martyn Cook Antiques of art antiques and decorative arts
Thomas Chippendale – Eighteenth Century English Furniture
An 18th century village master craftsman, who designed and made furniture in rural Yorkshire Thomas Chippendale (1718 – 1779) was a progressive ambitious chap
What is an Antique?
What is an Antique? An antique is something made in a previous era. However, according to antique dealers, their associations and the tax man, it is not really that simple at all.
The Silver Pharaoh Psusennes I Facing the Afterlife in Style
The tomb of Pharaoh Psusennes 1 is one of the most underrated discoveries in the scheme of things at Egypt, at least in regard to its jewellery and objects.
Thomas Jefferson at Monticello – to See and be Seen
Throughout his life Thomas Jefferson was continually putting his house Monticello up or pushing it down as his knowledge and experience of life and architecture expanded.
Wine, Women and Song – A Tripartite Motto for All Time
Wine was made before history was recorded. For thousands of years it has given comfort, pleasure and evoked high spirits among man people in many different countries and cultures.
Gertrude Jekyll & Edwin Lutyens – The English House & Garden
The agricultural depression of the late nineteenth century removed land as the chief source of wealth in England. By 1901 money to pay for a country house had to be made in urban centres of trade or, in the countries that made up the British Empire. Building a house in the country made to appear as old and as venerable as the countryside itself was the ideal. Stylistically they looked back to the English vernacular tradition, which had been modified in response to the differing requirements of affluent clients. In this creative climate of possibilities architect Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) and gardener Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) became names well known.
Josiah Wedgwood Tradesman – Tycoon, Firing up the Modern Age
Josiah Wedgwood was a trend setting potter, manufacturing innovator and marketing genius. He fulfilled the dream, going from being an apprentice tradesman in a tough industry, to becoming a world famous tycoon. He built a business empire, founded a famous family dynasty and gained for himself a favourable reputation against all the odds and in harsh and physically demanding conditions.
Cherishing Wisdom – Treasures of the Bodleian and Humankind
The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford are safeguarding and showcasing outstanding texts and ephemera so we can all enjoy the benefits of 21st century enlightenment
Shakespeare: Staging the World – Shaping England’s Identity
From July to November 2012 the British Museum is presenting what will most likely be one of the key exhibitions of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations. Shakespeare – Staging the World will be produced in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company. It aims to provide an innovative perspective on the bard and his plays.
Extravagant Inventions – The Roentgen Family Cabinetmakers
Later this year in The Met at New York will be a landmark exhibition of the furniture from the German Roentgen family cabinetmaking firm in operation c1740-1795
Heaven on Earth? – Palladian Villa at Padua nearby to Venice
The precise location of heaven on earth has never really been established. However it could be at the Villa Moro Malipiero at Padua, nearby to Venice in Northern Italy.
Archaeology – Met Show Explores Origins of Egyptian Art
The best and shortest road towards knowledge of truth [is] nature* In ancient Egypt their agricultural society, at first, was structured around a King, who embodied the Egyptian belief that their lives were being divinely guided and nurtured. During the ‘Old Kingdom’ in the 3rd millennium before the Christ Event, he emerged as a ‘living [...]
Archaeology – Uncovering the Past to Help Invent the Future
Without romantic enthusiasm attached to a hunt for hidden treasures the true wealth of our cultural heritage would never have been re-discovered at all.
The Lewis Chessmen – British Museum’s Goodwill Ambassadors
The objective of any museum is to tell the story of cultural development around the world, from the dawn of human history over two million years ago until the present day. In every major capital city of the western world there are various types of museums, and each has a different focus, dependent on the [...]
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