Sydney’s Hidden Jewel – 150 Year Celebration of The Nicholson Museum

In 2010, The Nicholson Museum, Sydney’s and perhaps Australia’s best kept secret, will celebrate its 150th year with a special exhibition Charles Nicholson: Man & Museum

Evolution of Art, Design and Style – Antiquity to Avatar

‘Just as a palate can be educated to appreciate fine wine so too can both the eye and the ear be educated to distinguish the rare from the ordinary, the exquisite from the mundane’. Pare Keiha, Associate Professor, Dean – Tumuaki AUT, Auckland NZ

THE EVOLUTION ART, DESIGN & STYLE
ARTISTIC TASTE – ANTIQUITY – AVATAR
[...]

Introduction to Collecting Antiques – FREE online video presentation

Collecting aesthetically pleasing items is quite normal and fulfills a deep emotional need within us all. You can become “hooked” on the search for that special piece, forgotten, unappreciated and unloved.
If you would like to become a collector, potential purchaser or, a dealer in antiques we offer FREE, An Introduction to Collecting Antiques sharing some [...]

Living in the East has its rewards…

Dr Sheena Burnell appeared on the ABC program ‘Collectors’ in 2007 with her collection of bound feet shoes and related objects.
Sheena is an anaesthetist currently living in Shanghai and she began collecting Chinese objets d’art and Japanese ukiyoe (wood block prints) in the 1980s.
Her shift in focus to collecting Chinese dress accessories dates from her [...]

Portraiture – Egypt to Enlightenment

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever…Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
author Carolyn McDowall
What is a portrait? Is it an actual likeness of someone? If we know the person portrayed is a General, King or Queen will it change our viewpoint? What is a portrait’s function?  Is it meant to show the sitter at their most characteristic ?
The [...]

Enjoy a holiday hunt…recycle grandly

Forming collections is a matter for the heart, not the head, and often it needs some inspiration or significant event to trigger off what for many of us becomes a lifelong, and very emotional obsession.

Creating a Wonderful Room – English Style

author Carolyn McDowall
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works…Steve Jobs
The English style of interior has remained popular for over a century because it looks good, makes people feel comfortable, is wonderful to live with, nurtures your family and friends and is great for entertaining from four [...]

Creating the English style

interior that looked like it had evolved naturally over time…what constituted an ‘old money’ look.

Colour Considerations

People can have the Model T in any colour – so long as it’s black…Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Author Carolyn McDowall
All cultures on earth have particular perceptions of and about colour, which in its evolution has come to symbolize many things collectively and individually. It also has many variants so we could say it is neither [...]

Women of Influence – Empress Josephine, a rose for all time

And I will make thee beds of roses, And a thousand fragrant posies…Christopher Marlowe
Author Carolyn McDowall
The very arresting beauty, and quite remarkable Marie Joséphine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie de Beauharnais (1763-1814) was imprisoned in the Bastille with her husband General Vicomte de Beauharnais during the French Revolution.
He and the men [...]