Saturday, July 16, 2011
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
Old FOLK ART Handmade QUILT – Indiana – BOW TIE Circles-$283
I took a little “clear the head” trip over into southern Indiana a few weeks ago – just me and Huckleberry the wonder pup. The most relaxing thing I can think of is to sit on a porch in the evening, way out in the country, and watch darkness fill the wooded hillsides. And I knew the perfect place to go to experience just such an evening. A dear old friend who is ninety and recently widowed lives in an isolated old farmhouse furnished and filled with her lifetime collections of honest old country things.
She was thrilled to see my truck rumble down the lane. I’d found my place to relax and relax we did. About the only activity we did that night and the next morning was to rummage through her old cupboards and chests looking for forgotten treasures. This quilt is one of the things we ran across.
It measures 79 ½” by 75”, and it’s in terrific condition – no holes, no wear and crisp like an old cotton 1920s/1930s quilt should be. The only thing I see is some light staining on the back, and that’s of little consequence.
She told me about the friend of hers she bought it from years ago. Her friend was about 90-years-old when it changed hands, and her mother had made the quilt right there in northeastern Greene County, Indiana.
We talked about that old friend of hers, and we talked about the olden days of antiquing in southern Indiana. (We’re been friends for about forty years or so.)
I finally got around to asking her if she’d consider selling me a few things we’d uncovered. It didn’t catch her off guard. She knows I sell things on eBay, so I think she already had a price in mind. So I made a big pile of stuff on the kitchen table; she shot me a price; I paid, and we went back to our perches on the porch, sipping coffee and listening to night critters.
Beautiful borders!
The big blue circles are a bit darker than they appear in my photos, but if I use the computer to darken them it makes the rose and yellow fabrics appear darker than they really are. You’ll love it even more in person.
RANDOM ENCUCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
ETRURIA- when or by what road the rasena(etrusci) reached their permanent seats in ETRUR proper is not certain, tho their larger towns inland, the tradition of coming from umbria, + from their language the phætian alps + from works of earliest artworks, from italyy. "Rasena", the traditional name of the people, yet evidence supposing it as how known etrusci or tyrrheni similar arts to greece. herodotus gives tradition lydiands landed in umbria + colonizing + named after the leader tyrsenus. etrusci accepted this hostory(or did they retain it?). similarities. tombs. blah blah. 12 historical towns, but not named. near rome. blah blah recorded wars. most memorable between rome 7thc 507 bc, 9th, 10th 482-476 bc. massacre of the fabii. the 12th where king killed, towns population, natural resources, cystoms, mythology- like rome + greek architecture- squarish temples. 1st perfect arch, language destroyed by latin, alphabet, art, coins, blackware-blach terra cotta, jewelry, LOTS. bling! BIG- mini mini dots of gold separately attached-still unreplicated. bronzes-mirrors-terra cottas- very skillful statues, vase painting.
ELLINGEN- baden, german town. old castle on roman fortress burned by french in 1689. rebuilt early 1700's.begun around
beginning of 12th c. free town 1234 by frederick II to the margrave of baden. 1644 conquered by the weimar troops, defeated by the archduke charles. roman antiquities. pop in 1875-5,286.
ETTMULLER, ERNST MORIZ LUDWIG(1802-1877)- able + erudite philologist, who constributed to critical literature of the germanic tongues. blah blah.
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RANDOM 341 OBJECTS
2 HUGE Antique VICTORIAN ART GLASS Blue ICICLE VASES-$240
“Rare” is most certainly a word to be applied to this pair of flamboyant vases. While I’ve never actually gone out searching for Victorian period art glass, during the five decades I’ve fiddled around with antiques, I’ve only seen two other examples of the form, and I’ve never seen any in blue.
They stand without wobble, and in spite of a few relatively minor flaws, they are among the most striking pieces of art glass I’ve encountered. PLUS – They are big – and they are heavy.
One is 12 ¼” tall and weighs 5 lbs. 8 oz. The other is 11 ½” tall and weighs 5 lbs. 6 oz. Still, I believe they were made as a pair. The differences are certainly forgivable considering the complexity of form and the skill that was most certainly required in their making. Besides, displayed with one on one end of your mantel or sideboard and the second on the other end, the differences would go totally unnoticed.
Heavy flows of crystal clear glass work their way down from each of the four loop handles formed of blue glass; extensions of the glass that forms the body. The clear glass was applied to the tops of those handles and allowed to run down the sides like sap from the broken branch of a sugar maple tree. Between each handle are similar flows of clear “icicles.”
They have a decidedly Art Nouveau presence but would feel perfectly at home in a room featuring Mid-Century modernism; this, in spite of the fact that they date to around 1880.
Who made them? Well . . . examples I’ve seen advertised by those big city, fancy-smancy auction houses often attribute them to Thomas Webb. Applied decoration was popular around this period in both the U.S. and England. Both Webb and Stevens and Williams used the technique in the UK, but the Boston and Sandwich glass house in the U.S. also fell in love with icicle type decoration. Still others have mentioned the old, old glass maker, Harrach. I’ll leave a precise attribution to those who specialize in Victorian glass. In my opinion, it makes little difference. They are incredible and rare, so I don’t really have any skin in the game.
Let’s take a moment to look at the flaws I mentioned – beginning with the taller of the two. In the image above, you can see that one foot is thinner at the tip than the others. There is an elongated sliver running from the bottom up about an inch. And another foot has a much lesser chip. Nonetheless, as I already said, they both sit level and without wobble.
I know I felt a little rough spot within the giant dribble on the right, but I can’t locate it again to put an arrow on it. Dang! Getting old messes with your mind.
We’ve now moved on to the other vase. There are a couple rough places at the bottoms of two feet. I’m beginning to think they are simply the result of the way the legs were formed. Apparently the molten glass was allowed run and form as the glassmaker tilted the vase this way and that in order to get the splayed shape he wanted – then snapped off the ends. I hate to repeat myself so often, but I just simply don’t know – can’t tell.
Expect to find other flaws I’ve missed. There is just so much going on with color, shape and reflection that most anything is easily overlooked. I’m thinking it’s possible that the height difference could be the result of someone shortening all four legs on one due to chipping. If so, it was done a long time ago because when I got them there was about half a century of dust, dirt and grime on them: So much so that I was forced to disobey one of my prime directives.
Of one thing I’m absolutely certain. Wherever you put them, they will refuse to be ignored, so expect gawking.
