Saturday, July 30, 2011
RANDOM 341 OBJECTS
2 Real ANTIQUE Pcs - SPLINT MARKET BASKET & CANNING JAR-$50
I spent the entire day yesterday driving way over into southern Indiana to make a deal on an estate. The lady had spent a lifetime collecting Haviland Limoges and fancy antique glass. She had enough Limoges to fill the marsupials section of Noah’s ark, and I had to go through all of it piece by piece.
The moment I got home last night I had to go wallow in a pile of my primitives; like a dog rolling in the dirt after a bath, just to get my testosterone levels back to normal.
Don’t worry. I’m ok now, but it was touch and go there for a few hours.
While getting the smell of country back into my pores, I ran across this nice old market or gathering basket and an authentic old stoneware salt glazed canning crock/jar.
The basket is 17” by 12” by 8” tall, not counting the carved handle. If you count the handle, it is 14” tall.
The jar is 8 ½” tall and about 5 ½” at the belly.
Both pieces are in nice condition. Think of this auction as a “Primitive Collector’s Starter Kit.” The handle of the basket is carved into a shape comfortable in your hand, and it is secured to the sides of the basket by a wedge-shaped notch supporting the “x bound” rim.
You may see tiny flaws in both pieces but certainly nothing at all serious or heartbreaking. They’re both old, so don’t pick nits.
RANDOM ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
EUMENES- native of cadiœ, thracian chersonesus, b 360 bc + died 315. at an early age, private secretary to philip, king of macedonia + after he died, he did the same for alexander + went w/ him to asia. the esteem A had for him, proved by his being retained in confidence in spite of the enmity of ˙ephœstion, by his appointment to a high military command, + by his marriage to artomis, the daughter of arta bazus. upon death of A, the provinces divided among his generals + E got cappodocia + paphlagonia, but as they were not subdued yet, leonnatus + antigonus were charged by perdiccas to put him in possession. antigonus, however disregarded his orders, + leonnatus in vain attempted to make E go w/ him to help antipater in europe, tried to kill E, E escaped + joined perdiccas, who helped him take capppadocia. when craterus + antipater, having reduced greece, determined to pass into asia + overthrow the power of perdiccas, their 1st blow against cappodociaa + in the emergency, E was appointed commander of all the forces in the neighboring countries, but to this neoptolemus, one of the generals, refused to submit, + being defeated by E, fled to antipater + crateras. the presence of antipater was required in cilicia, + the army destined to act against eumenes, was therefore commanded by crateras + neoptolemus. they were defeated. N killed + C died of his wounds 321bc. when the macedonian chiefs received knowledge of their defeat by E, who they considered a stranger, only a few days after the death of perdiccas, the condemned E to death + charged antipater + antigonus to do it. E at 1st successful, but being defeated thru a treacherous officeer, he fled to nora. there he successfully resisted, + after appt by olympias to command army against antigonus, he gained a battle against antgonus, but lost the baggage + women to his macedonian phalanx. antigonusoffered to trade them back for eumenes + E handed over + betrayed. executed.
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
Antique LOUISIANA PURCHASE Fair 1904 POCKET MATCH SAFE-$41
Isn’t it interesting how you can be reading about a certain subject, the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904 for instance, and pick up little interesting facts unrelated to your original topic? That’s what happened to me while reading about the fair.
This vesta case, which, by the way has a cigar cutter built right in, features the Cascade Gardens, one on the main attractions at the fair. Historians almost always point out that the managers of the fair made sure that only fresh, clean water tumbled down cascades from Festival Hall along the slope of Art Hill and into the Grand Basin. Evidently, during this period the water in St. Louis was muddy and discolored.
Flower beds and sculptures bordered the cascade, and it was colorfully lit at night, so clean, clear water was required to get the right effect. At night, bands would perform at the cascades, and most of them included Scott Joplin’s “Cascades” in their performances.
The reverse of this case features Union Station. At the time it was the state-of-the-art train station, only ten years old, and this was during the heyday of railroad travel.
Like a miniature guillotine, there is a cutter on the bottom, making it an even more highly collectible vesta case.
Friday, July 29, 2011
RANDOM LURE
RANDOM HISTORY
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
RUSSIAN FEDERATION HC Litho - Signed SERGEI TCHEKHONINE-$565
When I saw the fine custom frame I had a good feeling about this piece, and, as it turns out, my gut feeling was right. Sergei Tchkhonine (1878 – 1936) is a deeply listed and highly sought artist.
There is some age toning of the paper and matting, but the colors have remained bright, and there is no damage to either the frame or the work. Unlike my photos, the toning is even; not lighter at the bottom. (Danged camera!)