Antiques & Collectibles

Americana Insights 2023 presents the latest research and discoveries on traditional American folk art and material culture. Groundbreaking essays by leading scholars provide a wealth of new insights on a wide array of artistic traditions. Covering a broad geographic area—including New England, the mid-Atlantic, South, and mid-West—and spanning the colonial era to early twentieth century, these essays enhance our understanding of the diverse American experience. This is the only interdisciplinary publication devoted exclusively to traditional Americana and folk art.

Contributors cover a range of topics including portraiture, furniture, jewelry, textiles, and works on paper. In the first volume, authors share groundbreaking research on the use of hooked rugs in the colonial revival era; revisit the work of a famed Connecticut portrait painter known as the Beardsley Limner and his namesake sitters; Rufus Porter’s work as an artist and entrepreneur; a distinctive group of paint-decorated dressing tables from New Hampshire; delicate cutworks made by an incarcerated inmate in Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary; painted tavern signs; jewelry in folk portraiture; New Jersey schoolmaster and calligrapher Thomas Earl; and signature quilts from the nineteenth century.

Contributors: Deborah M. Child, Pamela and Brian Ehrlich, Cynthia Fowler, Emelie Gevalt, Mark D. Mitchell, Eileen M. Smiles, Laura Fecych Sprague.

A richly illustrated presentation of the latest research on traditional American folk art

Americana Insights 2024 is the second volume of an annual series that presents the latest research and discoveries on traditional American folk art and material culture. This installment explores a diverse range of craftspeople and artifacts, treating readers to a journey from Appalachia to the mid-Atlantic and New England, and even onto the Atlantic Ocean. Each essay offers a fresh perspective on American creativity and ingenuity, introducing readers to the makers and materials of early America. This remains the only interdisciplinary publication devoted exclusively to traditional Americana and folk art.

Contributors cover a range of topics including historic Cherokee river cane basket weaving traditions, New England folk artists Sturtevant J. Hamblin, the almshouse paintings of German immigrant Charles Hofmann, and the display of American antiques on mid-twentieth-century ocean liners. Additional subjects include Pennsylvania German fraktur, carousel carving, carriage signs, quilts, and game boards.

Contributors: Trevor Brandt, Paul D’Ambrosio, Tobin Fraley, Emelie Gevalt, Christopher Malone, Richard Miller, Matthew Monk, Amelia Peck, Christian Roden, Cynthia Schaffner, Eileen M. Smiles, Jennifer Swope.

The first comprehensive study of the life and times of colonial Philadelphia clockmaker Edward Duffield

Edward Duffield (1730–1803) was a colonial Philadelphia clockmaker, whose elegant brass, mahogany, and walnut timekeepers stand proudly in major American museums and collections. Duffield, unlike other leather-apron ‘mechanics,’ was born rich and owned a country estate, Benfield, and many more properties. He was deeply involved in civic and church affairs during crucial years in American history—his lifelong close friend, Benjamin Franklin, was staying at Duffield’s Benfield estate when Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams first discussed the Declaration of Independence. Sally, Franklin’s daughter, brought her family there for extended periods during the Revolution and Franklin’s wife, Deborah, was best friends for fifty years with Duffield’s mother-in-law. Duffield was even one of three executors of Franklin’s will.

In this lavishly illustrated book, Bob Frishman catalogs and describes seventy-one known Duffield clocks and instruments and reveals how, during the mid-eighteenth century, they largely were not fabricated from scratch by isolated individuals. He contends that Duffield and his fellow clockmakers were not furniture-makers; they were mechanical artisans whose complex metal machines rang the hours and steadily ticked inside wooden cases made by others. Existing books on Philadelphia clocks have focused on these artifacts as furniture, including their woodwork, cabinetmakers, and decorative aspects. However, Frishman, a professional horologist for nearly four decades, brings his vast expertise to bear on this first comprehensive study of Duffield’s life and work.

Far more than a treatise on pre-industrial horological timekeeping, this book tells the compelling stories of a man, a city, and an era, while deepening our appreciation for Duffield’s stately sentinels—often a colonial American family’s most valuable possession—and the times and places in which their makers lived.

The sumptuousness and grandeur of Nubian gold jewelry analyzed and illustrated for the first time

The fabled land of Nubia, whose very name means ‘gold,’ was famous in ancient times for its supplies of precious metal, exotic material, and intricate craftsmanship. Many of the adornments made in Nubia are masterpieces of the jeweler’s art—marvels of design and construction rivaling, and often surpassing, adornments made in Egypt and the rest of the ancient Mediterranean world. Although these unique treasures are among the most stunning to have survived from antiquity, they remain little known.

Richly illustrated with beautiful photographs of these exquisite items, many of them never before published, Nubian Gold also places the jewelry within the cultural contexts in which it was manufactured and employed. It tells the story not only of the treasures themselves but of the exciting tales of their discovery and the rich background of the exotic and remote civilizations that produced them.

The book also explores the innovative techniques used to procure the precious materials used in the jewelry and to craft them into intricate ornaments replete with magical purpose and coded meaning. Featured in the book are not only the intricately crafted pieces themselves but depictions of them in sculpture, relief, and painting as well as references to them in ancient texts, locating them within the full spectrum of Nubian history, from the earliest beginnings of society to the advent of Christianity.

New insights from the archaeology and pottery of the sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou, Crete

The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII: The Greek and Roman Pottery presents in two volumes the Greek and Roman pottery recovered from the excavation of the sanctuary of Syme Viannou, one of the most long-lived and important cult sites of ancient Crete and the Aegean. The site, which is known as the Cretan Delphi, was dedicated to Hermes and Aphrodite for much of its history. The present study analyzes and catalogs 865 pieces, dating from across the early first millennium BCE to the mid-first millennium CE. Kotsonas integrates traditional typological and chronological inquiries with contextual considerations, macroscopic and petrographic analyses of ceramic fabrics, and quantitative studies. The resulting work provides detailed documentation of the pottery from Syme Viannou and explores its ritual and other roles within the diachronic panorama of cultic and other activities at the site. It also supports a broader understanding of the role of ceramics in sanctuary contexts by introducing systematically comparative perspectives on the evidence of pottery from other Cretan and Greek sanctuaries.

Volume 2 presents synthetic studies of the material, exploring the use of different ceramic fabrics, the relationship between the form and function of the vessels, and the place of ceramic items in the cultic practice and daily life at the sanctuary in Greek and Roman antiquity.

New insights from the archaeology and pottery of the sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou, Crete

The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII: The Greek and Roman Pottery presents in two volumes the Greek and Roman pottery recovered from the excavation of the sanctuary of Syme Viannou, one of the most long-lived and important cult sites of ancient Crete and the Aegean. The site, which is known as the Cretan Delphi, was dedicated to Hermes and Aphrodite for much of its history. The present study analyzes and catalogs 865 pieces, dating from across the early first millennium BCE to the mid-first millennium CE. Kotsonas integrates traditional typological and chronological inquiries with contextual considerations, macroscopic and petrographic analyses of ceramic fabrics, and quantitative studies. The resulting work provides detailed documentation of the pottery from Syme Viannou and explores its ritual and other roles within the diachronic panorama of cultic and other activities at the site. It also supports a broader understanding of the role of ceramics in sanctuary contexts by introducing systematically comparative perspectives on the evidence of pottery from other Cretan and Greek sanctuaries.

Volume 1 provides an introduction to the site of the sanctuary of Syme Viannou and its history, and contains an analytical catalog of the ceramic remains.

A significant addition to the fascinating study of rare and intriguing late 18th- and early 19th-century eye miniatures.

Until the early 2000s, little had been written about eye miniatures or “Lover's Eyes”, and their short-lived popularity at the end of the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries, when hand-painted portraits of single human eyes were set in jewelry, or created to memorialize a deceased loved one. This volume examines their role in the broader context of Georgian and early Victorian portrait miniatures; and looks in detail at the creation, and appeal, of these extraordinary objects. 

Dr and Mrs. David A. Skier’s collection of eye miniatures is one of the most complete collections of this genre of miniature painting in existence. This volume features over 130 pieces from the Skier Collection, with 36 extraordinary newly acquired pieces, including two of the three known existing “Lover's Lips”, and six examples of a delightful sub-category known as “Flower Eyes”. There are illustrated essays on forgeries and fakes of lovers’ eyes, on “Flower Eyes”, on the persistence of the eye image which continues the tradition of lovers’ eyes, and an essay on the eye miniatures created by Richard Cosway.

A comprehensive study of Pennsylvania German redware and a celebration of this vibrant folk art tradition

Americana Insights 2025 is the third volume in an annual series that presents the latest research and discoveries on traditional Americana, folk art, and material culture. In this volume the authors explore a beloved aspect of American folk art—Pennsylvania German redware. Focusing on redware’s production, use, and collecting in southeastern Pennsylvania from the mid-eighteenth to early twentieth century, the authors provide fresh insights into renowned potters such as Georg Hubener, Samuel Troxel, and Solomon Grimm as well as lesser-known figures. Other essays delve into the work of twentieth-century potters like Jacob Medinger, considered the last of the traditional Pennsylvania German potters, and Mildred Weekes Keyser, a pioneering revivalist potter. The authors also explore broader themes, including the use of political imagery and hunting iconography, and redware’s role in cultural exchange between Anglo-Americans and Pennsylvania Germans. A celebration of this vibrant folk art tradition and a vital scholarly contribution, Americana Insights 2025 represents the most comprehensive study of Pennsylvania German redware in more than a century.

Contributors: Johanna Brown, Laini Ferrare, R. Erich Hess, Christopher Malone, Lisa Minardi, Karl Pass, Candace Perry, Jeffrey Pressman, Jean Renshaw, Justin Thomas.

Magic has enchanted humankind for millennia, evoking terror, laughter, shock, and amazement. Once persecuted as heretics and sorcerers, magicians have always been conduits to a parallel universe of limitless possibility—whether invoking spirits, reading minds, or inverting the laws of nature by sleight of hand. Long before science fiction, virtual realities, video games, and the Internet, the craft of magic was the most powerful fantasy world man had ever known. As the pioneers of special effects throughout history, magicians have never ceased to mystify us by making the impossible possible.

This book celebrates more than 500 years of the stunning visual culture of the world’s greatest magicians. Featuring more than 750 rarely seen vintage posters, photographs, handbills, and engravings as well as paintings by Hieronymus Bosch and Bruegel among others, The Magic Book traces the history of magic as a performing art from the 1400s to the 1950s. Combining sensational images with incisive text, the book explores the evolution of the magicians’ craft, from medieval street performers to the brilliant stage magicians who gave rise to cinematic special effects; from the 19th century’s golden age of magic to groundbreaking daredevils like Houdini and the early 20th century’s vaudevillians.

From the adrenaline-filled 24 Hours of Le Mans to the legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lake Como’s famed Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este to the premier Monterey Car Week, the collector car calendar and market has shown one of the most extraordinary growth trajectories of recent years. As thousands flock to specialized meet ups, rallies, auctions, and Concours d’Elegance around the globe, asking prices for the rarest motors have revved higher and higher. So much so, that the value of the 100 cars included in this book exceeds a staggering $1 billion.

For the seasoned car collector or the awestruck newcomer, this double-volume is the unrivaled collector car anthology. Curating 100 of the most exquisite, remarkable, and desirable cars of all time to tell a spellbinding story of automotive design-and-engineering endeavor in the tireless pursuit of ever-greater performance both on and off the track, from the first Indy 500-winning 1910 Marmon Wasp to the futuristic 2020 Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Laps ahead of any generic catalog, this superlative volume exudes authority and elegance, settling for nothing less than the very best of the best, and presenting each model with the lavish spreads it deserves, complete with stunning imagery taken by the world’s leading car photographers alongside rare archival treasures, from original factory photos to famous motorsports event posters. Each entry is also accompanied by expert descriptive texts and specs, detailing each car’s make, model, year, engine size, horsepower, top speed, transmission, and all-important production numbers.

By passionately tapping into their transatlantic expertise and insider knowledge of car auctions, museums, and collections around the world, design authors Charlotte and Peter Fiell survey the autoworld's finest cars of all time. Their carefully curated selection spans the whole history of the automobile, taking in such rare models as a 1912 Stutz Model A Bearcat, as well as lesser-known jewels such as the astonishing 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS “Goutte d’Eau” Coupé by Figoni et Falaschi.

This definitive compendium includes a foreword from Rob Myers, the founder of RM Sotheby’s, and includes an introduction from the authors that gives a unique perspective on the ins and outs of car collecting at the highest level. The main content is interspersed with interviews with Dr. Frederick Simeone, founder of the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum; The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, founder of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival; Sandra Button, Chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance; John Collins, leading dealer of historic Ferraris; and Shelby Myers, global head of Private Sales at RM Sotheby’s, which offer key personal insights into the car-collecting world.

Learn Pottery, Create Art, Make Money

“… a great reference book for pottery basics, particularly if you’ve started throwing on a wheel…” ―Jackie Keer, Splash Magazines

#1 Bestseller in Pottery & Ceramics and Sculpture
#1 Most Wished for in Pottery & Ceramic Craft

Explore the satisfying world of clay sculpting, master pottery techniques, and delve into the business side of selling pottery, from functional everyday ceramics to exquisite handmade works.

Transform clay into usable artistry. Learn pottery and ceramics from the basic principles of pottery making to crafting your own mugs, cups, plates, and bowls. Discover the delight of shaping ceramic clay into practical yet beautiful pieces that enhance everyday life.

Profit from your pottery passion. Not only does this book provide instruction on creating functional ceramics, but it also offers insights into making a living from your pottery projects. Learn the art of marketing and selling your hand-crafted pottery and discover the potential of this timeless craft.

Inside, you'll discover:

• Practical, hands-on tutorials for creating a range of pottery projects, from mugs to plates and bowls
• Essential tips on pottery techniques, including throwing, hand-building, and glazing ceramics
• Valuable insights into marketing and selling your handmade pottery pieces
• Guidance on transforming your pottery passion into a profitable venture

If you liked books such as Mastering Hand Building, Amazing Glaze, or Sell Your Crafts Online, then you'll love Jon Schmidt's Practical Pottery: 40 Pottery Projects for Creating and Selling Mugs, Cups, Plates, Bowls, and More.

The epitome of British heritage fashion, the Burberry trench coat is a beloved wardrobe classic. Practical yet versatile; it is sleek and sexy but also a preppy favourite. Since the launch of the coat in 1912, Burberry has unveiled a selection of styles that has reached iconic stature – and here you will discover their original designs, seasonal adaptations and limited editions.

The book also takes a behind-the-scenes look at the craftsmanship, the preloved market and how to authenticate a Burberry. So, whether you are considering buying retail or secondhand, dressing for weather or fashion, this is your ultimate guide to the world's most famous coat.

This authoritative work was, at the time of its first publication, the first full-length book to cover in detail the collecting of Pennsylvania "Dutch" furnishings and crafts. It was subsequently redesigned and enlarged, to make it again available in this more ample format it deserves.

The Pennsylvania Dutch country may be said to have been "discovered" by collectors in the 1920s and 1930s. These unique people, with their old-world customs and colorful folk art, have created in America an authentic genre, with a flavor much in vogue among experienced decorators, as well as amateur collectors.

Earl F. Robacker, a native Pennsylvanian and a collector himself, introduces this volume with a general discussion of characteristic Dutch country art forms and craftsmanship, emphasizing its authentic "peasant" quality in contrast to the more elegant styles of other early American furnishings. Chapter by chapter he discusses typical pieces of furniture, china, kitchenware and other articles, giving careful descriptions of each important piece, its availability, and most important, the rules for a collector to keep in mind when on the trail of real Pennsylvania Dutch "stuff."

This volume offers a thorough orientation in Pennsylvania Dutch country antiques and makes fascinating reading for anyone interested in the general subject of old furnishings. As the first volume to assemble the scattered and fragmentary information on the subject, it is an invaluable guide for those who merely want to achieve authentic atmosphere in home decoration. Many fine illustrations supplement the text, and a partial list of museum collections gives additional guidance. The book contains a full discussion of the basic principles of Pennsylvania Dutch decoration, and an appraisal of the quality of reproductions available on the market.

The Island Book of Records brings the early years of this iconic record label to life.

A fifteen-year labour of love, the volumes will fully document the analogue era of Island. Offering a comprehensive archive of album cover design and photography, together with the voices of the musicians, designers, photographers, producers, studio engineers and record company personnel that worked on each project, the volumes show in unique depth the workings of the label, covering every LP.

Featuring material from recent interviews and from media interviews of the time, and each including a comprehensive discography of 45s, the books are lavishly illustrated with gig adverts (very many at venues which no longer exist), concert tickets, flyers, international LP variants, labels, LP and 45 adverts and other ephemera.

These LP-sized editions are a collector’s dream, offering a truly unparalleled resource for those interested in music history and a perfect gift for any music lover.

The Triumph of Nature returns us vividly to an entrancing time in European decorative arts, from its beginnings in the Arts and Crafts movement and Japonisme, through to its evolution into Art Deco style.

An exuberant, radical style, Art Nouveau blithely trampled many of the Victorian Age’s orthodoxies of art and design. Exploding age-old strictures with its fanciful approach to furniture, graphic arts, jewelry, architecture and more, Art Nouveau also embraced new technologies and incorporated foreign stylistic flourishes. Designing for a range of clients and settings including domestic interiors, innovative artists such as de Feure, Majorelle, and Gallé fashioned their eclectic works to play off each other in harmonious visual arrangements, conceiving of Art Nouveau as an enveloping style.

This stunningly illustrated comprehensive volume gathers a profusion of Art Nouveau works and accessories—furniture, paintings, sculpture, mosaics, books, posters, prints, lamps, glass, and other stunning objets d’art—all of them originally designed and coordinated to complement each other in elaborate ensembles.

A symbol of power, a promise of marriage and a girl's best friend, the diamond is unmatched by any other gemstone in the world.

From ancient civilizations and the royal courts of Europe to modern culture, film and fashion, the mystique and glamor of the world's most brilliant natural treasure is told in a story that merges history with gemology, collecting with couture. Celebrating our everlasting fascination with this prized jewel, The Story of the Diamond gives background on merchants, traders and jewellers, from Cartier to Harry Winston, as well as legendary and rare stones, such as the cursed Hope, the stolen Koh-i-Noor and the ransomed Idol's Eye.

With indepth information on styles, cuts, colors and carats, and both natural and lab-grown stones, as well as a chapter devoted to engagement rings, there is advice on selecting and buying sustainably sourced diamonds.

Timeless and ever-fashionable, the Chanel handbag is the luxury goods statement piece that is always in demand.

Since the launch of the 2.55 in 1955, Chanel has unveiled a curated classic selection of styles that has reached iconic stature – and here you will discover their myriad seasonal adaptations, limited editions and special features.

From the ultra-rare beaded lucite Cage Flap to the discontinued Diana (named after Princess Di), the So Black to the Graffiti backpack, the book traces the rise of the Chanel bag from the very first designs to today's releases and charts the Chanel bag in popular culture and celebrity fashion.

A detailed behind-the-scenes look at the craftsmanship explains the details of quilting, leathers and materials, hardware, labels and stitching, as well as how to authenticate a Chanel bag. Whether you are considering buying retail or second-hand, to celebrate a milestone, commemorate an important event in life or as an investment, this is your ultimate guide to this exclusive – and sometimes elusive – accessory.

The Knafel Collection of French faience, the finest in private hands, includes outstanding examples of Nevers, Rouen, Moustiers, Moulins, and Marseilles production from the late sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. The quality of these masterpieces almost obscures the fact that French faience was essentially a provincial art, largely patronized and commissioned by a local aristocracy and made far from the centres of political power in Versailles and Paris.

In this stunning new volume, Charlotte Vignon traces the history of French faience, offering detailed discussions of key centers of production. Illustrated with more than seventy examples, this valuable resource testifies to the creativity and beauty of an engagingly innovative tradition.

The Mint Museum’s collection of British ceramics is one the best and largest in the United States, numbering over two thousand items. It boasts objects from all the major centers of production: Wedgwood, Chelsea, Worcester and Staffordshire. The collection is remarkable for its vast range and includes salt-glazed stoneware, lead-glazed earthenware, creamware, and soft- and hard-paste porcelain. This important and visually stunning new publication features two hundred highlights selected on account of their rarity, craftsmanship, or as important examples of particular methods of production or decoration. There are scholarly entries, two illustrated essays on the collection, and a bibliography.

Gem Identification Made Easy is the first and only book that explains in non-technical terms how to identify diamonds and colored gems, and how to separate natural gems from imitations, treated stones, synthetics, and look-alikes. The book's approach is direct and practical, and its style easy to understand. In fact, with this highly accessible guide, anyone can begin to master gem identification. Includes over 150 photographs and illustrationsover 80 in full color!

Using a simple, step-by-step system, the authors explain how to properly use essential but uncomplicated instruments to identify stones, what to look for gemstone by gemstone, and how to set up a basic lab at modest cost. Three of the instruments are inexpensive, portable, pocket instruments that, when used together, can identify almost 85% of all precious and popular stones.

The key to avoiding costly mistakes and recognizing profitable opportunities is knowing both what to look for and what to look out for.

Gem Identification Made Easy will help you:

• Open your eyes to the types of treatments, imitations, synthetics, look-alikes, and fakes in the gem market today.
• Learn how to tell the difference between them. Quickly spot:
  • Synthetics, including synthetic emeralds and diamonds
  • Filled diamonds
  • Diffused "blue" sapphires and "red" rubies
  • HPHT-treated diamonds
  • ... and much more!
• Determine how to spot the newest "composite" imitations.
• Learn how to identify recently discovered gems such as “Mandarin” garnet, red “emerald,” and North Carolina's chromium-rich emeralds.
• Discover new treatments such as surface coatings to create “fancy color” diamonds and improve or change the color of many gemstones.
• Know when to seek help from a professional gemologist or lab.
• Become more professional in your business or hobby.

The first book devoted exclusively to the spectroscope and its use in gemstone identification.

Until 1933 the refractometer and the microscope were the two principal tools in gem testing. Then B.W. Anderson introduced the hand spectroscope which quickly became the third vital instrument for the UK gemmologist. The publication of Anderson's papers in the mid-1950s alerted gem laboratories worldwide to the importance of this instrument. Today its use is universal.

Anderson and his lifelong colleague, Payne, both of the world's first full-time gemmological laboratory, were the pioneers in recognizing the vast potential of the spectroscope for this purpose, and The Spectroscope and Gemmology, as the extensively edited, updated and enlarged version of Anderson’s original papers, provides a vital textbook wherever gemmology is used or taught. The distinguished gemmologist R. Keith Mitchell has undertaken the editing and has added chapters on the Pye spectrophotometer and on lasers. He has also reproduced new line drawings of spectra in three aspects to accommodate the prism instrument in both the British version and in that favoured by American gemmologists, and in another version as seen through the diffraction grating instrument.

Written for gemmologists everywhere and incorporating the latest developments this book will prove indispensable to all engaged in gemstone identification.

The premier book of its kind, revised, updated and expanded.

A comprehensive guide to the standards, procedures and ethics of appraising gems, jewelry and other valuables, Gems & Jewelry Appraising, 3rd Edition, contains expert practical guidance, combined with detailed descriptions, photos, case studies, pricing data, key documents and more.

This guide offers all the information that practicing or aspiring appraisal professionals will need to establish an appraisal business, handle various kinds of appraisals—for insurance, divorce, inheritance, liquidation, collateral and tax donation—and provide an accurate, verifiable estimate of value.

The book couples in love have been waiting for. . .
revised and updated!

Engagement & Wedding Rings takes the fear and anxiety out of buying an engagement or wedding ring, restoring the romance and the magic of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Inside Engagement & Wedding Rings, you'll find everything you need to know to select, buy and enjoy ... to truly experience the wonder and excitement that should be part of finding—or creating that "perfect" ring.

Engagement & Wedding Rings;is filled with useful information to help you make the right choice, including:

• Romantic traditions behind engagement and wedding rings.
• How to select the right design and style for you.
• Tricks to get what you want on a budget.
• Steps to compare prices properly.
• How to select the perfect bridal pearls.
• The latest cuts, ring styles and designs.
• Secrets to differences in diamonds and colored gemstones that may appear to be the same quality.
• How to select your jeweler, appraiser and insurer.
• What to do to protect yourself against fraud and misrepresentation—what to ask and what to get in writing.

Newly Updated and Expanded

Critical and up-to-the-minute information for the novice, advanced collector, jewelry dealer, curator and appraiser—for all who buy and sell cameos, or who are just fascinated by them.

Antiques Roadshow Book Club Selection

Since ancient times, cameo making has allowed artists of every era to capture and reflect on the history, literature and lore of their culture. Today, the allure of finely carved cameos is drawing a new generation of both savvy collectors and gifted artists who are captivated by their transcendental elegance.

This first and only comprehensive reference guide offers valuable information on:

• Where to successfully hunt for cameos
• How to separate old from new, imitation and newer synthetic materials from original shell and stone cameos
• How to differentiate between ultrasonically produced and hand-carved cameos

Richly illustrated with many new cameo photographs, this new edition will facilitate the recognition and evaluation of quality in cameos and increase your confidence in buying and selling cameos with:

• Key factors for defining value
• Information on how to buy cameos from retailers and antique dealers, via the Internet or at auction
• A clear explanation of The MasterValuer Program™ of Quality Ranking that serves as a vital guide for use when evaluating cameos
• An extensive review of outstanding contemporary cameo artists throughout the world, their style, subject matter, unique and identifiable techniques, contact information … and more

Newly updated and expanded, Diamonds gives you all the information you need to buy, collect, sell—or simply enjoy—diamonds with confidence and knowledge.

Whether you are buying a diamond for an engagement ring, anniversary, to commemorate a special moment or for personal pleasure, today it is more important than ever to understand what you are buying. There are new shapes and cuts, fancy colors, high-tech treatments and sophisticated frauds. There are new ways to buy—such as Internet auctions. Buyers need a source of expert guidance.

Practical, comprehensive and easy to understand, this book offers in depth all the information you need to buy sparkling diamonds with confidence, including:

• What is a diamond?
• An in-depth look at factors affecting differences in quality and cost.
• Diamond grading reports—why all the information is important, and what it tells you.
• How to compare prices.
• How to spot differences in stones that may appear to be the same quality.
• How to protect yourself from misrepresentation.
• Questions to ask when buying any diamond.
• What to get in writing.
• How to get what you want within your budget.
• Important information about buying on the Internet … and much more!

Written by an "insider," this easy-to-read guide is the “unofficial diamond bible” for anyone who wants to get the most for their money and enjoy what they have purchased.

For its luminescent beauty and timeless elegance, the pearl has been prized for centuries, from ancient civilizations and royalty to society girls and Hollywood celebrities. Not only a symbol of wealth, status and power, this rare gem is a moon-like talisman associated with healing, protection and purity.

Weaving myth and history, art and literature, the sacred and the secular, this book unfolds the fascinating 4,000-year-old story of the pearl, including tales of pearl-divers in the Pacific, the jewellery of ancient Rome and legendary pearls such as the 500-year-old La Peregrina and the 14-pound Pearl of Allah. Here you will learn of the various types of pearls, both cultured and costume styles, how to wear and care for them, as well as pearls in popular culture and in fashions through the ages.

More than three thousand different images appeared on United States postage stamps from the middle of the nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth. Limited at first to the depiction of a small cast of characters and patriotic images, postal iconography gradually expanded as the Postal Service sought to depict the country’s history in all its diversity. This vast breadth has helped make stamp collecting a widespread hobby and made stamps into consumer goods in their own right.

Examining the canon of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American stamps, Laura Goldblatt and Richard Handler show how postal iconography and material culture offer a window into the contested meanings and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. They argue that postage stamps, which are both devices to pay for a government service and purchasable items themselves, embody a crucial tension: is democracy defined by political agency or the freedom to buy? The changing images and uses of stamps reveal how governmental authorities have attempted to navigate between public service and businesslike efficiency, belonging and exclusion, citizenship and consumerism. Stamps are vehicles for state messaging, and what they depict is tied up with broader questions of what it means to be American.

Goldblatt and Handler combine historical, sociological, and iconographic analysis of a vast quantity of stamps with anthropological exploration of how postal customers and stamp collectors behave. At the crossroads of several disciplines, this book casts the symbolic and material meanings of stamps in a wholly new light.

This new volume in the Frick Diptych series features an essay by Frick curator Marie-Laure Buku Pongo paired with a contribution by world-renowned conductor and keyboardist William Christie.

These two cabinets, stamped BVRB, may well be the last pieces of furniture made by the celebrated Parisian cabinetmaker Bernard van Risenburgh II just before he retired in 1764 and sold his workshop to his son, Bernard van Risenburgh III, who finished them. The cabinets feature panels of black-and-gold Japanese lacquer of exceptionally high quality taken from a seventeenth-century Japanese cabinet, chest, or screen. Beginning in the 1730s, the older van Risenburgh worked almost exclusively with the influential marchands-merciers or merchants of luxury goods, who provided the cabinetmaker with the rare and costly Oriental lacquers and sometimes with the design for the furniture on which to mount them.

In 1776, at the Enlightenment’s height, Jan Christiaan Sepp published a wholly unique and striking work: A Representation of Marble Types. Across 100 richly hand-colored plates, it traced an elegant visual journey through 570 different marble types. This facsimile edition, a world first, devotedly brings to life a forgotten book of great knowledge and rare beauty.

Time-travel through the Automobile Age with a collection that puts you in the driver’s seat. 20th Century Classic Cars offers a lush visual history of the automobile, decade by decade, via 400-plus print advertisements from the Jim Heimann Collection.

Using imagery culled from a century of auto advertising, this book traces the evolution of the auto from horseless carriage to rocket on wheels—and beyond. With an introduction and chapter text by former New York Times automotive writer Phil Patton, as well as an illustrated timeline, this volume highlights the technological innovations, major manufacturers and dealers, historical events, and influence of popular culture on car design.

On December 15, 1868, Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794–1868), Professor of Botany at the University of Munich and director of the Royal Botanic Garden, was carried to his grave in a coffin covered with fresh palm leaves. The fronds were a reference to his groundbreaking Natural History of Palms: a work in three volumes, published between 1823 and 1853.

This encyclopedic treasury of 240 exquisite chromolithographic illustrations was based on von Martius’s expeditions through Brazil and Peru. From 1817 to 1820, he traveled over 2,250 km (1,400 miles) through the Amazon basin to investigate natural history and native tribes with zoologist Johann Baptist von Spix.

The result was an unrivaled catalogue of all known genera of the palm family, outlining the modern classification of palms, describing all the palms of Brazil, and producing the first maps of palm biogeography. Von Martius’s folio is unusual in its inclusion of cross-sectioned diagrams, conveying the architecture of these mighty trees, which central Europeans would have found hard to imagine accurately. Equally remarkable are the color landscapes showing various palms—often standing alone in simple and elegant beauty.

Originally published in France between 1876 and 1888, Auguste Racinet’s Le Costume Historique was in its day the most wide-ranging and incisive study of clothing ever attempted. Covering the world history of costume, dress, and style from antiquity through to the end of the 19th century, the six volume work remains completely unique in its scope and detail.

This TASCHEN reprint presents Racinet’s exquisitely precise color illustrations, as well as his delightful descriptions and often witty commentary. Spanning everything from ancient Etruscan attire to French women’s couture, material is arranged according to Racinet’s original plan by culture and subject. As expansive in its reach as it is passionate in its research and attention to detail, Racinet's Costume History is an invaluable reference for students, designers, artists, illustrators, and historians; and a rich source of inspiration for anyone with an interest in clothing and style.

More than four centuries on from its first publication, discover one of the jewels of urban cartography and civic studies. This reprint includes the most enchanting color plates from the Civitates orbis terrarum, a magnificent collection of town map engravings, produced between 1572 and 1617.

Featuring plans, bird’s-eye views, and maps for all major cities in Europe, plus important urban centers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, this masterwork in urban mapping gives us a comprehensive view of city life at the turn of the 17th century. It was edited and annotated by theologian and publisher Georg Braun and largely engraved by Franz Hogenberg, but also involved over a hundred different artists and cartographers who contributed not only town views, but additional elements, such as figures in local dress, courtroom scenes, and topographical details, to help convey the situation, commercial power, and political influence of each city.

TASCHEN's reprint contextualizes the plates with selected extracts from Braun’s original texts on the history and significance of each urban center as well as detailed commentaries to place each city map in its cartographical and cultural context.

More than four centuries on from its first publication, discover one of the jewels of urban cartography and civic studies. This reprint includes the most enchanting color plates from the Civitates orbis terrarum, a magnificent collection of town map engravings, produced between 1572 and 1617.

Featuring plans, bird’s-eye views, and maps for all major cities in Europe, plus important urban centers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, this masterwork in urban mapping gives us a comprehensive view of city life at the turn of the 17th century. It was edited and annotated by theologian and publisher Georg Braun and largely engraved by Franz Hogenberg, but also involved over a hundred different artists and cartographers who contributed not only town views, but additional elements, such as figures in local dress, courtroom scenes, and topographical details, to help convey the situation, commercial power, and political influence of each city.

TASCHEN's reprint contextualizes the plates with selected extracts from Braun’s original texts on the history and significance of each urban center as well as detailed commentaries to place each city map in its cartographical and cultural context.

In 1776, at the Enlightenment’s height, Jan Christiaan Sepp published a wholly unique and striking work: A Representation of Marble Types. Across 100 richly hand-colored plates, it traced an elegant visual journey through 570 different marble types. This facsimile edition, a world first, devotedly brings to life a forgotten book of great knowledge and rare beauty.

Antiquarian, archaeologist, vulcanologist, and envoy to the British Embassy in Naples, Sir William Hamilton (1731–1803) was a leading European figure of his time. Though the romance between his wife Lady Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson tends to eclipse Sir William’s own activities, his work as a scientist and a classicist made major contributions to the study of Pompei, Herculaneum, and Mt. Vesuvius.

As an expert in ancient art, Hamilton also built up an invaluable collection of ancient Greek vases, subsequently sold to the British Museum in London in 1772. Before the pieces were shipped off to England, Hamilton commissioned Pierre-François Hugues d’Hancarville, an adventurous connoisseur and art dealer, to document the vases in words and images. The resulting catalog, published in four volumes and known as Les Antiquités d’Hancarville, represents a neoclassical masterpiece. Never before had ancient vases been represented with such meticulous detail and sublime beauty.

With this reprint, TASCHEN revives d’Hancarville’s masterful catalog for a contemporary audience, reproducing in exacting detail the same pristine images that sparked Europe’s love affair with the classical style.

Five hundred years after the historic French seaport of Le Havre was established, TASCHEN presents a facsimile reproduction of Les premières œuvres de Jacques Devaulx, pilote en la marine, first published by Le Havre-born “Naval Pilot to the King” Jacques Devaulx in 1583. This extraordinary illuminated manuscript, dedicated to the Duke of Joyeuse, collates nautical, astronomical, and cartographic ideas as well as Devaulx’s own extensive notes, observations, and records as a seafarer, hydrographer, cosmographer, and cartographer.An encyclopedic reference for sailors, as well as a magnificent maritime showpiece for his royal employers, the elaborately annotated and decorated folios are a repertoire of naval and cosmographic tools and techniques, including astrolabes, nautical charts of the Atlantic Ocean, tabular statements of diurnal tides, astrological charts, and measurements for solar altitude. They also gather Devaulx’s volvelles, wheel charts made of rotating parts that are today considered an early example of the paper analog computer. Together, the folios encapsulate the state of knowledge at a time when sailors pushed the limits of sea exploration and offer a glimpse into the practical daily requirements of Renaissance seafaring.This edition of Devaulx’s stunning document, produced in collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France, reproduces each of the 31 folios in all their brilliant art and science, including the original colorful illuminations, in particular the volvelles. The volume features essays by Jean-Yves Sarazin and Gerhard Holzer, as well as commentaries from a team of experts coordinated by Élisabeth Hébert and Véronique Hauguel-Thill, contextualizing Devaulx’s work with fascinating insights into 16th-century seafaring and exploration.

On December 15, 1868, Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794–1868), Professor of Botany at the University of Munich and director of the Royal Botanic Garden, was carried to his grave in a coffin covered with fresh palm leaves. The fronds were a reference to his groundbreaking Natural History of Palms: a work in three volumes, published between 1823 and 1853.

This encyclopedic treasury of 240 exquisite chromolithographic illustrations was based on von Martius’s expeditions through Brazil and Peru. From 1817 to 1820, he traveled over 2,250 km (1,400 miles) through the Amazon basin to investigate natural history and native tribes with zoologist Johann Baptist von Spix.

The result was an unrivaled catalogue of all known genera of the palm family, outlining the modern classification of palms, describing all the palms of Brazil, and producing the first maps of palm biogeography. Von Martius’s folio is unusual in its inclusion of cross-sectioned diagrams, conveying the architecture of these mighty trees, which central Europeans would have found hard to imagine accurately. Equally remarkable are the color landscapes showing various palms—often standing alone in simple and elegant beauty.

Originally published in France between 1876 and 1888, Auguste Racinet’s Le Costume Historique was in its day the most wide-ranging and incisive study of clothing ever attempted. Covering the world history of costume, dress, and style from antiquity through to the end of the 19th century, the six volume work remains completely unique in its scope and detail.

This TASCHEN reprint presents Racinet’s exquisitely precise color illustrations, as well as his delightful descriptions and often witty commentary. Spanning everything from ancient Etruscan attire to French women’s couture, material is arranged according to Racinet’s original plan by culture and subject. As expansive in its reach as it is passionate in its research and attention to detail, Racinet's Costume History is an invaluable reference for students, designers, artists, illustrators, and historians; and a rich source of inspiration for anyone with an interest in clothing and style.

Bold, stately, and elegant furniture is revealed in this entirely new survey of design, regional varieties and workshop collaborations in the American East Coast in the early nineteenth century.

Kelly C. and Randall A. Schrimsher began collecting American Classical decorative art in the mid-1980s. Their notable collection comprises hundreds of pieces of furniture by some of the most celebrated cabinetmakers from the key centers of Classical furniture production in the United States: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Past literature on American Classical furniture has studied the production centers in relative isolation; however, this catalogue's approach explores the rich artistic exchanges and rivalries that existed between the four cities including a selection of works by foremost cabinetmakers Duncan Phyfe, Charles-Honoré Lannuier, Isaac Vose, William Hancock, John and Hugh Finlay, Anthony Quervelle, and Joseph Barry. A lively export trade introduced Classical wares from these major centers of production to key ports across the United States such as Washington, D.C., Charleston, New Orleans, and beyond.

Wonderful examples by esteemed cabinetmakers and their workshops illustrate regional varieties, collaborations, and points of departure. In addition to the 85 full-page color illustrations of furniture, the book features over 150 additional comparative illustrations of pattern books, architectural designs, historical views, and detailed photos of carving, gilding, and painted surfaces.

The list of authors includes the Decorative Arts Trust's Executive Director and current and past members of its Board of Governors: Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, Christine Thomson, Clark Pearce, Gregory R. Weidman, Kimberly E. Schrimsher, Matthew A. Thurlow, Peter M. Kenny, and Wendy A. Cooper.

All proceeds benefit the Decorative Arts Trust's Publishing Grants program.

With a dedication to luxury and practicality, Louis Vuitton designed his unique lightweight, airtight luggage in 1854 and ensured that jetsetters all over the globe could travel in comfort and style. It was a creation that founded a fashion house and became a standard-bearer for all travel pieces of the future.

Exploring the history from traditional box-making to the revolution of the stackable trunk to modern-day artistic collaborations, the book captures the story and craftmanship behind this status symbol and how the luggage continues to define the spirit of travel. From the unmistakable Monogram canvas to the unpickable lock, the steamer trunk to the Speedy, every detail and feature is unveiled.

A vibrant study of the history and production of the Bryce glass company, one of the most successful designers and producers of pattern glass tableware, novelties and lamps in the nineteenth century.

Scottish immigrant James Bryce (1812–1893) began his glassmaking career at the age of ten as a child laborer on the floor of a Pittsburgh glasshouse working for $1.25 a week. In 1850 he founded his own glassware company just as pressed glass was increasing in popularity. Pressed glass transformed the lives of everyday people by making beautiful tableware widely available to those who could not afford the expensive blown and cut crystal enjoyed by their wealthy neighbors. Bryce became one of the largest producers of pattern glass in America and by 1871 was shipping its products all over the world. The company continued operations for 113 years, guided by second and then third generation family members.

This volume celebrates the beauty and artistry of the naturalistic designs, colorful tableware, and whimsical novelties Bryce produced between 1850 and 1891. At its heart, this book is a highly-illustrated work with 190 newly commissioned color plates beautifully photographed by leading decorative arts photographer Gavin Ashworth. It concludes with a compendium of authenticated Bryce products illustrated primarily with period line drawings that will be a valuable tool for both sophisticated glass scholars and casual collectors alike.

A fascinating survey of exceptional American chair design from the early nineteenth century to the present day.

Designed for function, each chair has a story to tell about the history and evolution of American design, art and craftmanship. At the heart of the catalogue is the presentation of 57 chairs from the Jacobsen Collection of American Art covered in 49 essays, all showing beauty and historical context, as well as important social, economic, political and cultural influences. Highlights include designs by John Henry Belter, George Hunzinger, Herter Brothers, Stickley Brothers, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Isamu Noguchi, and Frank Gehry, among others. There are good examples of historically significant chairs, such as the House of Representatives Chamber Arm Chair (1857), and a photograph of this chair being sat in by Abraham Lincoln, plus an Appalachian Bent Willow Armchair, which is shown in a 1901 photo being sat in by President McKinley on the porch of his summer home. Key icons from post-war American history include Charles Eames’ 1946 moulded plywood Low/Lounge Wood Chair, and the Contour Bar Stool designed by Frank Gehry in 1972.

The chairs are arranged across four main, broadly chronological sections, from the early 1800s to the Civil War; from Reconstruction through the Gilded Age to the dawn of the 20th century; from Art Nouveau to post-war Modernism; and finally, from the post-war Space Age to the Digital Age and the contemporary focus on space saving and sustainability. Each section opens with a brief introduction to its key themes.

The fascinating world of Goebel is brought to you by two of the world's foremost authorities, Werner Moderhack and Ray Wagner.

This book, Goebel: The Collector's Guide, is printed in full color and is the most comprehensive and completely researched guide ever published on Goebel products. It is published with the approval and cooperation of Goebel Porzellanfabrik, Rodental, Germany.

Contents include: Value and Identification Guide; Listings of Goebel Artists and Sculptors; Trademark History, Goebel History; Many prototypes and other rare pieces; and Madonnas which include figurines, wall hangings, plaques, busts and grave markers. Every category is as complete as research and expertise will permit. Plus Works of major artists such as Lore (Blumenkinder), Kathe Kruse, Normal Rockwell (Original), Schaubach, Nasha, Huldah, Staehle and many others. 

This volume commences with the the books and manuscripts given at the foundation of King's College in 1495, continues with the collections which accrued to Marischal College from its foundation in 1593, and comes together with the fusion of the two colleges in 1860 in the modern University of Aberdeen.

From the beginning, the scope and focus of the University was international, and its developing collections represent a microcosm of the world of knowledge as it changed over the centuries. The University Colleges of Aberdeen have a distinct intellectual tradition: pragmatically tolerant in times of persecution; dissident from the religious and political policies of the Lowlands; looking outwards to the world of northern Europe and to the territories of the Jacobite diaspora.

The book introduces one of the oldest continually-evolving academic library collections of the Anglophone world, surveys its history and includes a series of studies of items or collections of particular interest.