Catalog (2467)

Stunning Victorian bronze picture frame, the border inset with gold velvet completely encrusted with gold thread embroidery of twining vines and flowers. The easel back is covered in gold moire silk.

Origin: probably French, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent; some staining on the back side. Size: outer--2.5"x3.25"; sight--1.5"x2.25".

Attractive and unusual Victorian inlaid wood stereographgraphoscope. When the lid is raised and a stereograph is inserted in the holder, the viewer looks through the magnifying portal for a realistic three dimensional view.

Origin: probably English, ca. 1850. Condition: very good, although there is some chipping of the veneer along the edges. Size: 5.25" x 3.25" x 1".

Lovely blown flint glass sugar bowl or covered comport in a panel design, the molded bell-shaped lid rising to a pointed finial. The bottom has a polished pontil. The glass is of heavy weight and good clarity.

Origin: American, possibly Sandwich or Cambridge, ca. 1840. Condition: the bowl has one 1/8" flake under the bottom rim and another of the same size on the edge of the bottom rim; the top has one 1/2" shallow flake underneath the rim and some general roughness around the edges of the rim. Size: 5" diam.; 7" tall.

Hand carved giltwood letter "O". Gilt letters and numbers from 19th century trade signs have great graphic appeal and offer a fun opportunity to try to put together your name or initials.

Origin: American, 19th century. Condition: excellent, all original surface. Size: 7-3/4" high.

Hand carved giltwood letter "C". Gilt letters and numbers from 19th century trade signs have great graphic appeal and offer a fun opportunity to try to put together your name or initials.

Origin: American, 19th century. Condition: excellent, all original surface. Size: 6-1/4" high.

Hand carved giltwood letter "G", unusual for being an italic letter and for the sides having contrasting black sand paint decoration. Gilt letters and numbers from 19th century trade signs have great graphic appeal and offer a fun opportunity to try to put together your name or initials.

Origin: American, 19th century. Condition: very good, all original surface, 40% wear to the black paint along the sides. Size: 7-3/4" high.

Nice Victorian brass ladies' lace-up boot. This example has holes drilled to represent the holes for laces. The Victorians often placed these along their mantles for purely decorative purposes.

Origin: England or America, ca. 1880. Condition: excellent, light scratching near the toe. Size: 4.5" tall.

Unusual Victorian copper ladies' button-up boot. The Victorians often placed these along their mantles for purely decorative purposes. Most examples are made of brass, but this piece is entirely copper. Another nice touch is the applied scalloped pattern along the front edge of the boot and the white brass buttons.

Origin: England or America, ca. 1880. Condition: excellent. Size: 5" tall.

Staffordshire Red Riding Hood & The Wolf figure decorated in red, green, blue, black, pink, yellow and brown enamels.

Origin: Staffordshire, England, ca. 1850. Condition: some scratching to the overglaze red enamel (mostly at her elbow and along the edges of her bonnet), otherwise excellent. Size: 4" tall.

Outstanding American late Classical mirror framed in solid well-figured mahogany with a gilt applied composition border of bellflowers. The gilding has a particularly rich patina. The glass is old and 1/4" thick, but probably not original, and has dulled to a very nice patina. The plate is backed with a wood panel that is covered with paper. The nails holding the plate in place have been replaced.

Origin: America, probably mid-Atlantic region, ca. 1840. Condition: all original surfaces; the tip of one bellflower is broken off; crackling of composition elements appropriate to age. Size: 14.5" diameter.

Stunning single-vase epergne in blue opaline glass. The deeply ruffled edges of the trumpet vase contrasts with the gentler ruffle of the lower bowl. The coloring is particularly nice.

Origin: probably France, possibly England, c. 1840. Condition: the very bottom of the trumpet is broken off, but when the trumpet is in place, the break is below the juncture with the lower bowl and no problems are visible (there is a remote possibility that this damage was in the making); otherwise excellent. Size: 8-3/4" tall; 7" diam.

Lovely bar pin in lapiday-cut banded agate. The strong malachite green color is very unusual and striking. The mountings are gold filled. The back retains the original "C" clasp and tube hinge.

Origin: Scotland, mid 19th century. Condition: small flakes on the back sides of three corners (only faintly visible from the front when inspected closely). Size: 2-1/4" long.

Superb gilt bronze figural inkstand depicting a still pond afloat with water lilies. Separately cast lily pads float just above the surface of the bronze "water", three buds in various stages of development rise above the leaves, and the whole is topped off by a fabulous full-blown waterlily inkwell with a honeybee finial. One of the buds serves as a pen holder. The "pond" is raised on three feet cast in the form of salamanders so fully detailed that their coiled bodies are visible only when the inkstand is turned upside down.

Origin: probably English or French, c. 1870. Condition: excellent; some minor pitting from the corrosive inks; the glass insert is missing; some of the details show very nice green patination. Size: 12-1/2" x 8-1/2" x 3-1/2".

Staffordshire pottery cup and saucer decorated in a rare combination of rococo brown transfer reserves with pink luster roses. The earthenware body is molded in a swirled pattern.

Origin: England, c. 1850. Condition: mint. Size: saucer, 5" diam.; cup 2-1/4" tall, 3" diam. (not including handle).

Sterling silver berry spoon in Towle's 1884 "Arlington" pattern. This rare pattern featured a different repousse design on each piece of the service. The gilt spade-shaped bowl is engraved with climbing roses growing on a trellis. This decoration is especially interesting.

The pattern is named after Robert E. Lee's plantation, "Arlington". Union troops buried their dead in Mrs. Lee's rose garden as a spiteful act, and unwittingly created Arlington National Cemetary.

Origin: America, c. 1880s. Condition: excellent, gilding intact, no monogram. Size: 6-7/8" long.

Lovely sterling silver lettuce fork in Whiting's 1896 "Dresden" pattern. The ornate design of flowers and shells compliments the elegant shape of the piece.

Iceberg lettuce, developed at the end of the 19th century, was the first leafy vegetable that would keep long enough to be transported from farms to larger cities. Consequently, lettuce was a very elegant and costly food at formal dinners.

Origin: America, c. 1900. Condition: excellent, no monogram. Size: 9-1/4".

John C. Moore period Tiffany & Co. sterling silver child's fork decorated with the nursery rhyme "Cock Robin & Jenny Wren." The fork shows the likeness of Mr. Robin wearing a tuxedo and Ms. Wren demurely peeking over her fan. The back is marked "Tiffany & Co. Sterling". The back also bears the letter M designating manufacture between the years 1875 and 1891.

Condition: excellent; usual wear to outer tines; no monogram. Size: 6-1/4" long.

Early Staffordshire porcelain saucer decorated with bright polychrome enamels and pink luster arranged in a very pretty wreath pattern. The body is very slightly molded into lobes along the edges.

Origin: England, c. 1840. Condition: good; a small crow's foot on the back side and a small bite to the bottom rim. Size: 5-5/8" diam.