Site Logo
The embroidered figures on this 17th-century box are three-dimensional. They were made with a technique called stumpwork that was popular at the time and, even after hundreds of years, shows the embroiderer’s advanced skill.

Life

3D figures made with tricky stumpwork shows embroiderer’s skill

At auction, this 17th-century English needlepoint casket garnered nearly three times its low estimate.

Although it was made in the 20th century, this wine rack brings Regency style into a modern setting.

Life

Revival furniture offers period styles at more affordable prices

This 20th-century wine rack — made in the style of the early 19th-century Regency period — sold for…

Three-dimensional silver figures of animals and wildlife are often seen on elaborate silver pieces. This bowl takes a slightly different approach, with figures of sea animals attached to a wire net.

Life

This silver ‘Sealife bowl’ features 3D creatures caught in a net

Decorations on silver can include engravings, piercings and textured designs, as well as more elaborate applications.

Figural cocktail shakers, like this silver-plated rabbit, were popular in the 1920s and ’30s and have been reproduced more recently. This Easter bunny cocktail shaker isn’t leaving treats for kids!

Life

This Easter item will help grown-ups get through the egg hunt

Festive bunny figurine is actually a cocktail shaker. Somebody paid six grand for it at an antiques auction.

This midcentury Windsor style chair features the crest and colors of Harvard University. It sold for $438, more than twice its estimate, at a Bonhams Skinner auction.

Life

This chair brings together two icons of colonial America

This Harvard University Windsor chair is just one of many variations on so-called stick furniture.

Antique mocha ware, made in England to export to the United States and Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries, caught collectors’ attention in the mid-20th century. Like many mocha pieces, this colorful mug is decorated with several patterns.

Life

The name for decorated pottery like this can be deceiving

Mocha pottery is made from clay and features colorful patterns painted over a white glaze.

This cast-iron wood stove kept a 19th-century room warm. Its embossed designs, especially the rows of pointed arches on its sides, were meant to evoke medieval architecture.

Life

Designs on this cast-iron wood stove exemplify Gothic Revival style

This Victorian-era stove features a row of pointed arches, a distinctive feature of Gothic architecture.

When advertisements include pictures of people, their clothing and hairstyles can help date the item. This store display for Bicycle Playing Cards is from about 1930.

Life

Dating this display ad for playing cards comes down to garb

The Bicycle Playing Cards brand has been around since 1885, but this display is not quite so old.

This steel pod chair garnered extra interest from collectors due to its upholstery — a graffiti version of the Declaration of Independence designed by Stephen Sprouse for Knoll.

Life

Pod chair’s colorful upholstery pairs perfectly with unusual shape

Made of pressed steel and upholstered in fabric by Stephen Sprouse, this chair sold at auction for $4,375.

This brass inlaid inkstand was made in Victorian London. A label on its base provides insight into its history.

Life

An original paper label adds value to this Victorian inkstand

Information about this specific item’s provenance is not immediately obvious

Is it a music box, a toy, a showpiece or a robot? Wind it with a key, and a feathery bird pops out to chirp and flutter in a lifelike way.

Life

Mechanical creatures have long captured our imaginations

This singing bird, which appears from inside a music box, sold for $4,560 at auction.

This seed chest was made about 1870 out of inexpensive wood for a practical purpose. Now it can command a higher price than some designer pieces.

Life

Little is known about artisan except that his work is coveted

Famous names add to the value of an antique, even if we know more about the maker’s work…

We don’t know whose eye is depicted in this miniature, but it must have been someone well loved. Wearing a miniature painting of a loved one’s eye was fashionable in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Life

Soapy TV show inspires interest in 19th century accessory

An eye miniature on a pendant, as seen on “Bridgerton,” sells for $704 at auction.

The art deco period began about 100 years ago and has not lost its appeal. This geometric cabinet with wood veneers is an example of the style.

Life

Once epitome of modern, art deco is approaching antiquity

The legal definition of an antique is that it is at least 100 years old. This means the…

Photo Caption: This musical cigarette dispenser dates to the 1950s. Smoking was fashionable at the time; the link between smoking and lung cancer had not yet been proven.

Life

Smoking’s out of fashion, but cigarette paraphernalia is prized

This music box/cigarette dispenser sold for $252 at a recent antiques auction.

Photo Caption: Taxidermy birds were fashionable in the nineteenth century. Opposition to the trend led to conservation movements that still exist today. (c) 2023 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.

Life

19th century style fad spurred activism that endures today

Victorians’ many weird tastes included stuffing and mounting birds to decorate their homes’ interiors.

Viktor Schreckengost worked for Cowan briefly and created some of their most memorable designs. This earthenware plate shows the art deco style of the early 1930s.

Life

Pieces of art can serve a useful purpose, too

An example is this art deco Viktor Schreckengost earthenware plate from 1930.

Leave it to Santa Claus to fill a bundle of firewood with candy! This papier-mache figure of Santa on a sled is a candy container.

Life

This papier-mache Santa’s got a load of candy in his sleigh

And maybe there was 6 grand in there, too, because that’s what somebody paid for this tchotchke.

Photo Caption: There's finding a toy in your food packaging, and then there's making a toy from the packaging. Towle's Log Cabin brand provided a rolling platform to turn their iconic syrup tin into a pull toy.

Life

Advertising was targeted at kids back in Grandpa’s day, too

This Log Cabin Express toy transformed into a toy after its days as a pancake syrup dispenser were…

This advertising lamp includes figures of a team of horses pulling a beer cart with drivers, followed by a crowd of Dalmatians. Similar scenes may take place in real life on Budweiser’s promotional tours. The lamp with a moving wagon sold for $625.

Life

Prohibition’s repeal spawned the Budweiser Clydesdale horses

The first team of draft horses delivered the first load of beer after the repeal, and an effective…