From BBC:
Kipling first edition with author’s poignant note found

A first edition of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” was found in England’s National Trust’s Wimpole Hall where the author’s older daughter, Elsie, resided for almost 40 years. Making the discovery even more exciting was what Kipling handwrote inside: “This book belongs to Josephine Kipling for whom it was written by her father, May 1894.” Josephine died five years later at age 6.

From The Arizona Republic:
Wright archivist revels in auction haul

Nineteen-year-old Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer got the golden opportunity to study at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in 1949. After the architect’s death in 1959, Pfeiffer took on the task for Wright’s foundation of archiving memorabilia housed in Taliesin West, from drawings to correspondence. More than 50 years later, Pfeiffer hit unexpected pay dirt when the foundation was able to pick up at auction a collection of more than 1,000 items amassed by a former Wright student with the archivist paying the bulk of the $48,800. Talk about devotion to your work.

From CNN International:
Why African art is having a renaissance

Contemporary African art has long been the stepchild of the world market. Not so any longer. More than 400 African artists displayed works at the Johannesburg Art Fair recently, which hosted more than 10,000 people. According to the fair’s organizer, Ross Douglas, “Africa has always had a strong tribal art and a strong craft component, and that will always stay . . . If you look at the number of young black artists doing well, making a living, it’s extraordinary. Five years ago it just didn’t exist.”

From Bloomberg:
Sotheby’s Hong Kong Sale Raises $258 Million on Global Growth

It was happy days for Sotheby’s at its Hong Kong sale last week. Think almost $260 million happy. The results were $90 million more than presale estimates. Some of the lots brought amounts comparable to those fetched before the credit crisis tanked the world economy.

From the Los Angeles Times:
Foreclosure auction of Nicolas Cage’s mansion is a flop

No happy days for actor Nicolas Cage of “Leaving Las Vegas” and “Con Air” fame. The “National Treasure” star is in a bit of a financial bind, and his 11,817-square-foot Bel-Air home was up for court auction last week. Cage had been trying to sell the place for $35 million. No one bit on the $10.4 million opener. It might have been because the house, as one real-estate agent put it, is “frat house bordello.”

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Pete Max on the cover of "Life"

Peter Max's Liberty Overpaint

29. Mary Louise McLaughlin and Maria Longworth Nichols

An example of Rookwood pottery

Maria Longworth Nichols

28. Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein

"Blam"

"Ben Day Dot" artist whose cartoonish mass media works often incorporated words like "Zoom" and "Pow!" Probably overanalyzed by the experts, produced color and bold graphic art for fun's sake.

27. Charles & Henry Green

Mahogany Libary Table by Charles & Henry Green

Charles & Henry Green

26. Donald Deskey

Donald Deskey

A desk by Donald Deskey

Leading American Art Deco/Art Moderne Designer who streamlined designs and pioneered the utilization of cork-lined walls, copper ceilings, movable walls, pigskin-covered furniture, linoleum floors, Bakelite, Formica, Fabrikoid, brushed aluminum and chromium-plated brass.

25. Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World"

Andrew Wyeth

Realism painter whose intense and moving photograph-like images draw record crowds when he exhibits. A true American "Grass Roots" artist.

24. Eero Saarinen

Eero Saarinen

The Ingalls Hockey Rink by Eero Saarinen

Architect and city planner famous for the TWA Terminal at Kennedy International, the Chicago Tribune Tower and the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Many of Saarinen's designs have almost no straight lines, just flowing streamlined curves. 1960's type Futurism on a grand scale.

23. Robert Rauschenberg

"Retroactive 1, 1961" by Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg

22. Jim Henson

Jim Henson and the Muppets

21. Harley Earl

Harley Earl's 1956 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket

Harley J. Earl

20. Hans G. & Florence Knoll

Hans and Florence Knoll

A Florence Knoll lounge chair

Husband and wife team followed in the footsteps of Knoll’s father’s pioneering modern furniture design and interior architectural planning.

19. Charles Eames

The Eames lounge chair and ottoman

Charles Eames

Remember those futuristic fiberglass and cast aluminum stacking chairs from the 50s and 60s? He invented them. Eames was a tireless experimenter in plastic, metal, plywood and other materials; and in bold new forms he introduced to his innovative body contoured furniture.

18. Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper

"Night Hawks" by Edward Hopper

Stark realistic painter of American vistas, often depicted in a somber mood and devoid of life even when characters are introduced to his work; as in his famous diner painting "Nighthawks."

17. Willem de Kooning

"Unititled XXV" by Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning

Abstract expressionist leader rivaled perhaps only by Jackson Pollack, de Kooning is famous for the action and figurative imagery he introduced into his modern art paintings.

16. Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

Theodore Seuss Geisel

The Cat in the Hat

15. Maxfield Parrish

"Cinderella" by Maxfield Parrish

Maxfield Parrish

14. Gustav Stickley

Gustav Stickley

The Stickley Chair

13. Thomas Hart Benton

"The Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley" by Thomas Hart Benton

Thomas Hart Benton

American regionalist painter focusing on rural and small town American "characters," often in a comical light.

12. Georgia O'Keefe

Georgia O'Keefe

"Red Poppy" by Georgia O'Keefe

Imitative Realist whose sensuous and spiritual depictions of naturalistic southwestern desert terrain became one of the most popular lines of poster and print images hanging in American homes from the mid 1960s on.

11. Jasper Johns

"Three Flags" by Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns

10. Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

"Fallingwater" by Frank Lloyd Wright

Invented a new type of suburbia with his broad eve. Deep porch, clean wood Prairie homes. Master designer and pioneer of Mission oak type furnishings. A true genius with wide ranging talents that made him a celebrity architect.

9. Jackson Pollock

Untitled (Green Silver)" by Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollack

The guy who, amongst other techniques, splattered and poured paint onto a canvas from overhead and called it art. Thing was, it is. Surprisingly, Pollock's work is almost impossible to duplicate. An artist who assaulted the bounds of art and got away with it, brilliantly.

8. Jerry Siegel and Joseph Shuster

Jerry Siegel and Joseph Shuster

Action Comic and Superman

In 1933 the two self-described "bespectacled, introverted, inhibited boys pooled their talents and dreams to create a revolutionary new type of duel-personality comic book hero they called "The Superman."

7. Alfred Stieglitz

"The Steerage" by Alfred Stieglitz

Alfred Stieglitz

6. Louis Comfort Tiffany

Louis Comfort Tiffany

"Tulip Table Lamp" by Louis Comfort Tiffany

5. Alexander Calder

"The Star" by Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder

Abstract artist famous for the development of "mobile" and "stabile" sculpture and producing art on a monumental scale.

4. William Van Alen

William Van Alen with his wife

William Van Alen's Chrysler Building

3. Andy Warhol

"Campbell's Soup Can" by Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

2. Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

"Rosie the Riviter" by Norman Rockwell

1. Walt Disney

Walt Disney's Pluto and Mickey Mouse

Walt Disney

Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Snow White, Bambi, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, the first theme park, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. What do you get when you combine artistic flair, unparalleled imagination, technical genius, inventiveness, brilliant business savvy and add in a good work ethic, too. You get the "Wonderful World of Disney!" He practically invented the art of making art fun, especially for kids.

— by Wayne Mattox Antique Talk

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Let’s start with one of North America’s oldest furniture styles, the so-called Pilgrim or Puritan style, beginning in the early 1600s. Most of the folks of this period were VERY recent arrivals and the furniture they crafted for themselves had a very familiar look to it. After taking into account what might be called “regional influences”—meaning the Colonies—the style itself is essentially “Jacobean,” that catch-all Latin term referring to England in the time of King James I, Charles I, the Commonwealth, the Restoration, Charles II and James II. In other words, most of the 17th century until William and Mary came along, circa. 1688. The furniture was blocky, big, solid, dark and ungainly, mostly made of oak—just like at home. The Colonists were true to their heritage.

Early in the 18th century the effects of the William and Mary reign became felt in American furniture thought. It took a few years to get here, but the Colonies always lagged behind, transportation being what it was. The Dutch craftsmen employed by William introduced a new, lighter, more comfortable form with bun—or Spanish—feet, elegant turnings and decorations and teardrop pulls, and they influenced Colonial furniture in turn. Some of America’s most prized antiques are Colonial interpretations of William and Mary.

This William & Mary highboy shows the verticality of the new form in the late 17th century.

After William’s death in 1702, Mary’s little sister Anne became Queen of England and the Colonies dutifully imported (belatedly of course) the newest style named after the new queen. The QA style was slim and elegant with graceful curves, subtle decoration, slipper or pad feet and valanced skirts, all in all a very feminine form. This English style also created some of America’s most cherished works.

Just as Thomas Chippendale borrowed the QA style in 1750, adding dog ears, pierced splats and heavy acanthus carving and calling it his own, the Colonies borrowed the new style from Thomas and used it right into the Revolution, being careful not to call it “Georgian,” as the later version of the style was known in England.

A Philadelphia chair circa 1776 shows the rococo changes Chippendale made to the basic Queen Anne chair.

At long last, the Revolution! Surely, this called for a new American styling and so it was called “Federal,” in honor of the new country based on federal, rather than royal principles. So who were the great designers and builders of America’s new furniture? Among the strong stylistic influences were George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton, respected English designers of the period. Also prominent were the Adam brothers, Robert and James, Scottish architects greatly influenced by first century Roman architecture.

The end of a D-end Federal period banquet table shows the influence of Thomas Sheraton in the tapered legs.

On this side of the Atlantic, the best known practitioner of Federal was the Scotsman residing in New York named Duncan Phyfe, whose work was influenced by the early traditional English designers, but also by the Directoire and Empire of France and the Regency of England. Phyfe’s contemporary, Charles-Honore’ Lannuier, recently arrived from France and worked in the Directoire and later Empire field as his contribution to Federal furniture.

By the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, the facade of Federal had fallen to the unabashed Europhile Empire style; Napoleon’s only lasting positive contribution to the world. He had directed his architects to develop a new style for his “Empire,” which they enthusiastically did, combining classical motifs from Egypt and Greece with animistic additions such as carved animal feet and wings. Napoleon of course didn’t make it, but his style survived in England, modified only slightly, as Regency, and in America first as Empire and then in later versions as “Late Classicism” or “Restauration” as late as mid-century.

This classic Empire chair was made by Duncan Phyfe, circa 1820. (Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences photo).

Victoria became queen of England in 1837, and that started a 60-year binge of digging up and recycling styles of the past, politely called “revivals” under the umbrella label of “Victorian,” and America joined the bandwagon. Major revivals of style included Rococo-Louis XV, the revival of a phase of European art of the 18th century featuring rocks (rocailles) and shells (coquilles), Renaissance, a revival of 15th and 16th century Italian styles, Gothic, a revival of 15th century styles which was itself a revival of the 9th century as well as other lesser known revivals.

This chair by Belter illustrates the decorative flavor of the Rococo Revival of the mid 19th century.

A Renaissance Revival bed, circa 1875, reflects the architectural element of the style.

It also included a newer form based on the architectural concepts of an Englishman named Charles Locke Eastlake, whose idea of linear simplicity was driven to absurdity by American factory designers.

A reaction to all this elaborate revival erupted in Europe in the late 19th century, led mainly by William Morris in England and produced the Arts and Crafts movement, quickly embraced in America by Elbert Hubbard who started the Roycroft colony in Aurora, New York, by the Stickley family and by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Thus, it appears that for most of America’s existence, we have mooched our styles from abroad. Then, at last, came the great American contribution to American furniture: In the latter part of the 19th century we started to reproduce our own borrowed history and in the process accidentally produced the one true American style—Colonial Revival.

This 1930s table shows the creative redesign of Colonial styles in this Colonial Revival Depression era interpretation of the Jacobean style. This was our new style.

Fred Taylor is a Worthologist who specializes in American furniture from the Late Classicism period (1830-1850).

Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com. His book “How To Be A Furniture Detective” is now available for $18.95 plus $3 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423.

Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques,” by Fred Taylor ($25 + $3 S&H) are also available at the same address.

For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

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Yesterday, I shared about European and Early American chairs, but if I was starting to take an interest in furniture today, it would be in the Arts and Crafts Furniture and the Modern Design pieces. This is where the trend is, and that is where we want to be.

Arts and Crafts is already well into the trend, but I think there is still a lot to go. Names like Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright and Limbert are going to grace our homes for a long time. The young collectors seem to be drawn to this style, so don’t try to fight a trend.

Places to find out more about the Arts and Crafts design era is to view catalogs from Rago Arts and Auction and Treadway Galleries. These two houses seem to be the trendsetters for the Arts and Crafts market. There you will find true values for the chairs and other furniture and objects of art that were produced during this period. They have some of the finest art pottery pieces of this time period, as well. If you get a chance to visit one of their auctions, you’ll get an education that is well worth the time. Buying a few of their back catalogs to use as a source of reference will be a superb addition to your library. Study their websites. They list their sales and even the results of their sales. What a great way to become educated at no cost.

Most of the items that bring the big bucks are made of oak and have a rather straight, minimalistic design, but you can find ones made of mahogany and birdseye maple. These can have a branded mark or cellophane label. Often the cellophane labels are missing, and so unscrupulous people have even reproduced these labels and placed them on items that are nowhere like the items they claim to be.

The area that I am least familiar with is the Modern 20th Century Design Movement. However, when I look at some of the Wright Auction catalogs, I know that it is time for me to step up to the plate and get an education in this area. This market seems to be lead by certain designers and you must know their names and designs. If you do the rewards will be tremendous.

Modern 20th Century Design are those objects of art, lighting, and furniture from about 1920 through the present time, and they continue to be a hot commodity in the collectibles world, especially for the younger generation who grew up during the time period of these great designers.

A lady whose home I went to shared a story about the time she and her husband started house keeping in the 50”s. Today, she was ready to change the way she was living and a friend suggested she call Wright Auctions to get an idea of the values of the items she was tired of. The auction house representative came, and she could see the excitement in their eyes. They hauled off furniture she would have gladly sold for a few thousand dollars. Later, after their auction, she received a check for well over $100,000 from Wright. Now that would be what I consider finding a treasure, even if I had owned it all the time.

Furniture, lighting, and art objects from the top designers of this time have been copied, often rather badly, but it is the designer pieces of this time that are considered works of art, commanding top prices in today’s marketplace. No one has changed the world of Modern Design Furniture and Objects of Art as much as Wright Auction House.

In 2000, founders Richard Wright and his wife, Julie Thoma Wright opened the doors of their auction business, specializing in items from this period. Their business creativity drastically changed the face of business in this area of the market. Julie Thomas Wright, we are sorry to say, has recently passed away, but it was her visionary ideas for this business that propelled this company forward to become today’s standard for Modern Design Collectibles. Today, Wright Auctions is known internationally as the spot to go for the best of these designer items.

This area of Antiques and Collectibles can be the turning point in your career as a buyer and seller. To really make some serious money, spend time studying the Modern movement. Call Wright Auction and ask how to get up to date in your knowledge of this movement. They will be glad to share with you because they want new people to appreciate modern design and this is where they make their money. Call them at 1-312-563-0020 , and they might even have a few old catalogs to share with you.

For those who are following my book and have joined the 31 Club, dealing in these more rare and valuable items is the direction we move toward, step-by-step. You might still be working the lower end steps at the moment, but when you stick with it, continuing to complete each step, soon enough you will find yourself in the position to be buying rare and high end items. Knowledge about these designer items will expand the areas in which you can trade.

Most of my readers know, as a rule, I don’t deal in antique furniture. I’m not much interested in dealing with bulky items that require more than myself to transport, nor do I want to keep the kind of storage space furniture requires. But, I must say, in this case, I’m seriously considering making an exception for some of these fine pieces and the prices they can bring in.

Prices for items by well known designers and artists like Vladimir Kagan, George Nakashima, Ponti, and Paul Evans, can bring in amounts of $40,000 to well over $150,000. You might not recognize these names right now, but I hope you will in the future. If you ran across any of these items in a house sale right now, I doubt you would recognize them, and you’d be passing on a find that could make a big difference in your life.

Tomorrow I’ll continue to examine the furniture market. This study should take at least the rest of this week, but you should be picking up ideas for future study. One way is to get a great cup of coffee at your local book store and browse their selections on furniture. I promise that you will be engaged in conversation quickly with someone who is doing the same thing.

Find out more about our step-by-step program to enable you to work in the more rare and valuable items in the Antique, Art, & Collectible Markets at www.31corp.com

Today’s Links:

http://www.treadwaygallery.com/

http://www.ragoarts.com/

http://www.wright20.com/

http://www.mensvogue.com/design/feature/articles/2007/02/richard_wright

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/March-2007/The-Wright-Way/

http://www.31corp.com.