I checked in at three of the events in Philly yesterday, and am happy to report they are spectacular. This is a beautiful day to get out and enjoy the offerings of More »
Chinese ceramics are not what you’d most expect to find at events focused primarily on American antiques and art like Philadelphia Antiques Week. Yet in most cases, as you turn a corner, More »
Trained as apprentice by his father in a family shop in Pont-Saint-Esprit, France, merchant and cabinetmaker Michel Bouvier experienced considerable success during his career of more than thirty years. Bouvier established himself More »
There’s so much to see and do during Antiques Week in Philadelphia, it’s hard to get it all in. Moreover, finding good food is always at the heart of making most any More »
Located in the gracious green environment of historic Chestnut Hill, Woodmere Art Museum is a living history of Philadelphia’s artists, past and present. Philadelphia’s premier institution for interpreting the art and culture More »
Antiques Week in Philadelphia is quickly approaching. Hundreds of dealers will be making their way to the City of Brotherly Love in April for the Philadelphia Antiques Show and the 23rd Street More »
Later this month the Philadelphia Museum of Art will commemorate the installation of Sol LeWitt’s Lines in Four Directions in Flowers, a garden consisting of rows of flowers in four different colors planted on a long rectangular plot of land in the William M. Reilly Memorial at Fairmount Park. A leading figure in the Conceptual Art movement, LeWitt (1928-2007) conceived this installation 30 years ago, yet it has remained unrealized until now.
Freeman’s marathon day of auctions on April 30 — American Furniture, Silver, Folk & Decorative Arts and the Historic USS Constitution Colors from the Collection of H. Richard Dietrich Jr. –was a success realizing a combined total of $2.5 million.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Frank Furness did not attend a university or travel through Europe in order to refine his skills as an architect. Instead Furness supplemented his training as an apprentice of Richard Morris Hunt by drawing from poetry, the industrial age and his experiences in the Civil War. The resulting furniture, interior designs and more than 600 buildings are an eclectic amalgamation of Medieval style, modern concepts of emotion, physical sensation and the expression of both through design.
Jonathan Gostelowe was the eldest of four in a farming family of both English and Swedish origins, and though a Philadelphia native it is not known who he was apprenticed to. Better accounted for are his contributions to Philadelphia’s cabinetmaking and religious communities, in addition to his service in the American revolution where he served as a Major. Gostelowe is known for his excellent execution of the Chippendale style and was active in the cabinetmaking trade before and after the War. In 1788 he was a chairman of the Gentlemen Cabinet and Chair Makers and in 1789 after his second marriage to a wealthy bride, Jonathan Gostelowe became a fixture in Philadelphia society.
I checked in at three of the events in Philly yesterday, and am happy to report they are spectacular. This is a beautiful day to get out and enjoy the offerings of the gallerists, many of whom have traveled hundreds of miles to get your attention.
Joseph Barry’s career as a furniture craftsman mirrors the chaos present in the United States in establishing itself as a new republic. Similar to the way early the nation’s capital was shifted from the cultural hub of Philadelphia to Washington D.C., Barry found it necessary to move between design firms and partnerships in various locations along the eastern seaboard. As a result, it is difficult to identify Barry’s work from the first two decades following his tumultuous launch into the cabinetmaking business.
Chinese ceramics are not what you’d most expect to find at events focused primarily on American antiques and art like Philadelphia Antiques Week. Yet in most cases, as you turn a corner, there they are.
Dealers in this area focus on items made for the U.S. market in colonial times. Remnants of the time exist today, including in the name of a neighborhood in Baltimore, and several cities in the U.S. named after it, Canton.
Trained as apprentice by his father in a family shop in Pont-Saint-Esprit, France, merchant and cabinetmaker Michel Bouvier experienced considerable success during his career of more than thirty years. Bouvier established himself in Philadelphia in 1815 following the Napoleonic wars and went on to become an important figure in the city’s cabinetmaking community. His high-style designs incorporate elements that are obviously French, along with gilding and other surface ornaments which hint toward an English influence on Bouvier’s work. Bouvier is known to have started labeling his furniture with a maker’s stencil as early as 1830, making it easier to trace the designer’s contributions to the development of classical style in American during the 19th century.
Old City Auction was founded this year as an auction house that is fun, approachable and exciting for both beginning and seasoned collectors. The auction house is located in a former manufacturing facility that has been converted to an impressive gallery space at 505 Vine Street in the Old City Neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Editor’s Note: When Philadelphia was a wealthy colonial city, status symbols were often silver. When maids set tables, they were laden with flatware services and hollow ware. While life is more casual today, there is always cause to collect fine silver items from Tiffany, or Paul Revere.
While most in Colonial America preferred the work of the British craftsmen, the Revolution inspired the wealthy to support local craftsmen who soon discovered that their work could go o head-to-head with any made by their English rivals. Among the items they made were flatware services, candlesticks, centerpieces, vases, trays and pitchers. Many of the finest are represented in collections throughout America, both in museums and personal collections.
