Article Archive 2007
Napoleon's Exile to St Helena
An important and recently rediscovered drawings by Joseph William Rubidge of the exiled Napoleon (1769-1821) on his deathbed in Longwood House on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena...
16 October, 2007
Alvin Lustwig, American Modernist 1915-1955
An accomplished designer of books, furniture and interiors, Alvin Lustwig was one of the first American graphic designers to enrich his work with the attitudes and experiments of modern art...
02 October, 2007
Worthy of the Connoisseur's greatest care: Pierced Creamware
It is so ubiquitous, that it is surprising to find pierced decoration has rarely been classified as a distinct category of creamware, and previous authors have given it scant attention. This short article attempts to redress that omission in some small way...
13 June, 2007
The Last Quarter Century: A Ceramic Résumé
Many years before The International Ceramics Fair and Seminar (ICFS) had become a feature of the season, I clearly recall a dealer saying to me that he considered the profession finished. He suffered from a malaise that hits us all occasionally; as things inevitably change we don't like it and naturally we try to resist. In the antiques trade this change has been dramatic and although it is tempting to be dismissive of the modern way of conducting business, to be churlish about the benefits of global communication and advances in technology, these can be the very tools that enrich our business and take dealing and collecting into the 21st century...
13 June, 2007
Attributing 16th Century Italian Istoriato Maiolica: A Personal Inquiry
Attribution, the means by which we distinguish the maker of one work from another, is not an exact science but an art. Just because we cannot always explain this act of discrimination, we need not doubt such a power’s existence. Most of us can tell the difference between Van Dyck and Van Gogh or, for that matter, between Beethoven and the Beatles...
12 June, 2007