Born 1846 in Nancy, a hive of activity for French art, Émile Gallé became one of the most renowned figures allied with this area. Raised into the beginnings of a glass business started by father Charles Gallé, the material was never a mystery to him. Lot 15, An Émile Gallé cameo glass lamp, c.1900 During his early life, he had a wide education allowed by his entrepreneurial parents, studying a multitude of subjects. Undeniably, Natural Science had the greatest significance under the tuition of the respected Professor GA Godron, giving Gallé his first in-depth experience with botany and the natural world. Later, this style becoming a brand-like status of his work. Travels led Gallé to Germany completing the technical understating of glass production with time spent at the Saar glassworks. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 led Gallé and his fat...Read More

Highlighted amongst the lots in Sworders' July Design sale are drawings by George Daniels (1854-1940) - perhaps the most accomplished British stained glass designer working in the late Gothic and early Renaissance idiom from the 1890s until the Second World War - including designs for an impressive five-light window in the north aisle of Manchester Cathedral and extant stained glass windows in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk churches. Lot 140, George Daniels (1854-1940) Designs for stained glass Chedburgh Church, Suffolk, 1925  A talented draughtsman, Daniels began his career as an apprentice to the London firm of Clayton & Bell. Peter Cormack, author and scholar on stained glass, describes him as “the firm’s dominant artistic personality and the creator of its scholarly and elegant ‘house style’ seen in many of the English cathedrals, including...Read More

The month of July; a month typically filled with family barbecues, beach days, and a bright, full sun in the sky. July also marks the end of the second quarter of 2021, making it a good time to reflect on how the Pop Culture collectibles market has changed. If you refer back to our Top Picks article from March, 2021 the market had been at an all time high compared to years past. Record results were continually being set and broken within weeks’ time. There was vast concern through the trade - is this a bubble fueled by the pandemic? Will there be a market correction with the world attempting to return to a post-COVID environment? Or with society beginning to return to normal with activities and entertainment would collecting enter a recession? I’m happy to report that restaurants are open, you can go to Disney World and none of those wonder...Read More

What is an NFT? That sounds like an innocent enough question, doesn’t it? However, the answer usually ends with the inquiring just wishing they hadn’t asked at all and the explainer drawing a deep breath as if to say, here we go again. Today, we’re breaking down NFTs pixel by pixel - because, believe it or not, it’s time you start understanding what an NFT actually is and why some people are willing to spend millions of dollars on them. May we remind you that Nyan Cat - a pixelated GIF of a rainbow riding, pop-tart-bodied cat just sold for $696,378 (300 ETH) as an NFT? We admit, it's pretty cute...   Nyan Cat [via GIPHY] GIF by Chris Torres. Sold for $696,378 (300 ETH) as an NFT on Foundation. What does NFT stand for? Non-Fungible Token What is an NFT? An NFT or Non-Fungible Token is a unique collectible digital asset. Inherit in its name (...Read More

…Blue, blue, electric blue That’s the color of my room Where I will live Blue, blue… The gallery at Pook & Pook this week is full of 18th and 19th century painted furniture. There are pieces in ochre, salmon, green, and red, but the ones I love are the cool blues. The words of David Bowie running through my head, I take a deep breath, relax, and take in the sight. The painted furniture, textiles, glass and mocha are an ocean of blue: robin’s egg, cobalt, aqua, teal, navy, turquoise, midnight and sky, to name a few. Image courtesy of Pook and Pook, Inc This is remarkable, since it was neither easy nor inexpensive to paint things blue in the 18th and 19th  centuries. Paint and brushes had to be made from scratch, bristles gotten from an unwilling badger. Pigments, derived from organic sources, were ground using a hand-held stone muller agains...Read More

Bought from an antiques dealer several years previously, the present owners of this painting wanted to know more about their dog. They took him along to a BBC Antiques Roadshow in July 2014 where it was instantly recognized as a copy of the dog in Hogarth’s “Manifesto” self-portrait painted in 1745.  But who reproduced it and when was it painted? A contemporary? Or by someone later? Or perhaps even by Hogarth himself? More research was needed. In a broadcast follow-up TV program, and after discussions with several Hogarth authorities, the owners were informed that their own dog was deemed to be a good 19th century copy, possibly executed in the National Gallery where, in the 19th century, artists were given out-of-hours access to copy any chosen work on public view.   Lot 277 Fine Interiors - 29 & 30 June | Follower of William Hogarth Willi...Read More

With the inclusion of two fine examples of embroidered samplers in Sworders' auction of Fine Interiors on the 29 and 30 June, we take a look into the world of domestic crafts, and how they have influenced the work of the modern and contemporary artist of today. The artisans of today have a wealth of technology at their crafty fingertips to aid them in their skilled work. Charles Babbage designed the first mechanical printer in the 1800s, to be used with the ‘Difference Engine’ that he also developed in 1822. This was the original concept for a digital programmable computer. But long before the likes of cameras and printers were invented, embroiderers and lacemakers needed some other way to record their various designs, stitches, and patterns in order to reference them in future work. The solution was to create a hand-stitched ‘sampler’, an ...Read More

With a total of $10 million, more than double the high estimate, and a 89% sell-through rate, Rago’s Early 20th Century Design and Modern Design auctions illustrate the continued strength of the design market. Tiffany Studios, Important Dandelion Lamp from the 1900 Paris Exposition; Sold for $3,745,000 The highlight of the two-day auction event was the record sale of an important Tiffany Studios Dandelion lamp from the 1900 Exposition in Paris. One of only two known monumental examples, the lamp brought in an impressive $3,745,000, a new world record. With more than a dozen registered phone bidders and a handful of active participants on the online platforms, the energy in the room was electric with different waves of activity and three bidders contending until the very end. A set of The Pine tiles by Addison LeBoutillier for Grueby sold fo...Read More

Playthings have always been an inseparable part of children’s lives. Antique toys unearthed during excavations give us a glimpse of playtime activities around the world. While yo-yos may be one of the oldest toys, clay animals, horses on wheels, and rattles were the favorite toys of ancient Greek and Roman children. Archaeologists even recovered a 2,000-year-old carved animal figurine near Stonehenge. Prehistory and history abound with toy treasures that speak about ancient people and the times they lived in.  Lot 85a, Large Syro Hittite Pottery Bull Pull Toy on Wheels, Ancient Near East, Syro-Hittite, Bronze Age, ca. 2nd millennium BCE. Sold for $2,490 Playthings cradled in the lap of civilization The settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization have some of the best-preserved toys. These give us a glimpse of ancient children and their pla...Read More

Not every minor artist toils in obscurity. Relegated down the ranks of 19th century American painters by history, William Russell Smith was an eminent artist in his day. He is important because his paintings preserve images of a young nation, his diaries record a host of painters and historical figures, and his life story captures much of the 19th century American experience. Lot 51, Russell Smith (American 1812-1896), oil on panel Village of Llanberis, Wales, signed lower left, dated 1860 Born in the damp smoke of Glasgow’s Industrial Revolution, Russell suffered a bout of scarlet fever that was to leave him deaf in one ear and plagued by migraine headaches. His father, born in a castle to its hereditary caretakers, and his medical student mother, from a family of academics, were social reformers who left the climate of increasing unrest a...Read More