Beautiful Birds

This lovely hand-colored lithograph is by noted English naturalist, ornithologist, and artist John Gould (1804-1881). Gould was the first curator of the Museum of the Zoological Society of London. As curator, he conferred with the country's  leading naturalists and viewed new collections of birds donated to the society. In 1830 he published his first volume on birds, A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains. Over the next fifty years, Gould, his wife, and a team of artists traveled around Asia, the East Indies, and Australia, documenting the native birds and animals. This lithograph, picturing a pair of beautiful honeyeaters (Melithreptus Loetior), is from Gould's final work, Birds of New Guinea and the Adjacent Papuan Islands, Including Many New Species Recently Discovered in Australia.

Gould's images are renown for their rich colors, animated composition, and naturalistic backgrounds.

A close inspection reveals many delightful details, such as tiny insects feeding on the flowers.

 All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New, but things can sell quickly!

14337-627

Fishing for Compliments. . . .

is not something you will have to do when you set your table with this marvelous antique fish set. In the 1850s in England it became customary at fine dinners to serve the courses separately, instead of laying everything on the table at once. Both the wealthy and the rising middle class used this as a way to display both their prosperity and good taste by providing special utensils for each course. A proper Victorian place setting could consist of over twenty different pieces of cutlery and a guest demonstrated his or her class and knowledge of etiquette by correctly using each and every piece during a meal that could last for hours. The fish course required its on special set of forks and knives, often embellished with handles of horn or mother of pearl and engraved ornaments. A fancy fish set in a beautiful presentation box was a popular wedding gift.

 Of gleaming silver plate with carved mother of pearl handles, it resides in a beautiful burled wood box. 

The box holds three tiers of utensils, nestled in blue velvet, enough to serve an entire school of fish. 

Each piece carries the Maltese cross and star mark of Joseph Rodgers and Sons of Sheffield, England, as well as the initials "JR." The cross and star were first registered by Rodgers in 1764. The firm was renowned for its fine flatware and pocket knives and was granted a royal warrant of appointment by five successive sovereigns, from King George IV to King George V.

 All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New but things can sell quickly!

15518-370

Original Oliphant

Born in Australia in 1935, Patrick "Pat" Oliphant is renown in the United States for his biting editorial cartoons and skilled drafting style. Oliphant began his cartoonist career in Australia, but came to the United States in 1964 to take a position with the Denver Post.  He moved to the Washington Star in 1975. This cartoon is one he drew for the paper in 1979. After the newspaper closed in 1981, Oliphant became the first editorial cartoonist to work independently from a newspaper and by 1983 his work appeared in more than 500 newspapers. His unique style influenced the field of editorial cartooning, moving toward a freer and more artistic style with very limited use of labels. He retired from drawing syndicated cartoons in 2015.

The cartoon includes "Punk," a little penguin who often offers additional commentary. Oliphant first created Punk while working as an editorial cartoonist in Australia and the tiny penguin appears in almost all of Oliphant's political cartoons. Punk was so popular that he briefly had his own Sunday color comic strip. 

Oliphant has also worked as an illustrator and in a variety of artistic media. He began sculpting in the 1980s. In fact, one of his bronzes is prominently displayed on downtown Congress Avenue. The statue commemorates Angelina Eberly, a hero of what is known as the Texas Archive War. In 1842, Republic of Texas President Sam Houston secretly ordered the removal of the Republic archives from Austin. On December 30, 1842, Eberly, who operated a nearby inn, saw men loading up the precious documents into wagons. She ran to a small cannon located on Congress Avenue and fired it toward the General Land Office, arousing the city to the theft. The ultimate result of the Archive War was to validate Austin as the Texas capital. The statue dramatically portrays Eberly as she prepares to fire the cannon and stands near the spot of her heroic act.

All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New but things can sell quickly!

10380-1568

 

Delightful Dedham

Our trove has on offer these charming treasures of desirable Dedham Pottery. This American pottery has a long history. It began in 1866 as what eventually became Chelsea Keramic Art Works. When this company went into bankruptcy in 1889, it was reorganized as Chelsea Pottery U.S. and, in 1896 moved to Dedham, Massachusetts, where it was reborn as Dedham Pottery.  The company was famous for its crackleware pottery decorated with cobalt blue bands adorned with outlines of animals, flowers, and other natural scenes. The simple aesthetic style is the epitome of the American Arts and Crafts movement. Beginning in the 1890s, the movement was a reaction against heavy Victorian ornamentation, emphasizing simpler and more balanced designs crafted from natural materials.

The company's most popular pattern was the "Dedham rabbit,"a stylized crouching bunny. 

 In fact, this rabbit was incorporated as the pottery's mark. This blue-stamped rabbit mark was used from 1896 to 1928. The word "Registered" was added below the mark in 1929 and used until the company closed in 1943.

Other standard Dedham patterns included ducks. . . 

. . . and magnolia blossoms.

All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New, but things can sell quickly!

15518-184,185,186