A spectacular collection of bronzes from the Viennese master Carl Kauba and western signs revealing the true nature of the old west and frontier living. From Indian Chiefs to ladies to gamblers to pick pockets, the true flavor of the west is unveiled. Perfect for the aficionado of frontier culture and history.
Antique Tobacco Labels
Antique tobacco labels, circa 1880-1920, are ideal for the cigar connoisseur. The essence of “the smoke” is portrayed on these turn of the century advertisements.
Tiffany Glass
Louis Comfort Tiffany was the artistic son of the founder of Tiffany and Co., the famous New York jeweler. For many years, he astounded us with craftsmanship and beauty. Working out of his factory in Corona, Long Island, Tiffany produced lamps, candlesticks, inkwells, rings, pendants, stick pins, chandeliers, and other household items.
Famed Tiffany scarabs, in a variety of sizes, are perfect for a medley of interesting and artistic jewelry. It is through these works of art we, as collectors and admirers, come to appreciate the essence of his genius.
Vintage Print Catalogues
Through dazzling publications, circa 1900 thru 1990, rare books and world renowned European and American auction houses bring the world of art to the collector in all of us. Such publications, primarily from the years 1960 to the 1980’s, encapsulate the captivating essence of Art Nouveau and Tiffany gems.
From America, England, France, Germany, and Switzerland, major auction houses are represented. Decades of Gordan’s Print manual in addition to Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Ketter, Kornfeld, Frederick Mulder, and The Victoria and Albert Museums are highlighted. Rare books including Bonnard – Lithographe, Paul Helleu by Montesquiou, Manuel Robbe, and Will Bradley: Narcoti Cure is also highlighted.
These reference materials are not only a source for future business, but they are invaluable and affordable tools which give us the expertise to truly stay “in the know.”
Vintage Posters
The great artists of Paris led the poster movement during the period 1880-1920. From Jules Cheret, “The Father of the Poster”, to Alphonse Mucha, “The Father of Art Nouveau”, to the most famous of them all Toulose-Lautrec a new form of advertising, and in effect a new form of art, was born. Other notable artists from this grand period include: Berthon, Steinlen, Tissot, Bonnard. This form of expression revolutionized the world of marketing while at the same time adding life, energy, and charisma to the world of posters and to the art world as a whole.
Antique Postcards
Not only do I find it charming to correspond by means of the illustrated card, but also interesting because if we know how to take advantage of it, it may become a very useful tool to reveal art to the masses.
– Leonetto Cappiello
“Correspondence cards”, as they were called then, were first introduced in Austria on October 1, 1869. In the years that followed they made their appearance in many other countries; July 1, 1870 in Germany; in 1871 in England, Belgium and Switzerland; then in Russia and in France in 1872; in the United States and Spain in 1873; in Italy in 1874, the year the Bern Postal Treaty admitted them in international service. Their success was considerable and instant.
In Berlin, on the first day they were put on the market, 45,468 cards were mailed, and in two months two million were mailed in Germany alone. In May of 1873, the first month the postcard was in use in the U.S. 31 million cards were sold. This new medium of correspondence was at its inception only a card without any illustration; the picture appears only little by little. Since the war of 1870, two pioneers, Schwarz in Germany and Besnardeau in France, printed cards with patriotic and military motifs: it was only a hesitant beginning, even before the process was officially recognized. It was only progressively, and often thanks to advertising, that illustration developed. The role of the German speaking countries was preponderant in this development.
As early as 1875 Schwarz put 25 humorous cards on the market; he was soon imitated by other publishers, and from that point on the movement conquered the world. The golden age of the postcard spans the first 20 years of our century. In 1899, production reached 88 million in Germany, 14 million in Great Britain, 12 million in Belgium and 8 million in France. Most of these were photographic cards, however these decorative postcards are directly linked to the prodigious revival of print at the end of the 19th century. The print, until then confined to the reproduction of classical tableaux, became the preferred instrument of a spirited generation of young artists who, in reaction to Academism fought for a new art, “Art Nouveau.”
Lithography, with recent improvements which made it possible to produce a great number of plates, in color and at low cost, arrived in the nick of time to serve this purpose. The triumph of this social art, the poster, rapidly covered the walls and became fashionable. From the largest to the smallest format, this concern to introduce art into daily life predominated. It is therefore not surprising that artists who were interested in the poster also liked to express themselves with the postcard. Such artists include Steinlen, Mucha, Beardsley, and Mataloni to name a few.
The idea and development of the postcard was a powerful one in its ability to bring art to a mass audience, especially at such a low cost. It is important to place the artistic postcard in the context that made for its development, to remind us of its relationship to the poster and the movement of which both media were an integral part. Such works of art bear witness to a time when people dared believe in an art that was truly accessible to the public.
Reference: Art Nouveau Postcards, The Posterists’ Postcards, pg. 4-5
Old Tins
Valuable and practical tins with advertising memorabilia and exhibit period logos. From holiday cheer to teddy bear gems to Art Nouveau there is something for any and all occasions.
Vintage Flipbooks
Turn of the century themes are presented in nearly a dozen titles from a collection by Sandy Val Graphics. Featured are the timeless and lost art of the “movie in hand.” Published in the late 1960s the genre ranges from sport to comedy to erotica.
Vintage Belt Buckles
Free flowing beautiful French women, Indian Chiefs and other Western forms cast in silver and gold mark this 50 year old collection inspired by the Art Nouveau (1880-1920) movement and Western American art.
Art Nouveau
Paris, France gave birth to one of the most exciting periods in the world of art in 1880. Art Nouveau as a movement was the inventive, all encompassing international style that developed simultaneously in many countries. Through the years ending in 1920, artists from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, England, and the United States transformed the world of advertising into other artistic dimensions.
The term Art Nouveau was used in England and America, Jugendstil in Germany, Le Style Moderne in France, Sezession in Austria, Stile Liberty in Italy, Modernista in Spain, and Paling Stijl in Belgium. The aesthetic of this then avant-garde movement was based on a symbolic organic form that presented itself in a linear, swirling, entwining, rhythmic abstract design.
There were those who worked more conservatively with this inspiration of nature reformed. While first seen through the works of posters, the style was one that bred life into other crafts of art. The artists of this period in music, painting, architecture, sculpture, poetry and literature all played their part, influencing in all aspects the design of interior and household objects, elevating them as well as posters, graphics, jewelry, china and metal work to the status of painting and sculpture. Indeed, all of the artists were working with craftsmen and becoming craftsmen to defeat the tawdry machine-made and poorly designed functional object. Vintage posters from artists including Mucha, Lautrec, Steinlen, Tissot, Gottlob, Cheret, and others portray what this innovative period represented.
Elayne H. Varian
Finch College Museum of Art
4/30-6/15, 1969 New York
Americana
The true spirit of America is exhibited in this classic genre of art. Remembrance advertising from Babe Ruth to Betty Boop to George C. Tilloue’s most successful and well known advertising campaign for Steeplechase (Coney Island) are highlighted. Take a trip down memory lane and rediscover yesteryear.