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Which department store originated the concept of selling artistic home furnishings?

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Arts & Crafts:
From William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright

by Arnold Schwartzman

The author focuses on a British craftsmen, such as William Morris and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who turned their backs on the mass production of the Industrial Revolution to form a ‘Round Table’ in order to establish a means of returning to hand-crafted products.

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How Was It Made? Block Printing William Morris Wallpaper

This video recreates the painstaking reproduction of a William Morris wallpaper design from 1875, a process that can take up to 4 weeks, using 30 different blocks and 15 separate colors.

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THE ANTIQUES ALMANAC

"Art Deco World"

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FEATURED
ANTIQUE




Argyle Chair
Charles Rennie Macintosh

AN-TIQUE (an-teek) An object having special value because of its age, especially a domestic item, piece of furniture or decorative arts object esteemed for its artistry, beauty, mechanical ingenuity, or period of origin.

The Antiques Almanac, a five-edition-per-year online magazine for beginning and intermediate antiques collectors and those just interested in finding out about old things, is your first stop on the Web in your search for information about antiques and collectibles. Here, you’ll find articles on a variety of American and international antiques, including furniture, china, glass, silver, and other decorative arts from the Colonial, Empire, Victorian, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco Periods, plus vintage and modern collectibles, interesting historical facts, antique tips, and recommendations for caring for your collections. Come back often to see what's new. And be sure to tell your friends about us.

This edition's theme:
"Folk Art"
Volume 16 No. 1

This edition features articles on antique and vintage folk art.


           

Folk Art Furniture on Parade
In the 1960s, the trend was to strip antique furniture. Painted furniture was out. Stripping down to the bare wood was the norm in many cases. Gone were the colorful folk art motifs that decorated many pieces. Unfortunately, with the encouragement of articles in home decorating magazines, people stripped, then repainted worn painted pieces, and finally “antiqued” them using antiquing kits. Sounds illogical, and it was.
                     
More Antiques Articles

 

The Folksy Art of Painted Metalware
During the 17th and 18th centuries, tinware in a variety of forms—candleholders, trays, kitchenware, and more—could be found in many homes. And while it was popular, it had a major drawback—rust.

                           More Collectibles Articles

The Luxurious Look of Russian Lacquer Boxes
Russian lacquer art developed from the art of icon painting which came to an end with the collapse of Imperial Russia. The icon painters, who previously had been employed by supplying not only churches but people's homes, needed a way to make a living. Thus, the craft of making papier-mache decorative boxes developed. They lacquered the boxes, then artists hand painted them, often with scenes from folk tales, such as the tale of the Firebird, or of Prince Igor, or of Swan Lake.

                      More Special Features

 

Fracturing Fraktur
Fraktur was a highly artistic and elaborate illuminated folk art that originated in Germany in the 18th century. Named for the Fraktur script associated with it, it reached its peak between 1740 and 1860.

                         
More Antique Spotlights

 

Collecting Folk Art
In the realm of collecting antiques, there are a lot of cross-over categories. One of these is folk art. Many see it as primitive while others see it as a product of a specific culture or community. Mexican Huichol beadwork is one example. Tramp art is another. But what exactly fits in this category and how does a person go about collecting it? The types of folk art seems endless.

                          
More Collecting Articles

 

Caring for Antique Painted Furniture
Unlike stained wooden antique furniture, painted pieces extra special care. To preserve the wood, furniture needs to be coated with some sort of protective covering against abrasions, spills and such. In this case, it’s paint.
 
                   
                  More Caring for Collections

SPECIAL RELATED ARTICLES

Check out this list of folk art articles from past editions of The Antiques Almanac that may also be of interest.

Animal Clocks Come Out of the Fogg
Antiques Along the Highway (iconic signs)
Around the World in Carousel Art 
Folksy Remembrances of County Fairs
(fairings)
Go Nuts for Nutcrackers
Little Treasures in Your Hand (netsuke)
Longing for Home (scrimshaw)
Navajo Weavings
Sculpture on the High Seas
(ships' figureheads)
Still Crazy After All These Years
(crazy quilts)
The Art of Everyman (tramp art)
The Geometric Beauty of Sadeli Mosaics
The Lure of Native American Memorabilia
The Pottery of Dave the Potter
(slave pottery)
The Sound of the Old World
(cuckoo clocks)
Weathering the Test of Time (weathervanes)

 


An Editorial on Antiques


How to Tell If an Antique is a Fake

Bob discusses how to tell fake antiques from the real thing.

 
Learn even more about antiques with the oldest antiques site in England.
The
2023 Winter Edition
featuring
"
Folk Art"
is here

Go through the menu and read all the
New! articles.

A Collection That Defines  Folk Art
by Bob Brooke

Folk art has been around since man first began drawing on cave walls. It evolved out of necessity, from primitive stone tools to baskets to carrying things to decorating furniture to store things. The American Folk Art Museum New York City presents an overview of folk art in America.
                                           Read more.

It's All in the Pattern
by Bob Brooke

Quilts played a major role in the trek west made by the pioneers. Women prepared for their journey on the Oregon Trail for up to a year before their departure. While the men took care of the wagons, farm equipment, and animals, their wives prepared and packed foodstuffs and household items. But above all, they sewed quilts for bedding since travel guides to westward emigration suggested that each family should bring along two to three quilts for each person.
                                           Read more

The Sweet Smell
of Sweet Grass

The story of South Carolina's Low Country sweet-grass baskets begins centuries ago on the rice farms of Africa. During the 15th and 16th centuries, black men brought over to America as slaves made strong, sturdy baskets out of bulrush, a coarse marsh grass that grew along the tidal rivers of what’s today South Carolina. The baskets winnowed rice, stored grain, and held vegetables collected from the garden.
                                               Read more

How to Recognize and Refinish Antiques for Pleasure and Profit

Book: How to Recognizing and Refinishing Antiques for Pleasure and Profit

Have you ever bought an antique or collectible that was less than perfect and needed some TLC? Bob's book offers tips and step-by- step instructions for simple maintenance and restoration of common antiques.                 Read an Excerpt

BREAKING NEWS

Treasures from the Deep

Thousands of goldseekers ventured to California in hopes of getting rich. Few did, at least not from mining gold. But a few did get rich from the gold which they loaded onto the S.S. Central America sailing to New York from Panana.

Levine Folk Art Collection Carves Up Bonhams Skinner’s Block

American History in Wood: The Levine Folk Art Collection” in an online-only sale that offered nearly 400 lots consisting of most of the collection of Anne and Robert Levine. Decades in the making, the Levine’s collection of exclusively wood carved objects had a broad date span and depicted historical figures and events that ranged from Leif Erikson’s arrival in Newfoundland to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.                                           

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