A concise introduction to Ammi Phillips, one of nineteenth-century America's most important folk portrait painters, based on Stacy C. Hollander's article "Revisiting Ammi Phillips" in the February 1994 issue of The Magazine Antiques. The article explains how Phillips's changing style, unsigned works, rural patrons, and scattered historical record made him one of the great attribution stories in American folk art.
A detailed look at whether a blue and white porcelain charger is Chinese or Japanese, using spur marks, glaze, decoration, form, paste, cobalt, and foot rim evidence to explain why the balance of evidence favors a Chinese attribution.
A substantive guide to Bohemian glass that explains variation in quality, the role of decoration, and how to approach attribution—particularly regarding Moser. Written for anyone seriously interested in understanding the material.
Francois Xavier d'Entrecolles did not invent porcelain in Europe, but his letters from Jingdezhen helped strip Chinese porcelain of its aura of mystery and recast it as an intelligible industrial process. That matters because Sèvres, English porcelain makers, and the broader European ceramics trade developed not in isolation but in the long shadow of Chinese achievement.
A collector’s guide to German beer steins: their origins from plague‑era taverns, key production centers (Westerwald, Thuringia, Munich), important makers (Mettlach/Villeroy & Boch, Reinhold Merkelbach, Hauber & Reuther), materials and construction, how to date authentic examples, and what separates mass‑produced souvenirs from truly collectible regimental, tavern, porcelain, and early stoneware steins.
Discover the story of Juliana jewelry by DeLizza & Elster. Learn how to identify authentic pieces, their values, and where to find trusted resources.
