At Home with Danish Modern Furniture

In real estate circles, mid-century modern homes in good condition command premium prices, especially if owners have preserved original details and treated the property with TLC. The same phenomenon applies to auctions involving mid-century modern furniture, as evidenced by a March 6 Gallery Auction event in Houston. A well-kept three-piece sofa set by Ekornes, a […]

June 2023 Prices

ADVERTISING Spool cabinet, Star Mercerized Sewing Cotton, star logo, “Fast Colors – Will Boil,” slant front, sliding glass doors, 5 interior shelves, numbered sections, tin lithographed case, 14 x 18 x 15 in., $85 Display, Florsheim Shoes, sailboat, star yacht, “Florsheim Salutes Fathers” on sail, yellow, blue, on stand, 22 in., $132 Bank, Big Boy, […]

Macerated Money

Q: I found this cleaning out my mother’s house. A label on the bottom says “Made of U.S. National Bank Notes. Redeemed and macerated at the U.S. Treasury. Estimated $2000. Made by O. Duke, 715 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.” Can you tell me when this was made and what it’s worth? A: Beginning in […]

Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles Vol. 49 No. 10 – June 2023

Danish Mid-Century Modern Furniture … Industrial Design … Petroliana Advertising Signs … Majolica … Frank Lloyd Wright Chair … On the Road to Classic Roadside Attractions … Collector’s Gallery … Prices

Linen Cabinet

Q: I hope that someone can help identify this cabinet and what it was used for. I know it is about 1870-90 Edwardian, all hand-cut dovetails, I just don’t know what it was used for. The drawers make it look like a linen press, but I have never seen one like this before. A: When […]

Having A Gas with Signs

At one time, there were 170 car manufactures in the United States. The number of companies it took to keep the vehicles fueled up and on the road numbered into the thousands. They included products for gasoline, oil, and tires. All these, and many more, were advertised on signs. Fortuitously, the arrival of the gas-powered […]

As Odd as a Mustache Cup

Dear Lee, Well, this is different. After a lifetime of receiving letters from your mother, you’re getting one from me. Fortunately, I’m not a complete stranger. Even so, it must be a little weird. I remember the first time we talked a few years back. I had just written a cover story about Terry for […]

Just Wright

During his seventy-year career as an architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) created more than 1,100 designs, half of which were realized and a large portion of which came about later in his life. One of earliest and largest private residences ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Susan Lawrence Dana House is famously dubbed the […]

The Magic of Majolica Endures

The late Joan Stacke Graham was perhaps the world’s foremost authority on majolica, the colorful ceramic pieces popular with Victorian collectors. Along with her friend Marilyn Karmason, Graham started collecting majolica in the 1980s. Together, the pair amassed a collection comprising over 2,000 pieces and co-wrote a comprehensive look at the ceramics, 1989’s Majolica: A […]

What’s Old Is New

Antiques are new again! According to predictions from Pinterest, mixing antique and modern furniture will be one of 2023’s biggest trends. Words like “eclectic,” “vintage,” “antique” and “repurposed” dramatically increased in searches for furniture and interior decorations on the site in the past year. Sellers at antique and vintage stores are noticing an influx of […]