Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles Vol. 49 No. 9 – May 2023

1970s Italian Modern Furniture … Toy Airplanes … Clarice Cliff Pottery …  Circus Posters … Wooden Americana …  Market Report on Legos …  Identify Pressed Glass Patterns …  Collector’s Gallery … Prices    

Carving Out a Place in History

Wood art often doesn’t sell for prices as high as those of similar notable pieces made in glass, metal or pottery, unless it is made into useful furniture.   But hand-carved wooden sculptures, plaques, busts and figures can tell a story. A recent auction by Bonhams Skinner in Massachusetts included nearly 400 lots of carved wood […]

The Many Moods of Uncle Sam

Along with the bald eagle and Lady Liberty, Uncle Sam represents the spirit of the United States. In his red, white and blue suit with striped pants and top hat, he has been a symbol of patriotism and a convincing promoter of everything from cereal to car insurance to military enlistment. Uncle Sam remains a […]

Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles Vol. 48 No. 3 – November 2021

Loetz Glass …  Tommi Parzinger Furnishings … Danish Rya Rugs … Old West Strong Boxes … Folk Art Stamp Collages … On the Road in Savannah, Georgia … Pattern Glass … Collector’s Gallery … Prices    

“Outsider” Stamp Art Delivers

Folk art, made with readily available materials like wood, cloth, paper, plastic, clay and metal, is hard to value because each work is unique. A group of stamp collages made in the 1920s to ’30s was recently offered for sale by Toomey & Co. Auctioneers in Oak Park, Illinois. The lots of two collages each […]

Tramp Art: Ultimate Recycling 

Folk art is defined as art made by people who aren’t trained artists. “Tramp art” is a type of folk art. It includes items made by layering materials from cedar or mahogany cigar boxes and shipping crates, and chip carved boxes, lamps and picture frames. A recent sale by Slotin Folk Art Auction of Georgia […]

Southern Folk Art Pottery Is Selling

Pottery collectors recently paid a wide range of prices for the distinctive Southern folk art “face jugs” and animals made by generations of families. The folk art pottery in the sale is relatively new, designed in the last 50 years or so, compared to folk art 100 or more years old that usually attracts collectors. […]

Folk Art: By the People, For the People

Folk art is anything unique made by an untrained artist. Folk art textiles, advertising and toys were sold recently at New Haven Auctions in Connecticut. One of the top prices was for a 1925 quilt with a rare bird-, tree- and grapevine-pattern that sold for $1,375. Age influences the price of a quilt, but the […]

Folk Art

If you look up the definition of “folk art,” you’ll run into confusion. That’s because the term’s meaning has changed since the 1920s, when it gained widespread use thanks to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (1874-1948). She was a collector of crude but charming paintings, sculptures and other folk art. Her husband, John D. Rockefeller Jr., helped […]