I was in an antiques store in Closter, NJ over the weekend, when I saw this beauty: a large ceramic head of a woman wearing curlers, vintage cats eye glasses, and bright red lipstick. The tag accompanying the piece said “Art? Or Awful? You Decide! It’s a wild piece, whimsical woman.” It only took a … Read more
I was in Lambertville, NJ, looking at antiques, when I spotted this bullfighter painting by José González de la Peña. I love the drama of the image, the way the red cape swirls around the torso of the matador. While I saw the exterior of two different bullfighting arenas on my trip to Spain, I … Read more
I was in an antiques store in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, when I saw this mysterious platter (serving plate?) with a quote from “Ellwood Kieser C.S.P.” from Christmas of 1988. It reads, “I Am Called not To be Successful But to be faithful.” I wonder what the significance of this is? And who is Ellwood Kieser? Ellwood … Read more
I was at an antiques store in Jim Thorpe, PA, and first noticed these two carved African heads, which I liked. But then the sign behind it caught my attention, and as you can see here, the visible part reads “Slow Thickly.” What the heck is that? A closer look behind the materials below reveals … Read more
I was browsing Shore Antiques in Allenhurst, NJ, when I spotted this ususual painting. The first question is: why is there a painted ceramic out in the middle of a landscape? How did it end up near some rocks and a small body of water? And why did a real bird set up a nest … Read more
On my recent trip to Ithaca and The Finger Lakes region, I was heading east on Route 20 between Auburn and Skaneateles when I noticed a building on the side of the road with the sign “Red Rooster Antiques.” While I initially drove by it, my curiosity got the best of me, and I did … Read more
On one of my days in Barcelona last fall, I was walking down Passeig de Gràcia, and decided to step into an antiques mall called “Bulevard Dels Antiquaris,” just to take a look around. While the mall area (hallways between stores) was open, the actual individual antiques dealers and their various shops were all closed, … Read more
I was in Lambertville, NJ over the weekend, exploring some of the antique stores, art galleries and book stores. When I was in one of the antique stores (it was either “A Touch of the Past” or “The People’s Store,” I don’t recall which one), I saw this unusual piece tucked away on a shelf … Read more
I saw these two wooden carved figures on a shelf at the Rhinebeck Antique Emporium, and found them interesting. A look at the accompanying tag had them labeled as “19th Century carved Punch + Juds puppets,” and not knowing what that meant, did a search for “Punch and Juds.” It would seem either poor handwriting … Read more
Let me start my story with an explanation of where I was: exploring Ellenville, NY, at the recommendation of a friend who moved to nearby Wurtsboro and was giving me suggestions on interesting Catskills-area towns. I was walking around New York State Route 52 in the middle of town (as seen below), and was checking … Read more
