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 stopped in at the Scranberry Coop Vintage Store in Andover, NJ, and saw this unexpected pair of aliens. Seeing as this alien couple includes one assumed to be female who wears a leather outfit with a hat that says “Biker Babe,” it begs the question: do aliens ride motorcycles? One would assume that if … 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
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
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
I saw this needlepoint deer art in an antiques store in Asbury Park, NJ – it kind of has an appearance of stained glass, don’t you think? The tag listed it as “Judaica Art,” which can be defined as ” … things pertaining to Jewish life and customs, especially when of a historical, literary, or … Read more
I saw this unusual mirror at an antiques store south of Cooperstown, NY, and have to admit, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I’m not sure how well you can tell from the picture above, but it has a depth (off the surface of the wall) of approximately 4 or 5 inches, so it … Read more
I could go into any number of antiques stores and find weird, strange, and bad paintings, but every once in a while I’ll see something really good, which then begs the question: what’s the story behind this painting and the artist? I happened upon this painting in an antiques store just north of Poughkeepsie (which … Read more
