Guilio Cesare Ferrari, born Bologna, Italy, 1813 or 18, died 1899, was a professor of classical arts and painter of Romantic Classical scenes and portraits. Examples of his work can be found in the Bologna Museum, etc. This little work portrays a wrecked sail-craft in the craggy harbor of a sea-tossed island -- Ulysses at the Isle of Circe? It is quite magical... Approximately four inches by eight inches, heavy impasto oil painting on board.

Classically elegant is this very large (approximately 19-1/2 inches by 15 inches by nine inches high)Wedgwood foot bath in finely molded creamware. With a large impressed WEDGWOOD mark and the impressed mark CBD, which I interpret to indicate an 1875 manufacture, it is decorated with a border of laurel leaves enameled in turquoise, the same shade used to highlight the scallop-shell handles and encircling borders. A simple dotted border is enameled in pale olive...

Bearing the hallmarks of noted London silversmith Thomas Chawner, this heavyweight meat skewer was made in 1777. It it is fine condition, with only minor signs of use. Rare today, such skewers are usually displayed on desks as paperweights and letter-openers, rather than for holding a cut of meat in place for dressing it.

Finely carved with billowing scrolls surrounding the sacred mythical Garuda, half human, half eagle and very powerful and protective. India, late Eighteenth to early Nineteenth Centuries. Excellent, as-found condition. They would make a superb -- and protective -- headboard for a bed. Approximately seven inches by 27 inches by 1-1/2 inches in depth.

The birdlike character of this handsome and well-balanced walking stick has not been "enhanced" by carving. Its feel is lustrous and attractive and its strength makes it suitable for leisurely strolling or for cracking the skulls of untoward varlets. Approximately 34 inches in length, it is in excellent condition. Nineteenth Century, probably American.

Its colors still brilliant, this tape was used to bind up a mummy buried in the Andes. The fine stylized pattern repeats on the other side to quite a different effect. Chimu culture, circa 1000 A.D. Approximately 1-1/4 inches wide and 16 feet long.

In mint condition, this excellent overshot glass decanter by the noted Boston & Sandwich Glass Company would have been the pride of a grand Victorian dining room. There is a built-in pocket for ice and the twisted rope handles are particularly graceful. American, circa 1870, approximately 11 inches tall and 6-1/2 inches at widest point. (This is a genuine antique item, not a Czechoslovakian reproduction.)

A product of Palawan Island, Philippine Archepelago, this finely crafted blowgun quiver was collected by noted anthropologist Henry Otley Beyer in his study of native Philippine ethnic culture. With its body formed of bamboo sections, a long wooden hook serves to attach the quiver to the hunter’s sash and also provides a firm closure for the top. The hook is graced with unusually skillful carvings of the prey: a wild boar and a bird...

The emblem of a Roman matron's social standing, the fibula was the circle pin of its day, and one to be handed down from mother to eldest daughter. In fact, one of the touching things to me is the sign of wear on the back of the piece. This bold example combines Roman solidarity with motifs associated with the Egyptian goddess Hathor. There is fine dark-green patina over all; the pin, almost always missing, has been skillfully replaced with a replica. Approximately 2-3/4 by 3 inches...

A rare example of Bristol glass of a fine, lustrous opaline color with a classic baluster urn shape and fine overall designs in gilt of cornucopiae, festoons,etc. Excellent condition, with only minimal wear to the gilding at the top of the finial. England, circa 1775. Approximately 11-3/4 inches tall by five inches in diameter at the largest part.

Gargantuan in scale, this handsome item, marked simply “Ironstone China,” is the only one like it I have ever seen. The octagonal shape and heavy base would seem to rule out use as a drinking mug, so maybe it served for warming or cooling a bottle. Boldly decorated in “Imari” style patterns of dark blue, iron-rust red and light blue, highlighted with copper luster and a bright green handle, it is truly impressive, English, circa 1820. Mint condition...

This coat of arms is particularly well painted in full colors and gilded highlights. Retaining its original gilt frame and hanging ring is this late Eighteenth Century watercolor and gouache hatchment, an armorial rendering used at a nobleman’s funeral in place of actual armaments. The grain and barrels depicted on this one suggest that they signified a “beer baron," a major new branch of the rich and honored of the early Machine Age...