This elegant tripod incense burner in fine Kutani porcelain is cylindrical in form and has cloud-form handles with detached rings. The straight-sided walls are reticulated to show the double-wall construction, both sides showing a fortuitous phoenix alighting on a fence. The top is a reticulated double dome. Brilliant glazes of rouge-de-fer, turquoise, blue and mustard are enhanced with fine gilding. Height is approximately four inches and full diameter about 4-1/2 inches...

Replete with myriad romantic subjects – people, animals, flowers, insects and birds – this finely crafted sampler is impressive. Probably British and dating from the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, it is beautifully preserved and has been given full conservation treatment and mounting to keep it that way. The image size is approximately 15 inches by 17 inches, 22 inches by 23 inches in its burl maple and gilt fillet frame.

You might have seen an identical pair of these on the BBC "Antiques Roadshow" a few seasons ago. The expert was viewing a woman's lifelong collection of scissors and scissor-like implements, and these he would not let out his hands! (I wonder if she got them back?) They really are fascinating: you open the chamber to receive the burnt wick, and when you close it, a guillotine rises up and chops off the used part, thus containing it and the acrid smoke...

A set of three late Eighteenth Century playing card in polychrome lacquer on a gilt ground: one of a Shah, one of a noble couple on a throne and one of a lion serving his mate. They are in fine, unrestored condition and measure approximately 2-3/8 inches by 1-5/8 inches each.

Bright, practical and naive, this little gem is painted with motifs that suggest the intended contents and, should there be any doubt, the French word for tobacco is boldly emblazoned across the face. Beautiful, unbroken condition, with only some slight abrasion to the high points of the over-glaze. On the inside of the lid is an impressed hallmark: L & M, 65. French or German, circa 1870. Approximately 6-1/2 inches tall and 4-1/3 inches in diameter.

Not a copy, but a clever assimulation of the style of a denarius of the Roman Republic is this the pendant of this German iron watch fob; even the metal replicates the patina of an antique. Third quarter of the Nineteenth Century. "Coin" is about an inch in diameter and the fob's over-all length 2-3/4 inches.

A graceful example of folk art is this antique wooden shoe mitt or winter stirrup carved out of hardwood, a real survivor, as is the crude strap-work reinforcements on both sides testify. Seventeenth Century, Scandinavia, about eight inches long and high by six inches wide.

Made more for whimsy than for actual use, this folding set of bone implements must have given some sailor hours of creative amusement. The tapered body, decorated on both sides with color-filled bull'-eyes, encloses a fingernail scraper, an awl and a pretty deadly ear cleaner. The bottom has a rounded notch and the business end is crudely shaped to resemble a whale or walrus. American, circa 1800 to 1825. Cf.: McManus "A Treasury of American Scrimshaw" (Penguin Studio), p. 140...

A charming set of five sterling silver teaspoons skillfully crafted by a silversmith or jeweler without a mould for elaborate flatware. Each of the spoons, initialed "PBT" in script and dated "'92" through "'96," are bright-cut engraved with designs to suggest anthemion-crested cast ware. The stem above the bowl is torque-twisted. Marked only "925 sterling 1000." Mint condition. Each approximately 6 inches long. See Trocadero Item #13651 for a similar butter knife.

Carved out of solid silver in fine detail is this charming little beast of burden, with his two paniers for offering toothpicks, Andean work of the late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Centuries. Condition excellent. Approximately three inches long by 2-3/8 inches wide by 2-3/4 inches high.

Dating from the late 18th Century or the early 19th, this charming globular cup rests on a conical base. It is of high-purity mine silver and is in excellent condition, measuring around 3-1/2 inches in diameter at the handle and 2-1/4 inches high. Northern Provincial.

A small cup of high-purity mine silver, this graceful example of Andean silver dates from the late 18th Century. It is in sharp condition with only a quarter-inch rim crack. Approximately 3-3/8 inches diameter at the handle and two inches high.