Offered is a circa 1910, original piece of art entitled "Who Said Watermelons". This captivating charcoal on paper portrait of a young African American boy, very much resembles the iconic, fictional figure painted by an unknown artist in the mid 1800's, a figure who has come to be known as 'Johnny Griffin' or the 'Young Black boy with the Torn Hat'.
Measuring just 7 inches wide x 9 inches high, this unsigned piece is very skillfully executed accomplishing a three-dimensional sense of depth th...
Presented as a historical and cultural artifact, this seldom-found, vintage, 1942, Ten Little Colored Boys book illustrated by Emery I. Gondor and published by Howell, Soskin Publishers, New York, is in very good condition.
Measuring 10.75 inches wide x 8.25 inches long, the book has seen extremely gentle use as evidenced by the minimal wear of the little boys' heads which, while providing visual interest, are primarily present to allow easy turning of each page. Given this purpose, it is ...
Pretty vintage Halloween postcard showing a young couple, he dressed as a Pilgrim and she dressed as a Victorian lady, walking along a scary path through the woods. They have just startled a black cat while a pair of witches look on from the background. The card has nice colors. The two lower corners have some creasing, sharp edges. The back is postmarked 1910.
Offered is an extraordinarily rare, 1844, Warren County, Georgia, ARREST WARRANT for a SLAVE girl named Ally who is accused of drowning two young (Caucasian) girls in Sweetwater Creek, Georgia. The girls aged 7 and 10, were daughters of Thomas Roney, who filed the charge. The slave girl, Ally, is owned by Nancy Mayhamry (?SP), but was in the possession of Thomas Roney at the time of the drownings.
The single page, 16" x 25" document was folded in half by its author, and the charge is written o...
A Hawkes ice bucket circa 1920 -1940. The engraved colorless glass ice bucket has a sterling silver rim and handle. The handle is marked “Hawkes Sterling” and the glass base bears the acid etched Hawkes mark. The ice bucket is optic ribbed and is 8 inches tall, plus the handle. An identical example is pictured in illustration 428 on page 118 of “The Complete Cut and Engraved Glass of Corning” by Estelle Sinclaire Farrar and Jane Shadel Spillman. There are two small dents on the silv...
Geese and Reeds Painting (Noando) on fine silk mounted on luxurious gold silk by Yang Ki Hun aka Seokyeon (1843-1897) from Pyeongyang, signed Seokyeon. Yang Ki Hun's signature 'boneless' style (painting without outlines, using ink washes) beautifully captures light and shade. The literal meaning of 'noando' is reed and geese painting, but it is a play on words, as 'no' means both reed and old, and 'an' means both geese and comfort ('do' means painting). So 'noan' can mean 'reed and geese' or 'ol...
Beautifully Framed Zen Buddhist Painting of a Pair of Cranes Flying Past the Moon by the Famous Korean Jeju Island Monk, Ko Chang Nyul aka Jung Kwang Sunim aka the Mad Monk (1935-2002). The third photo here is from a prominent dealer's "sale" going on right now on Jung Kwang paintings, where you will see the prices are several times higher than mine. This other gallery has been in business for over forty years and has sold to many of the major museums. A google search of Jung Kwang Mad Monk will...
A very rare piece of hand wrought sterling silver modernist jewelry by the San Francisco Metalsmith, Harry Dixon.
This unusual massive cuff bracelet has a large spinach green and yellow striated raised agate. Very three dimensional.
Measures 5 1/2" around with an opening of 1 1/8". Does not have much flexibilty. Measures 2 7/8" wide at the front. Weighs 105 gr.
Marked with a stamped Harry Dixon and Sterling.
Has some minor surface scratches and a little tarnish.
Excellent workmans...
A rare sterling silver modernist necklace by Phyllis Sklar, American Mid Century jeweler. This piece has a sterling wire overlay on a darkened, oxidized surface adorned with an oval moonstone cabochon, three small pearls, a green bezel set stone, (maybe jade) and dangles of pale green and dark red bezel set cabochons.
Measures 16 1/2" long with a 1 3/4" drop in the center. Has the stylized 'p' hallmark, phyllis and sterling on the back.
Interesting contrast between the oxidized and shiny s...
A fine, circa 1700-1730, English walnut writing chest strung with boxwood and crossbanded. The three-drawer superstructure has a fold flap above two short and two long drawers on a molded plinth and small compressed bun feet. In excellent antique condition, it measures 36ʺ wide × 18.25ʺ deep × 35ʺ high.
A pair of rare 19th C Chinese hand carved hardwood, possibly Hong Mu wood, Scholars desk trays in a large lily pad leaf design with flower heads. Each being slightly different, one has a bird’s head and the other a nice protruding stem between the flower heads, they were made to be displayed together. These were finished with a mix of beeswax and a few other natural concoctions the Chinese used to seal the finish and give it a great mellow sheen. The beauty of the surfaces is that wheneve...