Catalog: Antiques: Decorative Art (543)

A fine tinsel, or foil, painting. The relatively uncommon subject matter is a basket of fruit, nicely reverse painted on glass with tinsel backing. What unfortunately doesn't show well in the photo, because of the lighting, is the bunch of grapes directly under the basket.

The painting is in very good condition, with what is probably its original gilded frame and wood backing. The overall size is 16" by 14".

A lovely late 19th c tightly woven wool Tibetan prayer mat with Buddhist symbols, An excellent example from a private collection.

With clear colors and in wonderful condition, the rug measures 30" by 22".

A stunning multiple-spiral air twist (MSAT) English drinking glass, unusual because of the high domed foot. The glass has a bell bowl with a solid base.

Condition is excellent, with no chips, cracks, or repairs. Good color, striations, and tooling marks. Snapped pontil.

The height of this beautiful and rare example is 6 1/2", with a bowl diameter of 2 11/16" and a foot diameter of 2 13/16".

A fine 17th century French tapestry table runner, with the motif weaving flowers and fruit throughout the piece. The overall condition is excellent, with no holes or tears. Carefully laid down on a linen backing. The length is 67" and the width is 13 3/4".

Acquired from a long time private collection, where it was used as a table display piece, but could certainly be used, in smaller segments, to make a number of exquisite pillows.

A beautifully fashioned English antique firing dram glass. Most glasses of this type (opaque twist firing glasses) have an ogee or ovoid bowl, as opposed to this funnel, or conical, type. The lower half of the bowl is fluted, while the stem contains a double series opaque twist comprised of a pair of spiral threads outside of a central gauze.

Condition is excellent, with no problems at all. Good color, striations, and tooling...

A beautiful and unusual cordial drinking glass, with a round funnel bowl, the lower half of which is fluted. The stem is of the double series opaque twist type, and is comprised of a 17-ply spiral band outside of a lace twist. What makes this a truly special glass is the domed helmet foot, and the overall proportions.

The glass is in excellent condition, with no chips, cracks, or restoration...

A beautiful example of a "Warren Hastings" type Chelsea porcelain plate, molded with a rococo style border reserved with three scroll-edged panels painted with landscapes including a lake, distant towers, woods and figures. There are mixed flower sprays, smaller sprigs and a butterfly in the center, with the rim picked out with a brownish red line. Red anchor mark and stilt marks on the reverse. Painted in a lovely soft palette.

The plate is 9 1/2" in diameter...

A beautiful set of four c1775 English wine glasses, engraved with a scene of horsemen, hounds, foxes, and a house, the lower part of the ogee bowls cut and the stems with facet cutting.

The glasses are 5 1/8" tall, with a bowl diameter of 2", and a generous 2 3/4" foot diameter. Condition is excellent, with no chips, cracks, or repairs. Good color and striations, and a rough, snapped pontil

An uncommon tinsel, or foil, painting on glass. Extremely vibrant, with deep colors, the painting shows a bluebird surrounded by a variety of fruit, with a compote of fruit behind it. It is rare to have a foil scene without a lot of open space between subjects.

The painting is in excellent condition, as is the later frame, which measures 16 1/4" by 13 1/4".

A spectacular and beautiful circa 1730 English silk embroidered apron front, exquisitely embroidered in polychrome silk and metallic threads with garlands and sprays of flowers urns. Scalloped edges are finished with embroidered metallic trim. A somewhat later but very similar example is shown in The Lotus Collection.

There are some scattered unimportant splits and very very minor and small spots of discoloration, all to be expected in such a delicate piece...

A truly superb pair of English porcelain spill vases, fully decorated with feather painting. Decoration with the incredible quality, lushness, and detailing that these display can only be found on the wares of several manufacturers, and are always highly sought after. Although unmarked, these vases were most probably made by the Chamberlain Worcester factory...

A rare and striking large porcelain bowl made by the William Reid manufactory. The scene, handpainted in an underglaze soft grayish-blue, depicts oriental buildings and foliage. The interior has a border of alternating flower heads and dots, and the bottom has a workman's mark. Both the large size of the bowl, and the scene itself, contribute to the rarity of this piece.

The bowl is 6 5/8" on diameter, and is 2 5/8" in height...

A rare and beautiful double series opaque twist wine glass. The bowl, of uncommon tulip form, sits atop a stem containing two heavy spiral threads around a central gauze. What makes this glass rare, aside from the bowl shape, is that, opposed to being conical, as is usually the case, the foot is domed, a feature very rarely found on opaque twist glasses.

This fine example is 6 1/8" tall, with a bowl diameter of 2 7/16", and a foot diameter of 2 5/8"...

This extremely rare and very early Derby enameled wine taster is of circular shape with gadrooned sides, and has a pierced scroll handle in puce with the exterior handle ends with applied leaves in green. The exterior has puce foliate sprays, and the interior has a circular central panel edged with black and red lines containing an insect...

A fine example of a triple knopped double series opaque twist (DSOT) antique wine glass. The bell bowl sits above a stem with three heavy spiral threads outside of a loose central gauze, and with shoulder, medial, and basal knops. Conical foot with rough, snapped pontil.

The vast majority of opaque twist glasses have straight stems, and the addition of even one knop adds substantially to the difficulty of making them, and the value. Each additional knop increases these factors...

A superb and elegant multiple spiral opaque twist wine glass, with four features contributing to the rarity of this glass. The first is the bowl, which is highly unusual and could best be described as ogee form with an extremely swollen upper portion. Second is the enamel portion itself, with a multiple spiral opaque twist (msot), a type encountered very infrequently. Third is the presence of a central knop, with any knop on an opaque twist being uncommon...

A fine and early Worcester patty pan, painted in underglaze blue with the "Bare Tree and Speared Bird" pattern, with trailing leaf sprays on the exterior and a painter's mark on the bottom. This pattern appears to only have been used on patty pans, and is also the only other pattern, aside from the full "Mansfield" pattern, that has a "Mansfield" pattern border.

More important is that the patty pan with this pattern, uncommon in itself, was made in two forms...

An extremely nice tinsel, or foil, painting, showing a pearlescent urn overflowing with a wide variety of flowers, with a fallen rose bud at the base of the urn.

Housed in a period and probably original frame, measuring 17" by 13 1/4", the painting itself is 12" by 8 1/2". The condition of this gem is excellent.

Tinsel paintings of this type are almost a completely American form, becoming highly popular around 1870, and continuing into the mid 20th century. Earlier pieces, such as this on...