New Facebook page!

Just a quick note to say that I opened a new Facebook page!

You can see it here.

Please like this page to get news about my shop, Etsy, this blog and Arts and Antiques in general!

Thanks and see you there!

Ally

Happy leap year day (or the day your girlfriend may propose)

Happy leap year day! 

According to an ancient British tradition, leap years are the only time when women are allowed to propose marriage to men. Some claim that this tradition dates back to the 5th century, when St Bridget of Kildare complained to Saint Patrick about women having to wait so long to get a proposal. Saint Patrick then decided that women would be allowed to propose marriage to men every leap years, thus balancing the relationships between genders in the same way that leap year day balances the calendar.

In 1288, Queen Margaret of Scotland passed a law forcing any man refusing a marriage proposal to offer the poor girl a kiss, £1 or a silk gown (which is quite cheap and insulting compared to the girl's disappointment, I think). In Denmark, he would have to offer twelve pairs of gloves (to cover her shame of not wearing an engagement ring) and in Finland, enough fabric for her to make a new skirt (I don't quite get what is the explanation or symbol behind this tradition, though).

Finally, the traditional way of dressing up for proposing on leap year was to wear breeches. However, probably because of the low success rate, breeches were replaced by a pretty red petticoat.

Personally, I don't give a Mason jar about leap year day. However, good luck to anybody who knows about this tradition and plans to propose today! If it is the case, you may be interested in these Etsy finds:

Pretty 1890s breeches by Greatestfriend, $380.

Red crinoline petticoat by Pistolpoppy, $28.

Vintage leap year comical postcard by Imagesofthepast, $6.

Victorian man wedding ring by AncientAdornment, $70.

And for more comical postcards about women proposing on leap year, take a look at this Slate magazine page.

Happy leap year day to all again!

Great news!

The Hospices in Beaune, Burgundy.

I am finally back after great holidays in France! Unfortunately, because of family obligations I didn't have the time to look for interesting antiques to take back to the UK... Hopefully, next time will be different! Anyway, I spent a fantastic time in Beaune (Burgundy), and recommend it to anyone who's into great food, wine and beautiful landscapes and architecture!

When I came back home, I received some great news from Woolley and Wallis, the Salisbury salerooms: I am going to work in their Asian Art department in April-May! I am so eager to start as it'll be a great opportunity to experience work in a busy saleroom. I'll also learn a great deal about Chinese art and antiques - I am so excited about it! I will keep you posted as it goes ;-)

Website of Woolley and Wallis, Salisbury salerooms

Finally: about my DIY project. I now know what I am going to do with my cast-iron bracket! I need to find the right tools and accessories, but be sure that I'll post some pictures of the final product when it'll be done!

Bye for now, and have a great weekend ;-)

Ally

New antique DIY project: repurposed cast iron bracket

I finally have access to the Internet again and I am now trading from the other side of Oxford!
To start this new era, I found an exciting antique DIY project:

I discovered this antique cast iron bracket hidden under a bed of ivy in my new garden. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would end up in my studio :)

Now that I have cleaned it, I have a couple of decisions to make:

- do I get rid of the original white paint (half gone), then leave it in rusty colour, or do I paint it again in white (or black)?

- (the fun part) what do I do with it? Here are some ideas:

• use it as a bed ornament or headboard...? 

(image from European Antique Market blog)

(Image from Man_of  Steel on Flickr)

• use it as a banquette arm (love this idea - but difficult as I don't have this kind of sofa):

(Image from Susan Burger Living Beautifully)

• Make some kind of lamp out of it?

(Image from Under Spanish Moss blog)

• or just sell it? :o)

I need your help to decide wisely! What do you think would be the best option? Do you have any other idea about how to repurpose it? Please let me know in the comments below :-)

Medical oddities - Selection by Vintage Rescue Squad

Cool - but slightly creepy - medical items available on Etsy and selected by Vintage Rescue Squad. Take a look at her blog here and her Etsy shop here - I love her Dreaming of Junking 2012 Calendar!

Happy Holidays!

Dreamy Christmas card by Ernst Haeckel. More beautiful designs by Haeckel on the Retronaut blog.

Happy holidays to you all! I hope you will spend a great time with all the people you love. May your stockings be full of great presents and beautiful antiques!


Ally x

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

'silver' by birdandbloke

Vintage Fluted Tin ... 5gardenias $21.50	Vintage Silver Cand... raemj $15.00	Love the cold said ... ZenzPhotograph... $30.00	Jingle Bell Tinsel ... cattales $21.00
1800's silver s... nevastarr $19.95	Silverplate Serving... thisOtherthing $17.99	Letterpress Holiday... jerseyicecream... $15.00	3 Holiday Spoon Tre... daisychestnut $35.00
Silver Winter Chand... seequin $46.00	24 Vintage Metal Be... RobertaGrove $6.00	Couple of pretty vi... AllysAntiques $8.00	Vintage Silver Plan... amberfilkins $32.00
Antique General Sto... LittleKittenVi... $45.00	Reclaimed Glass Clo... BirdinHandVTG $18.00	Custom Silver Bells... PotterandButle... $12.95	Large Estate 13 Pie... ParisCoutureAn... $925.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

A gorgeous silver treasury that gets me in a Christmas mood!

Collecting nineteenth-century Japanese photographs

Showing Japanese girls' hair, photograph from the collection of the Peabody Museum, Harward University.

Nineteenth-century Japanese photographs are not common and collecting them is a difficult hobby. However, they ARE out there - one only needs to look for them.

This first post is about antiques dear to my heart: nineteenth-century Japanese photographs. Since last year, I have been studying a collection of Japanese pictures at the Central Library in Edinburgh (Scotland). When I started collecting them, I was surprised to see that there is not much written about the market for Japanese photographs on the internet.

So, let's talk about it!

In the second half of the Nineteenth century, Japan underwent a fantastic transformation. Isolated from the rest of the world for nearly two centuries, the country was forced to open its ports to international trade by the American fleet of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854. From then on, Japan received more and more visitors from the West. Some were hired by the government to help modernising the country (the 'oyatoi gaikokujin', honourable hired foreigners), but many were simple tourists attracted to this mysterious and exotic country. During this period, Japanese aesthetics became highly fashionable and although they were at first only known by an elite, they soon became highly popular amongst the lower classes too. Japanese woodblock prints famously inspired a whole generation of French Impressionists. In the UK, Japanese art also influenced Scottish artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Boys George Henry and Edward Hornel.

George Henry, Japanese Lady with a Fan, 1894. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow.

As a result to this sudden interest for Japan, the local market for souvenirs developed. Westerners were eager to see more images of this 'untouched' Orient and the new medium of photography became a popular way of discovering it. Some European photographers and other entrepreneurs grabbed the opportunity to open studios in Japan, producing the type of photographs the Western market craved for: visions of a rather primitive society, closed to nature and with strange or barbaric customs. These studios became highly successful and names such as Felix Beato, Baron Raimund von Stillfried or Adolfo Farsari became famous in the photographic world for the exotic pictures they produced. Even though the westernisation of Japan was obvious in cities (with Japanese people adopting Western clothings, for example), the most popular photographs were those representing an old Japan of samurai, geisha or tattooed men in a primitive society.

These photographs were not cheap, though, and when they were bound together in large albums, they were true luxury items. These albums were sent to the West to be sold to wealthy Victorians in search of exoticism, or they were bought directly from the photographer in Japan. The client was then able to choose from the photographer's large collection which pictures to purchase for his own album .

Baron Raimund von Stillfried, Young Lady, hand-coloured albumen silver photograph, c. 1875. La Trobe Picture Collection.

 Where to find these photographs today? 

Nineteenth-century Japanese photographs are rare on Etsy, and since I have opened my Etsy store last year, I have only seen a couple of good quality ones – they were sold rather quickly, though. Japanese postcards are more common and much cheaper. Many are historically and aesthetically interesting; however their monetary value is much lower than the one of photographs. They also often date from a later period (around 1910). If you are interested in Japanese art and history, I recommend collecting these postcards: you can buy them online on Etsy or Ebay for a few pounds and they are real pieces of history.

Atago Hill at Shiba,Tokyo. Vintage Japanese postcard on sale by BeauBazaar on Etsy:  http://etsy.me/t2sLjN

 

If you are interested in real photographs like the ones pictured above, there are often some available on Ebay. I would also suggest antiques fairs and car boots; they are not common, but if you find one you will most probably do a great deal. I found some photographs in an antiques fair in Edinburgh; my favourite one shows a hand-painted portrait of a blind masseur with his client. I bought it for £5 and know that it is worth much more.

View of a Japanese city, from my personal collection.

The value usually varies according to the overall condition and the scene depicted; a simple black and white landscape can be worth not more than £20, whereas a hand-tinted, detailed picture of a geisha, if attributed to one of the famous photographer working in Japan during this period, can fetch up to four thousands pounds.

If you find a whole album for a reasonable price, don't hesitate and BUY IT. These albums can be extremely valuable, and they can be found on specialist websites for more than twenty thousand pounds!

A word of caution, however: there are people on both Etsy and Ebay who sell modern reproductions of these antique photographs. Be careful and make sure that the picture you are buying is a genuine antique. A way of doing so is (when you can) to check the back of the picture. An honest seller would not refuse to show you a picture of the back if you ask for it; if he does, there are chances that the picture on sale is a modern copy. The back of a vintage picture shall show signs of age (yellow colouration, humidity spots) that are usually a good sign of authenticity. 

Some interesting links: 

• Something fun: a post on the Etsy blog from 2010 showing some nineteenth-century Japanese pictures in 3D: http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2010/news-from-the-craft-style-blogosphere-january-14-2010/

• The unique collection of Japanese photographs of Henry Dyer, Principal of the Imperial College of Engineering (Tokyo) from 1873 to 1882, today at Edinburgh Central Library: http://www.capitalcollections.org.uk/index.php?a=wordsearch&s=gallery&w=franz&go=Search

• A great website to purchase good-quality antique Japanese photographs: http://www.old-japan.co.uk/index.asp

• And finally, to learn more about nineteenth-century Japanese photography: 'Photography in Japan 1853-1912' by Terry Bennett http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0804836337

Ally D.

Welcome to my blog!

Well, this is my first post! I have always wanted to have a blog about antiques and collectibles and I am glad that today I finally started it. Choosing the different options for the design of my blog has been a difficult task and has made me realise that computers and I are not very good friends; however writing posts should be an easier thing to do (hopefully!).

My name is Ally and I am a French Art History student living in Oxford, UK. I opened an Etsy shop a year ago (Ally's Antiques) and I have realised since that art and antiques dealing is my dream job. 

In this blog, I will talk about arts, antiques and collectibles throughout the world but especially in the UK. It will also be an opportunity to talk about some of the articles on sale on my Etsy shop. 

Thank you again for stopping by this blog and please let me know what you think about my articles!

Ally D.