Collectables

[letric]

Behind every great man are his objects and possessions
confined as much by the minutiae of domesticity as by
the great works of the man himself. from mantelpieces
to crockery, an ashtray at the Freud museum and skirting
boards at Winston Churchill's Chartwell, great men desks,
books, banisters, mirrors, beds and doorknobs are
appreciated in a new light.

[letric]

William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) was one of the
wealthiest and most powerful men in America in the first
half of the 20th century and his media conglomerate is
still one of the largest privately held corporations today.
His life as a newspaper tycoon and politician was satirised
in Orson Welles's film Citizen Kane. During the 1920s and
1930s, he amassed hundreds of paintings and sculptures
and the largest private collections of tapestries, antiquities,
silver and arms and armour of his time. They furnished no
fewer than six palatial residences.

[letric]

Behind every great man are his objects and possessions
confined as much by the minutiae of domesticity as by
the great works of the man himself. from mantelpieces
to crockery, an ashtray at the Freud museum and skirting
boards at Winston Churchill's Chartwell, great men desks,
books, banisters, mirrors, beds and doorknobs are
appreciated in a new light.

You can't fake quality any more that you can
fake a good meal

William S. Burroughs

[letric]

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries link the 22 buildings
that support the museums and research centres into one
system encompassing a vast 1,500,000 books and manu-
scripts which include many rare and unusual works. The
first journey presents works such as 1511 edition of
Ptolemy's Liber Geographiae and the pop-up book pf
Buck Rogers in the 15th Century and Allura in Strange
Adventures in the Spider Ship. The second journey ex-
plores how scientists have extended our understanding
of the world, and includes a 1641 edition of Galileo's
Systema Cosmicum. The final section of journeys
through imaginations of artists, architects and book
designers, presenting among many pictorially rich
selections such as a 1535 edition of Albrecht Durer
Institutionum Geometricorum.

[letric]

Quality is never an accident; it is always the results of intelligent effort...
The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low prices
are forgotten.

[letric]

They say one man's junk is another man's collection.
Whatever your opinion, peering into the cluttered
world to uncover beneath the bric-a-brac, the
personality behind the paraphenalia and the method
in the memorablia is interesting.

[letric]

For many people the pinnacle of the jeweller's art has to be the Faberge eggs. These Easter gifts, which
Russia's last two tsars gave to their tsarina, have become synonymous with privilege, beautry and an
almost provocative uselessness. Above all, the eggs illustrate the attitudes that would ultimately lead to
the downfall of the Romanovas: their apparent indiference to the poverty that choked their country and
their preference for style over substance.

[vaio]

[letric]

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

(Confucius)

Simply discussing the extraordinary story of the masterpiece that outlived an Empire.

[lexbarker]

Saw in the news this week that a guy got a set of Chinese dirnking glasses in a garage sale some years ago for a few bucks and when he evaluated them on the Antiques Show they were worth over a million bucks.

[letric]

Knives are not only mankind's oldest tools, they are also seen as collectable items. During prehistoric times, they were simply chipped off big stones but, during the Bronze and Iron Ages, they evolved into the all-purpose instrument we know today. They played a crucial role in hunting, defence and food storage for prehistoric man. Today most adults work with them on a daily basis. Moreover, some knives are so well shaped and decorated that they are considered true works of art. The Damascus steel knife, for instance, has become a treasured object d'art.

[letric]

The Museum of London's collection of pewter toys and miniatures,
is probably the largest and most important of its kind in the world.
The full range of different types of miniatures is presented, and
ranges from arms and armour and domestic utensil to figurines,
furniture, modes of transport and watches. A must see, if ever you
visit London.

[lexbarker]

My sweetie is so old now she is in the collectable catagory.

[letric]

Meet the man who loves his Heinz so much that changed his name to Captain Beany
and runs the Baked Bean Museum of excellence in Port Talbot, and Alex Spencer,
curator of the Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick. In the southeast there is
Kelvedon Hatch (not so) Secret Nuclear Bunker, the Old Operating Theatre at London
Bridge and the Packaging Museum in Notting Hill. Obviously, these eccentrics are
among Britain's finest example.

[letric]

Charles Lewis Tiffany, one of the founders of the firm, was aware of the newly emerging elite
for high-style jewels that would rival those owned by European aristocrats . An astute
entrepreneur, he would eventually purchase part of the French Crown jewels, selling them
alongside outstanding diamonds, precious gem-set jewellery and Swiss-made watches. The
company also passionately developed an American style, promoting American materials and motifs.
Their displays at international expositions met with great success. They were also quick
to adopt technological advances, including the raised diamond mount - The Tiffany Setting -
new diamiond's cutting technique and a system of hallmarking. Brilliant ...

[letric]

Whatever your opinion on the merits or otherwise of cigars, that they have an utterly fascinating history is
undoubted. There was a time when premium cigars were synonymous with Havana, Cuba, but today premium
cigars are being produced in the Dominican Republic to the extent that annual worldwide sales of Dominican
cigars have outstripped those from every other country put together. Interesting ...

[letric]

For many people the pinnacle of the jeweller's art has to be the Faberge eggs. These Easter gifts, which
Russia's last two tsars gave to their tsarina, have become synonymous with privilege, beautry and an
almost provocative uselessness. Above all, the eggs illustrate the attitudes that would ultimately lead to
the downfall of the Romanovas: their apparent indiference to the poverty that choked their country and
their preference for style over substance.

Gold conjures up a mist about s man, more destructive of all his old senses and lulling to
his feelings than the fumes of charcoal.
Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby

[letric]

Robert Opie began his collection of tins, bottles, wrappers and packets that must people considered
rubbish at the tender age of 16. Looking at the 20Th century decade by decade, exploring shopping,
travel, entertainment, toys and games through the hoard of packaging, advertising and products them-
selves Robert Opie has carefully assembled Two World Wars, four coronations, the arrival of radio and
television and the first man on the moon, how they affected not just the newspapers headlines, but also
the sweet wrappers and cereal packets, posters, journals and magazines and films of the day. Amazing..

[letric]

Rare literary works of great consequence can be found with the library of Richard and Ronay Menschel at
George Eastman House in Rochester, USA, renowned for its collection of books on photographic history.
More the 259 rare books have been carefully selected to reflect the incomparable strength and depth of
this remarkable library.