Starr Antiques

Historic Charleston Foundation reverses decision to sell Nathaniel Russell House Historic Charleston Foundation endured a huge backlash after it announced its intention to sell the famous house museum.

We share the museum and preservation community’s concern and disappointment regarding the Historic Charleston Foundation's decision to sell the Nathaniel Russell House. If the HCF’s board is unwilling to reverse course, we hope that this magnificent site can find a nonprofit partner that will honor its significance and splendor. 🤞 More info: https://www.historiccharleston.org/blog/questions-and-answers-about-the-nathaniel-russell-house/. Make sure to read the comments at the bottom of the page.

A Time To Speak The very wise man (likely King Solomon) who wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, says in Chapter 3, Verse 7, KJV, that “there is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.” This is a time to speak. Earlier this month, the Historic Charleston Foundation of Charleston, South Caro...

The Copley Fine Art Auctions catalog quoted pioneer authority and collector of decoys Dr. William J. Mackey Jr. (d. 1972) describing birds carved by Nathan F. Cobb Jr. (1825-1905): “Every Nathan Cobb decoy had its own natural pose. Even his Hudsonian curlews...seemed to run, feed, and walk.”

https://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/decoys-and-more-at-copley/9264

Cobb’s 15½" long running curlew, circa 1880, retaining the original paint and original bill, survived the 1893 tidal wave that obliterated Cobb Island. The decoys on the island, made to be buoyant, simply floated away and were retrieved after the storm. The bird is described in the catalog as “among the very finest shorebirds that survived the remote island’s storm-wrecked history.” Estimated at $80,000/120,000, the Harmon Cobb running curlew brought $78,000. It has rested in several private collections, most recently the distinguished one of Ted and Judy Harmon.

Closely related decoys are illustrated and discussed in several publications: "Wings of Wonder: The Remarkable Story of the Cobb Family and the Priceless Decoys They Created on Their Island Paradise" by Dr. S. Lloyd Newberry (2020); "American Bird Decoys" by William J. Mackey Jr. (1965); "Bird Decoys of North America" by Robert Shaw (2010); "Southern Decoys of Virginia and The Carolinas" by Henry A. Fleckenstein Jr. (1983); and "Birds of a Feather" by Kory W. Rogers (2017).

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This Sunday next to Black Tulip Antiques

Home - Black Tulip Estates BLACK TULIP ESTATES At Black Tulip Estates, we’re committed to providing exceptional service to our clients. We work closely with you to understand your unique needs and goals. Black Tulip Estates’ Sale! Coming soon! Extraordinary Extensive Folk Art Estate Sale April 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th 9:...

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Extraordinary American Estate Sale starts on 4/20 | EstateSales.NET

The meaning of beauty in antiques…

In 2012 Thomas Jefferson's Monticello gave the Montpelier Foundation this original Pietro Cardelli plaster medallion of Madison’s mother Nelly Conway Madison, born in 1731 -- prompting a Montpelier staff member to pen this limerick:

There was an “Old Lady” named Nelly,
Whose portrait was carved by Cardelli.
Looking tranquil and clever,
She’s ours now, forever,
And for that we can thank Monticelli.

Medallion of Nelly Conway Madison, 1819, MF2012.13.1, Gift of Monticello/Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. 2013. The portrait was given by James C. McGuire in honor of Glenn Madison Brown to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in 1939.

A History of Dimestore Christmas Village Houses In this article, the late Ted Althof, who was known as Papa Ted, gave us an in-depth history of decorative dimestore Christmas village houses and other vi...

A Bit of New England in Southern Wisconsin | Classic Chicago Magazine By Judy Carmack Bross

To contact Sally at StarrAntiques, contact [email protected].
Sally .com is no longer an active email address.

Check it out !
Americana Insights is a new nonprofit online journal and information resource center established by Jane Katcher in collaboration with David A. Schorsch, her longtime friend and mentor in the field of Americana and American folk art, and assisted by a distinguished advisory board of museum professionals and published scholars. Americana Insights is edited by independent scholar, author, and curator Robert Shaw.

Support the Museum of the American Revolution - Museum of the American Revolution  The American Revolution was about people coming together in an extraordinary time and finding common ground. This powerful moment in history has never seemed more relevant.

Before & After ~ Mount Vernon.

Historic preservation in the US started with the homes of early leaders. One of the earliest restorations in America was Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. America's first president died in 1799 and his beloved home eventually fell into an advanced state of neglect, as seen in this photo taken in 1858 (before: Mt. Vernon Ladies Assoc., after: Ken Lund).

The iconic house stands as a monument to the man who led our forces in the Revolutionary War and served as our first president. It is also now recognized as a monument to the enslaved people who were the foundation of Washington's wealth and success. Mount Vernon was built and paid for by the labor of these Americans.

The Mount Vernon Ladies Association was formed to save and preserve the house, purchasing it in 1858. Following the Civil War, restoration of the house began and has never stopped.

New research and analysis lead to more accurate information about the appearance and functioning of the plantation during Washington's lifetime and additional restoration work is done to reflect the new knowledge. For instance, the porch at the left end of the house and the balustrade on the portico roof dated to after Washington's lifetime and were removed as part of the restoration.

Although none of us will ever own a house of this significance, the lessons learned in its restoration can be applied to our own efforts.

"Restoring Your Historic House, The Comprehensive Guide for Homeowners" includes information on the methods and materials used in restoring major landmarks, historic tax credit rehabs, and private home restorations, showing a range of options to solve issues in your house.

Signed and personalized copies of the award-winning and bestselling 720-page hardcover book are available from the author at YourHistoricHouse.com/shop/ and through the shop on this page.

George Washington's Mount Vernon

Rare Red Earthenware Urn Discovered At Newburyport Estate Auction - Antiques And The Arts Weekly The estate in Georgetown, Mass., where these two pottery objects were found. Submitted By Justin W. Thomas NEWBURYPORT, MASS. - Auctioneer John McInnis and gallery director Dan Meader conducted a discovery estate auction at the Masonic Temple in downtown, Newburyport on Saturday June 18, where the c...

☞Who’s The Most Important Man This Country Ever Knew?

☞Today in History -- On today’s date 103 years ago, Tuesday, June 17, 1919, the popular newspaper comic strip “Take Barney Google, F’rinstance,” created by noted American cartoonist Billy DeBeck (1890-1942) & later known as “Barney Google & Snuffy Smith,” made its debut.

☞The initial appeal of the comic strip led to its adaptation to film, animation, popular song, & television. It added several terms & phrases to the English language, & it inspired the 1923 hit song “Barney Google (with the Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes)” with lyrics by William “Billy” Rose (1899-1966).

☞Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the influential comic strip has gained a huge international readership, appearing in at least 900 newspapers in over 20 countries.

☞Barney Google himself, once the star of the strip & a very popular character in his own right, has been almost entirely phased out of the feature. Snuffy Smith, who was initially introduced as a supporting player in 1934, has now been the comic strip’s central character for over 60 years.

☞The following excerpt from Wikipedia explains how Barney Google became the namesake of the ubiquitous “Google, Inc.” search engine.

Following “The Goo-Goo Song” (1900), the word “Google” was introduced in 1913 in Vincent Cartwright Vickers’ “The Google Book,” a children’s book about the Google & other fanciful creatures who live in Googleland: “The Google has a beautiful garden which is guarded night & day. All through the day he sleeps in a pool of water in the center of the garden; but when the night comes, he slowly crawls out of the pool & silently prowls around for food.” Aware of the word’s appeal, DeBeck launched his comic strip six years later, & the “goo-goo-googly” lyrics in the 1923 song “Barney Google” focused attention on the novelty of the word.

When mathematician & Columbia University professor Edward Kasner was challenged in the late 1930s to devise a name for a very large number, he asked his nine-year-old nephew, Milton Sirotta, to suggest a word. The youthful comic-strip reader told Kasner to use “Google.” Kasner agreed, & in 1940, he introduced the words “googol” & “googolplex" in his book, “Mathematics & the Imagination.” Milton Sirotta died in 1980. This is the term that Larry Page & Sergey Brin had in mind when they named their company in 1998, but they intentionally misspelled “googol” as “google,” bringing it back full circle to Vickers’ form. In 2002, when Page set up a scanning device at Google to test how fast books could be scanned, the first book he scanned was Vickers’ “The Google Book.”