On view at the New Britain Museum of American Art to April 11, 2010, Inspired Innovations highlights a selection of beautiful artifacts from the Shaker community. Included are examples of Shaker nesting carriers and “swallowtail” oval boxes (both above), along with furniture, inventions, and other handcrafted artifacts. The exhibition is curated by Stephen Miller, who puts emphasis on the local Enfield, CT Shaker community and its artistic output from 1790 to 1917.

A full review of Inspired Innovations was published in this weeks Antiques and the Arts.

On view through February 21, 2010, Eighteenth-Century Furniture Design highlights more than 30 furniture drawings from Continental Europe and Britain. Combined with furniture from the Indianapolis Museum Of Art, these drawings help to explain and explore how major stylistic developments in furniture flowered and grew in Europe during the period. It’s a significant period, the time of notables like Chippendale, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton. Through the century the rich curves of the Rococo gave way to the clean lines of Neoclassicism, the designs moving across place via design books.

Strongly recommended if you can get to Indy. I am a great proponent of exhibitions like this one.

Image credit: George Hepplewhite, Double Chest of Drawers, 1787, engraving, Director’s Discretionary Fund, 73.2.125. (in duplicate).

Historic New England is subject of the loan exhibition at this years Winter Antique Show. The core of Americana Week in New York, the Winter Antique Show is among the top vetted presentations of American decorative arts. Ahead of the show (which runs from January 22 to 31, 2010) the brilliant Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has offered her memories and thoughts about Historic New England to The Magazine Antiques.

The article encapsulates all the magic of the Boston-based institution. Further more, Ulrich being an Idaho native helps to  capture the magic of New England’s past.  Read it all here.

Above:

Running through to September, 2010, Convenient and Fashionable: Furniture of Inland Massachusetts, 1790-1830 covers my favorite period of American decorative arts – the Federal. The exhibition, held at Old Sturbridge Village, includes 22 pieces of furniture and a smattering of related objects. Everything shown is of central Massachusetts origin, or documented to the area. Many objects being shown are often kept out of the public eye, making their “homecoming” all the more rich for visitors.

A full review of the exhibition has been published in this week’s edition of Antiques and the Arts. Additionally, Old Sturbridge has prepared a well thought out web component. Check that at OSV.

Above: Trade Sign c. 1820-1830.  Amasa Blanchard (b.1771), Brookfield, Massachusetts.  Pine, paint.  OSV collection 1.202.88. Blanchard was working as a cabinetmaker in Brookfield in the 1790s and later identified himself as both a cabinetmaker and a chair maker on his trade sign.

A few highlights follow.

Located on E. Houston, New York, Billy’s Antiques is a hodgepodge of curiosity, oddity, and plain great old stuff. The tent has been at 76 E. Houston since 1986, eventually becoming Billy’s after its initial incarnation as Lot. 76. The place is a remnant of the old Bowery. A place where Dime Museums, tattoo shops, and all other good things mingled and the spirit of adventure was high.

I’m getting romantic. But, its places like Billy’s, and the stories of the things they hold, that put me in that mood. Well worth the visit when you are in New York.

More images follow.

Since I revel in stories of object history and provenance, the lovely little run down in yesterday’s NYT “Tracking the Progress of Some Special Items Over the Past Year,” tickled my fancy. Included is the tale of Old Jake, a weather vane now on view in its local Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. Christopher Rebollo, an antique dealer from Mechanicsville, PA, reveals his plans for the John Shearer desk (above) he picked up at Rago Arts in August. The Freer’s new Pedigree Jar, purchased from Christie’s, also gets some coverage.

A look at Old Jake and the Pedigree Jar after the jump.

Dealing since 1970, Thomas Schwenke specializes in furniture of the American Federal period. A key moment in the development of American arts, the Federal period (1785 to 1820) brought larger homes and more distinct refinement to the former Colonies. The furniture takes from English and French design, but adds twists of national motif and emblem.

Schwenke is recognized as on of the foremost experts in American Federal furniture, reflected in his inventory. Early and late neoclassical styles are well represented. Additionally, European (particularly English) pieces of the period intermingle with the furniture of American origin. For example, the set of carved mahogany Regency chairs above were produced in England ca. 1820.

Thomas Schwenke’s shop is located in Woodbury, CT.

A few selections from current inventory after the jump.

One of the better features at The Magazine Antiques is “A Closer Look,” which provides brief object based lessons hitting points of biography, design, use, and inspiration. Above is one example, Josef Hoffman’s Sitzmaschine (a machine for sitting). Manufactured by J&J Kohn of Austria in 1905, Hoffman’s design was inspired by British arts & crafts architect Philip Webb. The chairs use speaks to less decorative concerns. During the first half of the 20th century, reclining chairs were used in the treatment of tuberculosis. Hoffman’s Sitzmaschine is widely recognized as the first modernist example of “the cure chair.”

The full story of Hoffman’s design is available here, and this post is meant as just a teaser. The four boxes you see at key points above relate to a specific topic (biography, design, etc.) and a similar set up is employed for a great selection of objects on The Magazine Antiques website. The feature is well worth exploring in full.

Previous spotlight posts have focused on what may be considered the old guard of antiques. Sit & Read Furniture is based in Brooklyn (the showroom at 236 Grand Street is open by appointment only) and maintains a well kept stock of mid-century and industrial pieces. Their blog details current inventory, each post giving concise background to the profiled item. Additionally, related and informative bits (like Herman Miller commercials pulled from youtube) help contextualize the chosen wares.

I caught up with owner/founder Kyle Garner for a brief Q&A about the inspirations behind Sit & Read.

Enjoy the interview and some images after the jump.

Going to veer slightly off the course for this week’s spotlight. Given their status as famed members of the Antiques Roadshow and their own Found!, Leigh and Leslie Keno need little introduction. While successful in the antiques trade, they have both made significant additions to our understanding of American decorative arts through scholarly inquiry.

I’ve chosen a video produced for an exhibition on Connecticut River Valley Furniture for two reasons. First, I’m a fan of the regions style. Secondly, it is indicative of the Keno brothers skill as public historians.