Just a note to say briefly that, due to some medical issues that arose at the end of last year and remain unresolved, as well as two upcoming surgeries in March and April, I will be taking a break from posting for the next few months. A large part of the problems are visual, and…
Think You Know What Something Sold for on eBay? Think Again!
If you use eBay as either a buyer or seller, chances are that you use their Sold search function in order to see what people are actually paying for an item…especially if what you’re looking for is any kind of collectible. Or perhaps you have inherited something, or snagged it for the proverbial song at…
A Tale of Two Bridges
Once upon a time (okay, it was in 2014 which was when I bought the Money Pit) there was a garden bridge. The former owners had left it behind, along with a rotting and too-big-to-be-legal garden shed, a somewhat shaky red-painted pine arbor, and a small bench made from a granite rectangle atop two legs.…
The Amazing Takahashi Bird Jewelry
A unique genre among vintage jewelry collectors is what’s known as the Takahashi bird items. I hesitate to classify these as ‘costume jewelry’ because they truly are an art form. The backstory of the Takahashi birds is just as fascinating as the brooches themselves. The following is a brief summary. Yoneguma and Kiyoka Takahashi were…
Identifying Original-Studio Connoisseur of Malvern Porcelain
The original Connoisseur of Malvern studio existed for 15 years, starting in 1979 and operating under the ownership and direction of Diane Lewis and her husband Terry. Because the studio changed ownership and staff after it was sold, collectors of Connoisseur of Malvern may (and should) want to differentiate between the original-studio and post-studio-sale products.…
Connoisseur of Malvern Artist Iconography
In the world of art porcelain, it was almost unheard-of for studios to give credit to the individual artists who actually created the sculptures; there was an almost universal policy of forced anonymity. Normally the only name that appeared on a studio’s output was that of the studio itself, typically that of its founder or…
A Gardener’s Thanksgiving
I know that I do a lot of grousing about my garden; people are undoubtedly tired of hearing me constantly complain about the poison ivy (entirely justified, though!), the stony/rocky clay soil, the rabbits, and the rodents. [Oh, wait, the rodents are part of the House Whine…sorry…] Given my growing reputation as a GOG (Grumpy…
Porcelain Eggs, Ornaments, and Oddments by Connoisseur of Malvern
There were some items made by Connoisseur that don’t quite fit into any of the categories I’ve set up, so they’re collected here under the heading of decorative eggs, ornaments, and “oddments” – for lack of a better term! Decorative Eggs Connoisseur produced at least two Faberge-style eggs, i.e., ones where the top half opens…
The Chatsworth Lady 