ROBUCK Collectibles and Curiosities

Very nice handcarved fragment of a marionette. France, circa 1850. Weathered, small losses and old repairs Measurement include the wooden base.

This is a gilt bronze/brass double apothecary scale. It depicts an upside down bronze Corinthian column that holds two different set of balance brass ...

This large antique wooden ship wheel was carved in France, circa 1880. The traditional, fruitwood nautical object has its original metal brace arou...

This horn was created in France circa 1920, made of brass, this kind of music instruments were part of the French accoutrements during the "Chasse a Courre" (or deer hunts with hound...

This trade scale was made in the late 19th century in France. It was a scale used by traders for retail. Brass and painted cast-iron Patina and signs of use which make this antique o...

Presenting an absolutely gorgeous and extremely unique and rare 19th century British Tunbridgeware hair pin/bobbin or slide. This slide is unlike any of it’s kind we have seen before…. it is a very rare survivor ! From circa 1860–1880. Made of walnut with gorgeous marquetry inlay on the entirety of the front with classic Tunbridgeware micro-mosaic all over the front. The rear is walnut. The marquetry inlay appears to be various different woods, namely, maple, walnut and satinwood. Would have been worn in a Lady’s hair bun with the micro-mosaic facing forward. This would have belonged to a very elegant lady in the mid to late 19th century. Tunbridge ware is a form of decoratively inlaid woodwork, typically in the form of boxes, that is characteristic of Tonbridge and the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent in the 18th and 19th centuries. The decoration typically consists of a mosaic of many very small pieces of different coloured woods that form a pictorial vignette. Shaped rods and slivers of wood were first carefully glued together, then cut into many thin slices of identical pictorial veneer with a fine saw. Elaborately striped and feathered bandings for framing were pre-formed in a similar fashion. There is a collection of Tunbridge ware in the Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery in Tunbridge Wells. The famous makers of Tunbridge ware were in the Tunbridge Wells area of Kent; their most notable work was from circa 1830-1900. Early makers of Tunbridge ware, in Tunbridge Wells in the mid-18th century, were the Burrows family, and Fenner and Co. In the 19th century, around 1830, James Burrows invented a technique of creating mosaics from wooden tesserae. Henry Hollamby, apprenticed to the Burrows family, set up on his own in 1842 and became an important manufacturer of Tunbridge ware, employing about 40 people. Edmund Nye (1797–1863) and his father took over the Fenner company when William Fenner retired in 1840, after 30 years in partnership with him. Thomas Barton (1819–1903), previously apprenticed at the Wise factory, joined the Nyes in 1836, and worked as Nye’s designer; he took over the business in 1863 and continued there until his death. In Tonbridge (near to Tunbridge Wells), George Wise (1703–1779) is known to have had a business in 1746. It continued with his son Thomas, and Thomas’s nephew George (1779–1869), who took over in 1806. In its early years the company made articles such as workboxes and tea caddies with prints of popular views; later items had pictures created from mosaics. Their workshop in Tonbridge, Wise’s Tunbridge Ware Manufactory, was next to the Big Bridge over the Medway; the building was demolished in 1886 to widen the approach to the bridge. Tunbridge ware became popular with visitors to the spa town of Tunbridge Wells, who bought them as souvenirs and gifts. Articles included cribbage boards, paperweights, writing slopes, snuffboxes and glove boxes. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, Tunbridge ware by Edmund Nye, Robert Russell and Henry Hollamby was shown; Edmund Nye received a commendation from the judges for his work. He exhibited a table depicting a mosaic of a ship at sea; 110,800 tesserae were used in making the picture. The manufacturers of Tunbridge ware were cottage industries, and they were no more than nine in Tunbridge Wells and one in Tonbridge. The number declined in the 1880s; competent craftsmen were hard to find, and public tastes changed. After the death of Thomas Barton in 1903 the only surviving firm was Boyce, Brown and Kemp, which closed in 1927. Marquetry was an old technique which was continued by Nye and Barton to create images such as birds or butterflies. ‘Green Oak’ as caused by the fungus Chlorociboria aeruginascens. Stickware and half-square mosaic was invented by James Burrows in about 1830: a bunch of wooden sticks of different colours, each having triangular or diamond-shaped cross section, were tightly glued together; in the case of stickware, the resulting block was dried, then turned to form an article such as the base of a pincushion. For half-square mosaic, thin slices were taken from the composite block, and applied to a surface.[1][2][4] Tesselated mosaic, was a development by James Burrows of half-square mosaic; it was adopted by George Wise and Edmund Nye. Minute tesserae were used to form a wide variety of geometric and pictorial designs. Many sorts of wood were used for the various colours; about 40 were in regular use. Only natural colors were used; green was provided by “green oak”, produced by the action of fungus on fallen oak. Designs for articles were often taken from designs of Berlin wool work.

A charming antique 19th century French iron and wood coal iron with an unusual dolphin decorated iron and wood handle from the provinces of France.

Vintage wrought iron and brass scale with weights is made in the United States by Fairbanks Scales, one of the nation's oldest industrial manufacturing...

This trade scale was made in the late 19th century in France. It was a scale used by traders for retail Brass and Cast-Iron Patina and signs of use which make this antique object ver...

This head is from a fair or carnival game. Not sure what the game was, perhaps the head has been used to toss rings over, or maybe you were supposed to throw something in his mouth....

19th century 3 antique Victorian gold topped canes or parasol handles, some monogrammed, one with mother of pearl, see more pictures.

1910s antique Industrial stand up doctors' scale. Features height indicator and a movable weights with great old paint. Please note, this item is located in one of our NYC locations.