Antique French Copper Milk Container, Late 19th Century

When dairy farmers traveled to the market, they would use large metal jugs, such as this cast iron milk container, to sell milk to local customers. The cast ...

This intriguing Black Forest inkwell has been meticulously hand carved from wood and dates to 19th century Switzerland. The piece depicts two men attempting to milk a cow. The man wearing a hat is struggling to control the cow by pulling on the bovine’s tail; his bespectacled partner is situated next to the cow in an attempt to milk it. The ground immediately beneath these three figures is a rocky formation of varying height. Below this is a wooden terrain that also has quite a lot of depth. Among the forest-like environment, there are two indentations that house the colored and cut glass inkwells. The colored portions of the mushroom-shaped wells are a rustic orange that ties in nicely with the dark brown wood used in the carving. The wells are then capped with silvered lids. One of the glass containers has a perforated top, which would have held the pounce or sand (pounce pot). This would have permitted the writer to sprinkle the sand on the paper before inking to aid in the drying process. Excess pounce was often poured back into the container. The milk cows...

Vessels such as this large grain or olive oil pot have been used for centuries throughout Greece to keep culinary ingredients fresh. Ours dates to the 1800s and has a form known as a...

Vivid colors, hand-painted in the Renaissance style, enhance this large maiolica pot from the 1800’s. Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery from Italy that has been decorated over a white background. This pot is considered an istoriato, which is to say that the pot has been decorated with figures, rather than strictly geometric patterns or floral designs. The maiolica does incorporate floral and foliate motifs, with white flowers that have yellow centers surrounded by blue rings. There are also yellow flowers that are depicted in various stages of nyctinasty (the closing of flowers during the night). The flora is all connected by a series of green and yellow curled leaves. Behind the vegetation is a dark blue background. There are two portraits inside large yellow cartouches that are painted in the middle of the pot. The first is a bearded man, dressed in a light brown tunic...

This stunning lidded urn might have once been found in a 19th century Italian apothecary. The front of the shaped urn body has the hand-painted phrase “C. Violaru”, which is the heavily abbreviated form of the Latin word for violet (violaceum). Up until the mid-1700’s, apothecaries would make syrups from violets and use it to treat kidney ailments. Above the Latin wording is a whimsical musical scene with a man blowing a horn leading a couple who is holding hands over rocky terrain lined with shrubbery. A large house and trees can be seen behind the trio with a pair of mountains in the distance. On the opposite side of the urn is a floral display with a bird perched on a rock. Beneath the bird is a geometric design, possibly a stylized sun with radiating beams of light. Both scenes are segmented by a pair of thin quarter round moldings that encircle the entire vase. Other hand-painted motifs include floral and foliate margents, geometric patterns, and Vitruvian waves that are infilled with horizontal fluting. The sides of the urn have a fish-scale background beneath two mustachioed mascarons. Both men have been styled in grotesque fashion, with a pair of spiraled horns emanating from their heads. In between the horns is a looping handle that is affixed to the body in similar tight spirals. The domed lid has three scrolled arms that merge in a geometric finial. The base color of the urn is white, with illustrations in a monochromatic cobalt oxide blue, reminiscent of Delft blue pottery...

A stunning example of gros relief barbotine, this vase has large, paper thin kaolin clay flowers affixed to the hand-painted body. From the studio of Edoua...

Unique and fabulous decorative container, umbrella stand,holder etc by Testolini Venice in blond walnut hand-carved restored and polished with she...

A 19th century American tall Albany-slip-glazed stoneware storage jar with a heavy lip. This jar was originally used to store food, but is perfect today for storing umbrellas, walkin...

Umbrella stand from the 1940s in handmade embossed burnished copper with detailed surface sustained by a Forged Wrought Iron Structure belonging to the Italian region Trentino, well ...

Late 19th century copper cooking vessel circa 1890. Good quality piece of 19th century metalware, this large cooking vessel now provides the ideal fireside storage for logs...

Old French pharmacy porcelain containers. Fontemoing & Peigney XIX CENTURY THEY MEASURE 26 CM HIGH IN TOTAL THERE ARE 20 CONTAINERS IN EXCELLENT CONDIT...

A 19th century French copper pot with riveted double handles. Beautiful warm patina. Seam along the bottom. Several stamped maker's marks, including...