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Collectibles and Curiosities For Sale
Period: Early 20th Century
Period: 1940s
Early 20th C. American Phonograph in Cabinet by the Kimberley Phonograph Company
Located in Morristown, NJ
Early 20th C. American phonograph, produced by the Kimberley Phonograph Company, as indicated by the plaque on the inside of the cabinet. The phonograph is housed in a wooden cabinet...
Category
1910s American Arts and Crafts Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal, Brass
Vintage Handmade Egg Timer Hourglass in Wooden Textile Bobbin Spool 3min Timer
Located in Bishop's Stortford, GB
Vintage Handmade Egg Timer Hourglass in Wooden Textile Bobbin Spool 3min Timer. Crafted with precision, the hourglass features fine sand that flows smoothly, symbolizing the passage ...
Category
Early 20th Century British Victorian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Glass
Antique & Large Size Gothic Revival Wrought Iron & Transparent Glass Lantern
Located in Lisse, NL
Stunning, top quality made antique pendant in the Gothic style.
If you are a collector of rare and ancient looking Gothic antiques then this large size and possibly one of a kind pendant could be flying your way soon. With antique light fixtures as one of our specialities, we know how rare Gothic lanterns are and to have found one of this age, size, beauty and quality more than made our day. Also, because this all hand-crafted specimen is, except for the glass, completely original and in superb condition. What makes this stylishly blackened specimen stand out from the other Gothic lights that we have sold over the years, is the thickness of the forged wrought iron parts and its relatively clean-lined design. The forged iron is thick and strong and that too is why this large lantern light...
Category
Early 20th Century European Gothic Revival Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal, Wrought Iron
Antique Cast Iron Penny or Money Bank Boy Fishing Marked "The One That Got Away"
Located in Miami, FL
A nice sized Early 20th century American cast iron piggy, penny bank or money box. This decorative bank features a boy fishing and obtains its original anti...
Category
Early 20th Century American Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Iron
Chinese Silver & Leather Theatre Opera / Wedding Tiered Phoenix Headdress, 1920s
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Chinese Silver & Leather Theatre Opera / Wedding Tiered Phoenix Headdress, 1920s
Silvered Metal & leather and embroidered Mandarin hat
This Chinese silv...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal
1930's Marx Marcrest Pressed Steel Pure Milk Dairy Toy Truck
Located in Van Nuys, CA
We have A white Marx Marcrest Pure Milk Dairy Truck modeled truck produced by Marx Toys, a prominent American toy company known for manufacturing a wide ra...
Category
1920s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Steel
Framed Nautical Flag of a Yacht Ensign
Located in Norwell, MA
Framed yacht ensign flag with embroidered fouled anchor surrounded by stars in the blue field. This panel identifies a vessel as a pleasure craft, not a commercial vessel.
Weight: ...
Category
1920s North American Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Cotton
Art Nouveau Sculptural Fish Tank
Located in Alhambra, CA
Likely a 1920's/30's Art Nouveau fish tank, made of cast aluminum and iron. Griffon corner pedestals are beautifully cast and in fantastic condition. All 5 sheets of glass are intact...
Category
Early 20th Century Art Nouveau Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Aluminum
Chromatic Double Harp, Pleyel, Lyon & Cie, Paris, circa 1900
Located in Greding, DE
Large double harp with gold-patinated head and neck and carved paw feet on the base. The harp is marked on the neck "Pleyel, Lyion & Cie (Paris). Harp, sysle. Gve Lyon. Brevete. No. ...
Category
Early 1900s French Antique Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Mahogany
Chess Game Set with Handmade Mother-of-Pearl Inlaid Chessboard Black Lacquered
Located in Bochum, NRW
Chess Game Set with Handmade Board Made of Wood and Mother of Pearl Inlaid
An early 1920s Chinese or Vietnamese Export black lacquered Mother-of-Pearl Inlaid Chessboard. The Chessboard measures 38x38cm overall with 4 cm squares. Each square chessboard has an inlaid decor of birds and trees. Included are 32 bakelite chess...
Category
1920s Asian Japonisme Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Plastic, Bakelite, Wood
Kinora Monochrome Motion Picture Viewer
Located in London, GB
A rare model of a Kinora monochrome motion picture viewer on folding base. Light oak lens holder and base, with the circular Kinora badge, circa 1905.
...
Category
Early 20th Century English Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Oak, Paper
Long Nose Golf Club Putter By Robert Forgan
Located in Oxfordshire, GB
Scared Head Forgan Long Nose Putter.
An elegant scared head long nose putter by Robert Forgan of St Andrews. This great looking club has a large lead weight to the rear, traditional ...
Category
Early 20th Century Scottish Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Fruitwood, Hickory
MONOCLE 1900 Edwardian Single Lens Pendant In 18Kt Gold Platinum & Diamonds
Located in Miami, FL
An Edwardian single glass lorgnette-monocle pendant.
This is a beautiful single-lens lorgnette-monocle "loupe" created in America during the Edwardian...
Category
Early 1900s French Edwardian Antique Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Multi-gemstone, Gold, Platinum, Enamel
Early 20th Century English Bronze Cannon Model
Located in Chapel Hill, NC
Early 20th century bronze cannon model, English. A decorative piece in an iron & wood (elm & fruitwood) carriage with possibly the insignia of The Duchy of Brunswick on the cannon. Acquired in the mid-20th century in a Madrid antiques...
Category
Early 20th Century English Edwardian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Bronze, Iron
RONSON England 1929 Art Deco RonDeLight Table Lighter In Steel And Leather
Located in Miami, FL
A ball table-desk lighter designed by Ronson.
Very beautiful and extremely rare RonDeLight desk lighter, created in England by The Ronson Lighter Co. during the art deco period, bac...
Category
1920s English Art Deco Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Steel, Chrome
1904 Mills Owl Strength Tester, Floor Standing Arcade Machine
Located in Peekskill, NY
Today in the world of collecting coin operated amusements, there are many machines which are classified as “unattainable.” These machines are either so rare that there are only 1-2 or no known examples today. This is one of the rarest as well as the earliest Penney Arcade machine...
Category
Early 20th Century American Industrial Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Bronze
Novels of The Sisters Bronte. THORNTON EDITION - 12 vols. 1924 - LEATHER BOUND !
Located in Hillsborough, NJ
AUTHOR: BRONTE, Charlotte, Emily and Anne.
TITLE: The Novels of The Sisters Bronte - with - The Life of Charlotte Bronte by E.C. Gaskell.
PUBLISHER: Edinburgh: John Grant, 1924.
...
Category
1920s British Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Leather
Baier German 1947 Army Truck Lighter Cigarette Holder And Ashtray In Aluminum
Located in Miami, FL
Army Truck Lighter, Cigarette case & ashtray by Walter Baier Company.
Beautiful large sized aluminum lighter by the Baier Company, in the shape of a...
Category
1940s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Aluminum, Steel
WWII Sterling Silver US Army ID Link Bracelet
Located in Van Nuys, CA
This WWII Sterling Silver US Army bracelet honors CPL Harold A. Philpott, engraved with his name and ID number 3923-0801. With a polished finish and authentic patina and signs of hea...
Category
1940s Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Sterling Silver
Antique Mounted Taxidermy Loon on Naturalistic Base, Early 20th Century Bird
Located in Bristol, GB
Antique Stuffed Aquatic Bird
After a few trips around the naturalistic community, we have settled on a loon. Mounted somewhat like a penguin a tad more ...
Category
Early 20th Century British Edwardian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Wood, Feathers, Natural Fiber
Antique Venetian Early 20th Century Ceramic Reynard the Fox Chess Set
Located in Doha, QA
This incredibly animated and amusing Reynard the Fox design Antique Venetian Ceramic Chess Set is a fabulous conversation piece and a kiss of last ce...
Category
Early 20th Century Italian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Ceramic
Lot of Eight Miniature Antique German Dollhouse Toys Accessories 1900s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
This rare and exquisite miniature set of 8 antique German Dollhouse Miniatures is a must-have for Dollhouse and Doll collectors and enthusiasts al...
Category
Early 1900s German Folk Art Antique Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Pewter
13 Magic Lantern Slides - Motifs Usa and Canada
Located in Brønshøj, DK
13 antique glass lantern slides with motifs of USA and Canada.
1. New York, Statue of Liberty
2. New York
3. San Francisco, Town Hall "the new hall...
Category
Early 20th Century American Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Glass
Early 20th Century Stone Disc
Located in Vosselaar, BE
A polished hardstone disc. Provenance unknown but probably a early 20th century Hawaiin Ulu Maika stoen. Ulu Maika is a ancient game simular to bowling played by the indigineaous Haw...
Category
Early 20th Century Hawaiian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Stone
Mills Novelty Co. owl strength lifter “Mills Perfect Muscle Developer”
Located in London, GB
Mills Novelty Co. owl strength lifter “Mills Perfect Muscle Developer” Chicago, circa 1905.
Coin operated with an old bronze penny.
Dial marked:
TEST YOUR STRENGTH - THE ARROW...
Category
Early 20th Century American Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Brass, Iron
FRENCH 1915 Mechanical WWI Biplane Airplane Scale Model In Copper and Bronze
Located in Miami, FL
An antique 1915 French mechanical model of a biplane.
This is a fabulous antique scale model of an SPAD S.XIII First-World-War fighter biplane, created in France during the early 20...
Category
1910s French Industrial Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Brass, Bronze, Copper
John Keats – Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of Saint Agners & Other Poems
Located in Middletown, NY
GOLDEN COCKEREL PRESS / Keats, John
Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of Saint Agners & Other Poems; with Engravings by Robert Gibbins
Waltham St.Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1928.
Limited Edition.
Quarto, 12 x 7 1/2 inches (305 x 190mm); pp. 104; with nineteen wood-engravings by Robert Gibbings (1889-1958); copy 178 of 345 copies printed Batchelor hand-made paper, special Cockerel watermark; red ink on title page, red and blue ink for incidental initials by Eric Gill and David Jones's colophon device; 1/4 brown sharkskin and green cloth by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, London; gilt titling; top edge gilt, others uncut; slight staining to head of spine, clean, fresh, and bright inside and out.
[Chanticleer 62; Ransom p. 298, no. 60].
An elegant and beautifully proportioned and illustrated version of John Keat's (1795-1825) famous poems, which constitute the final volume Keats lived to see, published in July 1820. From the Oxford text edited by H. Buxton Forman.
Robert Gibbings (1889-1958) was and Irish wood...
Category
Early 20th Century English Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Gold Leaf
Rare Arts & Crafts Standing Floor Crucifix w Stylized Bronze Sculpture of Christ
Located in Lisse, NL
Rare Gothic revival church crucifix and a wonderful hand crafted work of religious art. Made and marked by Brom, Utrecht (see image 17).
Brom of Utrecht was a family (or dynasty) of...
Category
Early 20th Century Dutch Gothic Revival Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Brass, Bronze
Russian Imperial Gilded Silver Icon of Saint Spyridon, Moscow Hallmarks
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Russian Imperial Gilded Silver Icon of Saint Spyridon, Moscow Hallmarks, circa 1890
A finely crafted Russian Orthodox icon of Saint Spyridon of Trimythous,(Святой Спиридон Тримифунт...
Category
Early 20th Century Russian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Sterling Silver
20 Magic Lantern Slides, Motifs, Italy
Located in Brønshøj, DK
20 Antique glass lantern slides with motifs of Italy.
1. Stromboli, erupting volcano
2. Rome, Colosseum
3. Rome, Colosseum
4. Bozen, Cabel car
5....
Category
Early 20th Century Italian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Glass
DUPONT Paris 1940-1945 Deco Petrol Pocket Lighter In Solid Aluminum
By S.T. Dupont
Located in Miami, FL
A Dupont petrol lighter made in France.
This is a very nice pocket petrol lighter created in Paris France during the post war period, back in the 1940's. The lighter has been produc...
Category
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Aluminum
Wooden Hand Crafted Trench Folk Art Toy Castle Medieval Knight, German, 1910s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Offered is an absolutely stunning toy castle, it is a beautiful example of early 20th century trench folk art, German handmade craft. The architectural detailing in the crenellated t...
Category
Early 20th Century German Folk Art Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Wood
Carrara Ivory 1949 Emerson Model 581 Plaskon AM Vacuum Tube Radio Golden Age
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Ivory 1949 Emerson Model 581 Plaskon AM Tube Radio Golden Age Beauty
This radio was initially crafted using plaskon plastic, an enduring precursor to contemporary polycarbonate and styrene-based plastics. Manufactured by Emerson in the late 1940s, this exquisite AM tabletop tube clock...
Category
1940s Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Bakelite
Baier German 1947 Army Truck Lighter Cigarette Holder And Ashtray In Aluminum
Located in Miami, FL
Army Truck Lighter, Cigarette case & ashtray by Walter Baier Company.
Beautiful large sized aluminum lighter by Baier in the shape of a jeep with a ...
Category
1940s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Aluminum, Enamel
Antique Narragansett Machine Company Forearm Exercise Machine , 1920s, USA
Located in San Francisco, CA
Collectible Antique Narragansett Machine Company Forearm Exercise Machine is constructed of wood and iron. To operate, one merely turns the grip in different directions to engage dif...
Category
1920s American Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Iron
Vintage Bussey Fishtail Tennis Racket, the Gordon
Located in Oxfordshire, GB
George Bussey Wooden Fishtail Tennis Racket, The Gordon
A lawn tennis racket by Bussey, 'The Gordon'. A nice ash frame with convex walnut wedge. The wedge is stamped 'The Gordon', to...
Category
Early 1900s British Victorian Antique Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Ash
Camera Gilles-Faller 'Paris' Studio with Easel, France, circa 1925
By Gilles-Faller
Located in Madrid, ES
Study camera with bellows in very good condition, two objectives and mounted on easel on casters for professional use that has crank for the adjustment of the camera in height and in...
Category
1920s French Modern Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal
Early 20th c. Silver Equestrian Fox Boots Pulls-Made in England c.1920
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT
A pair of silver fox handled equestrian boot pulls mounted on silver hooks. Stamped "Made in England" on each piece.
CREATOR William Hutton & Sons, Sheffield, England.
...
Category
Early 20th Century British Victorian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Silver
Antique Hand Carved Gothic Church Panel of Feeding Pelican as Symbol of Christ
Located in Lisse, NL
Stunning religious wall panel in thick relief with strong hook for easy mounting.
For the collectors of stunning antique church relics we are also offering this marvelously hand carved pelican sculpture for wall mounting. The character ascribed to the pelican in this context is nearly as fabulous as that of the phœnix. From a clumsy, gluttonous, piscivorous water-bird, it was by the growth of legends transformed into a mystic emblem of Christ, whom Dante terms "Nostro Pelicano". St. Hieronymus gives the story of the pelican restoring its young ones destroyed by serpents as an illustration of the destruction of man by the old Serpent, and his salvation by the blood of Christ. The pelican in Christian art is an emblem of Jesus Christ, by "whose blood we are healed" and it is also a symbol of charity. Many early painters and carvers mistakenly represented it more similar to an eagle (much like in this antique church relic), and not as a natural pelican which is why most people today still are a bit confused at first when this stunning hand carved, symbolic bird is called a pelican.
This striking and all hand carved, symbolic panel was originally part of a church or monastery communion rail...
Category
Early 20th Century European Gothic Revival Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Gold Leaf
Antique Smith 8-Day Shipboard Clock
Located in Bridgeport, CT
A brass circular base with a central inset hinged glass panel that reveals a white metal face with black enameled Roman numerals hours and Arabic numerals seconds. The clock lacks a ...
Category
Early 20th Century English Industrial Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Brass
Adams Style Bluthner Grand Piano Quarter Cut Satinwood Inlaid Swags and Bows
Located in Leeds, GB
Adams style, 1911, Bluthner grand piano with a french polished, quarter cut, satinwood case with boxwood stringing inlay and crossbanding accents. The satinwood veneer of the cabinet...
Category
Early 20th Century German Adam Style Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Brass
Marching Military Soldiers Mechanical Toy
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Antique mechanical toy ambitiously crafted with a metal mechanism moved by a crank in the back, sending civil war union soldiers, carved in pine...
Category
Early 20th Century American Campaign Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, First Edition in Original DJ, 1940
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom the Bell Tolls. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940. First edition, first printing. Octavo. Publisher’s beige cloth boards, first issue dust jacket. P...
Category
1940s American Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Rene Lalique Green Glass 'Muguet Haut' Bracelet
By René Lalique
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
Rene Lalique green glass with white enamel 'Muguet Haut' Bracelet. The bracelet consists of 15 rectangular, cylinder-half shaped tablets, stru...
Category
1920s Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Glass
Wurlitzer Juke Box
By Wurlitzer
Located in Atlanta, GA
Wurlitzer "The Bubbler" juke box. Model 1015CD
Dimensions: Height 60", width 33", depth 25"
CW4607.
This Juke Box plays CD's. We do not have a list of the artist or songs, however it is an eclectic mix including (but not limited to): Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, George Benson, John Barry, Earl Klugh, Don Henley, Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Bonnie Rait, Van Morrison...
Category
1940s American Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal
Silver Lady Woman Ex Voto religious Folk Art, Antique European, 1910s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
A cute petite religious Ex Voto. I do not know what it is made of, thin and light filigree silver or silver plated metal. It is handmade, embossed an...
Category
Early 20th Century German Art Nouveau Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Silver Plate, Sheet Metal
Frost King Early 20th Century Ice Box
Located in Alpha, NJ
This early piece of 20th century Americana is in fair-good condition. This oak Frost King shows wear commensurate to use and age.
Category
Early 20th Century Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Aluminum, Steel
Art Deco Radio by American Bosch Circa, 1935
Located in Fulton, CA
Classic Art Deco AM radio by United American Bosch (Magnito Corporation) Springfield Mass. circa. 1935. Restored to original working condition.
Category
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Steel
Antique Bentwood Blue Painted Small Child Snow Sled Wall Display Art
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Antique Bentwood Blue Painted Small Child Snow Sled Wall Display Art. Item features blue distress painted finish, bentwood frame, metal trim, very nice antique item. Circa Early 20th...
Category
Early 20th Century Unknown Victorian Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal
Vintage Mid-Century Globe Meat Slicer Sculptural Enameled Iron & Stainless
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Fabulous and powerful, 1/4hp GM Delco motor. Globe deli meat slicer from the forties. Super quiet motor with a new cord and switch. In excellent vintage co...
Category
1940s American Industrial Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Enamel, Steel, Chrome, Iron, Stainless Steel
1907 Chart of Nantucket Harbor by George Eldridge
Located in Norwell, MA
Chart of Nantucket Harbor from 1907 by cartographer George W. Eldridge. The chart shows the channel passing by the jetty into the harbor, by Brant Point to Steamboat Wharf. Also show...
Category
Early 1900s North American Antique Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Sloane, the Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, New Revised Edition, in a Fine Binding
Located in Hillsborough, NJ
AUTHOR: SLOANE, William Milligan.
TITLE: The Life Of Napoleon Bonaparte.
PUBLISHER: London: The Times Book Club, 1912.
DESCRIPTION: NEW REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION. 4 vols., 8" ...
Category
1910s British Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Leather
Antique national cashier register with key
Located in Brea, CA
Antique national cashier register model 324 with a key , the drawer can open , there is a key , it is a beautiful piece .
Category
1920s American American Classical Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Brass
19th Century Carpenters Pine Tool Chest and Tools The chest is in pine
Located in Godshill, Isle of Wight
19th Century Carpenters Pine Tool Chest and Tools
The chest is in pine with metal banding, it is set on wheels and has layers of trays
We have left the contents of the chest with i...
Category
Early 1900s Arts and Crafts Antique Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Pine
1940s Vintage Vornado Antique Electric Powerful Metal Desk Table Fan
By Vornado
Located in Chula Vista, CA
1940s Vornado vintage antique electric fan powerful and silent.
Art Deco era electric table desk top fan with modern industrial design.
Has one ...
Category
1940s Art Deco Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal
PAIR OF VICTORIAN STYLE VINTAGE CAST IRON DECORATIVE 153CM LONG GARDEN CANNONs
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
Royal House Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this stunning pair of Vintage Victorian style English cast Iron cannons
Please note the delivery fee listed...
Category
1940s British Late Victorian Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Iron
Rare Singer Model 24 Chain Stitch Small Sewing Machine
By Singer
Located in Guaynabo, PR
This is a rare Singer Model 24 chain stitch small sewing machine. Its background is painted black and adorned with red and white foliages decal. A gold color ...
Category
Early 20th Century American Industrial Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal
Medieval Knight Helmet Chrome Eletric Lighter by Omsco
Located in Van Nuys, CA
The Vintage Knight Chrome Electric Lighter by Osco is a classic and elegant piece of smoking paraphernalia crafted with precision and attention to detail, this lighter is a testament...
Category
1940s American Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Chrome
Antique and Vintage Collectibles and Curiosities for Sale
Antique and vintage collectibles and curiosities can bring whimsy and wonder to any interior.
Decorating with old scientific instruments, historical memorabilia and vintage musical instruments, as well as other authentic collectibles and curiosities that can be found on 1stDibs, presents an opportunity to create a unique, natural history museum-like atmosphere in your home that can provoke conversation as often as it pays tribute to how far we’ve come in understanding our world.
And bringing collectibles and curiosities into your space is actually on trend — Wunderkammern, or curiosity cabinets, were all the rage in Europe during the 1500s and continued to have adherents there and in the U.S. in the following centuries. Today, however, they’re experiencing a real surge in popularity and influencing how many interior designers are furnishing and decorating homes — combining contemporary with antique, scientific with tribal, earthly with extraterrestrial, Les Lalanne tables with Flemish tapestries.
The original Wunderkammern were entire rooms filled with objects demonstrating their owners’ worldly knowledge: A proper one included artificiala or preciosa (objets d’art); naturalia (such as skeletons, shells, minerals); exotica (taxidermy or dried plants); and scientifica (scientific instruments), frequently alongside religious relics and ancient artifacts.
Pay tribute to a history of rich and diverse musical traditions that have taken shape all over the world by decorating your home with a collection of antique and vintage musical instruments — with a little help from strong hanging wire or some wall hooks, vintage brass instruments such as a gong, French horn or trumpet can help elevate a home office or complement the efforts you’ve made to ensure a welcoming vibe in your home’s entryway. Bells or antique wind instruments can add provocative metallic contrasts to dark woods as tabletop decorative objects.
Create an intriguing focal point with Georgian scientific instruments, such as stick barometers with mahogany cases or lacquered brass telescopes. These items stem from an era named for the monarchies of the four King Georges, who ruled England in succession starting in 1714 (plus King William’s reign, which lasted until 1837). Just as there was beautiful jewelry produced during the period that today is coveted by collectors, there is much to be found in the collectibles and curiosities realm too.
Wanderlust, nostalgia and a shared love of good design are contributing factors to certain trends in decorating — just as vintage trunks and luggage have reappeared as furniture or home accents in a bedroom or foyer, decorating with globes, maps or nautical objects is similarly rooted in the allure of travel and a penchant for the stylish finishing touch that collectibles bring to our homes.
Find a wide range of antique and vintage collectibles and curiosities on 1stDibs.
Read More
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Montecito Has Drawn Royalty and Celebrities, and These Homes Are Proof of Its Allure
Hollywood A-listers, ex-pat aristocrats and art collectors and style setters of all stripes appreciate the allure of the coastal California hamlet — much on our minds after recent winter floods.
Whaam! Blam! Pow! — a New Book on Pop Art Packs a Punch
Publishing house Assouline and writer Julie Belcove have teamed up to trace the history of the genre, from Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Yayoi Kusama to Mickalene Thomas and Jeff Koons.
The Sparkling Legacy of Tiffany & Co. Explained, One Jewel at a Time
A gorgeous new book celebrates — and memorializes — the iconic jeweler’s rich heritage.
What Makes a Gem-Encrusted Chess Set Worth $4 Million?
The world’s most opulent chess set, weighing in at 513 carats, is literally fit for a king and queen.