Straw Collectibles and Curiosities

Stunning Mid-Century table lighter made in clear lucite, brass and Vienna straw. This delightful lighter is attributed to a Dior Home production and was made in Italy during the 1970...

ABOUT A 1957 vintage mechanical bank by Astro, Model 1957-A. The trigger to launch the coin works well. You cock it by pulling it down, place t...

ABOUT An early 20th century French elephant pull-toy covered in fabric with glass eyes mounted on a steel platform with steel and rubber wheels. ...

An Italian straw work basket shaped hand bag from Bologna, a fantastic, typical and rare almoner basket used by Italian religious for charity purposes to collect begging. Decorated all over with intricately patterned straw covered case, a braided straw on an oval wooden structure. The oval wooden lid features a detailed repoussé silver layer decorated with scrolls and vegetal motifs and centered by a green precious stone. Silver hanlde is coated with leather and decorated by applied repoussé silver floaral elements and topped by a precious stone. Red lining inside. Silver elements are marked 800 and are realized by Stefani silvermaker from Bologna in the Mid-20th Century. The attribution to the silversmith Enea and Alessandro Stefani was mademade for similar artworks on the antiques market. Handmade in Italy, in Bologna, Emilia Romagna region, dating back to the first decade of 19th century, this oval shaped, hand-realized lidded almoner with arched handle was once used as hand-bag for begging and can be used nowadays for sewing, weaving or knitting works. Finely repoussé silver flowers are applied on the whole oval body of this straw basket. This basket is wonderful as a decorative object or an unusual storage solution. Bag basket making is an ancient and humble craft, but in the hands of a skilled artisan a simple basket can become a truly beautiful work of art. In good condition, with working lock and key on the lid. In overall good condition, minor signes of wear consistent with use and age, the lid shows a small cracking in the internal wooden cover. see closed up picture. A lovely antique Italian handmade box for collectors. Listed height of 42 cm refers to hanle's height - 26 cm is just the basket height. This artwork is shipped from Italy. Under existing legislation, any artwork in Italy created over 70 years ago requires a governative license for export called Belle Arti. The shipping may require additional 2-3 handling weeks to require and get the license according to the final destination of the artwork. The historic Stefani silverware was founded in Bologna in the early 1900s by Enea Stefani, who had learned the art of the silversmith at another historic Bolognese reality, the Zanetti workshop. In 1920 Enea Stefani inaugurated his workshop in Via Clavature, which will be the headquarters of the famous company until it definitively closes in 2015. First Enea and his son Alessandro then produce works of the highest quality, sometimes true masterpieces, working the silver with the ancient techniques of chiselling, embossing, engraving, wax casting, enriching their creations with semi-precious stones and high-fire enamels. The great mastery in the workmanship is combined with an aesthetic research and a poetic vein, especially in Alessandro, who succeeds his father in 1974, and who also signs numbered specimens, which lead to the creation of splendid pieces, such as candlesticks, rocaille-style double , cutlery, centrepieces, masgalani-silver basins...

Table lighter in wicker and Lucite in Christian Dior Style. Made in Italy in the 1970s.

For your consideration is this wonderfully 1930s Art Deco flapper girl crumb brush with a half pin cushion doll. These dolls originate from Japan and are m...

An Eton College Procession straw boater, 'Monarch', by New & Lingwood Ltd, Eton. Decorated with a dark blue silk, gilt edged ribbon with hand painted gilt lettering Monarch. There is a central decoration on the boater of a gilt anchor...

A wonderful gently loved German Steiff Tiger from the 1940s or 1950s that is in excellent vintage condition with good coloring and minimal wear to the moh...

An old cabinet maker's brush from France in wonderful condition. Handmade from wood that shows a lifetime of use, the stiff straw bristles are none the less in nearly pristine condit...

Davar ceramic liqueur whimsical decanter set, dynamite bourbon, bomb vodka, scotch bullet, all with cork and two with straw igniters. Made in 1961 with japan paper labels. Bourbon...

c1910 Stuffed French Toy Elephant in need of rescue. Missing a tusk, ear, and surgery to butt. Definitely restorable, but useful for decoration as is. Our workshop can do the restora...

Charming 19th century French Toy Horse Fragment covered with burlap