Mid-20th Century Collectibles and Curiosities

Very decorative 1960s Italian hand carved orange alabaster smoking set by Romano Bianchi. Consists of a heavy ashtray, also very useful as trinket dish or vide-poche. A table lighter (which also fits a wax tea light candle). And a very pretty lidded hinged box, which originally would have held cigarettes but also could be used to keep jewellery or little treasures in. Cigarette sales peaked in the 20th century, people were allowed to smoke in the office, the cinema, at restaurants, indoors and outdoors. Once women were able to smoke freely, smoking became a social norm and in general it was considered an act of elegance and sophistication. Businessmen in the 1960s were rarely seen without a cigarette in their hand. So needles to say you needed pretty smoking accessories...

Pair of antique velvet toy bears. Gold - brown - yellow velvet bears with glass eyes and straw stuffed. With sewn mouth and nose and movable arms and legs. Looks like a couple ( male and female ) as there heads are different in size. Beautiful old little toy bears. The arms of 1 bear have been repaired in the past: you can see the thread on the side of the arms. The arms of this bear hang loose to the body. The arms of the other bear can be moved up and down. When 1 arm up or down , the second arm follows automatically as they are attached to each other. Antique toy bears...

Handles Borsani.

AUTHOR: FLEMING, Ian. TITLE: Thrilling Cities - UNCORRECTED PROOF. PUBLISHER: London: Jonathan Cape, 1963. DESCRIPTION: FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, UNCORRECTED PROOF. 1 vol., only 175 copies printed, illustrated. Bound in the publisher's original pictorial printed wrappers, without the exceedingly scarce proof dustjacket. CONDITION: General light...

- 1930s - for the condition see the pictures - jr.

AUTHOR: PRAGNELL, Festus (Frank William Pragnell) TITLE: The Green Man of Kilsona. (The Ape-man of the Electron World) PUBLISHER: London: Philip Al...

Mr.Peanut - vintage peanut butter maker is an original decorative object realized in the mid-20th century. This vintage object was realized by Emenee and it was used as a real pea...

Circa 1960's bold dimensional salmon and white graduated beaded necklace. Measures 27" long, 1" diameter at smallest 1.5" at widest, large beads are 3/8" diameter. Salmon beads are p...

The Last Flowering of the Middle Ages by Baron Joseph Van Der Elst. Published by Doubleday, Doran and Company Inc., 1944. Stated 1st Ed hardcover. An in-depth look into art of the Middle Ages. Contents: 1. The Times and the Men who Made Them: Men of Flanders; The Flemish Parade; The Good Black Earth; The Rise of the Towns; The Medieval Guilds; Of Love, the Dream; The Upward Glance; Pt. 2. The Flemish Masters: Jan van Eyck; Petrus Christus...

Vintage hardback coffee table book featuring artist, William Brice and a selection of his drawings from 1955-1966. By Gerald Nordland and Thomas W. Leavi...

A 1960s souvenir building architectural model Ashtray. Some wear with a nice patina, but this is old-age. Made of metal. A beautiful nice desktop item or just a display item in your ...

This is a vintage surveyor's level. An English, brass scientific instrument with enamelled finish, dating to the mid 20th century, circa 1950. Appe...

A wonderful sculptural orange orb ashtray from the 1960s German era of ABS Plastics manufacturing dominance. Harder to find and highly collectible decor. J...

Author: FLEMING, Ian. Title: You Only Live Twice - UNCORRECTED PROOF. Publisher: London: Jonathan Cape, 1964. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, UNCORRECTED PROOF. 1 vol., perhaps limited to approximately 500 copies, neat ownership signature to page 3. Bound in the publisher's original pictorial printed wrappers. Condition: Slight slant to spine, general light...

AUTHOR: ATWOOD, Margaret. TITLE: The Edible Woman. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1969. DESCRIPTION: FIRST AMERICAN EDITION PRESENTATION COPY. 1 vol., publisher's original pink cloth backed boards, gilt lettered spine, inscribed by Atwood on the half-title "For Bart & Roby best wishes Margaret Atwood...

Extremely rare book Arduino Panaro Bari "logos" method, volume 1, 1930s / 40s, over 400 illustrated pages, signed by the author, equipped with a wooden rappelling team Spignese il...

Set of two vintage Ssico Jaguar match box car toys. By unknown manufacturer, circa 1960. In original condition, with minor wear consistent with age ...

Steps, Jerzy Kosinski. Published by Random House, New York, 1968. Stated 1st Printing hardcover with dust jacket. Steps is a book by the Polish-American writer Jerzy Kosinski, releas...

Painted ship lantern painted with ship name Sir John Franklin. Overall dimensions: 18"H x 14. Weight is 7 pounds.

Martyn Green's Treasury of Gilbert and Sullivan by Martyn Green. Simon & Shuster, New York, 1961. Stated 1st printing hardcover with Gaylord dust ...

Asian hat, circa 1950. By unknown manufacturer, from Asia. In original condition, with some visible signs of previous use and age, preserving a beautiful pat...

White Pillars: Early Life & Architecture Of The Lower Mississippi Valley Written by and Illustrated by J. Frazer Smith. New York: William Helburn, 1941. 2...

Vintage decorative copper plates is a pair of decorative handcrafted objects realized in Italy in the 1930s to celebrate aviation and parachuting. It is in line with the futurist celebration of speed, movement and dynamism. Very good conditions. Dimensions: Big Eagle plate...

The Henry Francis Du Pont Winterthur Museum by Alice Winchester and Joseph Downs. The Magazine Antiques, 1951. First Edition hardcover. A classic work from the...

Original US movie poster for the 1963 Sci-Fi, Horror film directed Steve Sekely and starring Howard Keel, Nicole Maurey.

Suppressed books a history of the conception of literary obscenity by Alec Craig. The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York, 1963. Stated first edition hardcover with dust...

One-volume survey of "Austrian Applied Arts", primarily Secession, with an introduction by Josef Hoffmann. Published in 1930 by Heinz & Co. Organized by t...

Meubles et Ensembles Bretons by Stany Gauthier. Ch. Massin Paris, 1950. 40 b&w plates. 12 page introduction followed by b/w photo plate section of 36 pages. Part of 'Collection de l'...

"Low Bridge" casting cry of the salt water angler by Kenneth Bayless. Fish and Game Publishing Co., 1950. Signed and numbered (#175) 1st Ed hardcover no dust jacket. illustrated with...

A monkey handcrafted from a pinched and riveted piece of leather.

American painter Grandma Moses (1860-1961) was discovered by the collector Louis Caldor. At the time, Grandma Moses was bartering paintings at the wo...

Original Swedish film poster from the 1937 comedy romance film directed by Edward H Griffith and starring Loretta Young, Tyrone Power, Adolph Menjou. For ...

Comment Installer Son Interieur en Louis XIII ou Louis XIV, by Colette Lehmann. Paris, Éditions Charles Massin, 1963. First edition hardcover with dust jacket. How to decorate with L...

Pour une Renaissance de la Peinture Français by Jacques Baschet. Paris: Édition S.N.E.P. Illustration, 1946. Soft cover with French text. 114 pp. An oversized art book on the rebirth...

Manufactured by Artis in the 1960s in former Czechoslovakia. Height adjustable construction made of original blue painted steel tubing. The cleaned and preserved thick cowhide has a ...

Ronald Searle painting for 'Modern Types' book cover Medium: Watercolor and Ink Size Without Frame: 13" high x 10" wide With Frame: 28" high x 21" wide Ronald Se...

Designs for Shop Windows An hardcovered ribbon tied portfolio with 60 photogravure reproductions showing examples of New Shop fronts and Shop fittings in the Art Deco style by some ...

Olympia 1952 Oslo 1952. The 6th winter Olympics Bilder Sammelband. Collectors picture album.

A luminous and expressive group of of blown glass hanging ornaments.

Rare and unusual, this copper ashtray celebrating the pottery industry in France is reminiscent of bronze and copper pieces designed by Paul Manship and other major sculptors in the 1920s and 1930s. This example, made of copper painted gold, depicts a nude potter at his wheel, surrounded by symbols of his industry, including kilns, planting pots and...

EXTRAORDINARILY RARE, YELLOW & WHITE, SUFFRAGE PARASOL / UMBRELLA, WITH “VOTES FOR WOMEN” TEXT, DISTRIBUTED BY THE NATIONAL AMERICAN WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION UNDER ANNA HOWARD SHAW’S LEADERSHIP [HEADQUARTERED IN NEW YORK], CIRCA 1913-1915: In the world of Suffrage memorabilia, parasols and umbrellas are known to have been produced, but hardly any exist. Made in both Britain and America, most of the organizations known to have commissioned them did so with white or purple, green, and white, utilizing the traditional British colors. In America, some of these can be identified to the Women’s Political Union of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. As for those in the traditional American colors of golden yellow and white, typically with black text, examples are known to have been produced and sold by the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA), beginning in the summer of 1913. According to author and expert Ken Florey, the organization peddled them for “one dollar each or ten dollars a dozen…[promoting] them as good for advertising the cause at street meetings, summer resorts, and county fairs. The design consisted of yellow and white in alternate sections, with “Votes for Women” in the white sections.” Florey goes on to explain how some umbrellas in this style are known with names of states hand-painted in the yellow panels. I am aware of Oregon and Idaho. Florey also indicates that one is known for Alaska. His discussion of the subject, and an illustration of the Idaho example, appear in his book, "Women's Suffrage Memorabilia" (2013, McFarland & Co., North Carolina), on pp. 192 and A8, respectively. The Oregon example, which have seen and held first-hand, is illustrated in "The Keynoter: Journal of the American Political Items Conservators," Summer/Fall/Winter 2008 (Women's Suffrage Special Triple Issue), Vol. 2008, No. 2-4, p. 110. In “Woman Suffrage Memorabilia,” Florey describes a heavy demand for parade accoutrements in the 19-teens. Despite the supposed numbers in which these yellow and white umbrellas were likely to have been produced, this is the only example that I am aware has actually surfaced with the “Votes for Women” text only and no state names. This makes it far more universally desirable. A period image survives in the Albert R. Stone Negative Collection, Rochester Museum & Science Center (Rochester, New York,) of a women carrying parasols in this style on Main Street West in that city on August 15, 1914. The marchers, masked, were described as wearing yellow dominoes (nun-style dresses) and carrying yellow parasols. According to museum catalogers, “The outside parasols are plain; those on the inside have the inscription, "Votes for women". The first group, in yellow and blue dominoes, advertised the speech and visit of Dr. Anna Howard Shaw [this would be members of the Empire Campaign Committee]. The second group carried placards with the names of equal suffrage states and the dates when they adopted votes for women. The Club Theatre, whose sign advertising "Burlesque" is clearly visible behind the marchers, occupies the premises at 75 Main Street West formerly occupied by the Shubert Theatre.” The National American Women’s Suffrage Association was formed in 1890. It represented a merging of the two largest Suffrage groups in America before that time. These were the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), formed in 1869 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), also formed in 1869 by Lucy Stone and her Husband, Henry Brown Blackwell, Henry Ward Beecher, and others. Stone’s daughter, Alice Stone...