Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Item Ships From: Illinois

Chinese Silk Skull Cap with Gilt Lacquered Box, c. 1850

Located in Chicago, IL

No self-respecting man in Qing-dynasty China would leave the house without some kind of hat. In fact, headgear was so central to social status that a boy’s passage into manhood was m...

Category

Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Silk, Cane, Wood, Lacquer

Chinese Silk Skull Cap with Gilt Lacquered Box, c. 1850

$2,480

Pair of Chinese Brass Brazier Tongs, c. 1850

Located in Chicago, IL

In 20 years of collecting, we have never run across a pair of brazier tongs, making this object truly a rare find. Once used by a scholar or wealthy homeowner to place hot coals in a...

Category

Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Brass

Pair of Chinese Brass Brazier Tongs, c. 1850

$248

Nigerian Mofu Patterned Metal Shield, c. 1850

Located in Chicago, IL

The Mofu tribe of Nigeria was particularly famed for their metal shields. Expertly forged, the defenses provided by metal far outstripped the wood and ree...

Category

Mid-19th Century Nigerian Tribal Antique Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Metal

Nigerian Mofu Patterned Metal Shield, c. 1850

$1,980

Chinese Charm Token Shoe with Compartment, c. 1850

Located in Chicago, IL

Originally tucked in a pocket as a charm, this tiny shoe was kept close at hand as a talisman for marital happiness. Meticulously carved from wood, the shoe is decorated with a double happiness symbol, the traditional symbol for conjugal bliss. A lovely Valentine’s Day or anniversary gift, the charm has a compartment ready to be filled with a note or small gift...

Category

Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Pine

Chinese Charm Token Shoe with Compartment, c. 1850

$380

Pair Chinese Double Luck Lotus Slippers, c. 1850

Located in Chicago, IL

These pointed silk slippers are beautifully embroidered with colorful bats and golden coins, symbols of happiness and good luck, and were shaped to resemble a lotus bud to enhance one's bound feet. A practice that began in the Tang dynasty and reached the height of its popularity during the Qing dynasty, foot binding was a painful process intended to make a woman's feet as small as possible by restricting bone growth from an early age. The smaller the feet the more attractive and erotic they were, giving elite women a mark of elegance and a distinctive, albeit tortured, gait of small, light steps. These beautifully preserved lotus slippers...

Category

Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Fabric, Silk

Pair Chinese Double Luck Lotus Slippers, c. 1850

$188

Chinese Double Gourd "Root" Amber Snuff Bottle, c. 1900

Located in Chicago, IL

A mixture of finely powdered tobacco, herbs, and spices, snuff was introduced to China in the 17th century by Western diplomats. Initially reserved for ranking members of Qing-dynast...

Category

Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Other

Chinese Double Gourd "Root" Amber Snuff Bottle, c. 1900

$780

Vintage 7.5 Foot Black Wood Guess Cultural Advertising Sign

Located in Chicago, IL

Vintage 7.5 Foot Black Wood Guess Cultural Advertising Sign Vintage 7.5 foot wood black "Guess Parfum" signature question mark advertising sign. This sign would be perfect for a fas...

Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Wood, Paint

Vintage 7.5 Foot Black Wood Guess Cultural Advertising Sign

$2,849

Aperture Photography Magazine Collection of 6 Early Issues 1950s

Located in Chicago, IL

Aperture Photography Magazine Collection of 6 Early Issues 1950s. Not real familiar with rating condition of magazines and books. Please ask any questions. Appear to be in nice condition as a set with some minor wear. APERTURE: Volume 5, Number 1 Published by Aperture, Rochester, New York, 1957 8vo., 42 pp, illustrations from photographs. Pictorial stiff wrappers. Fine. Includes an editorial and an essay, "Peeled Paint, Cameras and Happenstance" by Minor White; a continuation of "More Books for the Creative Photographer"; Part 3 of "The Education of Picture Minded Photographers"; Beaumont Newhall on "Teaching the History of Photography"; and a portfolio "Ellis Island" by Shirley Burden with his, and Lewis Hine's images. Covers illustrated by Walter Snyder and Ansel Adams. Aperture Vol. 4 No. 1. Rochester, NY: Aperture, 1956. First edition. Softcover. An early issue of this long running photography magazine. Features a selection from "Creative Photography - 1956 with text by Van Deren Coke. Includes images by Charles Sheeler, Arnold Newman, Reva Brooks...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Paper

Aperture Photography Magazine Collection of 6 Early Issues 1950s

$1,500 / set

Sculptor of Mary in Wax by Vernez

Located in Chicago, IL

This is a wax carving of Mary, probably done before WWII and is actually signed. The signature is Vernez and could have been a model for a future casting. Signed.

Category

1930s French Vintage Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Sculptor of Mary in Wax by Vernez

$275

Chinese Black Silk Lotus Slippers with Plum Blossoms, c. 1850

Located in Chicago, IL

These pointed slippers, beautifully embroidered with light blue plum blossoms on black silk, were shaped to resemble a lotus bud and enhanced the diminutive shape of bound feet. A practice that began in the Tang dynasty and reached the height of its popularity during the Qing dynasty, foot binding was a painful process intended to make a woman's feet as small as possible by restricting bone growth from an early age. The smaller the feet the more attractive and erotic they were, giving elite women a mark of elegance and a distinctive - albeit tortured - gait of small, light steps. These beautifully preserved lotus slippers...

Category

Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Silk

Chinese Black Silk Lotus Slippers with Plum Blossoms, c. 1850

$228

Early 20th Century Silkworm Industrial Nature Cabinet

Located in Dekalb, IL

c. 1910s/1920s; A. J. Tiffany, Publisher - Chicago Vintage silkworm education tool. This piece was part of a series of "Industrial Nature Cabinets" produced for American schools by...

Category

Early 20th Century American Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Silk, Glass, Wood

Early 20th Century Silkworm Industrial Nature Cabinet

$550

Vintage Stainless Steel Salesman Sample Kettle

Located in Dekalb, IL

Vintage jacketed kettle salesman sample. Being under 10 inches tall makes this stainless steel salesman sample much easier to carry around than the 50 or 100-gallon tank it represen...

Category

Early 20th Century American Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Stainless Steel

Vintage Stainless Steel Salesman Sample Kettle

$2,475

Late 19th Century French Cast Iron Salesman Sample Plow by Morcrette

Located in Dekalb, IL

1860s-70s; François Morcrette - Cugny, Aisne, France Morcrette (sometimes spelled Morcrétté) was a blacksmith and plow manufacturer based in the small town of Cugny in the mid-to-la...

Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Steel, Iron

Late 19th Century French Cast Iron Salesman Sample Plow by Morcrette

$7,150

Vintage Hobart Crescent Dishwasher Salesmans Sample

Located in Dekalb, IL

1930s; The Hobart Manufacturing Company - Troy, OH Hobart was originally founded in 1897 by engineer Charles Hobart. When the company bought out The Crescent Washing Machine Company...

Category

Early 20th Century American Illinois - Collectibles and Curiosities

Materials

Brass, Steel

Vintage Hobart Crescent Dishwasher Salesmans Sample

$3,250

Medal-Worthy Memorabilia from Epic Past Olympic Games

Get into the games! These items celebrate the events, athletes, host countries and sporting spirit.

Ahoy! You’ve Never Seen a Collection of Sailor Art and Kitsch Quite Like This

French trendsetter and serial collector Daniel Rozensztroch tells us about his obsession with objects related to seafaring men.

Pamela Shamshiri Shares the Secrets behind Her First-Ever Book and Its Effortlessly Cool Interiors

The sought-after designer worked with the team at Hoffman Creative to produce a monograph that beautifully showcases some of Studio Shamshiri's most inspiring projects.

Moroccan Artworks and Objects Take Center Stage in an Extraordinary Villa in Tangier

Italian writer and collector Umberto Pasti opens the doors to his remarkable cave of wonders in North Africa.

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.