Massachusetts - Objets d'Art and Vertu

This is an exceptionally rare Native American sterling silver tiara—an object almost never encountered on the market today, and one that occupies a fascinating space between ceremoni...

An exceptionally rare antique copper trumpet crafted by Antonín Khüttl in Graslitz (Graslitz, Bohemia – later part of Czechoslovakia) circa 1910. Khüttl was among the most respected ...

Elegant, rare, and dating to the late Qing period (circa 1890s), this hand-carved nearly colorless white nephrite plaque has been etched on both sides. One one, the Chinese mythological figure known as Zhang Guo Lao is depicted riding a mule. On the opposite side, a magpie sits on a branch of cherry blossoms. The magpie is associated with intelligence. The carving is breathlessly simple and excellent; the work executed -of course- without the aid of electricity or modern tools. Measuring 42.54mm x 29.92mm, the plaque has a hole drilled through the center, which is original to the piece. A silver bail is threaded through the hole and a pair of beads -black jade and coral- reside at the bottom. The jade plaque hands from a 1920s silver chain that is 32" in length. Prior to the discovery of and appreciation for the very fine green jadeite from Burma, colorless, opaque, pure white nephrite jade from the Northern mountains of China was the most revered jade; the original "imperial jade, as only members of the royal court could wear or even touch it. Most of what is commercially sold today as "mutton fat...

This desk bell is French, and was created near 1870. It's constructed of ormolu; the unique process by which 24K gold is applied to bronze, creating a distinctive finish that was hug...

This exquisite and rare black jade tablet dates to the Qing period. The Qing Dynasty period spanned the years 1636 -1912. Precisely dating jade artifacts...

An entirely hand-wrought tiara of striking originality and regal presence, forged from Ohio steel—not stainless, but true steel with substance and strength. Every element has been meticulously shaped by hand: the thick wire frame has been twisted and curved to hold a constellation of twelve hessonite garnet crystals and fifteen natural quartz beads. The garnets—each approximately 7–8 mm—glow in warm cinnamon tones, their inner fire recalling the famed “cinnamon stone” treasured in antique Georgian jewelry...

Young British Artist (YBA) Philippe Bradshaw (1965-2005) was represented by blue-chip international art galleries when he was the first to reimagine iconic-art images as tapestry-like metal-chain installations in evolving multimedia environments. He is best known for transforming hand-assembled colorful anodized-aluminum links into shimmering semi-transparent layered curtains, whose hanging metallic strands uniquely dispersed the light of his camcorder-video projections and the club-house music from records that he deejayed. In Bradshaw's first American exhibition "Disco Damage" in 2001 at New York City's legendary avant-garde art gallery, Deitch Projects, this jewelry-costume sculpture became part of the artist's live-in evolving studio installation. While later celebrating 15 years of art happenings that had occurred at that Soho exhibition space, its gallerist-cum-museum-director Jeffrey Deitch--who was physically scarred during this unforgettable chaotic several-month experience orchestrated by Bradshaw--recounted this show in his retrospective hardcover book "Live The Art". When Bradshaw drowned in the Parisian-river Seine in August 2005 while living the high life of his skyrocketing success in Europe, he left a small body of large installations that is mostly distributed among the world's top private art collections. Notably, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has acquired one of his multimedia works. More recently, another assembly of his chain curtains made a rare public appearance at new modern-art museum, Heidi Horten Collection, during its inaugural exhibition in Vienna. Since winning a major British visual-art prize in 2000 that marked Bradshaw's art-world ascent following fellow Goldsmiths College YBAs who were close friends, this sculpture evolved from one of his most elaborate jewelry costumes that he created in London while seducing the American who became his girlfriend. Unlike other pieces of jewelry that he made as gifts to participating acquaintances while video taping...

The ultimate desktop accessory: This is a rare English first edition of Vanity Fair (1848), William Makepeace Thackeray’s enduring masterpiece and one of the cornerstones of 19th-cen...

Kenneth Jay Lane--whose monogram KJL is signed on the white-rose-decorated gold-tone clasp of this double-strand black-resin beaded necklace--is only one of four bylined jewelry designers collected by The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection At The Metropolitan Museum of Art from the two-decade period between 1970-1989, which was dominated by such bold big shapes in mostly black, white and gold. A must for any collector of the world-renowned American-founded beauty-brand Avon, its rare limited-edition retailed necklace by Lane titled "Midnight Rose" is among the most distinctive that it produced among its lines of primarily perfume, cosmetics, and personal-care products whose origin dates back to 1886 in New York. Notably, the life-sized shiny cast-acrylic rose has the look of a far more expensive carved stone, such as one cut and polished from light-filled saturated-white chalcedony, which is a hard semi-precious stone favored by Lane. Like Lane's own line when it was originally signed KJL, the decorated clasp is uniquely designed. It locks underneath with a semi-circular hinge, which enables the stylized three-dimensional smooth rose to be perfectly positioned on the right side of the upper chest with the bud facing upwards above its three-leaf sepal in contrasting gilt textured metal. This position adds sparkle from above to the three pave rhinestones in a gold-tone setting at center of the rose, as if its dew-covered bud was beginning to open in strong moonlight. To balance the bold rose shape, the black strands cross each other below at a single point, which adds another eye-catching element to the concealed-string-tied necklace. In mint condition with no sign of wear, the necklace was acquired in its original lavender Avon retail box. In contrast, the paper shows wear and tear from handling, while still featuring the jewelry designer's full-name script signature, title, and text details like how to care for this synthetic jewelry. The metal-stamped hallmark is "KJL for Avon...

This excruciatingly beautiful and spare hand-carved nephrite jade pendant was created during the Qing period, most likely in the late 1800s, however, it co...

This highly-textural gold-gilt metal two-piece belt buckle or convertible pendant depicting sprays. of pine cones and needles was designed by Mimi di N in 1981, as noted in the signe...

This dark green (almost black) nephrite jade pendant is inscribed with a brief poem about spring. The text — 泛好 红时春 万辰 风 象翠沐 新绿 雨 — which would appear to be an ode to the cleansing, ...

Influenced by the Art-Nouveau illustrations of Alphonse Mucha, this Nancy-signed antique French enameled glass jewelry box display case is decora...

Art glass vase sign: Daum Nancy France. Evidenced by this Daum sculptural colorless blown and hot-shaped lead-crystal heavy vessel vase, the finest irreproducible artistic works in the history of the iconic French decorative-glass maker feature ornamental thick glass applications. Its most in-demand pieces today were made between 1925 and 1935, with very few major ArtDeco-period pieces remaining in private hands and even less without damage. A similarly shaped, constructed and sized circa-1925 vase with "stylized foliage" motif is in the collection of the French Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris as Inventory #36309 acquired from Don Jacques Daum. A later-produced vase with a similar application-motif at just the rim, but in a "Champagne" bubbled style, is among the photos in the published book about the Leo and Irina Esterkin acquisitions from 1910-1940 titled Daum Art Deco Glass--A Private Collection. On our prime-condition antique vase, applied transparent glass is styled in high relief into a flowing undulating motif that evolved from Daum's Art Nouveau foliage designs. The angular and curvilinear shapes of this vessel epitomize the bold vases, bowls and sculptures for which Daum is best known. Its tiny pencil-etched signature on the side near the bottom reads "Daum (plus the Lorraine-cross symbol) Nancy France", which resembles some published signatures since 1925. Revealing how ahead of its time this particular design was--after WWII in 1945 coinciding with the revitalization of the French glass industry--Daum used...

Like Alexander Calder's handmade wire jewelry since 1929, whose smallest one-of-a-kind sculptural subjects ranged from aerial acrobats and dancers to mono...

Louise Nevelson, an American modern sculptor who enhanced found objects throughout the 20th Century, in the 1980s transformed crushed and gilt metal in...

This powerful, absolutely stunning Midcentury nephrite jade statue has been attributed to the artist Mary Polon, known mostly for her paintings. The textu...