In 1635, Richard Graves opened the first recorded American pewter store in Salem, Mass. He supplied the homes, taverns, and churches in the colonies with ladles, mugs, plates, bowls and spoons. Clergymen offered communion from his pewter chalices. Housewives served stew in his containers, and taverns sold beer in his tankards.
Read MoreThe Yale Wonder Clock is rare. Talk about gimmicks and options. This unusual oak clock is about 7 feet tall. It’s a marriage of clock, music box, coin collecting, and arcade machine. When you insert a nickel-size, stamped aluminum coin lights flash, music plays, and a token drops into a reward cup potentially worth 5¢, [...]
Read MoreSome of the most desirable bottles were made between 1810 and 1910. Before 1810, few bottles were produced in this country. After 1910, most were machine made. The bottle-making world experienced a revolution in 1903 when the automatic bottle-machine appeared. Within 10-years, the glassblower’s touch became a thing of the past in glass houses. The [...]
Read MoreTrying to figure out who invented the mechanical clock is like trying to decide who invented the bicycle. There are many possibilities but no one really knows for sure. The first clocks were public tower or turret clocks. They were meant to be heard and not seen, so they didn’t have dials or hands. They [...]
Read MoreSome artists identify with the mediums in which they work so well with; they take them to the next level. That’s precisely what Rene Lalique did in France with pressed glass in the early-20th century. He turned simple pressed-glass into an art form. Lalique used some of the most influential Art Deco images like the [...]
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