A day in Murano, Italy, includes some glassblowing

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Philip Chasen

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

We’re on vacation this week, so there won’t be a Thursday post, but look for regular Monday and Thursday posts starting next week.

A view down one of the Murano canals

We visited the island of Murano, Italy, while staying in Venice for a couple of days. It’s the center of glassblowing for all of Italy, because in 1291 the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move there. The glassworks represented a fire danger in Venice, whose buildings were mostly wooden at the time.

The glassblower is using tongs to shape a bowl

Today, most of the major Italian glassworks have factories on the island, including Venini, Barovier & Toso, and Seguso. We were able to attend a demonstration of glassblowing by a local craftsman. He created a fluted bowl and a horse in about 10 minutes. I tried glassblowing and this guy made it look easy. It’s not, believe me, believe me! (Sound familiar?)

A Venetian vaporetto

Ferries, called vaporettos, make the trip to Murano from Venice in about 30 minutes. They run on regular schedules like buses and trains and are pretty easy to use (and much more fun). Tourists can buy tickets for unlimited use on all the vaporettos for about €20 ($22.50) per day (less as you increase the number of days).

Cute glass “food”

I took videos of the glassblowing demonstration, which I’ll try to put together for uploading to youtube. It won’t be until sometime next week, when we’re back in New York. It will be much more comprehensive than the tease described here. You’ll want to see it.

Our next show will be in Winnetka, Illinois, November 4-6, 2016. This is our only fall show in the greater Chicago area. We always look forward to exhibiting there, especially to see all our friends and clients. Put it in your calendar. It’s a lovely show!

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

A day in Drubovnik, Croatia

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Philip Chasen

We’re on vacation this week, so there won’t be a Thursday post.

A view of the old city of Dubrovnik from the hill above

Our first stop was in Dubrovnik, Croatia, an interesting city, with a population of fewer than 50,000 people.

I was surprised by a few interesting, unrelated facts, in no particular order — it’s a very small city; the water is as clear and clean as the Caribbean; Game of Thrones is filmed there; the city has fully recovered from the 1990’s war.

The old city is completely walled in, with no vehicles of any sort. It’s possible to walk the entire old city in 30 minutes or less. It used to be a fortification, but now it’s a tourists-only site.

There are many tame animals on Lokrum, including peacocks and rabbits

Lokrum is the closest of many islands just off the coast of old Dubrovnik. 100 Kroner (about $15) gets you a 15-minute round-trip boat ride to this lovely island, with an inland lake. There is no sand, so bathers sit on the rocks and swim in the crystal-clear coastal water. We visited on a beautiful Sunday, so there were plenty of locals sunbathing and swimming.

That’s Lia and me at one of the sites that’s used for the filming of Game of Thrones

It was a big, pleasant surprise to find out that Game of Thrones is filmed there. After visiting some of the site locations, it’s easy to understand why they chose Dubrovnik. Our guide told us that many of his friends were used as extras in the filming. They all find it most amusing to see themselves in the background. Now I have to go back and re-watch some of the episodes.

Christie’s South Kensington sold some French cameo glass at their Interiors sale, September 14, 2016

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Philip Chasen

Christie’s South Kensington held their Interiors sale yesterday, September 14, 2016, with total sales of £764,688 ($1,009,329). Included in the sale were about twenty French cameo vases. I probably would have bought a few of them, but unfortunately I missed the sale.

Daum Nancy Rain scenic vase, Christie’s lot #201

Lot #201 was a nice Daum Nancy 8½” Rain scenic vase. It exceeded its pre-sale estimate of £3,000 – £5,000, realizing £6,875 ($9,151).

Daum Nancy Thistle vase, Christie’s lot #139

The top lot of the Daum Nancy selection of glass was #139, a huge 19¾” vase, with nice coloration and very fine martelé work in the background. I’ve had similar vases in the past, which were superior to this example, in my opinion. I didn’t like the carving on the foot as it looked too haphazard, like the carver was trying to eliminate flaws in the making. It was all original, but not to my taste. Regardless, it exceeded its high estimate of £6,000, realizing £7,500, ($9,982).

Gallé wheel-carved and intercalaire vase, Christie’s lot #138

Top lot of the Gallé glass was #138, a Hazelnut vase with internal decoration, called intercalaire. Brown is not usually a desirable color, but the high-quality workmanship, including wheel-carving, was attractive to bidders. It sold over its high estimate of £6,000, realizing £8,750 ($11,646). I didn’t like it, so I wasn’t going to bid, no matter what the price.

For the complete results of the sale, click here.

Dramatic changes coming to Chicago antique shows

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Philip Chasen

The Chicago Merchandise Mart

Dramatic changes are coming to Chicago antique shows. First came the good news. Rosemary Krieger, president of Dolphin Promotions, revived the antiques show at the Chicago Merchandise Mart, to be held May 18-21, 2017. Since this was my favorite show of the year, I was thrilled.

Then came the bad news out of nowhere. The Chicago Botanic Garden decided to cancel their spring show permanently. The excuse sounded like double-talk. Here it is verbatim.

As you know, the Antiques & Garden Fair was repositioned in 2015 to become the Antiques, Garden & Design Show in the hope of bringing in new audiences. As the Garden has evolved, so too has this event. After careful consideration, we have decided that now is the perfect time to turn our attention to creating new opportunities to grow the Garden, reach new audiences, and surprise and delight our loyal members and visitors.

With that, 2016 marked our last Antiques, Garden & Design Show.

A look at the garden section of the show

Huh? Truly disappointing. This was a lovely show, with an excellent facility, good attendance and good business. I will miss this show.

Our booth last year at the Chicago Botanic Garden

It first appeared that we would increase the number of our shows in the greater Chicago area from two to three, when we suddenly got shot down. Now we’re back to two and thankful to Rosemary Krieger for that. She’ll be able to choose from a pool of previous dealers at the Merchandise Mart plus Chicago Botanic Garden dealers, who will now want to exhibit at her show. It will be a strong group by the time she’s finished. Her timing couldn’t have been better or luckier. Rosemary, time to go out and buy a lottery ticket!

The results of the Baltimore Summer Antiques Show (video version)

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Philip Chasen

I’ve been working hard on the video version of my post from last Monday about the results of the Baltimore Summer Antiques Show. I’ve been using a software program from Serif called MoviePlus X6 Digital Edition. Some programs have steeper learning curves than others and this one has been a challenge. Anyway I was able to create a beginner’s video. It’s got lots of mistakes and is far from polished, but it will give you a lot more insight into the show than my normal blogs. Click here to view the video on YouTube. Hope you enjoy it.

Please let me know if you’d like to see more videos and I’ll try to create them. (This is not a generic question. I really need to get some feedback and this means you!) I’m sure as time goes by, they’ll get a little more professional.

I want to publicize this first video, so I will leave this post for the entire week. There will be no new post this Thursday.

Our next show will be in Winnetka, Illinois, November 4-6, 2016. We always look forward to exhibiting in the greater Chicago area. We have lots of friends and clients. Put it in your calendar. It’s a lovely show!

Emile Gallé’s grave was spruced up after having been neglected

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Philip Chasen

The family grave of Louis Majorelle

On my visit to Nancy, France in May of 2015, my colleague, Xavier Eury, took me to visit a cemetery filled with surprises. Inside were the graves of Emile Gallé and family, the Majorelle family, the Daum family and a whole host of very famous French designers and craftsmen of the late 19th century and early 20th century. Needless to say, I was shocked. I’ve been selling their works for decades and had no clue they were all buried in the same cemetery.

The grave of Emile Gallé, his wife, and his son in May, 2015

Emile Gallé’s grave was a big disappointment, as it was totally neglected. Disgraceful that the grave of the one of the most important glass makers of the Art Nouveau period was a mess! Everyone oohed and aahed over his glass but totally neglected his final resting place. How very sad.

I decided to take things into my own hands. After all, Gallé had taken care of me, so it was my turn to return the favor and show some respect. I emailed Xavier and suggested we split the cost of upgrading and maintaining the plantings at his grave. Xavier agreed and then took care of it himself.

Emile Gallé's grave today The result is lovely. Here’s the updated photo from August, 2016. I think you’ll agree it’s a very nice improvement.

Philip Chasen Antiques

The blog for chasenantiques.com

Monthly Archives: September 2016