Antique Art

When people hear the term antique art, people usually think of paintings. However, as the term art encompasses more than just paintings, the term antique art works the same way. This is because antique art does not only mean antique paintings, as there are also other items that fall under this category, including sculptures and other handcrafted items. Many of these are considered valuable not only because of their age but also the craftsmanship that was put into these items. Another good example of such items is antique jewelry, usually made of valuable materials and exquisitely crafted. As a result, antique jewelry is now considered as one of the better investments in antique art.

Apart from being considered as good investments in antique art, collecting antique jewelry is also considered as one of the most expensive ways to collect antiques. Collectors need to make sure they buy truly authentic antique jewelry. Some of the best ways to do this include only buying from reputable dealers and attending antique shows, which can give collectors access to authentic and beautiful pieces of antique jewelry. However, doing these does not ensure that collectors would only get to buy authentic antique jewelry. Collectors also need to arm themselves with information on antique jewelry so they would know what to look for and how to assess the authenticity of antique jewelry.

One of the ways that collectors can ensure that the antique jewelry they are looking at is authentic is to look at both the front and the back of the piece of jewelry. Collectors can look for the hallmarks or signatures of the craftsmen that made the jewelry. Another good way to determine the value of a piece of antique jewelry is to look at the metal content of the jewelry, as it can help determine the age and the value of the item. However, this would involve doing a little research on the metal content specifications that were followed during certain periods in history.

Collecting antique jewelry is expensive, and this makes it very important for collectors to ensure that they only get their antique jewelry from reputable dealers. In addition, collectors also need to arm themselves with information on antique jewelry so that they can really ensure that they get truly authentic antique jewelry.

Hello dear blogging friends and readers I'm glad you came back to see what's new at Boxwood Cottage! :D

Well last weekend I've had a little photo shot with my vintage German dress form which a dear friend was so nice to give me last year (see post from December 11th 2006 in my archives). She had no more neck, but my dear Dad has made me a new wooden neck that suits her perfectly which you'll see in the next pictures. This is a not so good picture that I took of her back in December 2006, still in my friends home and without neck, that's the way she was awaiting me decorated with some fresh ivy and a pink necklace and a welcome sign:D

I've had her in my bedroom all the time since I brought her home, but somehow I didn't really liked the place for her there, so while my dd was away to Lissabon last Friday I decided to bring her up in my studio corner in our loft room and so I secretly obtained another corner of our loftroom for my studio ;-), by putting some not so decorative things of my dd in another place and placing the dress form in the corner of a wardrobe which belongs to my studio space. Then I began dressing her up a bit. At first she's got this cameo necklace around her neck.

And then I tied some vintage borders and little paper roses (Can you recognise the lovely roses and the pink border you recently gave me for our swap Nicki? Hope you'll get your swap parcel from me this weekend too! And not to forget the vintage crotcheted border which was a gift from my dear friend Corey !) around her waist:

Ulla, Lauren and Nicol will surely recognize the prints of their gorgeous colloborative jewelry work that I pinned on my not so beautiful cheap IKEA wardrobe for inspiration (I so need an antique warderobe for my studio soon!). Wouldn't such a beautiful soldered necklace look wonderful on my dress form? *sigh*

So here she is now in her full beauty and it was a pleasure to have this little photo shot with her:

See her new wooden neck? I think my Dad did a great job making it look old too!

I just loved to decorate her with roses!




Well now I think it's time for a few more pictures from the garden as I promised you in my last post.

One of the first roses to bloom in my garden this season was this David Austin rose "Wenlock" which is growing in a deep, big pot on my patio, she has a very intensive deep pink color:

The pink and white striped Clematis "Nelly Moser" is my first blooming Clematis this season:

These are the last blooms of my pink Wisteria, it's almost faded now:


People who frequently read my blog surely know about my love for Allium blooms. Now it's the time of the year they are beginning to open their gorgeous pink balls. This ball is of my fave Allium The "Globemaster". The ball is still very small in this picture, their blooms are getting really huge as you can see in a picture from last year here.




These are 3 Allium Purple Sensation blooming like a family at the bottom of my rose arc at the moment:





"Lavendula stoechas" is still in full bloom:





Oh and the first peonies are blooming between my blue cat nip plant Nepeta x faassenii "Walkers low":

In the background of this picture you can see two of my three new wicker paravents, the pink blooming plant in the middle is a Thalictrum:




I guess that's enough pictures for today as I know they'll take ages to load for some of you, thank you for being patient!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! It's a sunny one here after almost two very rainy and windy weeks so I'm off to the garden now!

Hugs Carol xox

P.S.:
Oh btw some of you have asked me about my name lately, it's written and pronounced Carola with an "a" at the end in my language, but I really like being called just Carol! :D


P.P.S:
Would someone of you lovely US readers would be interested in a little one to one magazine swap with me? I'd get you a copy of our most beautiful eye candy magazine Wohnen und Garten if you'd get me the latest issue of your gorgeous new Somerset life magazine! Or you just tell me which magazine you'd wish to get from Germany. I so need a copy of Somerset life and it takes ages until we can get it overhere. I'd be forever thankful to you!

Antique Accessories

Each spring the Merchandise Mart in Chicago hosts the International Antiques Fair, and since I work just down the street I decided to check it out yesterday. The showroom was full of booths displaying ancient Chinese pottery, stunning silverware, ornate wooden furniture, 17th-century portraits and more. But what drew my attention the most were the beautiful antique bags at the Nula Thanhauser booth. One can only imagine the list of previous owners of these purses, but judging by the detail and elegance of these lavish bags, I’m sure it’s an impressive roster. Nula Thanhauser is based in Philadelphia but travels to antique shows frequently, so make sure to stop by her booth when she’s in your area!

Photo from New York Social Diary.

2003 Domaine Sorrin-Coquard Cesar Cuvee Antique

Friday was beautiful two weeks ago in Seattle. After raining all week the sun finally came out. I left work early, went home and mowed the grass. It put me in a good mood, the weather and the work. And since I took my glasses off to do it the world had that surreal strangeness it gets after your eyes have gotten used to wearing glasses and then you take them off. The sun was setting so everything was yellow sunset-colored. This demanded the perfect wine.

So I dug into the collection and found this, the 2003 Domaine Sorrin-Coquard Cesar Cuvee Antique. This is a unique wine. The Cesar variatel is an ancient one, grown in northeastern France since the time of the Romans. It has largely taken a back seat to Pinot NoirPinot didn't do so well, but the Cesar became a rock star.

From what I understand, this wine is meant to be 100% Cesar, but the title "Cuvee Antique" would imply a blend, so I assume it is mostly Cesar with some of the other Antique variatels

I had never (knowingly) had a wine with Cesar in it, much less a wine primarily composed of Cesar. It turned out to be a great sunny Friday afternoon wine. The wine was lighter in color, like a good Pinot, but the taste was astringent and chewy. The wine was smooth. Not just smooth, but smoooooooth. I'm not sure what to compare it to. This is what I should have taken to Aaron's blind tasting. in Burgundy. But 2003 was very warm and used in lesser amounts. It is from 60 year old vines, only 100 cases made. I picked up four at the ridiculously low price of $18.