Antiques

Nepal’s archaeologists have discovered artifacts dating from the Buddha era from an excavation site at Devdaha of Rupandehi district, which is located at a distance of 20km from Buddha’s birthplace Lumbini in western Nepal. A team of Nepal’s Department of Archeology (DoA) started excavation at the Devdaha area some two years ago after archeological evidences suggested that it was the maternal home of the Buddha. The excavation at Bhawanipur began three weeks back. Walls, bricks, silver and wooden bracelets, clay utensils, butter lamps and stones are among the things discovered. Prakash Darnal, officer at the archeological department, said that findings of relics such as a bust of the Buddha, a well and the ruins of the Siddhartha palace will help prove the area’s relation with the Buddha. “Additional study and excavation are necessary to find which part of the area is the maternal home of Gautam Buddha,” he said. Out of the 14 Buddha-related areas, he said, some parts only of Kanyamai, Bhawanipur and Panditpur were unearthed so far. “We have found remains dating back to 10th, 11th and 12th centuries,” he said. The Buddha was born in 623 BC in the sacred area of Lumbini, testified by the inscription on the Asoka Pillar erected by the Mauryan Emperor Asoka in 249 BC. Though Lumbini proper is protected as the UNESCO World Heritage Site and as one of the holiest places of one of the world’s great religions, areas around the Buddha’s birthplace remain unexplored and unprotected despite high archeological and religious importance. The items discovered form Devhaha are said to have been sent to the department for study. They will later be returned through the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT), an official said. Himal Upreti, archeology officer at the LDT, said consultations on whether the discovered antiques will be displayed in the Lumbini International Museum or kept at Devdaha will be held with the local people. Meanwhile, locals complained that the excavation site is being encroached upon and the discovered items are being stolen due to the failure of the LDT to protect the site. The LDT has only fenced the site with barbed wires. Kathmandu Post/Asia News Network

Rembrandt Peale’s iconic portrait of George Washington realized a new world record for a porthole portrait by the artist when it sold for $662,500- a record for a porthole portrait by the artist-to lead Heritage Auctions’ recent American art events in Dallas. Peale’s portrait of Washington was presented with his equally iconic portrait of Martha [...]

When discussing Bonhams’ most recent sale, auctioneer Suzannah Yip commented, “Netsuke, like diamonds, prove that some of the most desirable things come in small packages.” Well, that certainly seems to be the case here! The sale (on Monday the 13th) featured a collection of 58 tiny netsuke figurines that collectively made a massive £611,213! The collection in question had previously belonged to Adrienne Barbanson (1913–75), author of the ground breaking book on netsuke: ‘Fables in Ivory: Japanese Netsuke and Their Legends’. Long before Edmund de W ... Read this full article on the Miller's Blog.

Now it is time for the reverse, the Wuthering Expectations signature move, when I argue that the stylistic irritations I have been whining about are in fact necessary for the writer’s ingenious artistic purpose. Which is pretty obvious in the case of Henry James, although it has taken me a while to see it.And I am not entirely wrong. In a weaker James story, the indirection and vagueness can cause the text to crumble in my hands as I read it. Some Chekhovian or Flaubertish eggs would help stiffen the batter. My baking metaphor may have some problems. Never mind that.“The Figure in the Carpet” (1896) would be ruined by more detail or closure. It is about vagueness, the meaning and purpose of a lack of definition in fiction.A novelist tells a literary critic, the story’s narrator, that the critic has not understood his novels, as have all critics, as has everyone, “they missed my little point with a perfection exactly as admirable when they patted me on the back as when they kicked me in the shins” (578). The critic, conceited and intrigued, badgers the novelist into revealing a series of clues about his ”exquisite scheme”: it is “the loveliest thing in the world,” as “palpable as the marble of this chimney,” but not at all an “esoteric message”:“My whole lucid effort gives him [the reader] the clue – every page and line and letter. The thing’s as concrete there as a bird in a cage, a bait on a hook, a piece of cheese in a mouse-trap. It’s stuck into every volume as your foot is stuck into your shoe. It governs every line, it chooses every word, it dots every i, it places every comma.” (581)The critics takes this as a challenge but after ransacking the novels gives it up as a waste of time: “The buried treasure was a bad joke, the general intention a monstrous pose” (583). But his friend and editor, a magazine writer takes up the challenge and in a moment of mystical inspiration while on a trip to India solves the mystery: “The figure in the carpet came out.” On his return to England, he visits the novelist who confirms his discovery, and also reveals the secret to his new wife, herself a novelist.The poor sap of a critic never learns what it is, though. In a strange series of events, the magazine writer is killed and the novelist also dies. The wife refuses to divulge the answer (“It’s my life!”), unless she covertly does so in her novel Overmastered. Then she dies, but not before marrying a second critic, now the last chance for our narrator. But it turns out that this poor sap was never told a word about the secret, and ends the story in a state of agitation and dismay.So, just to be clear about how perverse this allegory of reading and interpretation is, there are five characters, all writers. The three who are not literary critics are able to see the marvelous figure in the carpet; the two who are critics are mystified. The story appears to be an irresistible trap for critics. It begs the reader to solve its puzzle. Peculiar details of plot and speech are emphasized in such a way that they must be clues. At the same time, the nature and function of the trap could not be more evident. And the two baffled critics are alive at the end of the story, while the happily enlightened are not.Next I will work through how what I think of as James’s weaknesses are in fact necessary to create the Borgesian effect of “The Figure in the Carpet.”

Up for bid on eBay is this band signed photographsigned photograph of the members of Blondie, including the lead singer Debbie Harry. Blondie, of course, is an American rock band founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American new wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s. [Wikipiedia] To own this autographed photo of Blondie, click the link and place your winning bid.

A beautiful snapshot, undated and anonymous, of a young woman with perfect balance and skill.Circa 1950? Original 4 x 5 snapshot Collection Jim LindermanPHOTOGRAPHY AND ART BOOKS BY JIM LINDERMAN ARE AVAILABLE HERE (ebooks only $5.99)

Art of Asian lacquer draws hundreds to Western New York “Regardless of Explanation,” a lacquer painting by Nhat Tran, will be on view as part of the “Asian Lacquer International” exhibition in the Burchfield Penney Art Center.  By Colin Dabkowski | News Arts Critic | @colindabkowski on May 16, 2013 - 7:05 AM Dozens of artists and scholars from around the world will converge on SUNY Buffalo State on Monday for a four-day symposium dedicated to the ancient art of Asian lacquer. To accompany the conference, the Burchfield Penney Art Center will host “Asian Lacquer International,” an exhibition that explores artists’ diverse uses of lacquer – an expensive resin extracted from trees found only in Asia – in decoration, painting and sculpture. Patrick Ravines, the director of Buffalo State’s recently expanded art conservation department and an associate professor there, described lacquer as “a dying art” and the conference as an attempt to bring together artists and scholars whose paths might not otherwise cross. The exhibition, he added, is a way to communicate to the public the “many faces of lacquer” throughout the centuries in a way that may surprise gallerygoers. The show will contain traditional decorative pieces of the sort visitors might have seen in vitrines at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But it will also feature plenty of contemporary uses of the medium, such as the luminous paintings of Vietnamese-American artist Nhat Tran or the bulky, multisurfaced creations of German sculptor Heri Gahbler. The use of lacquer through the centuries has evolved from one of necessity to one of aesthetic preference. Whereas primitive versions of paints were prone to growing mold or other problems in the high humidity of Southeast Asia, lacquer – a precious substance that often causes those who handle it to break out in severe rashes – was a substitute impervious to mold. Today, many artists use lacquer for its rich depth of color and its difficult-to-replicate texture. For Ravines, who has been at the college for three years, organizing an exhibition around a single medium like lacquer provides an opportunity to bring attention to a living medium that too many ascribe to a distant era. “You can do an artist and his different periods. You can do a medium like this and just show the expansiveness, but also that if you want to continue to see this, we have to preserve the craft,” he said. “It’s kind of a cottage industry that goes all the way back to the tree itself.” The conference will feature more than 25 speakers, including three artists working in the traditional mode of “Urushi,” or Japanese lacquer: Kazumi Murose, Fumio Mae and Kunihiro Komori. It will also feature talks by Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Barbara Brennan Ford, as well as panels moderated by Ravines and Buffalo State College design professor and lacquer expert Sunhwa Kim. The breadth and ambition of this first-of-its-kind symposium, Ravines said, is extensive. “We’re bringing in art historians,” he said. “We’re bringing in lacquer artists, craftspeople, conservators, restorers, scientists and museum people, and basically anybody who has touched or is touching lacquer and hasn’t gotten a rash will be coming to talk to about it.” preview What: “Asian Lacquer International” When: Monday through May 24 Where: Burchfield Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Ave. Admission: $5 to $10 Info: 878-6011 or burchfieldpenney.org email: cdabkowski@buffnews.com

Are you ready to attend another fabulous Antique Show in Texas? Well mark your calendars for the Homestead Spring Antique Fair in beautiful Hico Texas, hosted by Brenda and Mike James. The show starts on May 24 and runs through May 25 and in one week you can start shopping. Admission is $2 with all proceeds being donated to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and is well worth it. Show hours are 10am to 5pm each day. All photo's via Penn River Designs If you follow them on Facebook, you'll see their most recent post shows where Brenda Harding of Penn River Designs has displayed her things in the front window of the store. You'll definately what to check out the awesome things she's found on her travels. See her blog below for so many more pics.And speaking of awesome things, just look at the great list of vendors that are coming to the show. You may know of some of them and perhaps some are new to you. I'm sure they've been searching for the perfect treasure to bring just for you. Here is the list of Homestead Vendors:Accumulations, Austin Tx: Mickie & Brandy Shults Antiques on High: Bob Porter Bloom & Bee Swanky, Waco Tx: Amy Bradshaw Blue Chelsea Treasures Leta Altom Ellis Antiques: Sue Ellis Jo Carol Carol Casey, San Antonio Tx Cowgirl Gypsy: Deanna Turley Crazy Horse Antiques: Lynda Harkins Crimson Blu Studios: Kari Bishop Daphne Nicole, Hubbard Tx: Daphne Radke Devine Antiques: Carmen Castaneda Garden Antqs Vintage, Huntsville Tx: Theresa Cano Junk Yard Dog, Glen Rose Tx: Deidra Cockerham LaLa's on the Range: Laure Savory Lisa Monroe Paper & Lace, Meridian Tx: Shayla Bean/Lisa Hall Penn River Designs, Fredericksburg Tx: Brenda Harding Reborn Ally: Ally Michael REDO, Stephenville Tx: Michelle Brown Jeannie Russell Showtime Antiques, Ft. Worth Tx: Bill Cutler Stokes & Company, Abiline Tx: Dalia Stokes Salvage Junky, McKinney Tx: Debbie Wallis Sparks Interiors & Antiques, Stephenville Tx: Donald Sparks (Check out his booth on Marburger Farm blog)Texas Trash: Ashley Crim Amy Young Just in case you are curious who all has displayed at some of the past shows, check out these blogs, you'll see so much inspiration: **Lilly's Lace** **Ruby Grace** **Katherine Robertson Photography** **Junkology**

Up for bid on eBay is a signed piece of concept art from Bungies' new game series Destiny. The sellers says, "...signed by the development team of Bungie Studios in benefit of Child's Play Charity." To own this signed concept art, click the link and place your winning bid. It is as easy as child's play to win.

Why are French Leather Club Chairs so popular? Have you ever experienced the comfort and feel of a club chair? If you have, these questions probably sound pretty ridiculous. If you have not experienced a French Leather Club Chair, nothing in this modern era of chair production even comes close. “If these leather club chairs are so comfortable, where can I find such gems because I’ve been to high-end furniture stores and I never see them?” First of all, the most comfortable leather club chairs are the ones that have a little character and have been broken in. Yes, I know what you are thinking…. used club chairs? But club chairs have been considered Vintage furniture for a while now and are quickly becoming collectibles. Plus club chairs from the 1920s and 1930s are inching their way into the antique category. The majority of Vintage club chairs were made in the 1920s to early 1970. Having noticed her very first French club chair in Michigan in the late 1980’s, our store’s owner immediately fell in love