Articles

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Buying Sustainable Furniture

Similar to the current trend of "fast fashion" in the clothing industry, the furniture industry has been forced to rethink its audience and purpose. It's all too easy to find furniture that is ligh...

Meet Me at the Eagle: Wanamaker's Department Store

John Wanamaker was the father of the department store and a pioneer of modern conveniences. He felt customers were easily victimized and wanted to change the entire retail culture. A deeply religio...

British Colonial Furniture

For several centuries, England was "the empire on which the sun never set" - as in, its territories were so extensive that it was presumed to be daytime in at least one colony at any given time. Ex...

The Grand Tour: Spring Break or Field Trip?

Centuries ago, the pinnacle of English aristocracy and a young gentleman's education was "The Grand Tour.”  Popular between the 16th and 18th Centuries, young men ventured throughout western Europe...

American Folk Art

When we consider folk art, what usually springs to mind are the wares that were hand crafted or decorated by members of an ethnic community, with skills that were passed down from generation to gen...

A Love (Seat) Story

This is a love story, but it really begins with an affair between women…and the voluminous dresses of their day. Fashion, 17th century France specifically, had very particular demands. Poofs, hoops...

Timeless Charm of Historic Stone Houses

While stone farmhouses are not uncommon, they are as unique as the people that built them and say much about how they lived. These homes were most commonly built in the 18th and 19th centuries by G...

Art & Design in the Roaring '20s

One hundred years ago, America was in the throes of post war prosperity, technological advances, and the French-inspired style known for its sleek and elegant lines known as Art Deco. There were mo...

Black Forest Carvings

 Many assert that Black Forest wood carvings are a distinctive style of decor that originated not in the Black Forest of Germany, but in the Swiss Alps. The Black Forest style or "Brienzerware" we ...

Color Blindness in Art

Color blindness, or color vision deficiency, affects about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. It is most commonly caused by a gene mutation on the X-chromosome but can occur due to accidents, age, med...