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Retablos, better known as “laminas” in Mexico, are devotional oil paintings created on small rectangles of tin, wood, or copper. They were typically created for home altars to venerate beloved Catholic saints (“retablo”, or “retro tabula” meaning “behind the altar”). This art form had deep European Catholic roots – where retablos were sometimes grand and…
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Russian Nesting Dolls, also called “Matryoshka” meaning “little matron,” have a surprising history. Not only are they a fairly recent Russian folk art tradition – created and popularized in the late 19th / early 20th centuries – but their inspiration may trace its roots over 1,000 years back to China’s nesting boxes and nesting dolls.
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– FYI, they did not originate with a Hallmark marketing scheme! Valentines started with The Feast of Saint Valentine, memorializing the execution of 2 early Christian martyrs of the same name, on Feb 14th on different years, in the 3rd c. A.D.! By the 5th c. this feast day came to coincide with a pagan…
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Our advice might surprise you given that selling collectibles is routine at Treasured Estates . . . The ability to combine personal passions or hobbies with the potential growth of one’s net worth certainly holds a lot of appeal. However, investing in collectibles the same way one would invest in stocks or bonds may not be…
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(CNN) A $14,000 jumble sale find turned into millions of dollars for a man who’d been thwarted in his attempts to turn a quick profit by selling the tiny ornament to scrap metal dealers. The man, who hails from the Midwest but wishes to remain anonymous, had been left financially stretched after he apparently overestimated…
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“Reclining Nude,” the century-old painting by Amedeo Modigliani, sold for $170,405,000 at a Christie’s auction on Monday. There were five bidders for the work and the auction lasted nine minutes. The Long Museum of Shanghai, founded by collectors Lui Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei, is the new owner of the painting. This is the…
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Secret doors may conceal the burial chamber of Queen Nefertiti, but tantalizing clues await further testing. By Peter Hessler, National Geographic PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 LUXOR, Egypt—Nearly a century after the rediscovery of King Tut’s tomb ignited a worldwide craze for Egyptology, new findings could turn out to be almost as stunning. On Monday, after…
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South America’s Earliest Empire Photograph by Daniel Giannoni Images of winged, supernatural beings adorn a pair of heavy gold-and-silver ear ornaments that a high-ranking Wari woman wore to her grave in the newly discovered mausoleum at El Castillo de Huarmey in Peru. The Wari forged South America’s earliest empire between 700 and 1000 A.D., and…
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$3 Tag Sale Find Sells for $2.22M The Associated Press Mar 21, 2013, 1:16 AM A rare Chinese bowl bought at a tag sale for $3 has sold at a New York auction for more than $2.22 million. The 1,000-year-old bowl was part of the opening session of Sotheby’s fine Chinese ceramics and works of…
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In the February 2012 issue of National Geographic Magazine, a potential $100 Million Dollar Leonardo is sold for less than $25, 000. This amazing discovery illustrates many important points when evaluating and collecting fine art. Chiefly, experts can disagree and often make serious mistakes regarding works of art; and treasures of significant importance can be…
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