Looking at Vintage Steel Furniture

How long do viewers spend with a work of art?  Most spend 15 to 30 seconds. But real seeing takes patience, time, developing your eye. What you see depends on what you know and what you’ve seen before. How long you look and how intensely, will alter what you see. Observing carefully is critical in evaluating a piece of furniture. Even after owning something for years I’ve made discoveries. Here are three chairs that are similar but not the same. Let’s look at them together. As you learn to slow down and regard what’s in front of you, you’ll see more details.

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Treasures of Antiquity and An Important Show at the National Gallery of Art

Ishtar Gate Pergamon Museum

In November I wrote a post called The 3 Things you Need to Know About your Dealer. Under the topic of taste, I briefly touched upon an aspect of all dealer/scholars. We’re tireless aesthetes, passionate about beauty in all things. Whether it’s trips to museums or a walk down the block, everything gets funneled through our inherent visuality. I hope to share the beautiful things I’ve seen with you through blogging. Our world is a veritable feast for the eyes.

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Good Cooking; Nanny Pearl’s Roast Chicken With Pan Gravy

There are more abandoned blogs floating around the internet than NASA has hardware in space. I’m embarrassed to say I deserted a blog called cooking good and easy.

Before I abandoned it I had written 74 posts about easy cooking, with nutritional posts thrown in.  It was my first blogging effort. If you can look past the typos, grammatical errors and issues with searches, its got good stuff in it. For instance when I wrote this recipe for making roast chicken I made sure to explain how you clean a chicken.

Beyond mid-century modernism, art and architecture, I’m passionate about cooking and gardening. I cook simple, tasty, healthy fare. When we’re not talking modernism, Good Design’s gallery director, David and I talk about cooking and gardening. It’s our second language.  Our mutual fascination with food and entertaining is one more way for us to immerse ourselves in culture and history. We’re the folks who wax euphoric over the quality of veggies at the farmer’s market.

Growing up, Friday night suppers were usually about  a great roast chicken with pan gravy, a side of rice and some vegetables. Our recipe came from my grandmother, Pearl, whose cooking was renowned. A tiny elegant woman from Belarus, she cooked like nobody’s business. My best Jewish recipes come from her.

This fool proof recipe results in a crispy skinned chicken that’ s always moist. Roasting a bird gives you more than one meal. You start with classic chicken and gravy and after that you have the basis for salads, sandwiches or stews. The roast chicken recipe is on cookinggoodandeasy.

The basis for its garlicy rub is schmaltz.  If you’ve never heard of schmaltz, It’s rendered chicken fat flavored with onions. Michael Ruhlman’s The Book of Schmaltz, published by Little Brown, pays homage to this forgotten fat. My recipe for how to make schmaltz is on the blog. I’ve been buying Carolina Gold Rice from Anson Mills for quite a few years. This rice is thought to be the gold standard of American rice. In fact everything they sell is truly first rate. I prepare it according to their recipe. It’s worlds away better than other rice.

What’s the Value of Patina in Mid-Mod Antiques?

Fontana Arte Brass old finish Stilnovo Brass refinished

Back in the 70s, I was dealing in 18th and 19th century American antiques. I was fortunate to live in Columbia County at a time when six or seven couples, all up and coming Americana dealers, were living there, too. Every one of them went on to become prominent dealers. Back then, we were all learning from each other. It was school. Continue reading