The most popular 1940s styles, from couture to everyday workclothes, ensembles, sportswear, lingerie, and evening dresses, plus toys, needlework, and gifts, are presented here in 550 color photographs of pattern envelopes from companies like Advance, Butterick, Hollywood, McCall, Simplicity, Vogue, and others. A wide array of pattern-related items is presented, including publications and advertising, display dolls, tools, and various forms of packaging. The pattern envelope illustrations are wonderful period drawings of '40s fashions. All who enjoy these great styles will find Blueprints of Fashion to be a refreshing approach and an important first book on this growing field of interest.

Includes overlay and suspension lamps, lanterns, smoke shades and bells, and gas and electric lighting devices.

Gold has always inspired great fascination among mankind as proven by the golden treasures of ancient Egypt and the Inca Empire. This lavishly illustrated work begins with a cultural outline of the sacred and worldly significance of gold. It features the history of gold crafting and demonstrates the most important techniques of gilding. The technical details of the gilder's art are shown in hundreds of detailed studio photographs. Gilded objects include antique-inspired mirror frames and a multitude of modern objects. This book introduces the practical use of costly gold materials and opens one's eyes to the significance of gilded objects, past and present. It welcomes artists to explore gilding as a technique and invites everyone to appreciate the mysteries of gold.

Sit back, light up, and enjoy. Newly in vogue, people are rediscovering a relaxing pastime enjoyed for centuries. This book is a compendium of cigar related "stuff," from the old cigars in their original wrappers still ready to smoke to the fine humidors that have kept them fresh for decades. Here is the breadth of advertising, ashtrays, matchsafes, cigar boxes, dispensers, and holders that have adorned homes and shops for 100 years and more. This book follows the successful Antique Cigar Cutters and Lighters by the same co-authors, who herein present more than 500 items in clear, full-color photographs, with informative captions and a current price guide. This book is custom designed for cigar aficionados and those who appreciate antique advertising. It is a welcome addition to the literature of tobacciana.

The outbreak of WW1 in 1914 found the British Army unready in many respects for a new age of warfare. However, the British led the world in the personal equipment worn by the infantryman thanks to an American officer named Anson Mills and the skills of the company created to produce his design - the 1908 equipment set made in woven cotton web. By the outbreak of WW2, the British infantry had new 1937 pattern equipment, whose design reflected a new generation of weapons and tactics. This proved unequal to the special demands of jungle warfare in the Far East: so 1944 saw yet another set of kit. In this book the author offers collectors and students of militaria a detailed review of these infantry equipments which spanned the British soldier's combat experience throughout most of the 20th century.

Harnessing the romance of the world of fashion and high art, this fascinating story of a collection of miniature mannequins describes the birth of Theatre de la Mode, the Theater of Fashion. Full of stars such as Robert Ricci (Nina Ricci's son), filmmaker Jean Cocteau, and other members of the 1944 haute couture industry, the story follows 237 miniature fashion dolls through their epic tour of Europe and North America, bringing fashion, elegance, and beauty into a war-torn world. Also included are new colour photographs of the mannequins, the reconstructed sets, and close-up details of clothing so sewers, designers, and fashion mavens can appreciate the creativity of Paris designers at the end of World War II.

Anchor-Hocking Glass Company's popular Fire-King (R) dinnerware and cookware were part of nearly every American home from the 1940s to the 1970s. Over 2000 pieces of this highly collectible household glassware are illustrated in color, and current prices are given. Included are the popular Jadite and opaque blue lines, as well as the eagerly collected ivory, fired-on colors, and transparent lines. This book contains numerous rarities, never before shown, as well as common Fire-King (R) that has been part of everyday life for over 50 years. The pieces are beautifully photographed and each has a careful description. This colorful new book is an important edition to the Fire-King literature, and will be cherished by collectors everywhere.

Established in 1880 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rookwood Pottery remained a leader in the ceramic art pottery movement through 1967. Illustrated with over 800 beautiful color photographs of vases, urns, candlesticks, and plates, the book includes stunning examples of hand-painted decoration (many depicting the natural world) by well-known masters, including Albert R. and Anna Marie Valentien, Matt Daly, William Hentschel, Kate C. Matchette, Mary Nourse, and Kataro Shirayamadani. The text provides a history of the company, a survey of artist signed pieces from 1880-1930, a detailed bibliography, and an index. All who are fascinated by the ceramic arts will want to own this book.

Unpacking the Personal Library: The Public and Private Life of Books is an edited collection of essays that ponders the cultural meaning and significance of private book collections in relation to public libraries. Contributors explore libraries at particular moments in their history across a wide range of cases, and includes Alberto Manguel's account of the Library of Alexandria as well as chapters on library collecting in the middle ages, the libraries of prime ministers and foreign embassies, protest libraries and the slow transformation of university libraries, and the stories of the personal libraries of Virginia Woolf, Robert Duncan, Sheila Watson, Al Purdy and others. The book shows how the history of the library is really a history of collection, consolidation, migration, dispersal, and integration, where each story negotiates private and public spaces. Unpacking the Personal Library builds on and interrogates theories and approaches from library and archive studies, the history of the book, reading, authorship and publishing. Collectively, the chapters articulate a critical poetics of the personal library within its extended social, aesthetic and cultural contexts.

Enjoy an incredible collection of 128 images showing the fleeting, effervescent beauty of young geisha apprentices captured over a century ago. This keepsake, fan-shaped book captures a moment now lost to history, when Japanese girls were indentured as young as 6. Dressed like dolls, they were paraded through parties and celebrated for their beauty, charm, and innocence, all the while learning the music, dance, conversational, and gaming skills expected in a master of their craft. Here is a wonderful opportunity to see these girls in the glory of their colorful regalia, posing before a newly introduced invention, the camera. This treasury of hand-tinted postcard and real-photo images is a unique book you will treasure forever.

Analysis of a group of images of kingship and queenship from Anglo-Saxon England explores the implications of their focus on books, authorship and learning. Between the reign of Alfred in the late ninth century and the arrival of the Normans in 1066, a unique set of images of kingship and queenship was developed in Anglo-Saxon England, images of leadership that centred on books, authorship and learning rather than thrones, sword and sceptres. Focusing on the cultural and historical contexts in which these images were produced, this book explores the reasons for their development, and their meaning and functionwithin both England and early medieval Europe. It explains how and why they differ from their Byzantine and Continental counterparts, and what they reveal about Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards history and gender, as well as the qualities that were thought to constitute a good ruler. It is argued that this series of portraits, never before studied as a corpus, creates a visual genealogy equivalent to the textual genealogies and regnal lists that are so mucha feature of late Anglo-Saxon culture. As such they are an important part of the way in which the kings and queens of early medieval England created both their history and their kingdom. CATHERINE E. KARKOV is Professorof Art History at the University of Leeds.

These paper cut-outs developed from toys into a historically important reflection on the German military and social classes from the early nineteenth to the early twentieth century, culminating in their proliferation during the rise and reign of the Third Reich. They make it possible to take a tour through German military and political history, from the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806 right up to the Maginot Line in 1940. These German paper soldiers, or papiersoldaten zum ausschneiden are, without a doubt, unique visual images that, nowadays, are similar to archeological artifacts, which are very hard to find on the market. Even today, the number of preserved or catalogued images in German museums is very small, so this book, showing thousands of figures in 173 color images, is a an essential collection.

Originally written in 1905, this volume examines the coins of Japan, especially appealing because of a subtle and impersonal charm which pervades their inscriptions and the sentiments which they set forth. They are written in characters which are a manifest surviva of the picture writing of early man. He wrote, that is to say, scored or scratched, various outline sketches of his doings and the more intimate facts of his surroundings, on bone, clay or other material.

Figural shoes are a delightful, long-collected art form, which especially flourished in Victorian times and after World War II. This ground-breaking book, the first authoritative work on shoes made of porcelain and pottery, illustrates over 1,200 from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They are accompanied by hundreds of marks and carefully drawn scale sketches showing in-mold detail and relative dimensions. Identified manufacturers include Royal Worcester, Coalport, Spode, Meissen, Goss, Heubach, Conta & Boehme, von Schierholz, Dedham, Morimura (Nippon), Schafer & Vater, and the most comprehensive group of Royal Bayreuth shoes ever published. There is also a large section on French faience from such factories as Henriot, the elusive Alcide Chaumeil, Moreau, Porquier, Verlingue, Longwy, and the several Fourmaintraux families. In addition, most of the unmarked porcelain shoes have been traced to German factories, many revealed here for the first time. Current values are included for all. The extensively researched text includes an alphabetical list of manufacturers, designers, decorators, and importers, with locations, years of operations, and product lines. Simplified, practical explanations on manufacturing processes are included, as are pointers for identifying and dating unmarked shoes, recognizing fakes, and assessing values. Shoe and figural collectors and all who appreciate fine porcelain and pottery will find this an essential reference and a visual delight.

Ice skating has a rich heritage with traditions spanning the centuries and the globe. Here is a concise history of skating, from the first bone skates to the early 1900s, and a guide to antique ice skates for collectors and historians alike. It will enable the reader to identify the various skate types, styles, designs, approximate ages, countries of origin, and rarity. More than 250 photographs, lavishly illustrated artwork, and original patent designs present skates from countries such as Holland, England, Germany, and America. A chapter on skaters' lanterns is also included. A general price guide will aid in evaluating a collection. This book will pique the interests of collectors and dealers in several fields, including antique ice skates, lanterns, miniatures, and tools. It will also be welcomed by wood and metal workers, carvers, and hockey, figure, and speed skating fans alike. All and all it is a delightful book.

This new study presents striking parallels in both ethnic (non-European) and folk (European) traditional costumes and ornaments made with silver and glass. African ornaments include Zulu beads, Maghreb necklaces, the Oba's crown, and Massai headpieces. European ornaments extend from the Baltic to the Alps and from Russia, Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Asian jewelry comes from the Fertile Crescent, the Silk Route, and the foothills of the Himalaya. Each example exquisitely displays a common sense of beauty among many distant peoples.

Nearly 900 beautiful color photographs display End of Day antique glass marbles produced, by glass artists after hours to prove their skill, during handmade marble's "Golden Age," from the mid-1880s through c. 1918. End of Day Cloud, English style, Joseph's Coat, and Onionskin marbles are presented in abundance. Among them are Paneled, Ribbon, Lobed, Shrunken Core, Mist, Submarine, and End of Cane examples, some featuring aventurine, lutz, or mica. As a bonus, examples of antique glass handmade marble Clearies, Lightning Strikes, Micas, Mosaics and Millefioris, Opaques and Semi Opaques, Paperweights, Patches, and Slags are also displayed. Rounding out this valuable resource are a glossary, bibliography, index, and tables providing current market values.

In 1934 Alcoa introduced a revolutionary new line of aluminum alloy giftware and domestic items designed by American pioneer industrial designer Lurelle Guild. Called Kensington Ware, these relatively expensive, slick, machine-age objects were in an unmistakenly Art Deco style with cast brass accents. They represent an important American contribution to modern design and decorative arts. The Kensington plant ceased production around 1970, and collectors have recently been scooping up these compelling objects in the antique and collectible markets. This is the first book to tell the Kensington story and identify, value, and illustrate the aluminum in 375 color, vintage, and black-and-white illustrations. It is a must for anyone interested in aluminum, Art Deco, and the machine-age in America.

Every book collector has felt the frustration of ignorance. How does he know a book isn't overpriced? Is this book really a first edition? Was it issued with a dust jacket? Is it really scarce or is such a description just a sales tactic? Booksellers usually have more knowledge about their offerings. But even the most experienced booksellers can't know every point about every book. Terry Seymour has solved these problems for collectors and sellers of Everyman's Library. His Guide will answer every conceivable question about every book in this vast publication project. Here in a single reference are descriptions of every aspect of book design in all the variations from the Library's inception in 1906 through 1976. The book also discusses scarcity and pricing, the two most crucial issues to both collectors and sellers.

This is both a historical survey of wonderful images associated with tea over two centuries and a modern guide to collecting tea graphics. It is the first tea book to cover printed paper collectible art (rather than tins, teapots, and other objects), and has more than 160 images of rare materials conveniently organized as postcards, prints, posters, sheet music, book illustrations, periodical advertisements, and more. A lengthy illustrated survey of tea history-with special emphasis on its popularization, marketing, and advertising- discusses many categories of tea graphic arts. The illustrated value-guide gives current prices for items (both shown in the book and many additional pieces) and offers advice for collectors in each of the categories. The extensive bibliography lists fiction and nonfiction tea books as well as current websites.

The Adjustable Spanner Volume II gathers together revelatory information arising from Ron Geesin's first book, and combines it with further detailed analysis of manufacturers and biographical details of inventors. Described with warmth, detailed knowledge and a dash of humour, and set against the backdrop of parallel developments of the Industrial Revolution, this book brings the enthusiast up to date with continued attempts at design improvements to this iconic absurdity. Celebrating the global influence of Richard Clyburn's transverse rack and worm design which set the modern standard for adjustable spanners and concluding with an overview of how the adjustable spanner is now manufactured and used worldwide, this book will be an invaluable asset to bookshelves of both the collector and the industrial historian.