ARTICLES

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FINDING YOUR STYLE

Like Editions of books many fine antiques are reproductions, and then they become collectable in their own right

Have you ever looked at a perfectly styled interior on social media and noticed the little details… the flowers in a vase, the throw positioned in only a way a stylist can get right, the heirloom furniture sitting just so with modern art… do you dream of living in these spaces? 

I know I do. Every day I get drawn into other peoples living rooms, and walk through them imagining myself sitting…

May 4, 2023
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ANTIQUES BREATHE NEW LIFE

NOW WINTER IS HERE THE YEAR IS HALF OVER. THE TREES ARE BARE AND THE SOFT GREY CLOUDS ARE HERE TO STAY FOR A LITTLE WHILE.

So what’s been on your radar this year? Are you renovating? Building your collection? Starting a new passion or perhaps just enjoying what you have. However the year is unfolding we hope it is bringing you joy.

Now more than ever we are trying to retune our lives to be…

April 7, 2023
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Mourning ring for Rear-Admiral Isaac Smith, the first member of the Endeavour’s crew to set foot on land at Kamay (Botany Bay) in April, 1770.

. Diamond, pearl and enamel set into a gold ring with the following inscription engraved on the inside of the band: ‘Rear-Adml Isaac Smith Ob 2 July 1831 Ob 78′. Housed in a crimson morocco box with brass clasp.

An extraordinary survival: a mourning ring for the memory of Rear-Admiral Isaac Smith (1752-1831). Smith is distinguished for being the first Englishman to set foot on the east coast of the Australian continent.

As a 17-year-old, on 29…

March 10, 2023
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TURKISH PRISONER OF WAR BEADWORK SNAKES

By John. B. Hawkins
Former President of the AAADA

Crochet, with or without beads, was well established in the Ottoman Empire by the 1870’s. Most bead crochet items made before World War I were done by women for their own use.

There are few examples of beadwork souvenirs made by nineteenth- and early twentieth-century civilians incarcerated in Ottoman prisons, but the bead crochet snakes the subject of this essay were in the main made after 1915.

The majority of beadwork reptiles made in the Balkans…

March 7, 2023
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ANCIENT ILLUMINATION

Paul Rosenberg
Moorabool Antique Gallery

Lights are taken for granted with a flick of a modern switch. Backtracking, a few millennia ago if you needed light after the sun set, you had to plan and organize it yourself.

Only now are we recognising the value of renewable energy – something ancient cultures had already worked out. The most desirable light fuel was whale oil that burned true and almost odourless, yet this was a…

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SHOPPING FOR ANTIQUES & ART

If you’re new to purchasing antiques & art or if it’s been a while since you’ve dabbled in the area, getting reacquainted with the way the market works can be daunting.

In a post pandemic world we are comfortable with searching and buying online for everything we can think of but when it comes to Antiques it doesn’t quite work the same. Just like a piece can be rare and eccentric so can the way you buy it! So where do you start? Let’s look at an example of searching for a table. You’ve…

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