Haute Couture

Leave a reply

I recently watched a special on PBS called The Secret World of Haute Couture. It showed some of the customers who actually bought these dresses and wore them at opera galas, charity balls (an oxymoron) and parties where they’d meet dignitaries or royalty. One woman, an heir to the Guinness fortune, said, “If a celebrity has worn a gown. I don’t want it. It’s been done.”

This had me rolling with laughter as I looked at my own drawers full of discount JJill catalog loose cotton clothing that I buy on ebay. :-) I guess none of these women sat in their vegetable gardens, picked stuff, washed it with a hose, and just sat on the ground eating things beside the neighborhood rabbits, who were eating things, too. :-)


At any rate, I thought some of the dresses of the Fall 2007 Haute Couture collections in Paris were gorgeous. It doesn’t matter that you don’t fit into the one the model wears. You just order, and they make the dress, alter the design, and do what they must so it will fit you. And all for only $100,000. ha! Well, it’s because each dress is made by the great ateliers of Paris and designed by a genius.

Here are two short dresses from Valentino.

Two red evening dresses from Valentino.

Two to-drop-dead-for evening dresses from Valentino. Look at the hand beading on these. Can you imagine the skill it took to make them?


Here is a rose dress from Valentino and a black evening dress with a fabulous white cape from Galliano for Dior.

I’ll end this post with these dresses from John Galliano, right out of a fairy tale.

कंघी

For more haute couture style, please examine


100 Dresses: The Costume Institute / The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
Mary McFadden: A Life in Haute Couture

Sun Moon Stars By Karl Lagerfeld – Eau De Toilette Spray
Chanel Rouge Lipstick
Je Reviens By Worth For Women. Parfum

Coral Cameo Comb

Leave a reply




This tortoiseshell comb showcases 11 coral cameos in gold-beaded mounts, which rest on a gold base decorated with acanthus leaves, First half of the 19th Century.

Each cameo represents a divinity, or Bacchante, a priestess of the Greek God Bacchus. Bacchante cameos were popular with engravers in late-18th-Century Rome, who carved them in hardstone and shell. European travellers to Italy fell in love with them.

One hundred years later, Empress Josephine’s love of coral combined with the material’s ability to be cut into cameos might have inspired jewelers to make this design, a 19th-Century interpretation of the earlier Italian trend.

Empress Josephine loved coral’s noble rich-red color, wearing it herself and giving coral jewelry as presents. She did much to make coral fashionable in France, reflecting the French passion for classical art. Indeed, coral jewelry was considered most effective when worn with dresses of white muslin, copying the look of a Greek statue.

Some Lovely Things on Ebay

Leave a reply


There have been some lovely silver and coral kanzashi selling for excellent prices on ebay. Very unique objects, such as a man-with-hat and an instrument, were attached to the hairpins. The Meiji man-with-hat went unsold at $350, whereas the Edo kanzashi of a Japanese traditional instrument with fish carved into the hairpin itself sold for $390. The shell bird kanzashi with gold makie went for $293.








Two elaborately carved Meiji tortoiseshell kushis also sold, but at very different prices. The first one had a complex design of fans and flowers, no bug bites, and was signed. The second one had an elaborate floral design of chrysanthemums and peonies, a few bug bites, and was not signed. There was a significant price differential. Kushi #1: $577 on July 14; Kushi #2: $127.50 on July 15.





There was also a lovely brass Victorian tiara, which went unsold at a starting bid of $275.



A beautifully balanced design marks this lacquer over shell signed Meiji set, which sold for $283.



And I will end this post with two more museum-quality blond tortoiseshell kanzashi ornaments of plover birds flying over the sea.



The One That Got Away

2 Replies


I saw it listed at $9.99, 6 days to go. It was a drop-dead gorgeous real shell kanzashi with coral. I thought it was real, anyway. My eyes popped out of my head. I emailed two of my friend collectors. “Are you going for this?” “Do you think it’s real?” The coral is too pink, but it looks real. All of us thought it was real, so I put a large snipe bid on it.

I thought to myself, I could write to this person, ask them to end the auction, play games, but I just am not in that space anymore. The grab, the manipulation of someone who doesn’t know as much as you, the seduction to get the coveted item at a low price.

The whole dance makes me vomit. I couldn’t do it, but I saw this seller’s vulnerability. I mean she was the kind of n00b, who lists a priceless piece and then makes sure people know they don’t get the pillow it’s pictured on as a part of the auction. I am going to value this at around $700. A similar pair of shell kanzashi went for $890 on Trocadero, recently. Comments welcome if you disagree.

In addition to listing it at $9.99 with no reserve, this seller stated she didn’t know what she was doing, that her father left this to her, which means he gave it to her with love, which means it’s real, which means… The (0) next to her name told us it was the first time she was listing on ebay. She was bait for the vultures. I put a snipe bid on it that reflected what I thought was its real value and said nothing.

One day before auction end, the item was gone. Someone wrote to her and convinced her to sell them the item off ebay. I don’t know what they said. I don’t know what kind of value she got. I hope she wasn’t a meal for some dealer, and we don’t see this piece on someone’s site going for full value in the near future. If we do, then I guess we’ll know who the vulture was.

And then the question for all collectors becomes, you either win the game or you don’t. You either get the coveted piece or you don’t. Do you want to do what it takes to win? What will it do to you as a human being? It’s not in me anymore. So ah well, the one that got away.

To Delight The Eye

Leave a reply


I liked these. :-)

Edo comb, possibly Japanese hibiscus? 18th century.



Liturgical comb of Boxwood inlaid with geometric marquetry & studded with silver. Italy, c.1500.  The Italians were world renowned for intarsia wood craft during this period, the most famous example being The Gubbio Stuiolo at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.



Here is a tiara from Rene Lalique, 1903-1904.



This is a lovely tortoiseshell comb by Alexander Parkes, England. c. 1870.



This winged ornament sat atop a tiara, which would be worn to the opera, perhaps a performance of Wagner “Die Walkure” (The Valkyrie). It is made of tortoiseshell, diamonds and pearls. France. c. 1900.



And finally, because I must… ;-) An English rose-cut diamond and pearl tiara, c. 1860. To die for. :-)



C’est la vie, peeps! Have a great month. :-)

Well, you had to wear them in something

1 Reply


Here are some 19th-century paintings of Geishas in their wigs, wearing the beautiful ornaments we all admire. It’s nice to see kushi and kanzashi in context. From the historical record these paintings provide, it looks like the wigs were just as creative as the combs.

Geisha with Sake Cup, by Keisai Yeisen (1789-1851)



Courtesan with a fan, by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806)



The Doll’s Festival, from the Furyu Goyo Matsu (Five Seasonal Festivals) Series, by Torii Kiyomitsu II (Torii Kiyomine) (1788-1868)



Beauties of the Yoshiwara at Daikoku House, by Keisai Yeisen (1789-1851).



And on a BA-Life Personal Clutz Note: I’m glad my Japanese combs are in a case. Can you imagine balancing in one of those wigs, knowing you have these priceless tortoiseshell ornaments on, and you can’t fall? And the kimonos! Can you imagine walking in that and not falling? Who stopped wearing heels at 40? ;-)

Some Lovely Chinese Kingfisher Pieces

Leave a reply


Since I’m on an authenticity kick today, I’ll feature three beautiful antique Chinese kingfisher pieces. One is a tiara and pin set, which sold at an ebay live auction for $250 on May 18. This brass tiara was inlaid with kingfisher feathers, jade, coral and pearls, with minor loss to the feathers and stones. The drop was 2 3/4″, set with small coral beads; and had significant feather loss.










Here is a lovely authentic antique Chinese hair ornament selling on Trocadero for $590. It depicts a still life with jade leaves, rose quartz flowers, and a vase on a metal stand. The ornament also has books and scrolls with Chinese characters written on them, part of a silversmith’s mark stamped on the side (De…), and the kingfisher feathers have come off. The seller dates this to the early 1800s, Qing Dynasty. I don’t know enough to check him. Comments welcome on this, but I have liked this little piece for a long time.



When I see those little Chinese oraments on Ebay, which all look the same, with all the kingfisher feathers in perfect place, for $40, I get suspicious right away. However, the oraments featured here are authentic Chinese antiques. You can see they have ideas in them. The price goes up, the less damage there is to the feathers.

Compare and Contrast

Leave a reply


On Ebay recently, there were two interesting auctions that deserve to be compared. The first was for a real tortoiseshell Edo set, consisting of a beautiful comb, blonde with brown markings, and a kanzashi with an attaching ornament of a plover bird on a coral branch. You may refer to my post I Love Japan to see a plover bird kanzashi ornament that belonged to a Japanese prince. The one for sale on ebay was only one little plover bird on one little branch, but who cares. Are we Japanese princes? No. ;-) This set was the real deal.

On May 21, it went on sale for a starting price of $490. For me, that was fine, but $490 is a high starting price for a hair comb on ebay. There is so much going on that amidst the noise, it’s very difficult for a seller to convince our audience that one piece is really worth $490 unless it has a name recognizable to Western buyers, like Tiffany, for example. Also, it’s very difficult to tell the difference between real shell and celluloid from a picture. The set did not sell the first time. It was relisted at at $250 and finally sold for $294 on May 31. Great buy. You may refer to item #190116714443.




Meanwhile, another seller aquired a Japanese piece from the estate of a geisha. Her great grandchildren told the seller the kanzashi with two ornaments was Taisho and could be tortoiseshell. He repeated the story in his auction. At one point in the auction, the piece was at $522. My eyes widened when I saw this because this piece is one part of a celluloid Japanese wedding set. These sets were sold in Tokyo department stores in the 1940s. If anyone knows that they were made earlier, please let me know in the comments. The entire set goes for around $200 now.

I wrote to the seller. Nice man. My guess: the great grandchildren loved their family member and didn’t know because at one time these sets were made in shell. But the story sold. Amid the noise, the story got the attention of our audience and caused a bidding frenzy that far outweighed the value of the piece. One of the frenzied bidders withdrew, leaving the auction at $9.99, and the piece finally sold for $102.50 on June 7 — within the range of sanity, since it did come from the great grandchildren of the woman who actually wore it. You may refer to Item #120127400313.




For reference, here is an example of a complete imitation shell wedding set.




And here is the real thing. Source: a book of a famous Japanese comb collection, which is in a museum.



I think the “shell vs. celluloid in a picture” debate will go on forever, but authenticity is perhaps the most important feature of any antique purchase. Know your history, and good luck in your bidding! :-)

Royal Tiaras

1 Reply


I had to do it. :-) Sothebys had an auction of royal tiaras in Switzerland. I chose three tiaras and a coral parure to share with everyone. I can’t pick which one is my favorite.

This emerald and diamond tiara, c. 1870, was formerly the property of a Belgian Princess. The octagonal, step-cut, and hexoganal emeralds at the top weigh 7.58, 7.26 and 8.05 carats, respectively. The two diamonds around the larger center emerald are 2.93 and 3.85 carats, respectively. The tiara is designed as series of bows entwined with foliate sprays. It sold for $341,213.




A German noble family in Westphalia owned this stunning emerald and diamond tiara, c. 1910. It was worn at an official dinner given by Kaiser Wilhelm II by an ancestor of the present owner and sold for $253,555.




This aquamarine and diamond Belle Epoque tiara was part of the estate of Christian, Lady Hesketh. It has graduated aquamarine clusters interspersed with sprays of diamond myrtle leaves. Sale price: 97,504.




Finally, we have a coral parure, c. 1850. It has the necklace, earrings, pin, bracelet, and in the center is the hair ornament. It could have been worn either as a tiara or a barrette. It sold for $34,938.

The Mexican Silver Renaissance

Leave a reply


As the Mexican Revolution brought social upheaval to the country from 1910 to 1921, Mexicans were struggling not only to bring economic justice to the poor, but to cast off a European cultural identity in favor of an indigenous one. They began to study pre-Columbian folk art, looking to treasures found in archeological ruins for inspiration.

A Tulane University architecture professor named William Spratling went to a sleepy silver-mining town called Taxco and wondered if he could bring it back to life by producing silver jewelry designed with a pre-Columbian aesthetic. His vision worked.

By 1940, he employed over 300 craftsmen, and mentored great silversmith-artists. Hundreds of tallers and artisans opened shops in Taxco to create beautiful silver jewelry. Like every other arts-and-crafts movement in the world, there were also hair combs. :-)

This extremely rare pair of Hubert Harmon Atomic Bomb hair ornaments, in brass, c. 1945, might have been made as a reaction to Hiroshima. They are on sale on Trocadero for $2800.



Matilde Poulat, whose designs are distinctly native, opened her shop in 1934. This comb has Aztec motifs, and is also listed on Trocadero, but you have to inquire for a price.




On May 20, this beautiful pair of sterling silver combs by Ana Brilanti went for $224.50 on ebay. She opened her shop, Victoria, in the 1940s and was one of Spratling’s proteges. She even designed a piece for First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.