Massachusetts - Ephemera

French Jacques Adnet--before he gained fame designing furnishings for Parisian luxury artisan house Hermes--created this Art Deco-period bar set with his characteristic combination o...

This antique Surrealist sculpture set of two one-of-a-kind female figurines was handmade in hammered steel wire with patina estimated as early as the 1920s. Each ribald three-dimensional self-standing torso study of a woman features either three spiral springs (suggesting pregnant belly with large breasts...

The best-known writing instrument of all Montblanc collections, this Meisterstuck Classique features six gilt rings and a clip on the black resin rollerball pen with a pull-off cap, ...

As conceptual art while he transitioned to French luxury-house Hermes Creative Director in 1998, Belgian Martin Margiela--whose creations today debut in the setting of a contemporary...

This rare antique Edo-period (1615-1868) Japanese handmade inro is a curved lozenge-shaped hand-dyed woven-silk hard carrying-case container sheath that features intricate embroidery with rock-crystal or glass beadwork and thin leather-wrapped thread appliques. For its "Kimono Style" exhibition, TheMet museum noted: "the dying, weaving, and embroidery techniques for which Japan is famed reached their peak of artistic sophistication during the Edo period." On the burgundy finely-braided silk obijime cord that suspends the inro hang adjustable ojime fasteners of glazed earthenware, which are hand-painted with underglaze and overglaze enamels. The imagery includes signature-like branches, mountains, and a pine tree. Each knotted end of the cord dangles from the bottom of the inro with two rice-paper tubular beads. We could not find any Japanese beads...