Look, No Hands…
While updating photos for my website I came across something I hadn’t noticed before; many of the figures on my 17th century Arita pieces...
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BLOG ARTICLES
R.J. Ruble
- May 5
- 2 min
Museums where you can touch...
A few weeks ago, I was having our monthly coffee and schmooz with Don Olson, dealer in fine American antiques and folk art. These...
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R.J. Ruble
- Mar 30
- 2 min
A Pet Peeve
As both a collector and a dealer I have always been concerned with the condition, history, and provenance of a piece, whether buying for...
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R.J. Ruble
- Feb 25
- 2 min
Chinese Whispers or the Telephone Game
In the mid-17th century foreign access to Chinese porcelain was curtailed, and the Dutch shifted their sourcing of Asian porcelain to...
790
R.J. Ruble
- Dec 25, 2023
- 3 min
To Arms...
Browsing through the December 2023 issue of Architectural Digest I came across an article by Sam Cochran on page 58 titled “A Knights...
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R.J. Ruble
- Oct 30, 2023
- 2 min
Following A Thread
In last month’s blog I wrote that while “clobbered” Chinese export porcelain was considered by many to be garish, it fit the interior...
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R.J. Ruble
- Sep 30, 2023
- 2 min
Context
In a previous blog I wrote about “clobbered” Chinese porcelain, using a densely over-painted cider jug as an example. Here in the first...
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R.J. Ruble
- Aug 25, 2023
- 2 min
Double Dutch
“Double Dutch” is a jump-rope game said to have originated with Dutch immigrants in New York City where a pair of jump ropes are turned...
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R.J. Ruble
- Jul 28, 2023
- 2 min
Putting some English on it…
The phrase to put “English on a ball” means to put a spin on it, and as a verb “English” can mean to Anglicize something. When it comes...
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R.J. Ruble
- Jun 30, 2023
- 3 min
Betwixt and Between
I’ve come to appreciate 19th century Japanese transferware, but I’m afraid I’m one of the few who has. Collectors of English transferware...
610
R.J. Ruble
- May 26, 2023
- 2 min
“Silver Threads Among the Gold…”
So goes the title of a 19th century song. A Chinese export porcelain example of silver threads among the gold is this armorial plate made...
371
R.J. Ruble
- Apr 29, 2023
- 1 min
With a little help from its friends…
This covered cider jug seems to have gotten (more than) a little help from somebody. It started life as a typical blue and white Nanking...
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R.J. Ruble
- Mar 31, 2023
- 2 min
“Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.“ – “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
We typically we think of ceramics designs flowing from China and Japan to the West, but two of the pieces above are examples of a design...
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R.J. Ruble
- Feb 28, 2023
- 3 min
An American in Canton
I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with John Albertini, a descendant of the 19th century Boston businessman Sam Caverly....
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R.J. Ruble
- Jan 27, 2023
- 1 min
In the beginning...
It's a new year and for me blogging is a new endeavor, so off we go. I just returned from the Washington Winter Antiques Show. There were...
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