Pulaski Furniture Celebrates 50 years!

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One of the country’s best-known furniture brands, Pulaski Furniture is synonymous with outstanding craftsmanship and refined style. Continuously improving and adapting to trends and desires, Pulaski covers the complete design spectrum: traditional, contemporary and transitional. They have created quite a following with their hall trees and display cabinets and we happen to have one of each in our current auction.

                            Items 117                                 Item 119

Pulaski Furniture - hand crafted in Virginia, continues its heritage of outstanding value, quality and design while looking ahead for style and livability. Their lines have a slight bent to nostalgia when times were simpler. This quality is evident in our pieces as well.

Once you have their fine furniture you will want to take good care of it. They have some advice on their website.

“Caring for your furniture is easy—following a few simple guidelines will help extend the life of your furniture. Always dust with a polish-moistened cloth. Polish cushions the cloth, eliminating the scratching that occurs with dry dusting. Dust will scratch the furniture surface in not removed properly. Use a soft, clean cloth that won’t scratch the surface. Avoid coarse scratchy materials or fabrics. Avoid using soap and water on furniture. Water can penetrate the finish and raise the grain on wood, causing damage.”

Happy 50th! We wish you all the best!

Happy Bidding!                              

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Fire it up!

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Our current auction features a Dimplex Electric Fireplace Model DFB5016 Serial No. 12707D3F 369 with a Traditional Mantle. Dimplex invented the modern electric fireplace and the continues to be a leader with exclusive technology that creates the most realistic electric fireplace available. This one is stunning! Dimplex holds patents on its 3D effect to give the fire more depth                         and dancing flames. This looks very real. There may be some who think there is nothing that can take the place of a real fire in a fireplace. Those with gas logs and electric fireplaces agree that not having to worry about the mess of cleaning up the ashes and soot more than makes up for a natural wood fire. The fireplace mantle with it’s tradition craftsmanship and elegant walnut wood finish and wonderful details will add beauty to any room. This fireplace lets you dream about adding a fireplace without the hassle of remodeling. Dimplex electric fireplaces use 90% less energy than gas fireplaces. There's no combustion or emissions from gas, period. Dimplex fireplaces are also ideal for zone heating, allowing you heat only the rooms you want and keep your central thermostat turned down low.  You will fire it up in comfort and safety.

Happy Bidding!                              

Liz

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Whitney Piano A French Provincial Beauty!

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Here is one of the prettiest pianos I have ever seen.

We have a lovely apartment size baby grand from the golden era of piano building. This piano was built by the Whitney Piano Company, one of the subsidiaries of the famous Kimball Piano Company of Chicago.   It is made of elegantly carved Circassian walnut wood, and is of the French Provincial style. The carvings are magnificent.

The Whitney Piano Company was operational from about 1895 to1955. In most cases, Whitney piano were nearly identical to Kimball pianos, but they were marketed to be a bit more affordable than the costlier Kimball line. Kimball enjoyed great success selling Whitney pianos over the years

Today, modern piano manufacturers tend to put their better quality, materials, and workmanship in their larger, more expensive pianos. Modern manufacturers count on people buying small pianos for aesthetics rather than for function, so they are able to make small new pianos of lesser quality that still sell.

You can buy a new Asian imported baby grand piano for under $10,000, but you get what you pay for. You may get particle board cabinets, plastic action parts, acrylic veneer, and green unseasoned wood. These cheap new pianos suffer severe deterioration after only a few years due to the lack of quality materials and workmanship.

A vintage baby grand Whitney piano like the one in this auction is made of top quality REAL wood, no plastic or particle board. Wood is what resonates to make a pianos tone quality. The original matching bench is included. This beauty will be the delight of anyone who is lucky enough to purchase it.

Happy Bidding!                              

Liz

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It's About Time!

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Happy New Year from all of us at AYPToday!  As we are thinking about the future, it is important to think about our most precious and irreplaceable resource - our time.  Lucky for us this auction has some wonderful items to help us remember to guard our moments as they are fleeting.

Certainly one of the most interesting items is item #124 the Wonderful Atmos-Le Coultre Clock. As we mentioned in the description Atmos is the brand name of a mechanical clock manufactured by Jaeger-LeCoultre in Switzerland which does not need to be wound manually. It gets the energy it needs to run from temperature and atmospheric pressure changes in the environment, and can run for years without human intervention. Its power source is an internal hermetically sealed capsule containing a mixture of gaseous and liquid ethyl chloride, which expands into an expansion chamber as the temperature rises, compressing a spiral spring; with a fall in temperature the gas condenses and the spring slackens. This motion constantly winds the mainspring.The case can be removed. This is fascinating everything is visible. Beautiful from every side. Made in Switzerland Serial Number 28187 that dates it to the Fifties. 15 jewels. Please note that it seems to have a separated chain.

We have many wonderful clocks in different form there are mantle clocks see item 27,  and wall clocks. Laura Ashley is represented in a pretty china bedroom clock in item 126 as well as a bone china Thistle Plate by Royal Vale that was made in England.  If you like stained glass we know you will enjoy the clock in item 123. The category clocks will help you keep time beautifully.

Some wonderful framed reproduction art posters devoted to timepieces can be found in item 148.

Mother Teresa said it best, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

Happy Bidding!                              

Liz

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Baldwin the Best Piano that can be Built!

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Baldwin is about more than pianos— it’s about peerless quality and the absolute best-sounding and best-playing pianos anywhere. We are proud to say that we have a beautiful example in our current auction ending tonight.  According to their website, the company got its start in 1862, when beloved Cincinnati-based piano teacher Dwight Hamilton Baldwin launched a Decker Brothers piano dealership. In 1866, he hired Lucien Wulsin as a clerk, and the two became partners in the venture, at the time named D.H. Baldwin & Company. Since then, Baldwin has become the only American piano company to make and distribute quality pianos to all price ranges and aspects of the piano market. The handmade Artist Grands, built at the Trumann Factory in the U.S.A., are among the finest anywhere, at any price. Baldwin pianos are famous for their touch, tone, and durability. Our aution features the Baldwin B1 model. Is a gem of a baby grand with it’s beautiful ebony finish. History is extremely important to the Baldwin brand. Baldwin has been in the business for 150 years and has become the piano of choice for the world’s hottest artists, including Aaron Copeland, Liberace, Dave Brubeck, Marian McPartland, Ben Folds and Miley Cyrus. The most important aspect of technology in Baldwin pianos is their scale design. The scale design is the “recipe” for the piano that consists of the materials used and all specifications, including the exact shape of the sound boards, the placement of the bridges and ribs, the length of the strings and the thickness of the rims and bracing. Fans of Baldwin pianos love the big “American” sound of the instruments, particularly in the bass area, and the clear “bell-like” quality in the high treble end. My husband’s grandfather worked for Baldwin Pianos and began his long career delivering them in a horse drawn wagon. In the depression, instead of laying off their skilled woodworkers, Baldwin lent them to the Cincinnati Art Museum. Their work is displayed in the intricate carvings on the second floor paneled halls. Now you can understand why we have a great fondness for the Baldwin Company and their wonderful pianos… the best that can be built.

Happy Bidding!                              

Liz

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Once Upon A Time

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Fairy tales for adults seem to be trending in 2014!  From Angelina Jolie as Malificent to Prince Charming in the hit show, Once Upon A Time, new twists on centuries-old folk tales seem to be the “in” thing.

What more could modern writers say about these old fairy tales?  When you think of it, the villains never had so much character development in the past.  Unlike when Disney’s Sleeping Beauty came out in 1959, this year Malificent gets her place in center stage.

Although it does feature the Sleeping Beauty characters, the current television show, Once Upon A Time, focuses on the Snow White characters.  Just as the movie, Malificent, develops the characters further than the original story did, the television series explains how the Evil Queen became Snow White’s stepmother.  

The show also tells us that Prince Charming wasn’t raised as a prince but is, in fact, a pauper.  

Other characters which have been featured in Once Upon A Time are Pinocchio, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, the Genie from Aladdin, and characters from Alice in Wonderland.

Once Upon A Time isn’t the only show/movie right now revisiting old fairy tales.  Beauty and the Beast puts the characters in a modern detective story, and Grimm’s premise is that the strange creatures of fairytales (like those written by The Brothers Grimm) actually exist!  

And looks like this fairy tale trend isn’t showing signs of ending anytime soon: I’m looking forward to Meryl Streep’s beautiful singing voice in the upcoming movie Into the Woods which releases Christmas Day 2014.

I hope the fairy tale trend continues because I love new versions of old happily ever afters!

Happy Bidding!

Adrienne

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A Taste of China

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When you think of the Far East, what comes to mind?  

Their painting style?

Their lovely china?

Do you think of the traditional tea ceremony?  Red for luck?  

Do you think of tranquil gardens?  

Imagine breathing in the calm of a Chinese garden retreat while wearing your own conical hat.

Do you think of thousands of years of Chinese dynasties or their literature?

Picture the heroic Mulan, over 1000 years ago in The Ballad of Mulan, riding home on a swift horse, returning to her relieved family.  For twelve years, she had sacrificed a traditional Chinese female life in place of a military life, replacing her aged father and child-brother on the battlefield after they had been “drafted.”  

Now imagine a very different lifestyle from that of Mulan’s.  Envision an aristocratic lady’s life in 1700s China.  A Dream of Red Mansions (also translated as Dream of the Red Chamber) is one of the most famous works of Chinese fiction.  These plates are based on the novel as each features a different female character.  Above, meet Pao-Chai, the ideal Chinese woman--smart, modest, calm, shapely--who the main character, Baoyu, seems fated to marry; but there’s one problem, the essential passionate spark is absent.  

Above right treads the lovely, learned, and distant Miao-yu, whose obsession controls her.

Hsi Chun, the talented young painter, decides to follow a pious life.  

Although she is a favorite of the Emporer because of her virtue and intelligence, Yuan-Chun feels trapped inside the confines of the Palace.

Loud.  Intelligent.  Funny.  Lovely and worldly.  A Dominator.  While usually kind, Hsi-feng has a dark side no one should cross.

Suspected to be semi-autobiographical, A Dream of Red Mansions is said to be one of the finest works of literature the world has ever known, yet, because of the depth of its poetry, it was difficult to translate.  Thankfully, Master Artist, Zhao Huimin, has visually represented some of the Beauties of A Dream of Red Mansions and thus, has helped us better understand the world in which they lived.

Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true;

Real becomes not-real where the unreal's real.  

--Beginning of A Dream of Red Mansions

Happy Bidding!

Adrienne

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