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Gueridon: A French table with some character

If you enjoy trivia, picking up obscure historical references is part of the fun of antiques. Most people probably haven’t heard of Gueridon, a character from 17th-century French farces. But if you’re a fan of antique furniture, you may be familiar with gueridon tables. Maybe you have one. A gueridon is a small table with a round top, originally designed to hold a candlestick. They may have long, thin legs or a single column support. As their name suggests, they were first made in France in the 17th century. Early designs often had supports shaped like human figures, which may be ...

Cooking with Kids

I love to watch cooking shows. No cuisine is off limits for me and there is no age restriction for the contestants. I really like watching kids cook and bake. I am amazed at the skills I have seen these young chefs and bakers display. They are far more talented than I am in the kitchen. At times I wish I had spent more time with culinary arts. I also wish I had spent more time in the kitchen with my children learning how to cook and bake. One of my fondest memories with my kids is making sugar cookies at Christmas time. They weren’t the most beautifully decorated and probably tasted ...

Cranberry glass: A Thanksgiving Victorian staple

Cranberries are a familiar sight at the Thanksgiving table. Cranberry glass? Maybe not so much. Pinkish-red glass with a yellowish tone was part of the Victorian era vogue for colored glass. Cranberry glass was made into decorative art glass pieces, like this centerpiece with multiple flared flutes and applied leafy trim, which sold for $250 at World Auction Gallery. This glass color was first made about the time of the Civil War; coincidentally, about the time Thanksgiving became the annual holiday we observe today. Cranberries, a native plant of North America, were a well-established ...

Off the Shelf

As this is the weekend before Thanksgiving, it behooves me to ponder upon and yes write about that superb principle that boosts your mental health – gratitude. In past years when touching on the subject, I’ve written about gratitude in times of trial and appreciating the bitter with the sweet. This year, I have been reflecting on the value of experience. I touched on this subject several years ago when discussing the importance of tangible connections in a digital world. Today, however, I would like to focus on being grateful for the experiences we’ve been given. Hindsight is a ...

Majolica renowned for brilliant colors, shape

Majolica, the famous tin-glazed earthenware pottery, gets its name from Majorca (Mallorca), the Mediterranean island off the east coast of Spain. Tin-glazed pottery was brought to Spain by the Moors and spread to Italy as early as the 14th century, then to the rest of Europe. By the 1800s, majolica was a phenomenon in Europe. Potteries throughout the continent were making pieces with brilliantly colored glazes, often with realistically molded flowers, plants, and animals. Collectors seek these 19th-century ceramics by celebrated makers like Wedgwood and Minton in England or ...

2025 National Book Awards finalist

According to the National Book Award website “The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to celebrate the best American writing in fiction, nonfiction and poetry.” Since 1989, the Awards have been overseen by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate the best literature published in the United States, expand its audience, and ensure books have a prominent place in our culture. The winners will be revealed November 19. Here are some of the finalists: Fiction category “The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)” ...