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Gaetano Pesce’s Feltri chair combines comfort, style

Postmodern furniture is a parade of quirky styles and colors, unexpected shapes and materials, and innovative construction. Few designers are more quirky, colorful, or creative than Gaetano Pesce. Like many of the great 20th-century designers, Pesce (1939-2024) trained as an architect and designed lamps, jewelry, other home furnishings, furniture, and buildings. He is known for his clever work with resin and extruded plastic, but his creative output has a softer side, too. His most famous furniture design might be the UP-5 chair, also called “La Mamma” for its curvy, feminine ...

Martin Brothers imitations not a cheap knock-off

They say that imitation is the highest form of praise, and it follows that the most desirable antiques are often the most reproduced. Take the famous “Wally Birds” made by Martin Brothers of England in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. These fanciful stoneware bird figures with heavy texture, colorful glazes, and endearingly grotesque faces can sell for $50,000 or more. Unsurprisingly, they have many imitators that sell for lower prices. But less expensive doesn’t always mean inexpensive. This set of two garden statues inspired by Martin Brothers’s birds sold for $1,037 at ...

Spooky vibes

Believe it or not, it is October, so it’s time to think about celebrating Halloween. The library has some new Halloween, supernatural and ghostly books on the shelf. Come and take a look! If you like to crochet cute stuffies, you will want to check out Cute ‘N’ Creepy Crochet: 20+ Easy Amigurumi Patterns for Scary Creatures, Cuddly Cryptids, Sinister Slashers, Dangerous Dragons and More! by Donielle Broderick (746.43 Broderi). The patterns call for easy-to-find bulky yarn and take very little time to complete. I can’t pick a favorite; they are all so cute. You will want to make ...

Swatow porcelain, named for a port city, has a rustic look

Collectors often categorize types of East Asian porcelain by region or place name. For example, within the broad category of Chinese export porcelains, you have Canton and Nanking, both of which are blue and white with scenic patterns. Swatow porcelain, also named after a port city that exports passed through, may not be quite as popular, but it is more distinctive. It often has a more rustic look than other types of Chinese porcelain, with a coarse texture and gritty base. Designs have a looser, freehand look, and color fields often spread slightly past their outlines. It can be blue ...

Off the Shelf

Here are few of my favorite recent reads. Library staff would be happy to help you place requests on these or any other titles. If you’d like to place your own request, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Catalog. Memoir ghostwriter Olivia Dumont is close to financial ruin after a devastating public humiliation. When famed author (and Olivia’s estranged father) Vincent Taylor taps her to ghostwrite his final book, Olivia sees no other option than to accept the job. But Vincent isn’t writing another novel, he’s writing his memoir. And he wants to include what really ...

Napoleon-style table features extravagant decorations

Furniture styles before the 20th century are often named after the rulers or governments of the time. Here in the United States, we have furniture periods like William and Mary, Federal, and Victorian. It follows that furniture styles, like their namesakes, are usually particular to the country or region. However, contemporary styles from different countries often share similarities. Take the style of the Second French Empire, which lasted from 1852 to 1870, the reign of Napoleon III. It drew inspiration from many past styles from antiquity to the 18th century. Decoration was ...