Style at Home Borrows from Toronto Antiques on King

By Toronto Antiques on King | Published: March 16, 2012

Fashion week is happening across the street from Toronto Antiques on King, which makes us feel, by osmosis, that we are watching trends as they happen. However, we don’t need to see the goings-on across the street to know that vintage is trending. Antiques are in! Interior decorators have always loved mixing old with new to add depth and intrigue to a design concept. Now popular style gurus such as Jessica Quirk (what I wore) are advocating blending vintage clothes with new pieces.
The April edition of Style at Home shows that antique tones such as soft pinks, gold gilding and brass are trendy in home decor. Style at Home Stylist Jessica Waks borrowed some beautiful vintage pink perfume bottles and a Wedgewood terracotta tea set from the Toronto Antiques on King collection. Waks also appeared on yesterday’s CityLine episode to showcase rose gold, antique tones and our terracotta Wedgewood tea set. Waks said that the current decor trends are “especially good news for antique collectors.”

Teapot and perfume bottle from Toronto Antiques on King

Also with Waks on the table are our gold and pink Florentine boxes, pink perfume bottles and pink depression glass water pitcher. For more vintage finds, cynthiafindlay.com

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Our Oscar Jewellery

By Toronto Antiques on King | Published: February 24, 2012

Like the rest of the audience at the Oscars, the attention of the Toronto Antiques on King staff will be directed forty percent at the awards and sixty percent the wardrobe of our favorite stars. Specifically, we will be ogling the historically spectacular jewellery. To prepare for this year’s Oscars, we have pulled some of our most Oscar-worthy jewellery and matched it with the appropriate star.

While Meryl Streep makes anything near her look good, blue is particularly striking.This important necklace is not only suitable for Meryl Streep, but also for the Iron Lady herself.

Marilyn Monroe made the the song “Diamond are a Girls Best Friend” famous. We think that Michelle Williams would look fabulous in this diamond bow brooch, and we know Monroe would have liked it!

These Edwardian diamond necklaces were popular when motion picture sound was just beginning to be a major innovation (or obstacle, depending on who you asked) in the movie business. Berenice Bejo would wear the scale and delicacy of one of these necklaces beautifully.

Jessica Chastain looks great in her 1950’s wardrobe for The Help. Why not pursue that look with this retro brooch? The bonus is that retro jewellery is immensely popular once more.

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Richard’s Rowing Trophy

By Toronto Antiques on King | Published: February 17, 2012

Richard MacFarlane, a long-time client of Cynthia Findlay Antiques wrote the following as a guest blogger,

“What serendipity. Richard MacFarlane, a competitive oarsman of 38 years, and veteran researcher of Ned Hanlan rowing history, working for the City of Toronto municipal government, associated with their records and archives program, finds one of the oldest silver rowing trophies in Canadian history at Cynthia Findlay Antiques on King Street West. A member of Hanlan Boat Club in Toronto since 1987, Richard practices in his single rowing shell each week during the summer along Cherry Beach, on Lake Ontario.

The Trophy sitting proudly on Richard's Shelf.

Richard purchases the stern section of an eight oar racing shell, built by the famous craftsman, George Pocock of Seattle, Washington, during the 1950s, at an antique show at the Metro Convention Centre in late October 2011, as if predicting his later good fortune. Then luck follows Richard and he finds the trophy, late November 2011, after searching antique shops and flea markets for 20 years or more, looking for rowing memorabilia and old trophies. Coincidence joins Richard’s search, as this discovery occurs only two months before Rowing Canada’s annual meeting, held in downtown Toronto for the first time in many years! Richard has the trophy re-silvered to its former glory. Beautifully engraved, it was awarded to the winner of the men’s pair (two oarsmen). It has the inscription “Queen’s Hotel Cup For Pair Oar and Shell”. This is the real deal. The trophy has the official crest of the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen (CAAO). It has the month and year, August 1880. This silver cup also has four rowing shells (boats) engraved with oarsmen racing, in the finest and smallest detail. It is silverplate on Britannia grey metal, a base metal used before the 1900s. The prominent silversmith manufacturer of this glorious cup is Reed & Barton of Taunton, Massachusetts, established in 1824. And it is stamped Reed & Barton as proof of authenticity. This trophy was awarded only once, in 1880, in Toronto, at the very first Canadian national rowing championship regatta, which makes it quite unique and very special.

Richard MacFarlane, Royal Canadian Henley, Masters, Year 2007

More often, trophies move to private collections or disappear, so it is rare to find one intact. The trophy was awarded to a men’s crew from Detroit, Michigan, the Zephyr Rowing Club. The Mail newspaper reported that $2,000 in awards were presented at this prestigious inaugural regatta. That converts to $200,000 today in silverware and medals. The Queen’s Hotel sponsored the silver cup, and the 100 Front Street West site is now occupied by the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Legend has it that Sir John A. Macdonald, Prime Minister of Canada, attended this regatta as a very important spectator. Our world champion sculler from 1880 to 1884, Ned Hanlan, from Toronto Island, rowed down the course, in between events, to entertain the crowd. Hanlan also donated two silver cups as awards. “This will be,” The Mail newspaper wrote, “the greatest aquatic carnival ever held in Canada.” After being displayed at Rowing Canada’s annual meeting held at the Radisson Admiral Hotel from January 26 to 29, 2012, the trophy now stands proudly on a shelf, with Richard’s collection of rowing books, in the stern section of the Pocock racing shell. A museum piece, to be sure. One of a kind. And if that isn’t enough serendipity, Cynthia Findlay’s brother, Nat Findlay, was a veteran single oarsman, who knew Richard during the 1980s in his competitive rowing years!

Rowing Trophy after it was re-silvered

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Berlin Ironwork: A History

By Toronto Antiques on King | Published: February 15, 2012

Between 1796 to 1806 the Prussian Royal iron foundries produced a fine lace-like jewellery made out of moulten iron and black laquer. Prussian Citizens were encouraged to donate their gold jewellery to aid the war effort against Napoleon. In exchange for their donation, they would receive the intricate ironwork jewellery, which was often inscribed with the statement Gold gab ich zur Wehr, Eisen nahm ich zur Ehr (I give gold towards our defence effort and I take iron for honour).

Berlin Ironwork Necklace

In 1806 Napoleon conquered Prussia and took the patterns from the foundry to Paris, where he resumed ironwork production. Using the same tactic that was used against him, Napoleon asked his citizens for gold in exchange for Berlin Ironwork. Berlin Ironwork jewellery, which was formerly only worn in mourning, thus became a symbol of patriotism and freedom on two sides of a war.

Have a look at the stunning Berlin ironwork necklace in the Cynthia Findlay collection, cynthiafindlay.com/Berlin-Ironwork-Necklace

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Dearest and Regard Jewellery: Romantic Jewellery for Valentine’s Day

By Toronto Antiques on King | Published: February 10, 2012

In spite of Britain’s infamous reputation as a highly reserved people, Queen Victoria was a great romantic who wore her love for her husband and children on her proverbial shirt-sleeve. Queen Victoria’s love of her family inspired a wave of sentimental Victorian jewellery, which caused the British people to literally wear their emotions on their sleeves, if not anywhere else.

An antique dearest ring

For example, ‘dearest’  and ‘regard’ jewellery, where gemstones are arranged in such a way that the first letter of each stone spells out a word of endearment, became very popular. First, one would receive a ‘regard’ piece, and then, if the relationship progressed the suitor would present a ‘dearest’ pin or ring. A ‘Regard’ piece, includes, in this order, Rubies, Emeralds, Garnets, Amethysts, Rubies, and Diamonds. Likewise a dearest ring includes, in this order, Diamonds, Emeralds, Amethyst, Rubies, Emeralds, Sapphires and Topaz.

For one-of-a-kind vintage valentine’s, cynthiafindlay.com

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Grotesque Dwarves

By Toronto Antiques on King | Published: January 27, 2012

Somewhere between 1612 and 1621 Jacques Callot, an English nobleman, became a master engraver whose work was sought by important people from France, England and Spain, including, notably, Rembrandt. His focus was on was England’s poorest people. He sketched ‘grotesque people’ who made money at the market by selling viewings to their disfigured bodies. His subject was the degradation of human performance. One of his most famous sketches, ‘Grotesque Dwarves,’ is based on a father and son team of dwarves who walked around the market with advertisements on their over sized hats. They charged for these advertisement spaces and thus became the first human billboards before the proliferation of branding.

Jacques Callot's Etching of the Grotesque Dwarves

It is surprising, then, that these sketches inspired Derby porcelain to make beautiful figures. The fineness of the Derby renditions of the Grotesque Dwarves show a true reverence for both subject and artist.

One of our Crown Derby Dwarves, circa 1970. His hat reads, "The Theatre Royal Haymarket. Tomorrow the 'Hunchback' with the 'Rent Day' and 'John Jones' on Tuesday with an original comedy called 'The 18th' . To comclude wtih 'Popping the Question' and other entertainments"

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Stanhope

By Toronto Antiques on King | Published: January 12, 2012

Last fall we educated a television producer who was thinking of making a new reality television series and wanted to learn more about quirky antiques. We had fun, and in talking about our favorite things, we fell in love with this business all over again. I thought I’d share with you a few items that we discussed.

Antique objects often serve as ambassadors for a period of history. While our knowledge of history is written and oral antiques are a reminder of the concreteness of our past. For example, the stanhope tells a tiny part of the history of photography, cinema and of our collective hunger for fantastical audience experiences.

Our Victorian Stanhope, which we selling for $395

John Benjamin Dancer adapted a medical magnification device and created the stanhope in the mid-19th century. The stanhope suspends a tiny image, the size of a grain of rice, in front of a magnifier. These magnifiers come in many different forms and were sometimes embedded in small objects such as crosses. At first glance, the stanhope looks simply like a magnification glass, or even a small cabochon stone. One must peer through the magnification to see the tiny image hidden within. The pleasure of the stanhope is in the surprise. Images in a stanhope can be anything, although religious icons and naked women were equally popular. Our stanhope features a japanese pagoda. At a time when people were increasingly excited by images (photography had just been invented, and the Lumier brothers would soon invent moving pictures), the stanhope was an magical experience for its audience.

Although distorted, this is an view of the tiny image through the magnifying glass.

People loved the stanope because of the element of surprise and unbelievability of the whole experience, not just of the image. In this way, the ipad and 3D technologies exist on a continuum with the stanhope. Our desires haven’t changed, but our expectations have become more sophisticated.

For more interesting design ideas, cynthiafindlay.com

Stay tuned, next blog will be about the Derby Grotesque Dwarves.

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