Round Things

(Above) Plains Indian Drum, via here.



(Above) Round rock, man in the moon. Collection of John Foster.


(Above) Painted Vinyl Record. Via Yimmyayo.




(Above) NW Coast, Hocker Design; Via Bibliodyssey.



(Above) Abstract round table cover; Swen velvets and corduroy. Mid-20th century, 47”. Via Oddfellows Antiques



(Above) Circa 1880 peddlers cart wheel, with remains of red paint on spokes. Via Lost Found Art.


HERE’S AN ASSORTMENT OF ROUND THINGS, curious and odd.

Yesterday’s Medicine

(Above) Medical Model of Female; early 20th century.



(Above) Early Prosthetic Leg; Hand-formed aluminum with flush aircraft rivets.
Light, elegant and very sculptural, with a leather-hinged foot.




(Above) Beautiful and Delicately Sculpted Face for Medical Study: Cast in hollow hard rubber with a lacquer finish. The highly detailed front is hand-drawn and labeled with facial muscles. Made in France, the back is signed. It reads “le masque d’etude”, S. Laule....





(Above) Highly Detailed Wax Anatomical Head Section: This early wax model is signed “Lehrmittelwerke” and was hand-made in Berlin. The fabric covered wood and glass sealed display case measures 7.25” x 9.25”x 2.5”. The colors are crisp with beautiful and delicate details.





(Above) Early “Bock-Steger Lips” Anatomical Head: This plaster signed model measures 10”x 9.5” at the base. You can call it life-size. The brain is removeable and breaks down into 3 sections.



ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE COLLECTOR’S I know of is Steve Erenberg, who calls himself “Radio Guy.” According to Steve’s website, Radio-Guy, he collects and sells “oddball and scary scientific stuff, globes, industrial masks and helmets, motors, contraptions, classroom demonstration models, tools, nautical, medical, early advertising, electrostatic devices, telephones, telegraph, planeteria, patent and design models, steam engines, microscopes, salesman samples, anatomical, x-ray tubes, artists mannequins, microphones and early radio equipment.”

His collection is unique and world famous. His collection groups the odd objects of the world that cross into man’s attempt to make the world of science and medicine better—those objects that attempted to be ahead of their time. These objects are real—objects that Jules Verne or a demented Mr. Wizard would have enjoyed. Some worked wonderfully and others failed miserably. It doesn’t matter to Erenberg, it just has to fit his very odd criteria.

Weekend Random Images

(Above) My Bicycle Book, saddle stitched, published by the Board of Education, Palo Alto, CA, 1941, Via Ampersand Vintage. Click image for larger view.


(Above) Ceramic pot by Rudy Autio (1926 - 2007), via here. Click for larger view.


(Above) Collection of 16 Balsa Wood Model Airplane Ribs, c. 1940-1950. Via Heir Antiques. Click for larger view.



(Above) Collection of 12 pressed steel children’s tricycle seats. Via Lost Found Art. Click for larger view.


(Above) Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, photogram. 1923; Silver print. Collection of Charles Isaacs, via Luminous Lint. Click for larger view.



(Above) “HAY..............For Sale.” Via Candler Arts. Click for larger view.


(Above) Monkey skull from Africa; covered in mud and raffia. Circa 1925. Via Historia Antiques. Click for larger view.

Record Prices Spent for Pulp Fiction Art

(Above) Hugh Joseph Ward (American, 1909 - 1945). The Evil Flame, Spicy Mystery Stories pulp cover, August 1936. 28.5 x 19.5 inches; Oil on canvas; Sold for $143,400.00

Click on image for larger view.


(Above) Margaret Brundage (American, 1900 - 1976). A Rival From the Grave, Weird Tales illustration, January 1936; 20 x 13.5 inches; Pastel on paper board. Sold for $37,344.00

Click on image for larger view.


(Above) Robert Fuqua (American, 20th century). Revolt of the Robots, Fantastic Adventures pulp illustration. First Issue, May 1030; Sold for $27,485.00

Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Frank R. Paul (American, 1884 - 1963). The Robot Aliens , Wonder Stories pulp cover, February 1935. Oil on canvas. Sold for $19,120.00.

Click on image for larger view.


HERITAGE AUCTION GALLERIES, located in Dallas, Texas is one of the top auction houses in the United States. For illustration art, they are second to none. For years, in this category, Pin-up and Glamour Art has dominated the auction house scene. Until, surprisingly, these pulp fiction illustrations burst into the fray with some record prices. The high seller was a piece in the collection/estate of John McLaughlin. It was entitled “The Evil Flame, pulp cover. Spicy Mystery Stories (see top illustration).

According to the auction house, this particular illustration has an interesting history:

“This is not only the most important Ward pulp cover we’ve ever offered — it’s one of the absolute best pulp covers that exists, by any artist. Iconic is the adjective that best sums up the entire over-the-top approach that pulps are now celebrated for. As pulp art historian Robert Lesser so vividly recounted about the Ward approach in his book, Pulp Art, Gramercy Books, 1997, “One day in April 1942 Mayor la Guardia spied an unusual Spicy mystery on the newsstand and exploded in instant rage. He ruled on the spot: ‘No more Spicy pulps in this city.’

H. J. Ward was the cover artist and it was one of his most daring: sexual tension, violence in action, a beautiful woman, all painted with aggressive brushwork to create a cover that couldn't fail to catch the eye.”

Li Xiaofeng Knows His Clothes

(Above) LACOSTE challenged Chinese artist Li Xiaofeng to create two different Polo shirts for the 2010 Holiday Collector’s Series. For both, he had to adapt his work methods slightly. For the limited edition printed polo, he chose blue and white shards with lotus and children designs from the Kangxi Period (1662 - 1772 AD) of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD). The lotus grows from mud underwater to emerge as a flower, symbolizing purity and rebirth. Images of babies represent fertility, as during that period the high infant mortality rate meant that people decorated ceramics with babies hoping they would be blessed with children.

Click any image for larger view.


(Above) China forbids the export of ancient artifacts including porcelain shards, so for the Porcelain Polo art work, Li decided to use new shards so that the piece could eventually be shipped out of the country. Inspired by the early Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644 AD), he painted porcelain bowls with images of a scholar contemplating a scenic landscape surrounded by an orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum and plum blossom. He chose to use under-glazed red in addition to the quintessential Ming blue and white. Red represents blood and life force.

Click any image for larger view.



(Above) It took Xiaofeng three full months to paint, fire, fragment, shape, polish, and finally link together the 317 shards to create the Porcelain Polo, which is the most expensive and most exclusive LACOSTE polo to date. The Porcelain Polo was unveiled in Paris last June, and later exhibited at the Musée des Arts et Métiers. Finally, the work will be shown in Bejing this fall at Li Xiaofeng’s first one-man show organized by the Red Gate Gallery, the first private contemporary art gallery to be established in China.

Click any image for larger view.



(Above) Li Xiaofeng sits with two of his extraordinary works.

Click any image for larger view.



Click any image for larger view.



Click any image for larger view.



Via here.

Now Hear This

A FRIEND TURNED ME ON TO THIS. I LOVE IT... as much for the great video as the music. The Rassle is comprised of former Virgins affiliate Erik Ratensperger, Marc Solomich of The Takeover UK, and Reed and Blair Van Nort of Young Lords.

Marionettes From Another Place

THIS WEEKEND I HAD THE GREAT FORTUNE TO reacquaint myself with an old classmate by the name of Malcolm Jones, a writer for Newsweek and longtime newspaper reporter. The occasion was our 40th high school reunion in Winston-Salem, NC, and it was a great time. Malcolm recently wrote a memoir that I have been reading non-stop since I left, a book entitled Little Boy Blues, a recounting of his life growing up in the Twin City.

I enjoyed a thread throughout his book, his astonishment as a youngster in seeing his first marionette show and subsequent Christmas present(s) of receiving marionettes as gifts. His marionettes became a part of his personal world as an only child, a world sometimes misunderstood by relatives who often asked “is Malcolm still playing with dolls?” So, in honor of getting to know Malcolm again—after a short, 40-year hiatus, I dedicate this post to him. Watch for a future post on this fascinating book about growing up in the South in the 1950s and 60s. His book was dead on in capturing a slice of Southern life one never understands unless you have lived it. His words are bringing back a flood of memories. And oh, btw— Amazon gives it 5 stars.

And now, to the post!

ERIK SANKO is a musician, artist and marionette-maker who lives in New York City. I think his marionettes are creepy and wonderful—like Tim Burton characters. Sanko produces these figures for elaborate shows—certainly an experience that one would be fortunate to see.

Want to learn more? Go to Erik’s website here.

Some press on Erik Sanko’s work:

The Village Voice: “...a repulsively refulgent marionette show featuring the seven deadly sins... [Sanko] and erstwhile Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman offer a delightfully eerie score that tickles and alarms. Irish songster Gavin Friday lends his gravelly tones to the narration. The design team has built costumes and sets with any number of sinister trims and frills. Indeed, for those souls with a taste for the elegantly macabre, attendance is highly advised. To miss it now that would be a sin.”

The New York Times: “Mr. Sanko’s figures are the grim spawn of Edward Gorey and David Lynch, with papier-mache faces more grizzled and world-weary than those of most character actors.‘ Very few puppet theaters take advantage of their creepy factor,’ Mr. Sanko said... The set underscores why The Fortune Teller is an anomaly in the sphere of marionette theater, or any theater: a level of intricacy most commonly seen in fine art.”

Weekend Random Images

(Above) Table by Chul An Kwak, via DesignBoom



(Above) Illustration by GAYLE PORTER HOSKINS (American, 1887-1962). Leaving in a Rush. Oil on canvas. 20 x 19 in.; Via Heritage Auction Galleries.

(Above) Old shooting target in form of pig, via 1stDibs


(Above) Contemporary photographer Stanko Abadzic, represented by iPhotoCentral

(Above) A pair of large carnival punks from a carnival, hand-painted, mid-20th century. Via 1stDibs.



(Above) Circa 1955 Buick Special police car, spotted in Illinois. Photo by John Foster.


(Above) Action Comics, DC, 1940; Via Heritage Auction Galleries.


SO, WHAT’S GOING ON THIS WEEKEND? LAYING LOW, YOU SAY? Well, start your Saturday with a few cool images right here, follow the links and explore. See you Monday!