Most of us arrange our houses according to our tastes and beliefs, and some of us actually spend quite a lot of money doing so. However, interior design is a most inadequate word when it comes to describing the home of Anthropologist Stephen L. Cabral.

Photo Credit: http://www.wickedlocal.com

Cabral is an adjunct professor of Anthropology at Roger Williams University, and the University of Massachusettes at Dartmouth. However, he has a passion for Portugese history, as wel as Victorian History. He has collected several antiques and other collectables to theme his house in such a way, that each room of his, is a gallery of sorts.

In fact, so thorough and meticulous is his collection, that it is also the Luso American Gallery of Antiquities Inc., or LAGOA.

The theme, as the owner puts it is “an eclectic mix of high Victorian and Portuguese working class culture. “Blending the two is my challenge.” Some of his items include a wicker casket, saints, and a Holy Ghost Crown. The bedroom showcases the Civil war era, along with a Portugese tabernacle, and an old typewriter, and artwork.

Cabral says that he has a passion for the Victorian Era because he wanted to “create a place that kept civility alive”

The proceeds from the gallery go into a scholarship fund for promising Potuguese-American students.

For the folks in West Seattle, the Alki Homestead at 61st SW, just south of the Alki Bakery building was a place that had existed forever. It was a restaurant, and was widely regarded as a landmark, not a place of business.

Photo Credit: http://westseattleblog.com/blog

When Tom Lin and Patrick Henley purchased it in 2006, there were worries that the 58 year old building would drastically change. The restaurant was much loved by the community.

Henley is keen to find a buyer that understand the history of the place, and he says that the sale may not be just about money. The business is on sale for $495,000, and the owners will do anything to get the right buyer.

The Alki Homestead had a spring cleaning which was announced at the West Seattle Forum, and will be giving away much of it’s old things, several of which can be regarded as antiques. A lot of people are sad that a sale like this is happening.

However, most people need not worry about anything major happening to the place, as it is a designated historical building, and is therefore protected by law against significant reconstruction. People come from places like Florida to eat in the historic dining room.

It’s a television series with a twist. PBS delivers one hell of a TV series that people love to watch. It’s called the ‘Antiques Roadshow’, where a team of Antique Appraisers travel all over America, and have people’s treasures appraised by experts who will reveal the truth and history behind each prized possession.

Photo Credit: http://www.pbs.org

In 2007, over 60,000 antiques and collectibles were vetted before a few prized ones were brought forward on television in from of millions of viewers. Now, the series is continuing in 2008, and is drawing record crowds.

The cut off date was the 20th of April, and 27,000 applications were obtained, which was a new record for the show. Even though the tickets are free, they have to be applied for in advance online. 3,400 names will then be selected randomly, and each person will get two tickets.

Starting on the 9th of May, visitors will be notified, and for those who did not apply online, postcards will be dispatched. No tickets will be sold at the event itself.

The Grand Rapids is one of the six stops for the show, which is PBS’s most watched primetime series. The show will be aired in 2009.

From 1927-1957, an famed race ran from Brescia to Rome, and back to Brescia. This well known Italian race was known as the Mille Miglia.

To commemorate the race, Bella Farrow, 93 years old,  chaired the California Mille which was held on top of Nob Hill, outside the Fairmont Hotel.

Photo by Jason Steinberg © 2008

77 drivers are participating this year, more than for any other year. The actual race was held on Monday, and took off from Nob Hill. A raffle was also held for the Fairmont Hotels worldwide. The tickets were $5 each.

The event was meant as a fundraiser to keep the nearby park clean. Among other entrants to the race, are 15 Jaguars, 11 Alfa Romeos, and 9 Mercedez Benz’s. The oldest vehicle is a 1926 Bentley. The California Mille waived off with the Italian Flag at 9:00 am precisely. The route was 1000 miles.

After an event filled 4 day race, the Mille will drive towards a secret destination. Organizer Martin Swig said that they would be the first guests at a new lodge, with stunning views, and world class accommodation.

The Fairmont Hotel, Blancpain Watches, Lodi Wine growers, British Motors Jaguar, and KSFO AM Radio are some of the sponsors.

They say that there are no limits to art, and that the creativity of the artist cannot restricted by the medium. One of these mediums, is the canvas which artists use to create their works.

Photo Credit: http://www.newsleader.com

Artists tend to use all sorts of canvases for their work. Paper, stone, walls, rice grains, and now, Antique Furniture! The artist is Sonnet Eden Henkel who, so she says, was interested in art even before she could walk.

Henkel is not new to painting on alternate surfaces. She has painted on wall murals, faux finishes, and portraits. But now, she is interested in painting in furniture, as she said she has been interested in that for a long time.

She has teamed up with Jan Landis, who is the owner of East Beverley antiques, and has been given a wooden wardrobe to paint. She has started working on it, and it is covered with flora.

However, even though Henkel hopes to keep working at the antique store, she will work in other art shops as well, including her own personal paintings, which she say she has never given up, and regularly draws inspiration from.

Her paintings on Antiques are very different from her personal paintings, which are imbued with her emotions. And here’s hoping, that her paintings will give her another source of inspiration!

Murray McKearney, had a long career in fine arts, and auction houses. He also had a retail store in Karamu Rd, Hastings. At the age of 80, he died in January, and his son Christopher, wants to give a tribute to his father by auctioning his father’s antiques.

Photo Credit: http://www.nzherald.co.nz

McKearney used to make trips to Britain, where he regularly brought back items that were antiques, and that he treasured greatly. When asked, which of his father’s treasures he valued, the most Christopher said that his father treasured all the antiques.

“Towards the end he was reluctant to sell anything; they were all his old friends. He was very fond of everything in the place, it was somewhere he felt good and comfortable in his latter years.”, he said.

He also said that people were very excited about it. “In talking to some people from Wellington the other day, they said to get the quantity and quality we have here they would have to go to seven or eight auctions.”

The Auction will be held in Hawkes Bay, and will see more than 800 antiques sold. This auction will be one of the best auctions that antique dealers have ever seen.

Held at the Shanghai East Asia Exhibition Center, the China Antique and Artwork Exposition was held over the weekend. The four day event was organized by the Shanghai Yunzhou Antique City, and featured a high end auction.

Photo Credit: Aplomb

The exhibition had 153 booths selling stone carvings, and antique furniture. The antique artwords come from all over China, and some are from private hands. The top auction houses in China such as the Beijing Poly Auction, and the Shanghai Duoyunxuan will showcase their products, which however will not be for sale immediately.

The Pulic relations director of Zhejiang Xilengyingshe Auction House said that the highlight of his auction house was a painting scroll created by Badashanren at the age of 59. The price of the piece is estimated to be US $2.9 Million. The piece will go under the hammer in June at Hangzhou.

Badashanren was from the imperial house of the Ming Dynasty. After the fall of the Dynasty, he transformed into a monk and a Taoist priest. The frustration of his life was expressed in his paintings. His painting were charachteristically exagerrated in their details, and his animals all had eyes which were dotted simple circles.

This Saturday and Sunday, saw the 32nd Annual Pioneer Days show, with an Antique Tractor show, along with the much anticipated shoot out.

Photo Credit: andrew_stawarz

The show took place on the High Springs, in the Crescent Communities. It is the largest annual event, and takes place around a large depression, which is called the City Hall Sinkhole. Vendors line their booths around the edge of the depression.

The Highlight of the show is the Antique Tractor show, and will feature the same pieces that were used to make the land what it is now.There will be more than 100 vendors, entertainment, and a shoot out. This event features a drama where the police try and stop some criminals, who then engage them in a long gun battle. The shoot out ends with most of the bad guys dead on the Eveans-Carter Funeral home.

Also, there will be live entertainment, with the ‘Flying Turtles’ playing throughout. In addition, there will also be magicians and other entertainers.

Also, the descendants of the Underwood Family, one of the first families to live in High Springs will be recognized. There are several descendants of the family still living in the area.

The vendors will also be offering handmade crafts, art, music, and collectibles. Sharon Yeago displays the device that allows people to use their credit cards to purchase wooden tokens.

It has been a very handy little secret that has been known to antique dealers for a long time. What is the best place to get antiques at a fraction of the price? The answer, is Estate Sales.

Photo Credit: Daquella manera

Estate Sales take place, when the owner of a house dies, or the people living in a house divorce, and the firms who own the house want to get rid of everything. Since they’re in a hurry, they value all the belongings at a discount, and hope that it goes.

Antique hunters can use this to their advantage. Since no one cares for the stuff, and are only eager to sell it away, it isn’t rare at all to find a valuable piece being sold for a tithe. Mark Baker, co-author of ‘Estate Sale Riches’ says “It’s not unusual to pay $25 for something worth $500″.

But this requires patience, as buyers and hunteres will have to sort through a lot of things that are useless, and are of no value at all. There are plenty of Internet listings which specify which sales are going to be held and where. It’s an excellent time for Antique lovers to get together, and rummage through. Who knows what they may find?

In case you were thinking of getting an antique clothes wardrobe to give your room that little bit of style from the bygone days, you probably need to think of something else.

As one lady found out, when she and her husband bought one to use, it didn’t have a provision for hanging clothes with hangers. Hangers were a relatively modern invention, with the first one being patented in 1897, but yet it was not meant to hang from rod. They were meant to hang from pegs. The first one to be designed in the modern style was patented only in 1906.

The tale is that an employee of Timerlake Wire and Novelty Co. once took some wire, and twisted it into two ovals, and leaving one end as a hook. The idea was so useful that Albert Parkhouse patented the idea.

The wire hanger in the picture, is the sort used in the early 1920s. Before the 20th century, pegs were used to hang clothes. Our ancestors had less clothes than we do today, and they used an extra set for hanging properly on one peg in the wardrobe.