Antiques, collectables, fairs, shows, galleries in Croatia

Canadian Pacific Railway vintage postcard

2008-06-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

"Canadian Pacific Railway Company was one of the biggest shipment company worldwide. Their shipping service is the best and quickest for every passenger from Yugoslavia to Canada and USA. Information can be received at Petrinjska street no. 40, Zagreb" says advertising text on the back side of the postcard from period of Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians and Slovenians (year 1926.).

If you have any advertising material from the period until 1960s and from territory of ex Yugoslavia please contact me.

Suggested site- World's largest neanderthal finding site

2008-05-02T03:37:00.000-07:00

In the year 1899, the fossil remnants of the Homo sapiens neanderthalensis species were found at the excavation site located at the Hušnjak hill in Krapina.

During a six-year research at the site, led by highly expert Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger, a total of 876 single fossil Neanderthal fossil remains were found, placing Krapina in the world's scientific heritage as the world's richest Neanderthal finding site. More info on the krapina.com website.

Vintage cardboard photo

2008-04-29T10:20:00.001-07:00

Vintage photo of a bicyclist from the end of the 19th century in Temesvar (Hungary). Photographer is J. Mildner.

Sale results of Christie's Russian Art

2008-04-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

Few worldwide auction results....

Christie's sale of Russian Art in New York far exceeded its pre-sale estimate with a total of $17,595,738 and was 86% sold by both lot and value. The top lot of the sale, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin's The Forest Clearing, also set a world auction record at $3,177,000.

Russian Art
New York – Friday, April 18, 2008
Sale no: 1989 – Top Ten
[All sold prices include buyer’s premium]

Sold: $17,595,738
Lots Sold: 253 Lots Offered: 294 Sold by Lot: 86% Sold by $: 86%
Exchange Rate: £ = $1.97 / € = $1.58

Lot Description
Estimate ($)
Purchase Price
Buyer
16 Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, The Forest Clearing, 1896
WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST 1,000,000 -
1,400,000 $3,177,000
£1,612,690
€2,010,759 Anonymous

159
A silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel punch set, marked P. Ovchinnikov with Imperial warrant, 1896-1908 200,000 –
300,000 $959,400
£487,005
€607,215 Anonymous

64 Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh [Roerich], Heat of the Earth, 1918
120,000–
180,000

$769,000
£390,355
€486,709 Anonymous

94 A silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel vodka set, marked Ovchinnikov with Imperial warrant, initials of Feodor Rückert, Moscow, 1896-1908 70,000-
90,000
$735,400
£373,299
€465,443 Anonymous

21 Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh [Roerich], Rostov Kremlin, 1922 350,000-
450,000 $657,000
£333,503
€415,823 Anonymous

303 An unusually large jeweled carved nephrite model of an elephant, by Fabergé, circa 1900 300,000-
500,000 $601,000
£305,076
€380,380 Anonymous

95 A silver and cloisonné enamel kovsh, marked K. Fabergé with imperial warrant, Moscow, 1908-1917 70,000-
100,000 $457,000
£231,980
€289,241 Anonymous

51 Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh [Roerich], Sketch for Ladoga Series, 1918 40,000-
60,000 $385,000
£195,431
€243,671 Anonymous

12 Il’ia Efimovich Rephin, Toska 300,000-
500,000 $337,000
£171,066
€213,291 Anonymous

37 Aleksandr Evgen’evich Iakovlev, Portrait of a Chinese Merchant 120,000-
160,000

$325,000
£164,975
€205,696 Anonymous

James Hastie, Head of Department, Russian Art, comments, “We are extremely pleased with the result of today’s auction which exceeded our pre-sale estimate. Christie’s concluded Russian Art Week in New York by selling the season’s most valuable painting, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, which realized a world record for the artist at $3,177,000, and valuable work of art, a silver-gilt and enamel punch set by P. Ovchinnikov, which made $959,400. The collection of works by Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich from the Rose Art Museum sold well above the pre-sale estimates, totaling $2,023,650. World Record prices were realized for Grigory Gluckmann and Mikhail Ivanovich Skotti.”

Mark Moehrke, Specialist, Russian Works of Art, adds, “Maintaining our policy of offering the highest quality works of art, a strong selection of Moscow enamels set record prices, highlighted by a silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel vodka set by Feodor Rűckert for Ovchinnikov, which sold for $735,400 and silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel kovsh by Feodor Rűckert for Fabergé which sold for $457,000. Leading the selection of Fabergé was an unusually large jeweled carved nephrite elephant, which realized $601,000.”

Suggested site- antique gallery Gala

2008-04-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

Gallery’s core business is selling arts - paintings and sculptures from Croatian or foreign artists, furniture and also applied arts dating from the 19th and the 20th century. We offer art evaluation services and expert help in selecting arts for the decoration of your interior.
Website

Images from antiques and collectables fair in Zagreb

2008-04-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

For people interested in what is going on in Zagreb on weekend- here are images from antiques and collectibles fair (any many other things not related to vintage) held on Sunday on British square in broader city center:

http://antikviteti.net/cms/modules/news/article.php?storyid=164

The past, present and future of fine writing instruments- Stylus

2006-08-14T01:49:00.000-07:00

For collectors of vintage and new writing instruments there is a great magazine called STYLUS. In the August/ September edition one can read on several pages about the latest news in pen world, find out what is happening on the market with new editions of Cartier and Montegrappa. There is also an interesing story of David Oscarson's new Celestial collectoin that was inspired with moon and the stars. "Selecting your first fountain pen" by Paul Erano may apeal to the beginners. And this all in not a half of Stylus magazine...

More details about everything can be found on their website: http://www.stylusmag.com/index.htm

Petar Pjer Krizanic

2006-06-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

Painter and caricaturist. Born in Glina 1890. (Croatia) and died in Belgrade in 1962. He finished School of applied arts and studied on the Art Academy from 1908. to 1911. (M. Cl. Crncic and B. Cikos- Sesija). With newspaper caricature he started in Zagreb political magazine called «Koprive» in 1909. He made a lot of caricatures of famous cultural community workers. In year 1918. he became an editor of «Kopriva» magazine and in 1922. left to Belgrade. From 1823. he was a caricaturist of «Politika» («Politics») and in 1924. he stayed in Paris for the whole year. Petar followed with his drawings all fields of social life and especially the negative appearances. He published a map of his drawings in «Kuku Todore» (Belgrade 1926.) and «Protiv fasizma («Against facism»)» (period 1927.-1947., Belgrade 1948.). His work show the quality of the him as s draftsman, whitnesses the psychology of that specific period and critical rewiev of working man. Exhibitions were held in Belgrade, Rijeka and Zagreb.

Two caricatures on the left are of members of parliament (mr. Damjanovic and mr. Vesnic)
dimensions are 8 x 10 cm and 6,5 x 10 cm
period: 1930s

Some interesting results from an auction held in Zagreb

2006-06-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

First pair of photos
Dubrovnik, 1736., tallero (ducat et sem) in very find condition. Start price: 400 EUR, purchase price: 700 EUR

Second pair of photos
DUBROVNIK-RAGUSA, 1746. tallero (ducat et sem) in extra fine qualiy. Start price 250 EUR, final price: 350 EUR.

Third pair of photos
1 DUKAT, 1932. Avers inverted to revers for 180º, very rare, UNC. Start price: 380 EUR; final price: 600 EUR.

Ancient Indian Coins

2006-05-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

The study of Ancient Indian coins is both interesting and fascinating. India was a boiling pot of various cultures since ancient times, witnessing numerous invasions and attacks by rulers of other regions of the world..

India was always perceived as a land of bounty and enormous wealth. Thus it attracted attention of some of the world's most famous rulers like Alexander, the Huns and the Islamic rulers.

Early days before the advent of coinage

Self-Subsistent economy was prevalent in ancient India during Pre-Vedic era. A Family would cultivate and produce what was required for itself. Gradually, these small families came together to form small communities or tribal clans. That's when the needs of people elevated from the self subsistence economy to barter economy where goods were exchanged between people or between various communities.

People began to realize the limitations of the barter system economy mainly because two commodities were never of the same value. Certain things got preference over the others and a higher value was attached to them. This resulted in conflicts between parties or most often, there was no equal benefit accrued to one of the parties because of the transaction.
That's when the need for a common commodity as a medium of exchange arose and they were the precursors of coins. The huge granaries found at the Mohenjo Daro and Harappa excavation sites corroborate to the fact that agricultural products were used a medium of exchange.
The Vedic people used cows as a medium of exchange and this is evident from various ancient literary sources like the Aitreya Brahmana, the Rig Veda and the Ashtadhyayi.
One passage in the Rig Veda mentions the price of the image of Indra offered on sale to be ten cows.

Similarly in the Aitreya Brahmana, there is a reference to the number of cows as an estimation of wealth. It is mentioned that a price of a hundred cows was paid to the father of Sunahsepa, when he was being sold for a sacrifice conducted by Harishchandra. Cows remained as a medium of exchange till the later part of the post-Vedic period. This is evident from the certain passages of Ashtadhyayi of Panini.

Cows met the needs of the age, as they were not easily perishable, can be moved from one place to another and had the capacity to multiply, work and supply milk. However, cows were a troublesome medium of exchange as they required to be cared and some degree of skill in rearing. Hence, this medium was not suitable for large transactions and long-term savings etc.
This gave arose to the need for a more stable medium of exchange - metals. The problem of how to use them was solved by inventing balances and weights, and the metals were cut according to a pre-defined standard weight. Metal was weighed against seeds and different kinds of seeds (krishnala seeds or Abrus Precatorius) were introduced in different regions as standard weights according to their availability.

Transactions involving metal were equally tedious. Scales were required to weigh the metals and touchstones to determine the purity of the metal was used. In addition, there were problems of rampant debasement of metal, forgery etc that again resulted in a loss of value in transactions. Hence, official authorities or merchant guilds stamped metal pieces, and conducted a check to ensure genuineness and the purity of the metal content.

Thus, first coins of Ancient India came into existence and were known as “Punch Marked Coins”. The Ashtadhyayi mentions that the metallic pieces were stamped (ahata) with symbols (rupa). These were in circulation along with the unstamped variety of metallic coins which were referred to as the ‘nishka’, ‘satamana’ and ‘pada’. There is also a mention of ‘shana’ and ‘karshapana’, terms used for different monetary denominations.

[read more]

Eduard Slavoljub Penkala

2006-05-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Croatia can be justly proud of Eduard Slavoljub Penkala, the extraordinary inventor and innovator. He was a man with great energy and enthusiasm, whose aim was to make practical devices simpler, more useful and of a higher quality. In this book we pay tribute to him and to the legacy he left behind.

Penkala was born on 20 April 1871 in Liptovsky St Mikulas (today in the Slovak Republic), to a Polish father and a Dutch mother. As a young boy he already showed great interest in solving technical problems and was always repairing something at home in his own small workshop. His parents urged him to become a doctor, and he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine in Vienna. But he felt he had made the wrong choice, and eventually moved to Dresden where he studied chemistry and met his future wife, Emilija, a music student.

The year following his graduation the young couple were married, and in 1900 they moved to Zagreb. Penkala found the city stimulating, and he soon became a high ranking official in the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of Finance. He was later appointed Royal Technical Controller. To mark his loyalty to his new homeland he took on the Croatian name Slavoljub.

In spite of his responsible job and growing family, Penkala spent many hours working on a variety of inventions, and on 24 January 1906 he registered the patent for an automatic pencil, a truly revolutionary innovation among writing instruments. Soon afterwards he met Edmund Moster, one of nine children of a much respected tradesman and steam mill owner. The Moster family's wealth had been earned by diligence and shrewdness, and Edmund and his brother Mavro immediately recognised the huge potential of Penkala's invention. In August 1906, Penkala and the Mosters set up a company for the purpose of manufacturing the automatic pencil, with the Mosters as principal financiers. Production began seven months later.

The automatic pencil was an instant success in domestic and foreign markets. "Penkalomania" spread around the world, helped in no small way by a clever advertising logo depicting a friendly man with a pointed nose and big ear with an automatic pencil tucked behind it. The company diversified into other writing instruments and accessories patented by Penkala. As the business grew, a second factory was set up in Berlin..

[read more]

Philately meetings and fairs

2006-05-10T03:51:00.001-07:00

International fair takes place in Zagreb (in organisation of Classical stamp collectors club: http://www.kpkm.antikviteti.net)
Saturday, 27th of May 2006. and 4thNovember 2006.
in Vukovarska street number 68.

Regular meetings are held in Habdelicava street number 2 (view map: http://kpkm.antikviteti.net/karta.htm ) every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and other clubs have meetings every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Antique fairs in Croatia

2006-05-10T03:19:00.000-07:00

Antiques fair in Zagreba

address: Vukovarska 68, Pucko otvoreno uciliste working hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
03.06.2006.
23.09.2006.
21.10.2006.
18.11.2006.
16.12.2006.

address: Britainac (Britain square)
timetable: every Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
view images: http://www.udruga-libertina.hr/dogadaji-britanac.html

Antiques and collectables fair in Sibenik
view website: http://www.sibenik.antikviteti.net

Fair in Pula
address: Cisuttijeva street
timetable: every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
view images: http://www.antikviteti.net/sajmovi_pula.htm

Antiques and collectables- WANT LIST

2006-05-10T03:16:00.000-07:00

If you have vintage and antique items (pictures, maritime objects, postcards, WW1 and WW2 letters, maps, militaria, posters, advertising, memorabila, numismatics- paper money and coins, etnography, silver ...) that you think are from Croatia (or Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia- ex Yugoslavia countries) or could be interesting to collectors that you have no use of, please contact me on e-mail admin[et]antikviteti.net . I'm interested in acquisition.

www.antikviteti.net

2006-05-10T03:12:00.000-07:00

Hi. This blog is related to my core site in croatian (http://www.antikviteti.net) and here I will demonstrate a small part of it becuase most of the articles shown on antikviteti.net is in croatian.