Container day is a really great time at M.S. Rau. Even though we have to be at work so early, the excitement of opening the boxes overcomes our sleepiness! There are so many unique pieces to find amidst all the cardboard and paper.

My favorite piece in our new container has to be the  German Maximilian Field Armor. It was a true group effort just to get this piece unwrapped. A leg here, a torso there, and even the horse’s tail was wrapped up by itself! With so many comments and jokes made with each unwrapped section, it was a massive team effort to get ‘him’ put together. Once everything was assembled he was quite a commanding sight.

Reminding everyone of days gone by, this has been a gallery favorite, not only for the people working here, but for the customers walking through the door. At first glance, this knight sitting astride this massive horse looks very real! Visitors are always amazed at the great, unusual pieces we are able to find to bring into the gallery, and it is the pieces like this wonderful suit of armor that keep our customers coming back for more. They love adding the unique conversation pieces to their homes. Please call me, I would love to tell you more about it!

A fantastic inlaid and bronze mounted table by French ebeniste Charles-Guillaume Diehl

It’s always an exciting day for us when our container finally arrives from Europe…it’s like Christmas in July! The 40-foot container arrived last week and our entire staff gathered at the gallery just before dawn to begin the task of unloading the treasures from the truck. Just arriving in the French Quarter in the early morning light is magical…a light fog usually hangs over Jackson Square and all is quiet. You can almost imagine that you’ve stepped back in time…until you reach the gallery where it’s organized chaos as we all scramble to unpack (very carefully) literally dozens and dozens of boxes. The fun part is that you never know what each box might hold…you just know it will be something extraordinary and special.

We’re now busy photographing and preparing the pieces to go on our website, so please keep checking back with us. We’ll be adding pieces daily. The fasted way to see our latest pieces is to visit the Recent Acquisitions section of our site where you’ll find the latest gallery additions. Click on “Recent Acquisitions” on the navigation bar at the top of any web page on the site.

There were so many great things on the container, it would be difficult to list them all, but a few of the highlights are:

• A fantastic Charles-Guillaume Diehl center table, beautifully embellished and in superb condition;
• An amazing German Maximillian Field Armour for both man and horse, complete with saddle and all mounted on a modern life-size model of a horse and rider;
• A superb old Sheffield silver epergne with a stag hunt motif;
• A fine George I walnut bureau cabinet of the highest order.

These are just four of the many, many wonderful pieces we’ve received. If you would like more information about the container, please call us toll free at 866-349-0705 and one of our sales consultants will be happy to discuss any of the pieces that you may find interesting.

We thought we’d have a little fun with the container, so we’ve posed one simple (o.k. not so simple) question to our sales team: What is your favorite piece from the container and why? With so many great things to choose from, it is a rather tough question. We hope you enjoy their answers. Stay tuned…you can read the answers in their individual blogs which they will be posting in the next couple of days. We’d like to hear your stories as well. Do have a story about a special piece you uncovered on a trip or on when you were out antiquing? We’d love to hear it! Send them to us at info@rauantiques.com or just respond to one of the blogs.

Set on casters, this bar was easily rolled out for quick service and can be accessed from either side.

When I saw the Art Deco Ship’s bar come out of the container truck, my first thought was of Bond, James Bond.  In my mind’s eye, I could see James Bond, maneuvering through a luxury liner’s crowded, smoky casino.  Bond, sleek and polished, quaffed, beyond handsome and of course wearing a perfect tuxedo.  Bond’s eyes suddenly lock on an exquisite red haired, buxom woman nearby and her eyes lock on him.  She nods and raises her glass to him.   He nods back and smiles seductively.   He looks back to the bartender standing behind an incredibly lacqured walnut art deco bar with chrome trim and glass top.  It is as sleek and polished as he is.  He orders.

A dry martini,” he said. “One. In a deep champagne goblet.”

“Oui, monsieur”, replies the bartender.

“Just a moment,” he glances back to the voluptuous red head who stares back at him intently;  her lips wet.  “Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?”

(Casino Royale (1953), chapter 7, by Ian Fleming.)

As Bond makes his way over to his awaiting beauty, he looks back over his shoulder at the bar and thinks.  “Love the bar.  Make a mental note to talk to the Captain about buying it; would be great for the London office.”

Ok, so I have an imagination!

Susan

Pietre Dure is an art-historical term for the technique of using small intricately cut and highly polished stones to create what amounts to a painting in stone. I love the idea of painting in stone. You take the beauty that nature has formed in stone over millions of years, in every shape and color imaginable and use them to create incredibly detailed convincing pictures. To say the least, this is a painstaking art form… one that only few artisans over the centuries have mastered to perfection. We have had the pleasure over the years of offering some amazing example of Pietre Dure. Take for instance the spectacular pair of Russian Pietre Dure ormolu and malachite plinths that we acquired recently. The artist carefully selected stones that would portray the many elements in the classic scene of a vase with flowers. One stone illustrates the curve of a vase while another gives the delicate natural warmth of a flower petal. Each stone is cut and polished until it is perfectly suited for the “canvas.” A pair of plinths such as this would have taken many months to complete, but the result is amazing. If you’d like to learn more about Pietre Dure, or this lovely pair of plinths, I invite to you contact me.

Superb Russian Malachite and Pietra Dura Plinths

Fondest regards,

Jim

I was speaking with a client late last year about why he enjoys collecting art, and he told me something that has really stuck with me. He said, “If you can afford a Picasso, and you want a Picasso…buy it. If the financial world collapses tomorrow, even amid the ruins you still own that Picasso and you can still enjoy it. But if the financial world collapses tomorrow and all of your money is in a bank or a company that no longer exists, then all you have is a worthless scrap of paper.”

I’ve taken those words to heart myself. Several months ago, while traveling, I came across a remarkable, large map of New Orleans, which piqued my interest. It was a true rarity, dated 1880, depicting an area of New Orleans near where Audubon Park is today, during the New Orleans Industrial Convention…in full color. I knew that Tulane University had a similar map in black in white. The one I had found was the only known example in color. I had to have it! My friend’s advice came to mind, and I purchased the map. Now, I hope that my bank doesn’t go under and my stocks don’t tank any more than they already have! But I take comfort in knowing that my “investment” in the map is long lasting. When my friends and clients visit my home, I enjoy showing off my map and hearing them all say “how cool is that!”

We all know, collecting is fun…and it’s also good to know that if you collect what you truly love, your enjoyment will be long lasting. I hope you can visit me in New Orleans and let me show you the many rare and wonderful pieces in our store. Maybe one or two pieces will pique your interest! Oh, by the way, my map is not for sale…not today, anyway.

All the best,

Phillip