New shop in D'Iberville "Antiques Plus" and My New Kutani sake cup

Today I went to visit a new shop called "Antiques Plus". It is located at 10340 D'Iberville Blvd. in D'Iberville, MS. I was quite surprised to walk in and find out that it is a new venture for a long time friend of mine Joan Skinner. I was even more surprised to find out that she had just opened this new shop this week!  Joan is a well known personage in the antique world here on this part of the Gulf Coast. Joan and I have been aquainted for many years and she has a very nice collection of my ceramic art pottery that she has purchased over the years.

When I first entered the shop I was very impressed with how well lit, and carefully everything in the shop is displayed. In the front part of the shop she has a nice selection of jewelry featuring sterling and better quality costume pieces. The shop has a fine variety of vintage and antique items. In the middle of the shop are smaller rooms on either side that have different consignment antiques, vintage, and collectable items. The back area has a good selection of furniture with everything from a large exuberant black Victorian fireplace mantle to an outrageous vintage, antiqued gilt Chinoiserie curio cabinet.

"Antiques Plus" is the kind of place where one can buy a lot of style at very good prices. I have to admit, I saw quite a number of items that would make really super holiday gifts for that special someone. I just can not understand going out the the mall and picking up some meaningless mass produced product when one can go to an antique shop like this and pick up something that will always be remembered. Antiques and vintage items can make a holiday gift truly special.  Also remember that when we purchase cool items from shops like this we are helping the local business person and our community.

Kutani sake cup circa. 1900

Detail of Falcon on Kutani sake cup circa. 1900

I try to buy local when I can. So I have to tell you. I bought a few really cool things at "Antiques Plus" myself. I found a nice little Japanese Kutani sake cup, circa. 1900, the late Meiji period(1868 - 1912. It features a very nice image of an armed archer that has a radiant golden bird(a falcon or a hawk?) in gold over his bow and an inscription around the outside. A lovely little sake cup to add to my collection. When I say little, I mean little. It is only 2 inches across by 1¼ inches tall! I just love the detail in these tiny sake cups. I also found a vintage ivory piece, a beautifully carved large mother of pearl shell, a small Victorian beveled glass and bronze jewel box and a gold overlay Edwardian style sterling bracelet with a central blue crystal.

Detail of inscription on Kutani sake cup circa. 1900

Mark on Bottom of Kutani sake cup circa. 1900

I will be doing a follow up post with pictures of Joan's shop shortly.  D'Iberville is an up and coming area here on the Gulf Coast. They are building a new aquarium and casinos and have just recently finished a new mall. I think Joan has chosen a great location, (right off of I-10) and that she will be having great success at this location. If you have a chance drop in and see her and tell Joan I said, "Hi"!

Happy Holidays from South Coast Antiques & Gallery

Happy Holidays from South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS

Happy Veterans Day To all that have served!

Glenn Edward Miller at the 2011 Peter Anderson Art Festival in Ocean Springs,MS

 Over the weekend past we had the annual Peter Anderson art festival here in Ocean Springs, Mississippi,. I had the opportunity to go out and spend a bit of time looking around. I must admit that There seemed to be a little more arts and crafts this year than last year. I did not see as many factory made items and non arts and craft related merchandise this year.

 I spent a few moments talking with Glenn Edward Miller at his prominently located display. Mr. Miller is very well known and loved local artist that is best known for his vibrant depictions of local Gulf Coast sites. Glenn E. Miller is a life time resident of the Gulf Coast. He studied art and went to collage in New Orleans. For many years Mr. Miller was the man that raised and lowered the Back Bay drawbridge. When not operating the bridge he worked on many of his life sketches and studies.




Our shop South Coast Antiques & Gallery is located where the Old Henrietta's restaurant was located and was the subject for a number of Glenn Millers hand tinted etchings. One that I have had access to was titled "Henrietta's, the Hub of the Town".

Glenn Miller's art is the kind of thing that really appeals to anyone that has a love for the local area. Sadly, many of the buildings that Glenn has done etchings of have been destroyed by time, Katrina, and many by the desire to reshape Ocean Springs into a New Orleans type one stop party destination. A very sad thing in my opinion.

Ocean Springs has so many wonderful and quirky little buildings and between the whims of the storm Katrina and that of people that seem to want to rebuild the town from the ground up eventually only the prints of a visionary artist like Glen Edward Miller will allow the future to have a glimpse of what so many people loved about Ocean Springs. On that same note, I can only muse at the fate even of Henrietta's that is now South Coast Antiques & Gallery and used to be the Hub of the community!

A Happy Halloween to All From South Coast Antiques & Gallery!

Wishing everyone a very scarey, but safe, Halloween from

South Coast Antiques & Gallery in beautiful down town Ocean Springs, MS!

Victorian Civil War Era Swords into plowshares Brooch at South Coast Antiques & Gallery-SOLD

The plow has been a metaphor for the peaceful occupation of mankind since the beginning of agriculture thousands of years ago.  In the Bible Isaiah 2:4 says, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

This gold over lay pin is a perfect example of a mid 19th century peace movement brooch.  It shows a Victorian era plow merged with a saber or sword.  Overlaid on the plow is a peace lily and where the sword meets the plow is a garnet, which in Victorian iconography and jewelry indicates both blood and mourning, which is very appropriate and appear on many Georgian and pre 1860 mourning jewelry items.

The first peace movement documented was a satirical work by the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. Titled Lysistrata it was weitten around 441 B.C. protesting the Peloponnesian War.  In the United States, peace societies began to appear starting just after the War of 1812 to the present.  The 1840s saw such literary types as Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Thoreau broaden the appeal of peace groups.  Even during the American Civil War, there was a small peace movement.  After the Civil War peace groups re-emerged from hiatus and continued on to the present time, sometimes blurring the distinction between peace movement and anti-war movement.

Plowshares were not always a peaceful tool as seen it could also sow war as in the dreaded monster Hydra, killed by Hercules as his second of twelve labors in ancient Greek legend.  The Romans used the plow as a weapon and plowed up the Phoenician capital of Carthage after the Third Punic War in 146 B.C. and sowed salt to ensure that nothing would grow in that spot again. 

The plow has been around since humans began to use agriculture some 8,000 years ago, propelling us into the modern age.  The concept in ancient times was that metal was precious and thus was used and reused in various ways, both in war and peace and making that transformation a metaphor for peace. 

This scarce historic jewel is available for viewing at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs,MS

Project Gutenberg's Founder, Michael Hart, Passes Away. Condolences From South Coast Antiques & Gallery

Today I found out that Project Gutenberg's founder, 

Michael Hart, passed away September 6, 2011.

If you are not familiar with Project Gutenberg,  it is in my opinion one of the greatest gifts that has ever been given to humankind!  A massive online library of ebooks in many different formats that one can either read on line or save on your PC to read later. In 1999 I went on line for the first time. I found Project Gutenberg within hours of going online. The first thing I downloaded was The Wonders of the Invisible World  by Cotton Mather and Increase Mather. It was one of the most important moments in my life at that time. I went on a massive book downloading spree on Project Gutenberg. I fell in love with the idea of ebooks. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing in  this world that will ever replace the feel, the smell, the visual joy of a good old fashioned bound book. But the very idea of having all the worlds best (and sometimes not the best) literature available to one for free is just mind boggling!
I feel bad that I never had the forethought to personally thank Mr. Hart for his great generosity to me and the world. I feel so sad that he passed and I never told this man that I did not know how much he meant to me. It will not make up for my not having done so, but I will now tell the world how much what this man did meant to me. On July 4, 1971, Michael Hart was given a copy of United States Declaration of Independence.
He typed the text into the computer but was told that it would be unacceptable to transmit it to numerous people at once via e-mail. Thus, to avoid crashing the system, he made the text available for people to download instead. This was the beginning of Project Gutenberg.
Michael Hart exhibited true patriotism, that always gave and never took. a quiet patriot that never tooted his own horn. A patriot that was beyond politics.He always supported the rights of everybody to have free access to books, that broke beyond the barriers of age, ethnicity, and income level. This man truly deserved the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Nobel peace prize, but he would never have been considered because he was not making any wealthy people wealthier with his great works for mankind. He did all of this at no coast to the tax payers, bringing some of the worlds finest free literature and rare books to those who had little access or recourse. In my opinion he was a true American hero. But Project Gutenberg does not end with him, praise also goes out to all those many people who wrote code and transcribed texts and especially those that will be doing so in Michael Hart's memory in the future. To all these people I would like to thank you for your good work with the project then and in the future..
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