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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Crusin the Coast 2011 Ocean Springs, MS at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

Well, it's that time of year once more. Crusin the Coast 2011 is upon us here at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS. Every year a multitude of classic cars show up here in Ocean Springs for three days of automotive awesomeness.  I just love seeing all the great vehicles that show up and cruise the streets of the O.S.
I did not get a chance to get out and take many photographs yesterday or to day. I will try to get a few more tomorrow. 

Cruikshank Snuff Box Circa 1820's at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS.

Cruikshank Snuff Box Circa 1820's

This is an 1820s wooden japanned snuff box, large but thin to fit into the coat pocket of gentlemen of the period with a decoupaged image on the front.  Originally, decoupage was created using colors and varnish over a print, known in England as “The Art of Japanning” in the 1700s, copying the lacquer work of Japan and China.  That’s why this box is black and red, simulating oriental pieces.  It shows men playing cards and attended by a liveried servant bringing drinks, a copy of George Cruikshank’s A Game of Whist.

Detail of Life in London Image

The picture is a reference to a scene from the smash hit play Tom and Jerry or Life in London by William Montcrieff, which  ran at the Adelphi Theater in London from 1821 to 1823, which itself was based on a popular 1821 book by Pierce Egan called Life in London or Days and Nights of Jerry Hawthorne and His Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom.  The popular drink “Tom and Jerry” was created by Egan in the early 1820s to promote his book.

Compare Original  Cruikshank Print to the Snuff Box

This snuff box was probably sold inside or outside the theater where the play was showing.  The play was highly popular and later ran for years after the Adelphi show closed and even was playing in New York by the middle 1820s.  As a side note, this play had a part for African-American Billy Waters, who was a colorful street person.  Now over 180 years after the book and play the only thing left is the drink, Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters and a snuff box.

Inside Snuff Box

Inside Lid

 If one would like to read the original book by Pierce Egan called Life in London or Days and Nights of Jerry Hawthorne and His Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom, both it and it's squeal are available at Project Gutenberg.

This snuff box is currently on view and available at South Cost Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS

Georgian Irish Snuff Mull at South Cost Antiques & Gallery

This extremely fine snuff box is made of from the hoof of the Irish Red Deer, circa 1810.

Produced to hold snuff and set on a desk or counter, large snuff mulls like this were prestige items to show the owner’s wealth and hospitality.  The top is worked in silver wire piqué work saying “Red Deer Hoof, Killarney with a shamrock in the center surmounted with a deer over all.  The text is situated to be read while holding the snuff mull, but is inverted when setting on a table.

The Irish red deer were becoming very scarce in the 1820s and by the Irish Famine of 1845-1847, they were driven to near extinction.  Only the area of Killarney harbored herds of red deer.  By the 1860s their numbers dropped to only 1,500 in all of Ireland.  Protection and careful maintenance of the deer brought the deer back from extinction when there were only 60 deer known in 1900.  Now, while still endangered and elusive, the Irish deer number in the hundreds.

This Irish red deer hoof snuff mull was made at a time when trophies were taken by the wealthy on estate lands and given as gifts between lords.  This piqué work snuff mull is nearly perfect despite being around 200 years old.  This rare Irish snuff mull is currently available at South Cost Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS

South Coast Antiques & Gallery visits The GI Museum in Gautier, MS

 

Doug Mansfield
Owner & Operator of
The GI Museum

Today we went to the The GI Museum located at 5796 Ritcher Road in Gautier, MS. We were very fortunate to have Doug Mansfield the owner & operator to give us a personal tour of the museum today. This wonderful Museum aims to preserve memorabilia representing the generations of Americans who have served our country so that we can remain free today.  The museum does this through many thoughtfully and carefully arranged displays and by means of a number of educational programs. This collection has items from WWI all the way through the current era. The museums goal is to make sure we never forget the sacrifices that the men and woman of our country have made as civilians and military during war time service.

Very rare combat photographer's field kit WWII era

This is not simply an arry of militay equipment, but a exhibition of the everyday things that were used by the the average military member and supporting civilians. They feature a lot of items that were extremely common when new 70 years ago, but have become quite rare over the years. I was thrilled to see a package of Wings brand cigarettes! We saw a WWII era Russian Maxim machine gun. They have some rare Flying Tigers memorabilia. And to top it all off, Mister Mansfield had so much great information to share. It was a truly enjoyable and educational experiance! I know that The GI Museum will be a repeat destination for us in the future!

Field radio set up with military bugle and issued phonograph WWII era

The GI Museum also sponsars the WKFK TV show Local Heroes. On this locally televised show Doug Mansfield interviews military veterns about their military experiances
 

For further information check out The GI Museum

Russian Maxim Gun WWII era

Various WWII era Marine personal affects

Assorted WWII era Men's and Women's Uniforms

WWII civilian war effort, related items

Flying Tigers memorabilia

WWI era uniforms

Every day personnal items that would have been

used by WWII military personnel