http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=John+N.+Cohen Arts and Crafts John N. Cohen Mon, 29 May 2006 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=54090&ca=Arts+and+Crafts Antique lacquer was always highly valued for its lasting qualities and strength. A very high gloss could be achieved, proving impervious to alcohol, acids and hot liquids. It would also have appealed to the Zen Buddhism ideals of ‘Yin and Yang’, as lacquer appears to be so delicately beautiful and l... Arts and Crafts John N. Cohen Fri, 26 May 2006 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=52633&ca=Arts+and+Crafts FROM NATURAL FLAWS TO PICTURES Everyone will I am sure appreciate well hollowed stone antique Chinese snuff bottles, once handled, as the lovely shapes and purity of the stones used just cannot fail to impress. One would imagine that the approach would have been to avoid any inclusions or flaws, and... Arts and Crafts John N. Cohen Fri, 26 May 2006 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=53071&ca=Arts+and+Crafts ABOUT BECOMING AN ANTIQUE COLLECTOR Before buying anything; make a point of studying books and catalogues (even old ones) on your subject, then attend a few auctions, be sure to inspect your choice of antiques on the viewing days before the auction, always allow enough time to visit and explore the... Arts and Crafts John N. Cohen Fri, 26 May 2006 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=53855&ca=Arts+and+Crafts When collecting Japanese netsuke most of the true antique netsuke, as against lots of modern copies, will normally have two connecting cord holes (known as himotoshi), but one will be much larger than the other! The netsuke was a handling piece, that was on a cord to a compartment (Sagemono), often... Arts and Crafts John N. Cohen Fri, 12 May 2006 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=49538&ca=Arts+and+Crafts Firstly, we had decided that we would only collect antiques that we considered to be beautiful, secondly, the craftsmanship had to be outstanding and thirdly we preferred to collect really unique treasures! By unique, we mean hand crafted, rather than mass-produced antiques such as rare postage stam... Arts and Crafts John N. Cohen Fri, 12 May 2006 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=50237&ca=Arts+and+Crafts Japanese netsukes are superb little carvings, mostly made out of ivory or wood, as handling pieces, or toggles. So one good way of judging a good netsuke is to handle it – it should feel very comfortable and interesting, in the hand, having no sharp points Netsuke are often only about an inch high,... Arts and Crafts John N. Cohen Sun, 23 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=47874&ca=Arts+and+Crafts When collecting Chinese antique snuff bottles, one can choose to collect glass, porcelain, bottles made from organic materials (such as amber or coral), or perhaps the inside painted bottles, but there is sure to be a time when one will decide to collect, or at least add some hardstone bottles. Hard...