Eminent Victorians

Editorial Staff Furniture & Decorative Arts

Photography by Alan Kolc | from The Magazine ANTIQUES, September/October 2013. The brick house, handsomely trimmed in brownstone, dates from 1866, one of six iden­tical buildings in the heart of Philadelphia’s historic district. Situated a few streets away from Inde­pendence Hall, it was once the home of Brevet General Henry Harrison Bingham (1841-1912), a Congres­sional Medal of Honor laureate for …

Uncompromising Truth

Editorial Staff Exhibitions

In 1841 the English art critic and social theorist John Ruskin hired a young valet by the name of John Hobbs. For the sake of propriety Ruskin resolved to address Hobbs as “George,” on the principle that a Victorian gentleman, even one with advanced political beliefs, should not have to share his name with a servant. Hobbs’s duties, although initially …

Guest Blog: Hollister Hovey

Editorial Staff Art

As part of our recurring series of guest bloggers (see earlier contributions by Art Inconnu and The Curated Object) today we are pleased to feature Hollister Hovey, a blogger with panache for turn-of-19th-century antiques and collecting. The New York Times recently named her among the “New Antiquarians” shaping the current vogue for vintage Victoriana. We asked Hovey to curate a …