Rare late 19th-early 20th century "Hopkinson" pattern, 13 star American flag. Francis Hopkinson designed this 3-2-3-2-3 star patter for maritime and nautical use.

This flag was made sometime between 1895-1925. It has thin wool bunting (red and white stripes), cotton stars, cotton sewing thread, machine-made straight and zigzag stitching on the stars. It is 45" x 32". Condition is near mint, a couple tiny moth holes were repaired by a professional historic flag restorer.

The restorer and scholar said this "No synthetic fabric or thread used but definitely machine made. This patter type of flag was used during this time period by the U.S. Navy and also on private yachts- they featured wool bunting and zigzag stitched cotton stars as seen on this flag. The Navy flags were higher quality than those manufactured commercially for privately owned boats".

Rareflags.com writes extensively about 13 star flags.  

"When most Americans envision a 13 Star flag, the image that most often springs to mind is the Betsy Ross pattern of 13 Stars arranged in a circle.  Although history does not record the actual pattern of the stars on the flags sewn by Betsy Ross, the sensationalized story of her flag making that emerged in the late 1800s was built upon a contrived notion that the stars were arranged in a circle.  Of all the patterns imaginable, this one would make much sense.  The use of 13 chain links or 13 conjoined rings indicating the union of the colonies was a common one in the 1700s.  The fact that the circle is uniform, and that no prevalent position is given to any one star, is another measure of equality.
 
The truth, though, is that there are a vast variety of star configurations used on 13 Star flags throughout our history.  The 13 Star flag is one of the most common star counts.  It was used on parade flags and for military and naval use even until the early 20th century".

Further addressing this pattern specifically: 
"The 3-2-3-2-3 Pattern, or Francis Hopkinson Pattern.  Although there is some intrigue and controversy surrounding the history of Francis Hopkinson's submission of designs to the Continental Congress, which included design of the first Great Seal and a representation of the American Flag, the 3-2-3-2-3 pattern of stars is also known to collectors as the Francis Hopkinson Pattern.  The 3-2-3-2-3 pattern is one of the most common variations of 13 Star flags".

To learn more about Francis Hopkinson go here 
To purchase this great flag, go here
Close up pictures below.

Pair of 1920's pen, ink and watercolor drawings of costume or set design clothing.

I love stuff like this because it makes me think. My first glance at these made me think they were schoolboy or schoolgirl art class pieces. Maybe even high school or college. Young people back then could do some incredible handiwork. I have had paintings inscribed with sayings like "Painted by Sarah Lawler, Age 10" on the back and I was always amazed.

After studying them a little closer I started to think they were done by a more trained hand, like an illustrator or cartoonist. Remember, political satire type cartoons could be quite elaborate and magazines like Colliers had tons of drawings in them in the 20's. The reason I think they are by a trained artists are the eyes. They are very stylized. A students work  probably wouldn't be like that. Another interesting thing I noticed is on the girl in the Carmen Miranda dress has little circles for elbows. The "Gay 90's" woman's arms were finished. Is Carmen a marionette or perhaps one of those jointed, wooden artist models? Interesting. Whatever, they are REALLY charming.

 Available for purchase here

Available for purchase here

The Dazzle Camouflage Paintings of Kristian Goddard

While researching the previous post on Dazzle Ships I came across the artwork of UK native Kristian Goddard. He offers some additional insight into dazzle camouflage and shares all of his multi-media talents. Check his stuff out here

I've just finished the second in a series of dazzle camouflage canvases. The painting measures 60" x 40" and was created with acrylic paint on canvas. This composition is based on a detail of a dazzle ship photograph by Allie Wojtaszek. The colours derive from original dazzle ship drawings that illustrate this post. In a perfect world I would be happy to keep working on dazzle camouflage paintings for the rest of my life! I love the modernist nature of the patterns and the use of colour, which seems very much of its time. Painting is one of the best reminders we have that the past actually did exist in colour so it's fun to be able to work with a colour palette that existed nearly one hundred years ago. I seem to be getting more and more obsessed with dazzle ships and their history after working on these recent canvases and researching the subject. Dazzle ships are quite a romantic notion to me and the idea of beautifully coloured ships floating over the water in the dark is the sort of warm thought that puts me to sleep at night.

There are many ways that pattern-based camouflage has been used, but none are as bizarre as the British dazzle ship designs of World War I and, to a lesser degree, World War II. These were abstract, clashing geometric decorative designs that were applied to battleships in order to confuse viewers, particularly German U-boats, using optical range finders. Although dazzle paintwork is sometimes described as camouflage, it actually wasn’t intended to hide anything in the way regular camouflage does. Instead, it made it difficult to determine important aspects such as shape, distance, speed, and direction.

The development of radar in the 1940s made dazzle ship graphics less relevant, but it still crops up here and there. In Austria, speed traps have been camouflaged with dazzle to confuse drivers as to the direction the radar is pointing. Many car prototypes also wear dazzle camouflage during testing to hide the "curves" of the vehicle before the manufacturer is ready to show it to the public. The USS North Carolina is still in dry dock in Willmington, where Blue Velvet was shot, so I hope to be able to take a day trip there soon!

Peter Saville famously used Edward Wadsworth's 1919 painting Dazzle Ships In Drydock At Liverpool (shown above) as the inspiration for the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Dazzle Ships album cover. The original is in the National Gallery of Canada. Peter Saville and Malcolm Garrett of Assorted iMaGes both made their careers by brilliantly reinventing the past during the 80s, producing album covers for Joy Division, New Order, Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, OMD, and Peter Gabriel, amongst others. The original vinyl version of Dazzle Ships uses Peter Saville's distinctive design on the gatefold cover and an information graphic on the inner by Malcolm Garrett. The compact disc re-release uses the same imagery with a completely different colour scheme.

Dazzle Ships

From Publicdomainreview.org   

One of my very favorite websites is Public Domain Review, check it out.

Dazzle camouflage (also known as Razzle Dazzle or Dazzle painting) was a military camouflage paint scheme used on ships, extensively during World War I and to a lesser extent in World War II. The idea is credited to the artist Norman Wilkinson who was serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve when he had the idea in 1917. After the Allied Navies failed to develop effective means to disguise ships in all weathers, the dazzle technique was employed, not in order to conceal the ship, but rather to make it difficult for the enemy to estimate its type, size, speed and direction of travel. After seeing a canon painted in dazzle camouflage trundling through the streets of Paris, Picasso is reported to have taken credit for the innovation which seemed to him a quintessentially Cubist technique.

RMS Olympic (1918)

 

HMS Argus (1918)

 HMS Underwing (1918)

 USS St. George (1944)

 USS Nebraska (1918)

Edgar A. Tafel (1912-2011) "Years With Frank Lloyd Wright Apprentice to Genius" Wonderful, inscribed, First Edition from 1979.

Edgar Tafel was the last of the original Taliesan Fellows. He passed away in 2011. In 1980, I got to meet him at a party in honor of his latest book documenting his years with The Master. That is where this offering comes from. It is available for purchase here

 Wiki provides this bio:

Early life and career

Tafel was born in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants, and moved to New Jersey with his dressmaking parents.^[2] He was educated at the Ferrer Colony and Ferrer Modern School, the Walden School in Manhattan and New York University.^[1]

Tafel began his career as an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin along with Wesley Peters, John Howe and Abram Dombar,^[3] among others. Tafel was considered the "unofficial guardian of the Frank Lloyd Wright School",^[4] despite the rift that had developed between Tafel and his late mentor when Tafel left Taliesin to pursue his own work and family.^[5] Tafel worked on several of Wright's most famous projects including Fallingwater, Wingspread, and the Johnson Wax Headquarters.

Solo career

Tafel served in a photographic analysis unit during World War II, afterwards opening his own architectural office in New York City.^[1] One of his best known works as a solo practitioner is the Mellin Macnab Building for the First Presbyterian Church on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City.^[1] Tafel's design combined Prairie School influences with the Gothic style of the sanctuary,^[6] and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission called it "a fine example of contemporary design ... used intelligently, to bring a much needed contemporary building into harmony with a neighborhood."^[7] The building received a design award from the Fifth Avenue Association.^[8]
Tafel's other designs included the Protestant Chapel at Kennedy International Airport, which is no longer extant, and St. John's in the Village Episcopal Church in Greenwich Village,^[1] built in 1972-1974, replacing a sanctuary which burned down in 1971 with a new Greek Revival-influenced modern design.^[6] He was also responsible for the 1964 master plan for the campus of SUNY Geneseo and its "design gem" Brodie Hall, as well as the college's South Village residential complex,^[1] the 1947 Silver House in Racine, Wisconsin and the North Wing expansion to the Allentown Art Museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was also the master designer for community colleges in Johnstown and Hudson, New York.^[1] Overall, Tafel designed 80 houses, 35 churches and other religious buildings and three college campuses.^[1]

Later life

Tafel also wrote books, including Apprentice to Genius: Years with Frank Lloyd Wright (1979) and About Wright: An Album of Recollections by Those Who Knew Frank Lloyd Wright (1993), which he also edited,^[1] as well as producing The Frank Lloyd Wright Way, a film which won first prize at the 1995 Houston International Film Festival.
In 2006, Tafel gave $3.2 million to Cornell University's Department of Architecture.^[9] to endow the Edgar A. Tafel Professorship in Architecture and the Tafel Architecture Lecture Series.^[10]
Tafel died at the age of 98 in New York City on January 18, 2011. He was the last member of the original Taliesin Fellows to die. Tafel had been married twice, ending respectively in divorce and the death of his second wife in 1951. He had no children.^[1]
Following his death, his architectural archive was donated to the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library of Columbia University in New York City.^[11] His collection includes information on Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as drawings and other items related to Tafel's own architectural practice.

Fred Press (1919-2012) American designer of some of the swankiest cocktail glasses ever created.

Fred press was born on October 14th, 1919. As a teenager he won the Proctor and Gamble Soap Sculpture 4 years in a row. He studied painting and taught at the Vesper George Art School in Boston. He was primarily a sculptor and in the late 1930's he and his brother started a company called Contemporary Arts which sold reproductions of his sculptures.

In the early 1950's he moved to New York City and for the next 30 years he was Chief Designer and Executive Vice-President of Rubel and Company. It is said he helped revolutionize the giftware industry in New York. He received several commendations and awards from the Museum of Modern Arts for some of his work. He died August 3, 2012. (bio and photos courtesy Fred Press Artwork)

He designed many different household items but the products that are super hot right now are his cocktail and barware creations. Everything mid-century, cocktail hour, "Mad Men" inspired is hot right now and Fred's stuff is at the top of the list.

Here are some hot Fred Press offerings from some of our friends on Etsy.

Available here

Available here

 

Available here

Available here

 

Just in: Antique Easter Candy Containers

All of these plus 2300 other great items available for purchase here