Fabulous Jewelry Made By Kenneth Jay Lane

BOOK REVIEW

New from Schiffer Publishing is Fabulous Jewelry & Accessories, covering the work of the high-fashion jewelry designs of Kenneth Jay Lane. For over 40 years, Lane has created high-fashion styles for royalty, first ladies, celebrities, socialites, movie stars and the many other women who enjoy his outstanding designs.

The 700 color photographs in the book, written by Nancy Schiffer with photography by Douglas Congdon-Martin, includes Lane’s famous animal brooches and bracelets, pearls, beads and gold work in both vintage and current styles.

Lane’s faux gemstones are made especially for him, and often have special touches, such as artificial emeralds made with obvious inclusions to promote an authentic look. His pearls are glass beads dipped in a solution of pearl essence, giving them the luminosity of the real thing. The quality is such that many fashionable women combine Lane’s costume jewelry with their genuine gemstone pieces.

Kenneth Lane started his own company in the early 1960s, selling primarily to New York establishments. From that beginning, he opened his own showroom on Park Avenue. Inspiration came, and continues to come, from many sources - from visits to exotic places to refrigerator magnets!

Since 1991, Lane has also been selling his jewelry through QVC, which has added to his world-wide popularity.

Collectors of fine costume jewelry will definitely want to add this book of Kenneth Jay Lane pieces to their libraries. It also includes examples of many of the accessory pieces designed by Lane. It does not include a value guide.

Fabulous Jewelry & Accessories, by Nancy Schiffer, (ISBN: 978-0-7643-2736-0) is priced at $59.95. Check with your local bookseller or visit the online catalog at www.schifferbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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Schiffer Books Celebrate The Use Of Fabrics

Fabrics, and their many and varied uses, are among the items sought by many collectors. These different uses for fabrics are found in several recent publications by Schiffer.

The Tapestry Handbook, The Next Generation, by Carol K. Russell, explains the process, step-by-step, in weaving a tapestry. These general directions are illustrated with over 300 color photographs and diagrams. Also included in the book are photos of beautiful tapestries from both museums and contemporary artists. Instructions for finishing and mounting a project complete the instruction.

Tapestry Handbook, The Next Generation (ISBN: 978-0-7643-2756-8), is priced at $59.95.

Signature Prints, Jet-set Glamour of the ’60s & ’70s, by Roseann Ettinger, is a colorful look at the bright and flowing fashions created and signed by the foremost designers of the period. While sometimes these signatures are difficult to find in the wild and flowing prints, they’re almost always there. Many fabrics were used, including silk jersey, nylon jersey, rayon, and polyester. Pieces are grouped by designer name, from Aremis to Vera.

Signature Prints (ISBN: 978-0-7643-2896-1) is priced at $39.95.

Futuristic patterns, with so-called atomic shapes, were popular in the 1950s. This piece of fabric, 45” wide by 1 yd., 28” long, is valued by the author at $45-$60.

Vintage Textured Barkcloth, by Margaret E. Meier, was the textile of choice for window treatments, upholstery and other household coverings in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. Barkcloth gets its name from its texture, which resembles the bark of a tree. However, it is a machine-made fabric of either cotton or rayon. Several different weaves are known, and the texturing gives depth to the fabric. The book has examples of barkcloth for almost every room in the house from vivid floral patterns for the living room to cowboy prints for a young boy’s room.

Vintage Textured Barkcloth (ISBN: 978-0-7643-2663-9) is priced at $29.95. It includes a price guide.

Traditional Kimono Silks, by Anita Yasuda, uses fabric swatches in the 400 photographs showing the beautiful silk fabrics of Japan’s Showa Period, 1926-1989. A variety of adaptations of classic Japanese motifs, such as cherry blossoms, maple leaves and clouds are included. Some of the designs are more than a thousand years old. An introductory section discusses different kimono styles - and there are many. According to the author, the color, design, motif and construction of a kimono are a person’s calling card, and can communicate age, gender, status and occupation.

Traditional Silk Kimonos, (ISBN: 978-0-7643-2691-2) is priced at $34.95.

The above books are available from your local bookseller; from Schiffer Publishing at (610) 593-1777; or online at www.schifferbooks.com.

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Collector Books Publishes ‘Santa Claus Collectibles’

Just released in time for Christmas is Antique Santa Claus Collectibles, an identification and value guide by David Longest. It is published by Collector Books.

Since tens of thousands of Santa Claus items have been produced from the 1890s to the present, the collector has no shortage of items from which to choose. Dating those items is not always easy, and the author offers a general time line to help solve this problem.

The material used in construction is one of the best clues. Paper lithographed items, in general, were produced prior to about 1910. Celluloid Santas first appeared in the 1920s, and continued to be produced into the 1940s. It will surprise no one to find that hard and shiny plastic Santas began to make their appearance in the 1940s and were made well into the 1960s.

Meanwhile, Santas with composition or plaster faces and cloth bodies were being made in Japan in the 1930s, and bisque porcelain Santas were made in both Japan and Germany from around 1900 and their production continued into the 1950s, also. Ceramic Santas after that time tended to be more brightly painted.

With today’s trend toward collecting vintage items, one needs to be aware that many of these early pieces are now being reproduced. Be especially aware if a date is molded into the Santa somewhere. The genuine early pieces were almost never dated. (They weren’t concerned at the time about what we’d need to know in the 21st century.)

The book includes a brief history of Santa Claus. In the United States, his first real introduction appeared in Diedrich Knickerbockers’ History of New York, by Washington Irving, which was published n 1809. He introduced the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas, who rode on horseback.

Of course, it was Clement Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (“The Night Before Christmas,) that really Americanized Santa Claus, in addition to providing him with eight reindeer and a sleigh that could fly through the sky.

Thomas Nast, in the later 1800s, added the North Pole and Santa’s workshop, along with the idea that Santa kept a list of good and bad children.

In the 20th century, the Santa figure painted by Haddon Sundblom for Coca-Cola ads more or less firmed up the modern opinion of what Santa Claus looks like.

Antique Santa Claus Collectibles includes hundreds of photographs of Santa, in the many materials in which he has been made and the various faces which he has worn. Contemporary values are included with each photograph.

The book is priced at $29.95 (hard cover; ISBN: 978-1-57432-613-0). Check with your local bookseller or order online at www.collectorbooks.com.

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