Take a stroll to get a feel for what I do and get in touch if I can help you to find something out in the world.
I’m extremely happy to work with mortals, dealers and decorators alike.
Onlines stores are http://stores.ebay.com/rarebooksandpaper, http://www.etsy.com/shop/curleysden
Please feel free to contact at curleysden@gmail.com with any questions, or suggestions. Thanks so much!
Beautiful typography Frank Nesselson Belle Vernon PA / Clothing, Shoes / Hats and Furnishings / Don’t Forget us When you Want Anything in the Clothing Line on each of the four sides. Rabbit behind to hold presumably a mirror and cove/fancy edges says that this was not a make do craft but actually built as picture frame “moulding” all those years ago. Extremely rare bit of advertising.
One hundred fifteen black and white photos, presumably taken by a nurse at the LA County Hospital Polio Ward from the 1930s and into the late 1940s. Convalescence workers, patients in wheelchairs, patients on crutches and in therapeutic pools, several ambulance driver occupational group photos, beautiful shots of ambulances, loading docks full of gurneys, the exterior of the hospital and some early Los Angeles views from the top floors. Astounding how much of the inner workings are photographed, with almost every photo dated and identified. Throughout the book are newspaper clippings relating to both the staff of the Polio Ward and the patients being treated there, some also with annotations about their relationship to the book’s owner. One constant throughout the archive is a young woman named Martha Jones. She is shown, beautiful and young in the 1940s, first sitting – then sitting in a wheelchair or in an ambulance and finally by 1952 (the only photograph dated out of the 40s), she is posing inside an Iron Lung with a mirror held up to show her face. Its an incredible photograph, and the accompanying clippings explain that she and her mother (30 yrs old and 60 yrs old) were being jointly treated for Lou Gehrig’s disease side by side in iron lungs. Heartbreaking, but fabulous insight into developing medical technologies during the WWII era in a hugely important city. SOLD.
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Heavy cardboard gum advertisement from a trolley car (trimmed to 11” x 20”). DOWNEY GOES, DEEP-SEA DIVER, BUBBLES__”I LIKE WRIGLEY’S FOR DIVERS REASONS. IT SUITS ME RIGHT DOWN TO THE BOTTOM. TWO THINGS I CAN’T DO WITHOUT; A STEADY SUPPLY OF AIR AND WRIGLEYS. Fantastic illustration of cartoon fish and a little aquarium diver holding a stick of gum underwater next to a giant SPEARMINT arrow in green. Reverse reads: BUCK BRONCO, COWBOY, YIPS “WRIGLEY’S IS MY BRAND! IT’S ALWAYS IN MY SADDLE BAG. NO OTHER GUM CAN COME WITHIN RANGE OF ITS FLAVOR. RIDE WITH WRIGLEY’S! THAT’S A GOOD STEER.” Cowboy lassoing a bull with one hand on a dopey looking cartoon horse, holding Wrigley’s in the other hand. Giant green arrow reads SPEARMINT. Seems to have been printed slightly off center, nothing is missing but an even border. Signed Art Helfant who worked for DC Comics the 40s-50s doing “filler comics.” Wonderful art work on either side. Was always two pieces, taped together. Some nicks, scratches and pinholes to be expected. $75.
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Highly styled repousse; Cathedral arches framing gorgeous Aesthetic Lillies. The burner is signed, though the letters are worn. Long since electrified, the cord is unoffensive and functions perfectly. Including shaft, it stands 25″. Base diameter is 7″; Repousse stands out between 1/4 and 1/2″ at its best. SOLD.
Striking portrait, done in heavy Impasto on board lined with linen. Elongated Modigliani / Picasso Cubism referential faces, simple lines and a soulful color palette. It actually reads much darker than the glare in the photos is allowing.
Simply framed with wood stripping, I believe it was done by the artist (signed lower right) Leonard Lieb at the end of the 60s or more likely beginning of the 70s. The painting measures 13″ x 25″ approximately. SOLD.
A woman sits at a desk with a candlestick phone and eye chart behind her, a man relaxes on a wooden examination table built around a washstand base. There is a blood or wash basin, a great little table full of examination or maybe surgical tools. Labeled Waiting Room and Operating Room in fountain pen.
Identified as Eagle Grove in pencil. Cabinet cards measure 5 1/2″ x 6 1/2″. $45.
Appears to have been stretched originally and reframed during the Victorian era. Fantastic Italian lute player, in a gorgeous lemon gilt frame. Measures 14″ x 20″. Nice condition, some wear to frame. $75.
Besnecker’s Restaurant, Evans City PA. Painted on old linen or oil cloth, the word restaurant is red and black – really striking. Measures 24″ x 48″, c1930s -40s. SOLD.
Burt’s Drinking Cups – FN Burt Company Ltd, Buffalo NY. Patent Applied For. c1920s. Measures 16″ x 6″ x 4″ deep.
Completely sculptural, finish polishing it and hang it – gorgeous! SOLD.
Notes on the reverse indicate this is student artwork, 1962. The artist named Gerald A. Woods, who dated these 1962, was a working professional artist in Pittsburgh PA for much of his life.
Hinged mat measures 30″ x 20″ when flat. A monochromatic blue tone Time Machine painting (10 x 15″) on one side, and four (5 x 7.5″) paintings split between Time Machine and War of the Worlds. $65.
