His childlike porcelain characters thrilled and inspired generations of collectors. They also made him a millionaire.
Category: Collectors and Collections
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Notre-Dame Rises Again … in Lego
With rose windows, bell towers and a central spire, this model of the famed Paris cathedral is all the hype among adult fans of Lego, known as AFOLs.
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John Lennon’s Guitar From ‘Help!’ Is Sold for $2.9 Million at Auction
After appearing in multiple albums by the Beatles, the instrument was forgotten for more than 50 years before it turned up in the attic of a British countryside home.
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Singing the Praises of Collectible Watches
The tenor Freddie De Tommaso fell in love with opera and timepieces as a young boy. Now he shops for high-end examples in the cities where he performs.
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These 2 Watch Collaborators Have Never Actually Met
Living on opposite sides of the globe didn’t stop them from developing their B/1 timepiece, a nod to Brutalist architecture.
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The Night That Sotheby’s Was Crypto-Punked
The auction that was supposed to be an art world coming-out party for NFTs instead exposed the instability at the heart of the crypto world.
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Tony Oursler Wants Your Most Haunted Objects
Over the past half-century, the multimedia artist Tony Oursler has amassed thousands of pieces of spiritual ephemera.
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Got an Idea for a Toy? Toymakers Want to Hear From You.
Companies like Lego and Mattel have divisions that seek out design concepts directly from collectors and other highly dedicated fan bases.
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How MLB Players Arrange Autographs for Each Other
As fans and collectors clamor for autographs, Major League Baseball players have built a network — and an etiquette — for signing things for each other.
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Long-Lost Klimt Painting Sells for $37 Million at Auction
The portrait was left unfinished in the painter’s studio when he died, and questions persist over the identity of the subject and what happened to the painting during Nazi rule in Austria.
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Buon Ricordo Plates: Collectible Italian Ceramics That Started as a Marketing Tool
Buon Ricordo plates were introduced 60 years ago at restaurants in Italy. The hand-painted ceramics can now be found at design trade shows and fancy décor stores.