The Buzz on Antiques

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. Word of the Day: “HARLEQUIN” In the antique trade, you often hear of “harlequin” pairs. But what exactly does that mean? No, it’s not a sneaker, [...]

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. Word of the Day: “CASSAPANCA” Pronounced: “KAHS sah PON kah” Detail from an exceptional 17th c. cassapanca (for more photos see below): What exactly is a [...]

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. For those of you who are rabbits and therefore can’t get enough feuille de chou (cabbage leaf) tapestries— read on: Feuille de Chou (this is hard to [...]

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. FEUILLE DE CHOU is a term used to describe a certain kind of tapestry but can also describe export and Chinese armorial porcelain characterized by a stylish [...]

Paul Vincent Wiseman. The name alone evokes a certain aura of luxury, creativity, and unerring good taste.

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. Nope, a tantalus (“TAN-tuh-lus”) is not the same as a cave à liqueur (“CAHV ah lik-COOR”). But to understand why, we first need to understand the difference [...]

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. Maggiolini (pronounced MADGE-ee-oh-leen-ee) is a generic term in the antique trade for a certain type of Neoclassical marquetry (and less frequently, parquetry) commodes and other furniture pieces [...]

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. (Image above by Durston Saylor) My “day job” is as Executive Director of C. Mariani Antiques in San Francisco. In that capacity, I’m lucky enough to interact [...]

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. “How can an antique be called “Italian Empire?” This is actually a really sophisticated question! Let me first say that all of the furniture shown in this [...]

By Buzz Kaplan, Decorati Contributing Antiques Editor and author of The Buzz on Antiques, and Executive Director of Decorati manufacturer C. Mariani Antiques, Restoration & Custom in San Francisco. “How can an antique be called “Italian Empire?” This is actually a really sophisticated question! Let me first say that all of the furniture shown in this [...]