Critical Eye / Kate Hackman (2026)

24/05/2026

The second of two posts today since I’ve just listed a bunch—all Brimfield finds, where my tendency seems evermore toward gathering things that don’t weigh much, as I’ve gotten lazier about schlepping! About 60 in total just added to the “just in” section at criticaleyefinds.com. Please purchase on there. Huge thanks always, and happy long weekend!

1. (Composite photo, 2 views) Charm Our Eyes! Marvelous Riedel, Nuremberg hand-colored mechanical valentine c. 1830s, 3 11/16” x 2 7/8” closed. Works brilliantly, and surprises every time. $100

2. Third view of valentine, giving the couple some privacy!

3. Adelaide Lawson Wood (American, 1889-1986) expressionistic watercolor landscape, c. 1930s, 10 5/8” x 8 1/4” $100

4. Two spiky trees, creature on branch, new favorite child’s graphite drawing by Laverne Lovell, 9 1/8” x 6” $45

5. Antique Vienna bronze cold painted hare with red eyes, c. 1900 I believe. 3 5/8” t x 1 5/16” w x 1 5/8” d, $120.

6. (Two views) Birds of Prey, another scarce and special Riedel, Nuremberg hand-colored mechanical valentine c. 1830s, 3 3/4” x 2 7/8” including tab. This one sometimes needs just a bit of a nudge in helping the doors to open. $80

7. Nick Steagner’s very sweet 1900 notebook/sketchpad, Wayne County, PA. A very tender thing, reading as a whole like a portrait of a farm boy (drawing lots of cows) longing to be an artist. 5 7/8” x 3 7/8”, 53 p (leafs), scatter filled, $85

8. Our Life is Never at a Stand, Its Like a Fading Flower, lovely and poignant 1839 American sampler, Elizer Merchant, 13 7/16” x 12 1/2” framed, $295

9. Wings and strings, striking art deco etched and gilded cigarette case, 4 3/4” x 3 1/4” x 3/8”, $100

10. Wonderful c. 1880s graphite portrait of man with blue eyes and beard, fenced above elbows!, 11 1/2” x 9 1/2” framed, mellowed gold painted wooden frame, $165

11. Johannes Esjchleman, born March 31, 1803, and his sign is the lion, Pennsylvania German fraktur watercolor birth announcement with brilliant color, 8 1/2” x 6” framed, $200

12. A Token of Love, c. mid 19th century hand-colored sentiment card in gold foil wrap, 2 9/16” x 2 1/8” $30

Continued in comments…

24/05/2026

Sunday greetings and happy Memorial Day, with hopes you are safe, well, and enjoying the blooms of late spring. I did a good bit of digging out of my Brimfield pile this week, about 60 new finds just added to the “just in” section at criticalfinds.com— largely things small of scale but big of heart! Now heading home from the Hudson River Valley, where I had the pleasure of visiting the Rhinebeck show this weekend, looking at many beautiful things and gathering a few to bring home, so more to get to this week…

A second post to follow, because I love them all. Please purchase on the website, it’s fastest and easiest, and there are lots more photos of everything, as well as many more not included here. Great thanks and love to you.

1. 1895 hand-sewn tumbling blocks basted quilt top with best paper templates reverse, 60” x 47 1/2”, $250

2. Detail. Front is in good shape (photos on website) but in no world would I not prefer the back!

3. Antique paper print photograph of very intricate handmade lace. Not sure if photo of a section of lace itself or of a paper pattern, but just gorgeous. 6 7/16” x 4 13/16” , $100

4. Very finely carved c. 1870s hardwood slide lid, three compartment box, carved of one piece of wood, British. Looks like you could shred things or strike a match on that lid! 4 13/16” x 2 1/4” x 1 1/8” t, $175

5. Extremely fine 1870s-80s Macah Nootka bear grass and cedar bark basket with banded design (some age related damage, documented on website, but just stunning), 3 7/8” x 2 1/4” t, $175

6. Charming (and very hospitable feeling!) earlier 19th century folk art watercolor and cut paper pineapple in presumed original frame. Framed 10 3/8” x 7 7/8”, $200

7. Exceptionally good old tramp art match stick sweetheart box with inlays on all sides and submerged heart finial (which terminates on the underside of the lid), 7 1/4” x 5 3/8” x 5 1/2” t with lid, $200

8. Star and heart: A) Beautiful condition large antique Seneca beaded star pin cushion, 5 3/8” x 5 1/4”, $150; B) Much loved 19th century heart shaped Mi’kmaq beaded pin cushion, 2 3/4” x 2 1/4” x 1” $50

Continued in comments…

10/05/2026

Happy Sunday and Happy Mother’s Day, with hopes you are safe and well and enjoying the day. I feel very fortunate to spend some time with my beloved mother today, and my beloved father too. (Glasses will raise shortly after I’m done posting!) Did some more digging out of my mostly paper pile this week—40+ new finds just added to the “just in” section at criticaleyefinds.com (please purchase there)—almost everything under $100 and lots $25 or less—snapshots and small works on paper and a few objects with lots of patina. I’ve got a bunch to tend to tomorrow so will not be shipping until I’m back from Brimfield, Friday; if you need something sooner, please give a shout, otherwise that’s the plan. Thanks so much, with love to you.

1. Flowers, urn, chair, chaise (and tiny potted plant), wonderful c. mid-1800s watercolor cutout, 6 1/8” x 6 1/4”, $60

2. 1912 Albastine Color Chart booklet with 8 pages of water soluble interior paint samples, 5 3/8” x 3 3/16” closed. $45

3. Miss Taylor as Jose Speckhaber in rainbow ribbons, watercolor portrait attributed to Charles Schoettel, American, c. 1840s , 4 1/4” x 2 9/16” $40

4. Floating, swinging child, rather existential feeling c. late 17th/early 18th century blue and white Delft tile, 4 15/16” x 4 15/16”. $70

5. Lovely earlier 19th century Pennsylvania German (very Rorschach-esque) mounted Scherenschnitte, hand-painted cut paper mounted to lined paper backing. 4 13/16” x 4 1/16”, $45

6. (Interior view of) Scarce c. 1900 G. Eisenmenger, Paris anatomical paper model tooth! 6 x 3 7/8” closed. $100
7. Super satisfying Superior Bone Rings on sky blue card, 4 3/8” x 2 3/4”, $25

8. Set of five antique Schoenhut Circus ladders, red and yellow and whites. Whites: 11 3/4” l. Yellow 9” l. Red 13” l. $65 all (There’s a great and uncommon set of architectural square pedestals on the website, too.)

9. Early 20th century Dutch notebook with colored pencil darning diagrams and notes, 8 1/2” x 6 1/2”, $45

10. Spain & Portugal, sweet, small, earlier 19th century hand-drawn topographical map, ink on paper with tissue border/overlay, Wilmington, Delaware, 4 1/4” x 4 3/4” $40

Continued in comments…

03/05/2026

The second of two today because a lot new just added to the “just in” section at criticaleyefinds.com, enough for a third post too but I’ll refrain. Selected and arranged according to various formal and narrative threads perhaps only discernible to me! Anyway, about 70 new on the website, please purchase there. With great thanks and love always.

1. Wonderful pair of c. 1900 tin spinning toys, Hochschild, Kohn & Co. department store, Baltimore. Hold them upside down by their looped wire handles and the rings and bird will fall (or spiral in the case of the bird) to that end, then turn flag side up and they’ll spin delightfully all the way down. Bird: 16” t x 3 1/4” w. Intertwining Rings: 13” x 2 11/16”. $165 pair.

2. Composite photo, both sides shown) Antique handmade Jacob’s Ladder toy with great papers and striped cloth ribbon. Open 23 5/8” x 2 5/8”. Folded up 3 5/8” x 2 5/8”. Endless, optically mesmerizing pleasure. $100

3. Masury’s Liquid Colors, gorgeous c. 1915 paint color card. Open as shown: 6 1/2” x 5 1/4”. $85

4. Charming c. 1875 folk art watercolor of horse-drawn omnibus: Kenmore (Chicago I believe), 7 5/8” x 4 7/8”, $65

5. c. 1860s Osborne’s “toy” watercolors set, manufactured by Lewis Haehnlen, Philadelphia. More than complete. Box 6 7/8” x 4” x 1”. $200

6. Very much loved antique set of handmade nesting and stacking cubes. Largest 5 1/4” t x 5 5/16” x 5 3/8”. $175

7. (Composite photo showing both sides) Stunning, beautiful condition Holland Thread Co color samples on silk thread folio, 124 colors. c. 1930s-40s. 35 5/8” w” x 11 1/4” fully open. $150

8. C. 1850s finely beaded Native American wool and silk pouch, Seneca or Mi’kmaq. Some losses. 4 1/2” x 4 7/8”. $200

9. “This is to Remember Me When I am Ded”, Peter’s earlier 19th c. ink and watercolor double portrait with poem on reverse. 3 7/8” x 5 3/4”. $50

10. Freckled girl with pet squirrel! Antique tintype in original sleeve with gold painted details (some scratches), 4” x 2 3/8, $75

11. Very tender set of three scrap wood dollhouse chairs, each approx 3” t x 1 1/2” w x 1 3/8”d. $40 set.

Continued in comments…

03/05/2026

Sunday greetings and happy May, with hopes you are safe and well as can be. Selections today (across two posts) of finds gathered on a trip to Pennsylvania last week, including a fat stack from the Allentown Paper Show, from which I am still digging out. Some objects too, found poking around on the to and fro.

I decided to list as much as I could get to: nearly 70 new things in the “just in” section at criticaleyefinds.com, the vast majority well under $100. (Do scroll there, new stuff a bunch of pages deep.) Maybe a small batch next Sunday, but May is crunched all fronts, and it’s off to Brimfield a week from tomorrow, so I may just need to do some saving up. Love and huge thanks to you always.

1. KING.. in Spelling! Wonderful 1825 handmade Reward of Merit, my favorite ever. 3 1/4” x 1 1/2” $60

2. Muscle Man (rooster pose), excellent antique RPPC, 5 1/16” x 3 1/2”. $50

3. (Detail) Scarce, very lovely set of 26 mid-1800s miniature hand-colored French mythological character cards, attributes described (in French) on reverse. Each 2 1/8” x 1 1/2”. $175

4. Calender, 1856, dramatically inked PA fraktur bookplate with some burn through. 6 3/16 x 4”. $50

5. Pennsylvania German 1856 devotional, Herz Des Menschen (The Heart of Man), with best cover and 10 fantastic engravings, 6 1/2” x 4 5/16”, 72 pp. $75

6. Blue on yellow crosses, transcendent old crayon drawing, 11 1/4” x 9”, $65

7. Gorgeous antique Native American beaded hide purse with sinew stitching, presumed Plateau. C. 1900, 4 1/4” x 3 1/8”. $200

8. Vishnu as Varaha trampling demon Hiranyaksha, sntique Indian manuscript painting, 7 3/4” x 5 1/2”, $85

9. Lovingly crafted old tramp art match stick box with painted teal star and rich patina, 7 13/16” x 3 5/8” x 2 1/2” t., $115

10. Pennsylvania folk art miniature chair in old yellow paint with carved and pierced star, 4 3/4” x 3 3/16” x 3” d, $70

11. Early hand-forged iron flint (striker) with wonderful form, 3 1/16” x 1 3/16” x 1/4”. $70

Continued in comments…

19/04/2026

Sunday greetings with hopes you are safe and well, through with taxes and happily watching things bloom. I didn’t get a lot of hunting in this week but did make it up to a show in Maine last Sunday (finding Gingham Dog and Calico Cat there made my day) and then a little poking around very close to home this week. About 30 new finds just added to the “just in” section at criticaleyefinds.com, mostly little things, some photos among them plucked from the stacks of a dealer friend prepping for the Allentown Paper show. That is where I am headed later this week with a a few stops along the way, so nothing new next weekend.
There are always tons more photos of everything here, and more, on the website—please purchase there. Huge thanks always and love to you.

1. The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat (on tall blue table), naive graphite and crayon drawing, earlyish 20th c., 9” x 6”, $100

2. detail because I love those creatures very much.

3. Young man with setter and safety bicycle, ultra sharp and tonally rich c. 1890s-1900 original glass plate negative paper print, 5” x 4”, $48

4. SPEED KINGS racing to the finish, early 1900s snapshot with best handwritten caption, 5 3/16” x 4”, $35

5. Interlacing horses, stunning Indo-Persian ink and gouache miniature painting, framed as found. Shown here out of frame, yet still eluding a good photo; details on website give a better sense. Custom frame: 12” x 10 3/4”. Painting, on card, 7 1/8” x 5 3/8” $235

6. Gorgeous, excellent condition c. 1940s Acoma pueblo 7 Inch diameter bowl, 7” d x 3 1/2” t , $200

7. Infinity Box! Set of five handmade, jointed slide lid boxes, very precisely nesting. Largest signed on underside ASW, 1892, Bristol Vt. 2 3/4” x 2 3/4” x 2 1/4” t. $80

8. Three old whimsies, sold individually. A) Antique double ball in cage made by G. W. L. Benedict (?), 4 1/2” x 1 1/2” x 1 1/4”, $80; B) Blonde wood three balls in three cages, 4” x 1” x 7/8” $65; Caged glass marble whimsy in old blue paint, 2 3/4” x 1 1/2” x 1 5/8”, $65.

9. Four exuberant crayon drawn mandalas by John Mosher, Grade 3, 1939. Paper size (as folded) of each approx 5 1/4” x 5 1/4. All signed on reverse. $50 all.

Continued in comments..

12/04/2026

Sunday greetings with hopes you are safe and well as can be as amid endless horrors and insanities. Migraine season triggered by high winds and shifting weathers (and said insanities) for me, which knocked a day or two off my week, but I did get out—about two dozen finds just added to the “just in” section at criticaleyefinds.com. First here this 19th century glass encased forget me not—I’ve had a few of these over the years bearing messages like “a remembrance” and “as a keepsake,” but I think “walk on roses” elevates this one to a whole different level.
Please purchase through the website, with huge thanks always. Wishing a walk on roses to you all.

1. Walk on Roses, best mid 19th century glass cased forget me not with dried moss floral wreath, 4 7/8” x 4 7/8” $175

2. Bright eyed, blushing, very full of spirit child in ruffle collar, small 18th/early 19th century oil painting in terrific lemon gold frame. Frame: 5 3/4” x 5 1/4”, painting, on what appears to be paper/card, 3 1/8” x 2 5/8”. $315

3. (Both sides shown) Inching closer (or straying wife?), 18th century Dutch morality-themed engraved brass to***co box. 4 5/16” x 2 1/2” x 11/16” $115

4. (Both sides shown) Funny money, curious old hand-drawn folk art dollar bill, ink and graphite, c. late 19th century, 7 3/4” x 3 1/8”. (Another one by same maker on website, too.) $75

5. Set of six Sunday school completed attendance registers with most beautiful hand-marbled covers, 1880s, Pennsylvania. Each 6 1/2” X 3 7/8”. $125 all.

6. Helen with her Rose, early 19th century B. Bramell hand-colored wood block print in original frame and original (thin, blown) glass, 7 7/8” x 7 1/4” framed. $135

7. Completely luminous earlyish 20th century oil on wood panel painting, F. Norton Genser (Connecticut, 1876-1955), 13 1/8” x 8 3/4”, $250

8. Looking out, charming c. 1880s mother of pearl seashell folk art carving, 7” x 6 5/8”. $125

9. New Song To Day, evocative c. 1920s-30s hand-painted sign found in Bar Harbor’s old Star Theatre, 13 1/8” x 12 1/8”, $175

Continued in comments…

05/04/2026

Sunday greetings and happy Easter, with hopes you are safe and well. I’m celebrating time with my family and the bunnies hopping around everywhere here today. Not a huge volume of new finds, but some pretty special ones I think. And, as Easter always makes me think of women and girls in fancy dresses and hats, lots of those today. A few details, from some encompass many pages and small delights. Just about 25 total new on the website. Please purchase there. With huge thanks and love to you.

1. Of a different ilk, exceptional hand-colored, beautifully composed Victorian “Pictorial Scrapbook.” A couple pages here, full documentation on website. I’ve never found victorian scrapbooks of much interest, but this one a revelation. 7” x 5 1/2” 18 pp. $275

2. Another page

3. Woman in finery with hand-drawn face, late 18th/early 19th century silk embroidery on paper. Period frame, as found, wood back. Overall: 12” x 10. Paper approx. 7 3/4” x 6”. $300

4. Detail

5. “Dr. Lealaug + lost owl,” Rockford College, IL (important Female Seminary), 1893, cabinet card, 5 5/16” x 4 5/16” $45

6. Saint with cross, key on red string, and marvelous serpent underfoot, 18th/early 19th century polychrome on wood retablo painting, 7 3/4” x 4 3/8” $285

7. Detail

8. Wonderful early-mid 1800s carved s***f box shoe in red paint, all original, nice crust around brass buttons. 4 3/4” x 1 1/2” x 3” t. $170

9. (Two views) Nailed heart, hand-tooled details, late 18th/early 19th c. leather s***f box shoe with hinged lid, 3 1/8” x 1 1/8” x 1 7/8” t. $135

10. Leaf studies, Rebecca Pillsbury’s 1847 notebook of ink stamped, carefully labeled specimens, Nashville, NH. Notebook 9” x 7 1/4”, 14 pages of samples. Blank reverses, plus tissue paper pages separating each. $195

11. Detail

12. Found at South Carolina plantation, lyrical doll-scale cedar bed (with note, pictured on website), 7 1/4” x 6” x 2 3/4” t, $95

13. Unusual late 19th/early 20th century hand-carved Native American doll with hand-sewn leather and wool clothing. 10” t x 5 1/2” w. $200

Continued in comments…

29/03/2026

Sunday greetings, with hopes you are safe and well and looking forward. A bit of a struggle of a week for me in various ways, including a series of largely fruitless hunting ventures; I do rely on these to help mitigate a general sense despair at all of the senselessness (and also to earn a living:)) so days turning up nothing bring me down. Right up to wire, though, some things I really love found, plus a few pulled from my piles, and a bunch of small delights I couldn’t resist — 40+ just added to the “just in” section at criticaleyefinds.com. Here a selection following logics of my own invention, the rest on the website as always. Please purchase there, with deepest thanks always.

1. Checkerboard with flying geese, gorgeous old crib quilt in pinks, white and blue. To me, a painting. 23 1/2” x 15”. 23 1/2” x 15”. $175

2. Geometry and whimsy, marvelous c. 1870s-80s graphite drawing of barn-like house with hovering bird, 9 3/4” x 8” , $175

3. Construction, Color and Moire by Albert Gregory, 1965 first/only edition artist book ( #28, edition of 200) with printed film for moire pattern making. 9 1/4” x 9”, 36 pp. $135

4. 1898 Kindergarten album with paper folding, paper weaving, and a few thread drawings, Herman Primary School, Minnesota. With toning patterns that add another dimension. 9 1/8” x 9 1/8”, full—20 pp. $125

5. Woman (teacher?) in spectacles (who is also a slide and a shelf), 19th century blue and black ink drawing in chippy, painted period frame. Small but, for me, hugely evocative. Framed: 5” x 4 1/2” $125

6. Portrait of a young intellectual: Mauro Calamandrei, University of Chicago student photo ID, 1952. 3 1/2” x 2” I. A quick search turned up an obit in The NYTimes—he was among the first Italian Fulbright scholars, became a respected writer and thinker on politics, art and culture—and became an American citizen late in life. 3 1/2” x 2”. $35

7. Finely dressed woman with black lace and blue ribbons, ultra sharp and also rather otherworldly feeling early tintype. 3 1/16” x 2 5/8”. $50

8. 1850 Pennsylvania German hymnal with fraktur watercolor bookplate with pointing hand, Berks County. 6 1/8” x 3 5/8”. $110

Continued in comments…

15/03/2026

Sunday greetings, happy almost spring, and happy St. Patrick’s day this week, too. There is finally green poking up meaning this endless winter must be nearly over, but still somehow I felt compelled to begin this post with talk of fading leaves; lots that feels about time to me here today I suppose. Popped up to Maine for a show last weekend and managed a mid-week run up to Vermont, still pretty slow out there but 40+ things found just added to the “just in” section at criticaleyefinds.com, a very eclectic mix. Please purchase there, with great thanks always. I’m thinking this will be the week I tackle my taxes, so probably nothing next Sunday but we’ll see.

1. We All Do Fade As a Leaf, mid 1800s gold beaded punch paper embroidery on silk ribbon. Embroidery area: 8 1/2” x 2 1/18”. Overall (ribbon fully outstretched: 18” long.) $65

2. Mid 19th century Hudson River School oil on canvas landscape fragment, under glass, framed as found. Frame: 14 3/8” x 12 1/4”. Sight 10 1/8” x 8”. $200

3. (Composite photo showing front & back) Amazing c. mid 16th century Belgian mille fleur wool tapestry fragment, 47” x 21”. Detail photos, as there are for everything, on website. $200.

4. Sally Sterns’ joyful 1824 floral watercolor with hand-sewn mend and later tintype portrait. Framed as found. 16 1/2” x 13 1/4”; sight 14 5/8” x 11 1/4”, $265

5. Very exuberant mark making: mid 19th century penwork woman on horse in period frame, 13 1/4” x 11 1/4” frame; sight 11 11/16” x 9 1/2”, $295

6. (Two views, one bodkin) Wonderful c. mid 1800s whaler made scrimshaw ladies leg bodkin, 4 7/8” l (measured on the square); 3/8” widest. $265

7. Sally Dart’s hair locks collection with hand-written verse, c. 1840s I believe, in period frame, 6 5/8” x 4 3/4”. $125

8. Later 19th century carved marble folk art book with detailed spine and camouflaged monogram on face, 4 1/8” x 2 1/2” x 15/16” $100

9. The Life of Christ, 1870, with unholy endpaper drawings! (Second portrait at end of book) 6” x 3 7/8”, 100 pp. $50

10. Young divas with ringlets and wrapped arms, A.H. Lane, Waldoboro Maine CDV, c. 1870-80s, 3 9/16” x 2 7/16”, $30

Continued in comments…

Critical Eye / Kate Hackman

24/05/2026

24/05/2026

10/05/2026

03/05/2026

03/05/2026

19/04/2026

12/04/2026

05/04/2026

29/03/2026

15/03/2026

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