Ever since the American Colonies were founded in the 17th century, silversmiths have been drawn to the new world out of necessity amongst the people of the Colonies and a desire to build workshops and businesses in the budding nation. As the country grew, the styles and techniques that developed became as diversified and unique as their makers due to the broad range of influences that artisans had to draw upon.

Our American silver collection comprises hollowware and flatware pieces and sets through the middle of the 20th century and Colonial to Arts and Crafts to Baltimore Style Repoussé. We also offer a wide variety of pieces and sets by Tiffany and Company, the Gorham Company, Reed and Barton, Whiting, S. Kirk and Sons as well as Dominic and Haff.

We also highly recommend our English and Continental silver sections. And please feel free to browse our Hartman Rare Art Ebay Store.

The English have a long-standing tradition of creating exquisitely crafted, classically styled Sterling Silver items. Throughout the centuries, English silver has been looked to as a source of style, status, and strength. Styles of English silver have influenced other areas of design over the centuries and truly are a reflection of the country's rulers' tastes and the priorities that are paramount at any given time. English silver is commonly classified by the ruling monarch of any given time and at Hartman Rare Art, Inc., we offer pieces from the reign of Queen Anne through Queen Victoria, as well as a few more contemporary items.

Over the years in England, individual makers of silver have risen to near celebrity status, having created individualistic styles that appeal to the tastes of the nation's wealthy nobles at any given time. Two such makers are Hester Bateman and Paul Storr, both of whom worked during the reign of King George III. We offer a fair variety of pieces by both makers and we strive to share their excellent work with all our customers.

In Europe, the use of silver has been incorporated into the decorative arts for more than a thousand years. The use of precious metals to decorate one's home has been an indicator of class, prosperity and style for centuries. The Continental silver we offer is high quality, and the pieces we have chosen to showcase here represent a cross section of some of the items we carry.

We do our best to carry a range of silver from European makers both earlier and later. While we offer a wide variety of earlier antique European silver, we also have a strong collection of hollowware items and flatware sets from innovative late 19th and early 20th century European silversmiths such as Puiforcat and Odiot representing France and the renowned Danish master, Georg Jensen.

The arts of Japan comprise a long history and tradition of expression regarding faith, social and community values and the natural world. While the arts of Japan span back several centuries, many of the items we offer date from the Edo and Meiji periods.

While several of the media for artistry utilized in Japanese Arts are similar to those used in the Chinese Arts, the styles and ideals of representation are very different from those recognized in Chinese Art and Antiques.

As stated above, many variant media have been explored by Japanese artists and artisans through the past two centuries and we feel it would be unfair to group them all together. For your viewing convenience, we have broken down the articles of Japanese Art into several different categories and we have chosen to devote a page to each of these. To summarize, a few of the types of Japanese Arts we carry: Bronzes, Cloisonné, Ivory Okimono, Netsuke, Satsuma, Shibayama, Silver and Swords.

The items we catalog in these pages represent only a fraction of the items available through our showroom in Manhattan. If you wish to visit our gallery, please contact us so we can be ready with any particular types or styles you are interested in.

The Arts of China comprise a rich tapestry spanning more than 4,000 years of history. Due to the early unification of China as a world power through the ages, sophisticated styles of art and design have developed and evolved in various sculptural and visual media.

The styles and traditions of Eastern Art have long entranced scholars around the globe. The ideals of symmetry and balance are executed deftly in all media lending to the exquisite elegance of these items.

Also of note are our collections of Chinese Export. During the 18th and 19th centuries, some Chinese artisans developed styles of silver, porcelain, and ivory carving that were specifically tailored for sale to people in Europe and the United States. These styles often bridged traditional Eastern motifs and forms with popular Western tastes of the time periods. The resulting works are rather different from both Chinese artwork styled for domestic use as well as from Western artwork.

So many variant media have been explored by Chinese artists and artisans through the centuries, it would be unfair to group them all together. For your viewing convenience, we have broken down the articles of Chinese Art into several different categories and we have chosen to devote a page to most of these. A sampling of the following Chinese categories we carry in our showroom: Jades, Porcelain, Ivory, Cloisonné, Snuff Bottles, Rock Crystal, Pottery, coral and more.

Here at Hartman Rare Art, we especially pride ourselves on our collections of Chinese jades, rock crystal and other gemstones as well as our stock of porcelain and pottery. While a number of pieces we offer were made during the Ming (C.E. 1368-1644) and Qing Dynasties (C.E. 1644-1911), we do have items that date as far back as the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-9 C.E.).

The items we catalog in the preceding pages represent only a fraction of the items available through our showroom in Manhattan. If you wish to visit our gallery, please contact us so we can be ready with any particular types or styles in which you are interested.

The European Decorative Arts encompass a stunning array of brilliantly crafted enamel, carved ivory, rock crystal, metalwork, glass and ceramic items that reflect the myriad styles and tastes of the continent through the centuries. At Hartman Rare Art, Inc., we regularly offer pieces from France, Germany, Austria and Italy as well as from many other European countries.

The care and precision with which most of these pieces were made is truly exceptional, and we have chosen to highlight a few of the more extraordinary pieces in our collection.

We also offer a smaller variety of English and American Decorative Arts from the early 20th century. A few of the English and American Decorative items we offer are shown on our website.

The Chinese art of jade carving spans back over the centuries and truly an integral part of Chinese artistic heritage. Early on, it was believed that jade had positive spiritual powers that could "bring light to dark places", and jade items were highly prized and sought out for use and display in the home. Jade has been carved into functional items like vases, censers, water droppers, and bowls as well as decorative objects such as figural statues, animal forms, plants and flowers. Smaller items such as pendants and "fingering" sculptures were also often carved from jade. Jade generally ranges in color from a pale celadon green to a fine white color and as dark as "spinach green," and even black. Yellow jade is prized for its rarity. Jade typically has a hardness of 6.5-7.0 on Moh's scale, and typically has a waxy or frosted lustre.

Jadeite is a stone similar in composition to jade, however, the range of colors that jadeite is found in is truly much greater than that of jade. Jadeite is mined in Myanmar and slightly harder stone than jade, having a hardness of approximately 7.0-7.5 on Moh's scale. Items carved in jadeite were typically made later than those carved in jade as people only began mining jadeite during the late 19th century.

A great deal of confusion exists among the common population about what stones that are often referred to as jade are truly jade (nephrite). This is due to the fact that high demand for the stone pushed jewelers and designers to establish trade names for other, more readily available green stones that would confuse buyers. For example, serpentine - another stone - is often referred to as "new jade."

There is a great concern too about the possibility of new reproduction items being falsely represented as antique. As there is no way to test jade for its age, it is a dealer's responsibility to make sure that the pieces they are buying are high quality and truly antique. While mistakes can be made, we strive to make sure that the items we procure and present for sale are genuine.

Thank you very much for your interest in Hartman Rare Art. Should you have any questions or inquiries, please feel free to contact us.

Hartman Rare Art, Inc.
515 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Tel: 212.207.3800  Fax: 212.207.4452
e-mail: rareart1@gmail.com

Twitter: @hartmanrareart