Catherine Riedel

Inspired by the flora and fauna around us, Dedham Pottery designs are imaginative and distinctive.

Shakespeare warned that “all that glitters is not gold.” In fact, I’ve found that most of what glitters is not gold; it’s usually gold vermeil, or gold plate, or gold-filled, or even faux gold-washed. All this false finery might bother you, if you believe that fakery is a pure abomination. I’m not that much of […]

I know many New Englanders who despise this time of year, but I’m not one of them. Even in January, you’ll rarely hear me pine for the return of summer. I keep better in the cold. For me, summer can feel like an endless stream of sticky, steamy, listless days, when even the air lies […]

As a fashion statement, the chic and classic all-black look has been around for a long time; it predates Coco Chanel and Johnny Cash and transcends mere clothing styles. Universal in its appeal, black has been used throughout the ages to symbolize eternity, solemnity, elegance, and formality. A light-absorbing mass, black masks imperfections and swallows […]

Adorned with portraits of American heroes and depicting important battle scenes and scenic views, antique Historical Staffordshire is a popular collectible.

One generation’s recycling is another’s treasure. My dad wasn’t the world’s first recycler, just an early adopter of the concept. He believed in “reduce, reuse, recycle” when that idea was about as fashionable as wearing white socks with sandals. His thinking goes like this: Why use a bucket to bail out your boat when an […]

Lately I’ve taken to wearing a curious adornment: my husband’s high-school ID bracelet, given to him by an apple-cheeked girlfriend more than 30 years ago. Clunky and ill-fitting, it’s etched with the name MIKE and inscribed on the reverse LOVE, MURIEL. For all its adolescent awkwardness, I love the look and feel of it. “Why […]

Whiting & Davis mesh purses are a stylish vintage accessory and a piece of New England history. I could never be a nomad. It’s not the thought of traversing distant lands that turns me off; I just seem to be incapable of packing a small bag and traveling light. Too bad, because this skill would serve […]

If you ask someone for the time these days, you’ll likely find that instead of checking his wrist, he reaches into a pocket and flips open his cell phone. The gesture seems thoroughly modern, but it’s actually nostalgic. Because more than 100 years ago, before the wristwatch was ever invented, time and its keeper were […]

For me, listening to music is a live-out-loud experience. That’s why my iPod often sits idle, gathering dust and losing its charge. I usually forgo its technical isolation, preferring instead to turn the knob, sink into a chair, and assume the full weight of music with my whole being. At times it pours out heavy […]

In the 1930s, furniture from Heywood-Wakefield gave American homes a bright, fresh look. Today, you can find Heywood-Wakefield pieces at flea markets, thrift stores, consignment shops, and auctions—and they’re priced to sell. Sometimes I fear that modern-day Americans are like hothouse flowers: big, bold, beautiful, yet too fragile to survive outside a pristine environment. I […]

The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut (wadsworthatheneum.org), is home to the largest portion of Wallace Nutting’s collection of original 17th- and 18th-century furnishings, some 550 pieces of furniture, ironwork, lamps, kitchen tools, and other goods, in addition to a sizable collection of the Nutting factories’ 20th-century reproduction furniture, design templates, and hand-tinted photos. Nutting furniture […]