Ralph (1920 - 2008) and Terry (b. 1928) Kovels' influence on the world of collecting is incalculable and their accomplishments innumerable. The couple married in 1950 and wrote their first book together, now titled Kovels' Dictionary of Marks: Pottery and Porcelain, 1650-1850, in 1953. In 1986, they released a new book, Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks: Pottery and Porcelain, 1850 to the Present. As the definitive source for collectibles and values, the Kovels are renowned for their eye for antiques, art, and design.
When the Kovels began their collecting journey they were complete neophytes. Terry remarked in an interview: "In the beginning, we were always doing it together. He was a super salesman and I was a good researcher... So it was fun for me. We found subjects that no one else was doing." They learned by looking, researching, and collecting. The success of their first book led Ralph to pitch a column on antiques and collectibles to the Cleveland Press, "Know Your Antiques," which became the longest-running syndicated column in the country. Their secret, as Terry has said, was making it approachable: "We always include definitions on the things we don't know. We make it easy for people to understand what we are writing about." For perhaps the first time, at least in the United States, antiques and collecting were made accessible to the masses.
The Kovels were also incredibly diversified in their interests, collecting everything from banana stickers and textiles to furniture and American art pottery; as Ralph used to say when asked why he only collects: “If we own it, it’s priceless.” Over the decades that followed the publication of their first book their business developed into a multi-million-dollar enterprise. They wrote over 100 books, one of which, the Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, has sold over four million copies and is considered one of the bibles of the field. They have been consulted numerous times for their expertise in court cases and various newspapers; wrote the "Collectibles" entry for the Encyclopedia Britannica; appeared on talk shows and starred in three TV series, “Know Your Antiques” for PBS, “Flea Market Finds with the Kovels” for HGTV, and "Collector's Journal with Ralph and Terry Kovel" for the Discovery Channel; and won two Emmy Awards. Their eponymous website, Kovels.com, was created in 1998 and to this day remains a priceless resource for collectors worldwide where one can check over 1,000,000 prices.
Terry remarked recently: "Building a great collection takes a lot of time, extensive knowledge and some luck, too. I am thrilled to pass our legacy of great finds onto the next generation of passionate antiques collectors." It is with great pride that Rago and Toomey & Co. offer a selection of Ralph and Terry's impressive collection here.
We came from Nowheresville as far as the experts were concerned. Maybe that’s why we can write what we write, because we think like beginners and write in plain language.
Terry Kovel
Taxile Doat 1851–1938
French ceramist Taxile Doat trained at the École des Arts Décoratifs, Limoges and at the École des Beaux Arts, Paris, under the sculptor Augustin-Alexandre Dumont. He went on to work at the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres from 1877 to 1905 in addition to starting his own private atelier at his home in 1892. Like many of his contemporaries, Doat was inspired by high-fired stoneware and porcelain from Japan. He became a master of high-temperature firing techniques, called grand feu, and wrote an influential treatise on the subject in 1905 which served as both an education and an inspiration to countless American ceramists, including Adelaide Robineau. This led Robineau and her husband to invite Doat to St. Louis, Missouri in 1909 where he was a key part of the short-lived University City pottery. He remained there until 1914 before returning to his home in Sèvres where he worked privately for the remainder of his life.
Grand feu ceramics, in particular porcelain, were the most exclusive, difficult, and expensive to produce. Doat mastered the medium and became especially famous for his exceptional deployment of the pâte-sur-pâte technique in a variety of neoclassical and Art Nouveau styles. Developed at Sèvres in the 1850s, it translates to “paste on paste” and is a time-consuming process involving the application of an image to ceramic ware via countless, thin layers of liquid clay. He also excelled at developing exquisite crystalline and drip glazes, which he would often apply to asymmetric, naturalistic gourd forms. A towering figure in the ceramics world, Doat left behind an impressive legacy as a teacher, scholar, and a ceramist.
Auction Results Taxile Doat
