English BLoG

I particularly like this vignette contrived totally of Skipjack inventory with the bronze sculpture titled "At the Helm" by William Barth Osmundsen, sculpturer, in the foreground and the antique ship's wheel centered on the rustic barn wood wall behind. A pair of custom made nautical lamps made from 1970's vintage brass navigational lights flanks a scratch-built model of a Chesapeake Bay "Deadrise" by Edward R. Payne from Urbanna, Virginia. The lamps retain their original red and green removable lens and we've added ballast that turn the lamp on and controls the intensity of the interior lights and a three way switch that operates independently to control the room lighting. These lamps come with burlap covered lampshades and are mounted on to thick pine wooden bases. Standing 34 inches tall, they are perfect for a lot of applications where you need a matching pair of nautical lights. The lamps sit upon a pedestal table with the top being a large ship...

N ot eve rything that we deal with here at Skipjack are vintage or antique in age. Our nautical living items for example are primarily composed of hand-made nautical decorative arts and accessories and we will include these items as part of our postings. We do try though to create items that are locally made by one of our artisans and are of the highest quality in construction and materials. The monkey's fist cabinet or drawer pulls that we've selected for this blog is a good example of this work. These are produced here in Olde Towne by Joe McNelis who also creates some of our line bell ringers and even some of the finest fancy knotwork covered picture frames and you will see some of these exceptional artworks in future blogs. Our hand-tied rope monkey's fist drawer pull or knob is a perfect way to dress up your yacht or nautical home. Use them on kitchen cabinets and drawers, bathroom fixtures, as chest of drawer pulls or box knobs. We've also used them as towel hang...

R ecently, a customer visited us in our Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia showroom shopping for light fixtures to use on the exterior of her new oceanfront home. She was searching for high quality and durable lights that could withstand the sometimes inclement A tlantic weather but also be fitting for her nautically themed façade. I showed her a selection of authentic vintage cast brass fixtures once used onboard commercial and naval ships. These are by far, hands down, the finest (and most durable) cast brass fixtures ever produced with explosion proof glass covers surrounded by a thick brass cage. These fixtures are virtually non-destructible. Our customer was not accustomed to some of the ship lighting designs, so I showed her pictures demonstrating how other customers have used them in both the interior and exterior of their homes. She was delighted and selected the 90 degree passageway lights (see pictured). The heavy brass fixtures were exactly what she was looking for. Before leav...