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NEW Sea pendants by Patty Anderson Set sail in style with Skipjack's collection of nautical and beach inspired jewelry- perfect for everyday wear and your passion for nautical/coastal living. You'll adore our selection of woman's elegantly crafted nautical-themed jewelry including sterling silver sailboat necklaces and earrings by Barbara Vincent and distinctively coastal and beach designed creations by Patty Anderson and Betty Burnell. You can see our total nautical jewelry collection on our web gallery at Skipjack Nautical Wares .  Pictured above: NEW pewter beach jewelry "sea pendants" by Patty Anderson. Comes with silk  ribbon. Pendants measure 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches. $28.00 "Something Fishy" a custom made necklace with matching earrings by Betty Burnell Sterling silver chain, betelnut beads, Hill Tribe silver fish. "Something Fishy" is an original beach creation by Betty Burnell from her Coastal Collection. Necklace with matching earring...

Shad carved from white cedar by Jac & Tricia Johnson for Skipjack Nautical Wares.  L 72" W 24" D 4 I feel inclined to begin this blog by stating that throughout the 30 plus years of being a dealer, appraiser and collector of period American Furniture as well as fine and decorative arts, that I have received the greatest pleasure from collecting American folk art. We have also been fortunate to have represented some of the best contemporary folk artist from around our great country. Our focus today of course is nautical/marine folk art, both period and contemporary and a number of collectors have found their way into our gallery doors to acquire them. Here are a few great examples that have adorned the rooms and walls of Skipjack throughtout the years. This early 20th century sailor-made folk compass box was hand-carved from walnut with whale bone clasp and keep. A carving of a mermaid carrying a light in oval adorns the top of ...

The stone fireplace mantle displays a Chelsea clock and a Bendix Friez barometer saved from salvage below Robert Lyn Nelson's "Extinction is forever." A Royal Copenhagen bowl, an Inuit soapstone fish carving,  part of an Alaskan Oosic and an old coin-dot lamp. A n unplanned excursion is certainly a great way to discover new horizons as well as promising prospects for upcoming blogs. So it was when our recent trip to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountain of Virginia took us to visit with long-time friend and photographer Allen Graves. Allen, while visiting us a few months back to photograph 360 degree panoramic views of the interior and exterior of Skipjack’s showroom and the interior of the Schooner “Spirit of Independence,” told us about a friend's farm house that we should view and include in a Nautical Living blog. So off we went to meet with Jacqualin Davies and preview her wonderful farmhouse -- her home is nothing like you might expect in the mountains ...

Let me  get started by saying thank you for sending us these wonderful pictures of your nautical home and allowing us to share them with our readers. These pictures come to us from a great customer (and wonderful friend) that has shopped with us since we opened our first gallery in 2003 in Virginia Beach, VA.  We hope that you will also be inspired to share some of your pictures from your nautical/coastal home. The first picture (shown above) shows a table-top collection of  antique wooden blocks together with a custom made lamp and a green glass float ball.  Notice the vintage hand-made wooden slat lampshade above the three purchase ship's block lamp fitted with line.  I really like the combination of the rich, dark woods and old wrought iron fittings on the blocks together with the natural hemp color of the lines and the dark-green color of the vintage float ball. Th...

Looking for an easy way to dress up and personalize your coastal/nautical interiors? Well here’s a style secret used by designers to create local interest to the finely-fitted nautical room. Replace your old lampshades with a custom-made nautical chart lampshade using a navigational chart from your local or favorite coastline. You can select from 1,000-plus U.S. coastal and Great Lakes nautical charts created and updated by NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration). Nautical chart lampshade not only create a great look to your room, but also becomes a point of conversation as you study the lighted charts, similar to viewing a terrestrial globe! Visit the NOAA site by clicking on this link to find the right nautical chart for your local waters. http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html Skipjack offers custom nautical lampshades constructed in our own design center located in Olde Towne Portsmouth, VA. We use only the highest quality materials including auth...

The distant climes may us divide to think on you shall be my pride The Winds and Waves may prove unkind In me no change you’ll ever find. A magic spell will bind us fast And make me love you to the last Let Cupid then your heart incline to take me for your Valentine OK, so I am once again sitting here at my desk reviewing the list of upcoming blogs that I intend to write. It’s Valentines Day and Alison and I had earlier this morning exchanged a small assortment of gifts and cards. You know, there is nothing better than to spend Valentine’s Day with someone special, and it is a wonderful feeling to give someone you care about a truly unique gift. It is that idea that has stirred me to write this blog on Sailor’s valentines. As sailors traveled around the world, they often made or purchased mementos of their travels for their loved ones back home. As stated in Marine Art & Antiques "Jack Tar, A Sailor's Life 1750-1910" by J Welles and Rodney P. Carlisle,  "the sail...

At Skipjack, we  like to demonstrate to our customers how to transform and successfuly use authentic ship salvage elements in their nautical/coastal home. As shown in this corner view of  a Florida bathroom, they've incorporated into the design authentic high quality naval brass ship salvage elements instead of the usual decorator furnishings. A vintage 90 degree passageway light illuminates a ship porthole converted into a cabinet and fitted into a wall above a teak wainscoting. The thick frosted glass softens the look and create a semi-opaque view of the cabinet interior.  You can reproduce the look  by covering a standard porthole using a frost window tinting film in a translucent color. The hinged bolts with dog ears locks down the porthole door making it a  perfect choice for use in the finely fitted yacht. *Naval brass, alpha-beta brass is also referred to as Admiralty brass, contains tin (not exceedin...

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A fascinating array of folk art meant for the great outdoors comprised the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum’s exhibition, “Sidewalks to Rooftops: Outdoor Folk Art,” that recently ended in January of this year. According to an article posted by Joanne Molina, The Curated Object, International Decorative Arts Exhibitions-Williamsburg. Sidewalks to Rooftops: Outdoor Folk Art. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum of Folk Art :  “ 'The objects in this exhibition were made to be installed out of doors, so weather has taken a toll on them,' said Barbara Luck, curator of paintings, drawings and sculpture. 'Guests will see objects in a wide variety of conditions because of their use, exposure and maintenance during their useful life.'  The exhibit celebrates the 19th-century predecessors of modern advertising, including painted signboards featuring eye-catching symbols and three-dimensional trade figures—such as cigar store Indians—that have largely disap...

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...