The Launch into Retail Fine Wine
If you can't wait for our next fine wine auction, you're in luck. You don't have to.
The Move Into Our New Gallery Space
After much anticipation and patience, moving day was upon us. As a team, we conceptualized, we planned, we designed, and we built. On April 7th and 8th, a new chapter of this journey was here — the move.
A Moment With: Nancy Blount
Share a moment with Jewelry & Textiles Director, Nancy Blount. Explore the symbolism, stylistic differences, and purpose woven into the samplers of the 18th and 19th centuries.
An Insider's Look: Gustav Stickley
Simplicity, Honesty in Construction, and Truth to Materials
Announcing Leland Little Properties
What goes better with a brand-new auction facility than a brand-new boutique real estate department? That’s exactly what we thought.
Season of Color
After the dormant months of winter, spring is the moment when nature reclaims its glory. As art imitates life, the colors of renewal, growth and awakening are exemplified in the jewelry of the Signature Spring Auction.
Historical Archive Documenting the Final Weeks of Ulysses S. Grant
I have fought a Good Fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. - 2 Timothy 4:7 KJV
The Stuff of Legend
There can be no question that drinking a great old wine is one of life’s great pleasures. And, there is nothing in the world like a great old Red Burgundy! – The Underground Wineletter
All the Accumulated Wealth of Knowledge
"By victory after victory on the racetracks of the world, Jaguar has gained for itself a position in the very forefront of modern sports cars." - Jaguar Cars Ltd, Coventry England
Honoring the Legacy of Percy Carawan
Follow along with Sporting Art Director, Robbie Smith, as he travels east to Lake Mattamuskeet, NC. Listen to the recollections of Mark Carawan and Kroghie Andresen as they share their personal experiences with master decoy carver, Percy Carawan.
Humility, Concentration, Perseverance…and Talent
When I start a project, I have a rough idea in mind, but it really is a joint venture between the bamboo and myself. It could be a friendly partnership, or it could be a battle. Whichever the case may be, dialogue with the material and constant adjustments by the artist are essential to every part of the process. – Morigami Jin, 2018
Reading Between the Lines
Etchings could easily be viewed as static. Louis Orr’s etchings are anything but. Behind each etching is a story — full of travel, people, and much activity.
Sporting Art Fair 2022
Leland Little is delighted to host our second annual Sporting Art Fair (SAF) on Saturday, February 26th, 2022. Although hosted on the grounds and within the galleries of Leland Little, this is a community event brought forth by a group of partners who are personally and professionally invested in the world of sporting art. The Sporting Art Fair is for everyone.
The Collection of Joel Siegel
The first thing I saw after I came to was this huge Lichtenstein pop-art poster. If it had been a Raphael Madonna I might have thought I'd died and gone to heaven. But Lichtenstein? I died and went to the Museum of Modern Art? -Joel Siegel, upon awakening in the recovery room at New York Hospital, Lessons for Dylan
A Symphony of Flavors
"Apricot, quince, pineapple, almond, verbena, fig, rose, lychee, grapefruit, bitter orange, vanilla, saffron, roasted coffee beans... The smells of an entire market are concentrated in a glass of Yquem." – Chateau d’Yquem
Hygge for the Holidays
Relax in a comfy chair, sip your chamomile tea, and dive into our step-by-step guide on how to create hygge in your home this holiday season.
A Catalyst of Ideas
"Diego was a catalyst in the literal sense of the word: something that precipitates or facilitates a change" (Raymond Foye, The Brooklyn Rail)
Carving Heritage: A Decoy Story
A craft that defines a county's history.
A Whisky Market Update
Whisky (yes, and whiskey) is having a moment.
Statement Seating: The Modern Sofa
In modern life, the sofa is the center of family life, the home theater, the conversation pit, the remote office, the place we relocate to when the bed isn’t working out.
In the Sky with Diamonds
In 2004, astronomers at Harvard discovered that the white dwarf star previously known only as V886 Centauri or BPM 37093 was actually a diamond. A really, really big diamond. The biggest in the universe, perhaps.
North Carolina in the News
The national press has leaked the secret: the North Carolina Triangle is an amazing place to live.
Taking Shape
Come along on a video tour of the progress on the new Leland Little Gallery.
Scotch & Climate Change
One look at any of the scotch distilleries perched picturesquely on the shores of Islay serves as a reminder of their exposure to the elements. The relentless environment in which scotch is made has long been part of its charm, but with climate change intensifying, environmental concerns are quickly becoming production hurdles.
A Light Touch With Big Rings
The cocktail ring, in all its opulent glory, has been one of the signature designs of the Buccellati jewelry house ever since Mario Buccellati was making them to adorn the hands of Milan's most fashionable women after the First World War.
Dressing Women in Art
So much art of all kinds has been inspired by the beauty of the female form. With the abundance of fine jewelry and fine art in The Signature Fall Auction at our disposal, we give the artists' muses the decoration they deserve.
The Traditional Iconoclast: Artist Toko Shinoda
With her groundbreakingly simple sumi-e works and lithographs, Toko Shinoda, who passed away this March just three weeks shy of her 108th birthday, used classic technique to create revolutionary Japanese art.
Five Things: What The Emancipation Proclamation, Organized Philanthropy, The Chicago Fire, & Suffrage Have In Common
The Stuff of Legend: LaLaounis Jewelry
Goldsmith Ilias LaLaounis's legacy is built on one defining principle: that every piece of jewelry tells a story.
On The Hunt
The world turns, the millennia pass, and the hunter becomes the hunted. But possibly not until the hunter is long-extinct and thoroughly fossilized. Robert E. Wilke, who spends his leisure time at the bottom of the ocean, hunting for Megalodon teeth, has reason to be glad for that reliable passage of time.
A Modern Art Trivia Treasure Hunt
We love a good piece of art on the wall as much as anyone. But while we can appreciate art in an aesthetic vacuum, the stories behind the works are what really bring them to life. So to give ample dimension to the art in our Modern Art & Design auction, we made you a trivia treasure hunt around some of the standout works that were offered.
How to Use Steel and Be Fancy (just a little bit)
Marcel Breuer really, really loved his bicycle. So much so, in fact, that he used it as the inspiration for his signature furniture. Nearly a hundred years later, we have to say it seems he was on to something.
Southern Flowers in Southern Pots
At Leland Little "Arts of the South" generally refers to Southern Pottery and Folk Art. But when we add Durham, North Carolina, photographer and florist Allison Donnelly to the mix, the definition gets a little more botanical.
Living on the Live Edge
Whether in life or in craft, for George Nakashima the imperfections made all the difference.
The Collection of Art Historian and Designer Sterling Boyd
A great eye is rarely confined to a single category. For Sterling Boyd, the synthesis of his extensive knowledge and impeccable style was a personal collection of art and antiques that brought together beauty and history.
Five Things: The Decorous Revolution of Women in American Art Pottery
Not all revolutions come with rally cries and drum beats. Some, like the rise of American women ceramicists at the turn of the century, are more quietly radical, but they bend the arc of equality nonetheless.
Genus: Car collector
Car collectors are in a category unto themselves. Wine, art, jewelry: these are things you collect and then just let be, enjoying them without effort whenever the mood strikes. But cars. People who collect cars tinker and research and refurbish and document. They live and breathe and, most importantly, drive their collections.
Scenes of America
For the 4th of July, we gather examples of the many varied ways that American artists have captured our country in their art.
Like Potter, Like Son
The history of North Carolina ceramics is one of generations of fathers passing down a utilitarian craft to their sons, who gradually turned it into an artform and a living. This Father's Day weekend, we look at how a few of the potters represented in The June Estate Auction maintained and grew their paternal legacy.
Project Update: The New Leland Little Gallery
Work progresses steadily on the construction of our new facility. With each new morning, when we arrive to begin our day, we are greeted by yet another finishing touch. We are excited.
It's All In The Details
Impressive in their size, age, and form, these pieces of furniture are even more striking when considered up close.
From Florence to Philadelphia to Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Emanuele Caroni's Telegram of Love was one of three sculptures by the Italian artist shown at the Philadelphia World's Fair, The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876.
One of Sri Lanka's Best-Known Artists for Over 60 Years
Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake had 10 international solo exhibitions before he was a teenager. And yet somehow, as young man he still didn't plan to make art his life's work.
'80s Jewelry Comeback
'80s style is having a serious second moment in the sun - we love it when the kids finally realize how cool we were back in the day.
Larry Wheeler Reflects on the Life and Legacy of Joe Rowand
The creative magic of Joe Rowand was in full flower from the moment he opened his Somerhill Gallery at Straw Valley on US 15/501 on the edge of Chapel Hill in 1972.
The Anthony & Davida Artis Collection of African American Fine Art
Anthony & Davida Artis base their art collection on the three things that are most important to them: faith, family, and African American faces.
From the Personal Collection of Kroghie Andresen
Kroghie Andresen and his wife made a deal. She could renovate their kitchen if he could build a decoy room. An entire room for decoys. Just decoys.
Modern Design Then & Now
The furniture from the mid-century design boom has blended so seamlessly into interiors for decades that it's easy to forget how definitive it was of the style of its own era.
Follow the Road to Kroghie's House
LLA Decoy Director Robbie Smith describes his decoy collecting mentor Kroghie Andresen as the Wizard of Oz of decoys. So it's only fitting that when we visited Smith in his hometown, all roads led to Kroghie. And what did we find along the way? Puppies. Lots and lots of puppies.
New York's First Artists' Cooperatives
"Here's an idea that makes me super comfortable: how about instead of getting a steady job you try to scrape out a living as an artist?" said no parent in history.
From Our Mothers
From our mothers come all manner of things, from our values to our furniture. They hand down wisdom, recipes, stories, and heirlooms. Our trajectory in the world is inevitably changed by what they give us. And so, in advance of this Mother's Day, we asked our Department Directors how their mothers helped set them on their auction house paths.
Mary Todd Lincoln's Silver Service Scandal
The Gorham Coin Silver Tea Service in our upcoming Signature Summer Auction is nearly identical to the one purchased by Mary Todd Lincoln during her famously over-budget White House redecorating spending spree in the early 1860s.
Lost Wax Bronze Casting
The process of turning bars of bronze into detailed sculpture is mind-bending. How do artisans realize an artist's intricate vision in a substance that only exists as an intractable solid or a molten liquid?
Art for Earth Day
Earth Day is our annual reminder not only to care for the natural world on which we depend, but also to take the time to stop and wonder at its beauty.
The Long and Winding Journey of a Whiskey Unicorn
Odysseus, Shackleton, Sir Edmund Hilary, A.H. Hirsch Reserve Whiskey. Intrepid adventurers all. Where the first three battled monsters and mountains, A.H. Hirsch took on decades of oblivion and ownership shuffles to emerge victorious as the rarest of rare, the most covetable brown liquor of them all.
Everything You Want to Know About NFTs But Are Too Afraid to Ask
Psssst…….hey, you. You with the furrowed brow and glazed expression. Yeah I’m talking to you, the one who’s always been an art or music or sports enthusiast but suddenly finds yourself up an NFT creek without a blockchain paddle. There are more of us like you. We know a safe place. Follow us…..
Five Things: Georges Braque's Birds
Our upcoming Signature Summer Auction will feature a selection of lithographs by Georges Braque, all depicting the dominant theme of his later work: birds. In advance of the auction, we explore five facts about these avian works by one of France's most significant 20th century artists.
Queen Victoria at the Table - The Original Influencer
Tour the Caroline Faison Antiques Collection
The Great Engine Debate
Though it hasn't been made by Porsche in nearly 25 years, the air-cooled engine will forever be associated with the Porsche 911. But obsolescence has never gotten in the way of a purist, and air-cooled Porsche lovers are purists through and through.
The Caroline Faison Antiques Collection
Rocks for Rocks
These days heroes wear scrubs, face shields, masks, id badges, and, in the case of teachers soldiering on with remote school, perhaps the odd pair of pajama pants. We're not judging.
Infiltrating the Mainstream: How Two American Artists Centered the Edges
History by the Bottle
When someone says "old world wine," most of our minds turn immediately to France. But while storied French winemakers pick, ferment, and bottle in the old, time-honored ways year in and year out, history marches on.
William Ivey Long and the Tennessee Carters: A Family Furniture Legacy
By William Ivey Long’s own account, he wasn’t one for football when he was young. He preferred to stay inside with his cousin Molly, who taught him all about the furniture and houses that had been passed down through his mother’s Tennessee family for centuries.
A Model Collection
Dobie D. Hogan was a print and runway model throughout her adult life. Her substantial jewelry collection, pieces of which are being offered in our Signature Spring Auction, was a result of her long involvement with the fashion industry, combined with an inherited interest in jewels.
Teak in Danish Modern Design
Museum Services
Our engagement with the many and varied museums of the Southeast is one of the most important ways that Leland Little helps to promote the arts and culture.
Notable Collections
Leland Little has had the privilege of handling the sale of significant collections from notable people and historic properties.
How Does Money Get A Face?
Why Abraham Lincoln? Ok fine, that one seems obvious. But William McKinley, Chief Onepapa and Martha Washington? How did their famous faces end up on our currency, if only for a brief moment?
Delft: The Practical Pot
The mid-century Modernists weren't the first to come up with the idea of "industrial design." Centuries before the Eames and Bertoias of the world had deep thoughts and manufacturing dreams about making relevant design available to the masses, the Dutch were making beautiful Delftware for profoundly practical purposes.
Introducing the Leland Little Sporting Arts Department
Setting the Stage with William Ivey Long
On a little side street in Seaboard, North Carolina, sits a brick duplex house from the 1920s. "The teacherage," as the little building is known, was built to house young, unmarried teachers. These days, it is the unlikely home to the overflow collection of historical furniture and art of one of Broadway's best-known costume designers, William Ivey Long.
Why Are So Many Whiskies Old?
The Chair Files with Robbie Smith
Beryl Bainbridge: Author, Artist
British author Beryl Bainbridge was not a reserved figure. She was many things - dramatic, beautiful, brilliant, complex - but she was not reserved.
The Arts & Crafts Man - Four Things to Know About Gustav Stickley
Ceramics: Picasso's Other Art Form
Artists, as a rule, don't like to be boxed in. The desire for unfettered creative self-realization comes with the artistic territory. A long list of household-name artists have had a creative side-hustle, such as the ceramics of Pablo Picasso. In our Signature Spring Auction on Saturday, March 13th, we are offering five lots of Picasso's ceramics.
Ponies, Muscles, and Cheap Gas - The 1960's in American Cars
A Window Onto An American Dynasty
As the record-breaking viewership of the current season of Netflix’s The Crown tells us, we are endlessly fascinated by what goes on behind the closed doors of the world’s royals.
Art & Wine
The Figural Pottery of Billy Ray Hussey
The Timberlake Tour
On the Timberlake Farm
American Art From the Collection of James H. Craig and Randy S. Johnson
From the Personal Collection of Bob Timberlake
The Through Line - Following The Legacy of American Realism
Mexican Art in The Collection of Mr. Duggins and Mr. Dunn
The Collection of Mr. Dunn & Mr. Duggins
CAM Auction
The Estate of the Late Edward and Violet Kleitz, Cary, North Carolina
Whisky Investing
Three Things To Know About Tanzanite
From the Estate of the late Mr. & Mrs. Walter R. Davis, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Fall Focus on Photography
