Saturday Morning, June 20, 2026
Tea for the Tillerman
The elderly woman stared downward into her cup and saucer. Lost in thought. A trance. A young couple across the table watched her, shifting in their seats. Children, she spoke. They jumped. Please, drink your tea. They lifted their cups and swilled down the dark potion. Not all of it, she said. Leave just enough for the reading.
Read this design. Hermes Etriers cashmere & silk scarf.
Designed by Francoise de la Perrriere.
Selection of Coalport cups & saucers.
They placed the china cups back on the saucers. Very good. Now, study the tea leaves and tell me what you see. A silence filled the room. The girl offered first. I see an animal, a horse. Looks like its galloping. And you? Her gaze landed on the boy. I see a...he stammered, it looks like a corral? The woman sat back and smiled. Certainly, certainly, she repeated. The answer to your question. The couple stared in anticipation. Yes, by all means, get married. You will have a long and blessed relationship. Reading tea leaves. An ancient ritual. Trick? Conjure? Or retrieval?
The Teapot Scandal
We see what we want to see is, to use another adage, is tried and true. Are superstitions and carnival beliefs reliable? Or they something far deeper? How many times does one read the daily astrological sign based on his or her birthday? Surprising how fitting these observations can be. Is this pure tomfoolery, or tidbits of lost a information system?
Lost civilizations survived within Third World beliefs, 10" H.
There are twelve zodiac signs, as there are twelve months to a year, as is the time required to travel four seasons around the sun. Within this pattern are complex mathematical formulae. Lost or locked in time? Retrievable to one observant enough to recognize this puzzle. It is far easier to harbor knowledge though myths and legends than in thick heavy textbooks. Certainly less burdensome to pass through time. But sometimes, these two worlds collide. How similar they can be. Hieroglyphs are a good example.
Japanese Samurai stirrup Abumi, Edo period, 10" H. 11" L.
Ten-Card Stud
As he lay ten cards on the table, the seated audience leaned forward. He picked each one up and flashed it to towards the them, then dropped it back on the table. He followed this ritual nine more times. Each card measures 7 by 9 inches. Uniform, he spoke. But each one has a different pattern printed on it. Inkblots some are calling them.
Hermes silk neckties. Sporting designs in style.
The crowd stirred. Murmuring filled the room. Doctor, one participant spoke. What do you do with them? Thoughts filled the room. Ink blots? What good are they? The doctor waited for the discord to diminish. What do I do with them? Why...I listen.
And the Beat Goes On
Meet Dr. Hermann Rorschach, still a household name one hundred years after the invention of his psychiatric test. Its purpose was to evaluate personality and emotional tendencies. Patients would see a card and the doctor would listen to the reaction. Of course, its introduction sparked a firestorm. Far too close to the proverbial tea table. But challenges are an unwritten rule, healthy and productive.
Bronze sculpture, Jaroslav Horejc (1886-1983), 7¾" H.
Though the controversy raged, his theory held, tweaked perhaps, but the foundation remained strong. What do you see? How hauntingly similar. How delectably delicious. Cards preferred far better than tea. Not quite as bitter. Answers parallel. Oblique or stereotypical. How thin the line between hard science and metaphysics. All handed down to us through time. We favor this tradition heartily. You will see what you want to see, this Saturday.
Sumerian turso artifact of Nippur, ca. 1800 B.C.
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PA AU 1265l [bb]