Amsterdam is beaming with hoisting beams. Previously I associated hoisting beams solely with old merchant’s homes, but unlike other port cities where I’ve seen them, in Amsterdam they are found not only on the old canal houses, but all over the city, including on ordinary residential buildings. Due to fifteenth […]

Koubar & Vinklat Manufacturer’s Mark I think this was part of a lock mechanism, maybe for some roller shutters. The top part says “up” an “down” with arrows which way to turn. Hutter & Schrantz Manufacturer’s Mark Hutter & Schrantz is one of the oldest companies in Austria. It was […]

I found some nice examples of terrazzo and mosaic flooring in Prague, and they are all in rather good shape, despite being over 100 years old. In addition to the year of installation/construction, I also found one example with the greeting “Salve” (“Welcome”), which is also found in some of […]

Barta & Tichý Praha was one of the most famous ceramic factories in Europe. Here is an example of their work which I found in Prague: This factory has a connection to Lviv, for in the 1880s the famous architect Jan Lewiński opened a store in Lviv where products from […]

A sampling of guard stones from Prague:

Buildings in Prague have two numbers: a descriptive number (číslo popisné) and a reference number (číslo orientační). The descriptive number is unique within one cadastral area. Today these numbers can be found on red plaques, but the original numbers were either painted or engraved onto the buildings or etched onto […]

In Prague I come across one antique sink, which was still in it’s original location, though it is no longer used for its original function. Now instead of water, the sink holds a candle. The sink is located in a tiny courtyard of an old building, which today houses a […]

Most of the antique roller shutters that I found were made by the company DUKO, which also made shutters for Mukachevo, thus they likely date from the interwar period. Antique shutters made by other companies. I’ve seen the same lion symbol on shutters in Vienna, Berehovo, and Lviv.