Merry Christmas!

Wishing all our friends and neighbors a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here at Ironstone, we will all be home with our families counting our blessings.

Thank you for a wonderful year. We are looking forward to a great 2015!

New Jewelry Designer!

New Artist!

Wired4Design

One of a kind hand knit wire jewelry creations using fresh water pearls and other genuine stones. Wired with 14kgold plated wire or anti-tarnish silver wire.

“Unique and stunning!” Stop by and take a look., I've not seen anything quite like this before. Beautiful."

Art Exhibit

Now through January 7th, Ironstone's Galleria is pleased to present original paintings created during the Ironstone Concourse d'Elegance this past September. Coordinated by Chris Gomez and Artist Judie Cain, this exhibit features:

• Linda Abbott
• Judie Cain
• Diana Eppler
• Susie Hoffman
• Lorna Hunt
• Mary Ann Kash
• Charlotte Mulcaster
• Sherrie Palmer
• Cathryn Strong

All work is available for sale or just drooling over. Either way, come by and take a look at some outstanding paintings. From serious to whimsical, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Just downstairs from the tasting room. Open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm daily.

Happy Holidays! Black Friday Specials at Ironstone

Happy Holidays! Enjoy our Black Friday, Shop Local Saturday and Christmas Shopping Specials! Ironstone Hours: Thanksgiving Day CLOSED Tasting Room Hours: 10 am - 5pm  7 days a week Deli Hours: Monday - Sunday 11:00 am to 3:00 PM Jewelry Shoppe and Museum Hours: 11 am - 5pm  7 days a week

Friday Door Buster Half Barrels $29.95 80 Available, first come first serve. (no holding and no pre-sale.) Tasting Room doors open at 10AM Friday Grape Vine Wreaths All sizes $4.99 Sold naked so you can dress them up! Small Business Saturday 10% OFF all local products Support Small Business Saturday featuring Corto Olive Oil, Beaudoin's Olives, Murphys Mustard, and Papa Gomez Salsa. Tasting Room doors open 10AM Saturday Lots of great Holiday Decor, ornaments, decorations and wine themed gifts to stock up on! Ironstone's Heritage Museum presents Black Friday, Shop Local Saturday and Christmas shopping Specials right up to 3:00PM De. 24th 30% OFF all estate jewelry, gift items & collectable Bells. Special 50% OFF jewelry section presented by OROCAL, The Natural Gold Company. 30% OFF Case Special Verdelho & Elevation White

Call to Artists! Spring Obsession Art Show, Competition & Sale.

Calling all artists! 

Ironstone's 18th. Annual Spring Obsession Art Show is now accepting entries.
Simply go to the above tabs for both the Theme Division and Open Division to download.

If you would prefer they be emailed to you in a jpg format, simply email cgomez@ironstonevineyards with your request for the jpg format entries. They will be forwarded to you.

Ironstone's FARM to FORK Wine Club Dinner

Ironstone's Wine Club members enjoyed a very special treat last week at our FARM to FORK Dinner. Featuring fresh meats and vegetables from local farmers, the dinner was a huge success. Interested in joining the fun?  

Contact Mary in the Tasting Room for more information. 

209-728-1251               

Call To Artists!

18th Annual Spring Obsession entry forms are now here!  Click on the pages above for either the THEME DIVISION or OPEN DIVISION and download. OR you may email cgomez@ironstonevineyards.com for a jpg copy of both prospectus.

Deadline for the Theme Division is fast approaching, so don't miss out. Jump now before you get caught up in the Holiday Hoopla and forget!  

Former Spring Obsession Winner Solo Show in Taipei

Received a wonderful email today from former, Spring Obsession 1st. Place Winner, LIU HSU-YUAN.   We have been following this talented artist's career from our first introduction in 2007.  

Liu Hsu-Yuan was studying here in the United States at that time and chose to enter Ironstone's 10th Annual Spring Obsession Art Show. His entry was a stunning painting titled "Sunflower".  Large, bold and full of energy, light and movement.  This painting grabbed the judges eyes and held them entranced with the colors and brush strokes.  


Here is the winning painting, however this image doesn't do the original justice.

On to the email,  Liu Hsu-Yuan is celebrating yet another solo art show!
Running from October to December at the Taipei Cultural Center, you may experience his most recent and contemporary pieces.


Should you be in the Taipei area, do stop in and support this outstanding artist.  


Share in Liu Hsu-Yuan's opening celebration through the photos below...

The Original Big Tree of California!

Incoming!  Ironstone Heritage Museum is now featuring an incredible series of books on the Histories of The California Big Trees.  These 6 books by Historian Gary Lowe, are the most in-depth research documents on the Big Trees ever published.  Gary was able to update existing history utilizing the amazing document archive  from a Murphys Prospector in the late 1800's that was discovered and display here at Ironstone in 2009.  Stop by and take a peek.  

The Mammoth Tree is the tree in the North Grove at Calaveras Big Trees State Park that had its bark removed for exhibit world wide in 1854. You can still see the cut marks on that giant made in the 1850's.  I had never seen an image of the reconstructed tree so I was thrilled to see it on the cover of Volume 2!  Impressive research and images. Kudos to Gary Lowe for such an awesome endeavor.

Volume 1 – The Original Big Tree,  History of the Big Tree Exhibit of 1853-1855: The Exhibition of the Bark and Section of the Discovery Tree, known variously as The Mammoth Tree, The Giant Tree of The Great Tree and its wanton contender – 2012/2014.  Over 200 illustrations & 3 tables.                          $40.00

Volume 2 – The Mammoth Tree. – A Gold Rush Adventure: History of the Mother of the Forest Exhibit, 1854-1866.  Over 150 illustrations.                                          $30.00

Volume 3 – The Big Tree Exhibits of 1870-1871 and the Roots of the Giant Sequoia Preservation Movement. The Snediker & Stegman (Forest King) and the Jellerson & Ricker Big Tree Exhibits 1870-1871.   100 illustrations (30 in color) 1 table.                         $35.00

Volume 4 – Before The Works – The Bancroft-Pond-Houseworth Toursit Party Among the Big Trees, May 1871  180 illustrations, 2 tables.                       $25.00

Volume 5 – The Grant Grove Centennial Stump, Kings Canyon National Park and the Big Tree Exhibit of 1875 – 1876. 40 illustrations. $8.50

Geologic History of the Giant Sequoia and the Coast Redwood. 27 illustrations, 3 tables and 6 maps.                $17.50

Phantom of the Opera! New showing added

Due to popular Demand, a 3rd. showing of the Silent Movie, "Phantom of the Opera" has been added to the schedule!  

Sunday, October 26th. at 12:00 PM!  Sign up now, the other two seatings have been sold out!

Ironstone Concourse Foundation Art Exhibition

Ironstone Concourse Foundation Art Exhibition

Ironstone Vineyards and the Ironstone Concourse Foundation present the 1^st. Annual Ironstone Concourse Foundation Art Exhibit.

Opening Tuesday, October 14^th, this outstanding exhibit of Plein Air paintings will be available for you to see through Sunday, December 14th. 2014.

Located in the main Galleria just downstairs from the Tasting Room, this exhibit features original Plein Air paintings created during this years’ Ironstone Concours d’Elegance, Saturday, September 27^th.

Artists present and painting at this years’ classic car show were:

Linda Abbott

Diana Boyd

Judie Cain

George Durkee

Diana Eppler

Susie Hoffman

Lorna Hunt

Mary Ann Kash

Valerie Kolakowski

Charlotte Mulcaster

Donna Nelson

Sherrie Palmer

Cathryn Strong

Eva Walker

Tasting Room hours are 10:00 am to 5:00 pm daily.

Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me at cgomez@ironstonevineyards.com.

Historic Artifacts up for auction

Our Friend and adviser, Fred Holabird is having an outstanding auction Sept.    of American Artifacts and Documents.  The catalog is already available with such outstanding descriptions of each of the items going up for auction, that the catalog itself is a rich resource for everything Early Americana.


We have posted a few images of a few of the items, but there are so many more!  You can also go on line and place a bit now before the actual live auction starts.  Check out the link below that will take you to the online auction.  It is fun just to pa-ruse through the items.  I learn a great many things I didn't know within these awsome pages of history and photographs.

Take a peek...

Everything from Merced tokens, Giusippi silk prints to Longfellow registry books ... even a classic turn of the century automobile in cherry condition waiting to be purchased and entered into the Ironstone Concourse d'Elegance later this month!




Take a peek ....

 http://www.icollector.com/Great-American-Treasure-Hunt_as33528

Own a piece of Sutter's Mill!
 

This historic Gold Rush Era woodblock will be on display in Murphys, California. TODAY ONLY!! Saturday, Aug. 30

Beautiful Ironstone Vineyards will play host for this perfect end of summer getaway.  Fred & Joe will be on hand representing Holabird's Auction House, and will have a select  group of  Western Americana Artifacts to show, such as a Henry Lever Action Repeating Rifle, Model 1860 on display!  As well as other related gun ephemera, Diamond Springs Archive (c1853), Utica Mine Find, plus a collection of watercolor's from the late California area  Artist,  Dorner T. Schueler (1904-1986).

Actually,  just copy and paste this link for the full story!

http://www.icollector.com/Sutter-s-Mill-Woodblock-CA-Gold-Rush-Artifact_i20352211

90 years young!

Meet Mr. OFarrell, one of our favorite vendors. Mr. OFarrell celebrated his 90th birthday this year!  Still taking care of us all, Sean delivers authentic Irish Whistles and Shamrock cards for us to sell for him.  These little treasures are direct from Ireland and give Mr. OFarrell a little spending money as well as something to keep him busy and active. His formula for a long life.

Vault Cover installed!

Larry & Sara hard at work placing a wonderful Plexiglas panel on the Door of the historic Wells Fargo Vault here in the Heritage Museum.  For years, customers have had to peer through double wrapped plastic in attempts to see the historic signatures on the inside of the vault door.  These signatures are from all the Wells Fargo agents that managed that station in Angels Camp.  The signatures begin with Scribbner who purchased the mercantile 

building from Henry Angel, co-founder of Historic Angels Camp and opened the first official Wells Fargo Office in that mercantile.

And here we have the finished door panel!  you can even see the signatures in this photo! Amazing!

Come by and see for yourself a great bit of Gold Country History!

If you really want to know why we had to do this, post the question. Otherwise, we can let it go.....

New Pearls this week!

Just finishing up 3 stunning beaded necklaces.  One is Chilean Lapis Lazuli with three 14k gold accent beads. The second and third new pieces are fresh water baroque pearls. One is strung with 14k accent beads while the other also has a rare Gold in Quartz bead. These three pieces will be available this next week in our Museum. 

One Day Only! Historic Document Preview

Holabird Western Americana Collections

Presents a preview of a recently discovered archive

of Calaveras County Historical Documents,

This fabulous archive was recently discovered.  It contains upwards of 10,000 documents from dozens  of the mining camps in and around Angles Camp, c 1880-1915. We were surprised to find illustrated letter sheets, a huge whiskey archive, a fantastic archive from Mitchler's Murphys Hotel, including colorful lithographed business cards.  A remarkable archive from the assay department of the Utica mine is accompanied by an excellent document record of the mine's activities.

 This fabulous collection will go up for auction later this year, so don’t miss your chance to

stop by and see these outstanding historic artifacts for yourself.

One day only,   Saturday, August 30^th.  

10:00 am – 4:00 pm,  Heritage Museum

Bells, Bells and more Bells!

The Bells are in!

Yes, we have a collection of bells in that Mr. Kautz found at an estate sale. They are all for sale with prices ranging from $5 - $25.

I was going to do a nice short little history of Bells ... but, going back to the beginning around 4000 BC in China and ending up here at Ironstone with a room full of little china, glass & pottery bells doesn't make for a short story!

Besides, these don't really fit the search engine's descriptors of musical instruments as they are nice but not fine tuned enough for the orchestra, nor do they lend themselves to the "calling workers from the field to meals" category as I doubt anyone can hear them even from the next room.  

However, they are quite nice little bells with cheery sounds that can remind someone you are stuck in your room in a full lower body cast and need a drink of water or they would fit nicely in someone's bell collection.

In any case, they are charming with nice sounds and great prices.  Come check them out. 

If they are still here in December, you may be subject to a complimentary tasting concert featuring our very own bell choir!  (Save us all and come buy some now!)

Free Music at Ironstone! Friday nite

Utica Mine Archives

Just received word that Ironstone's Heritage Museum will be hosting a one day preview of an outstanding historic find, Saturday, August 30th.

Memorabilia from the famous Utica Mine of Calaveras County. Direct from Holabird & Assoc., will be available for viewing with representatives from Holabird here to answer any questions you may have.  Word is this collection may go up for auction later this year, so now is your chance to come out and see for yourself this great historic archive.  

Now a word from Holabird & Assoc...

Utica Mine Find

The word “archive” is often thrown around to describe items for sale. But this true archive contains thousands and thousands of billheads, assay receipts, advertising envelopes, letters, business cards, river shipping receipts, whiskey and cigar related ephemera, etc. It is the complete record of the Utica Mine and nearby mines and towns associated with the Utica Mine.

You will find names like Frank Mitchler, George Stickle, and Charles Lane, places like Knights Ferry and Sheepranch, assays done by the Utica Mill, assay receipts and bills for rolled silver from Selby, hundreds of records hauling ore and lumber to the Utica Mill, and many more.

Learn about the Angels Dam breaking, the use of Union Water Works ditches to fight fires, the two fatal Utica Mine accidents and the 22 deaths associated with it, which companies in Stockton, Sacramento, and San Francisco were frequented and what was purchased.

Small towns and places can be found throughout the archive: Soulsbyville, Robinson Ferry, Bear Valley Station, Ranch Flat, Monarch Ville, French Canon, Bunds Ranch, and Valley Springs. Find references to forgotten mines and leases named new Discovery, Essex, Juneau, Egan, Union Copper, Ilex, Oriole, New Brunswick, Dolling and many more. Spend hours in 1918 and 1919 as the West Point mines are mapped and described and the business of the mine is laid out. The owner is attempting to market the mine for sale.

Most of these documents are mining related! There are many stories ready to be uncovered and told from this archive! Too many to even begin exploring in this short describing.

Artist Kathleen Dunphy visits Ironstone!

Nationally acclaimed Plein Air Artist Kathleen Dunphy spent a beautiful morning at Ironstone last week working her magic in the vineyards. Below you see the beautiful outcome of that visit.

If you are not familiar with Kathleen or her work you are missing an amazing experience, both visually and emotionally.  Each time I look at one of her paintings, I am drawn into the landscape, the time zone and the aura of that space and time, not once but every time I look at that painting. A true time capsule of energy and light.   For more outstanding paintings visit her website   http://kathleendunphy.com/  

Celebrate with us! July 5th.

Update on Rocks, Rocks and more Rocks!

Update:
Small specimens selling for $5 each while the larger ones are $7 each. Great value! and they are going fast...

New shipment of 52 boxes of outstanding Rock specimens!

Just arrived at Ironstone Heritage Museum this afternoon. We are having so much fun opening each box to see the stunning assortment of quality specimens.

Everything from Copper, Amethyst, giodes, Crystals, Lepidolite, Wulfenite, Sulfur, Kyanite, Aragonite, Rose Quartz, Blue Calcite, Malachite , Okenite (this one is fuzzy and just too wierd to touch!), Dolomite, Actinolite, Sodalite, Amazonite ....

And we have only opened 5 of the 52 boxes!

Prices are only $5 & $7 each.

Snooze ya loose!  These are great for collectors of all ages. If we come across anything real unusual, we will post a photo!


And most important, these are all labeled!  The first batch we received of smaller and lesser quality rocks a couple of years ago were not labeled. We have been trying over the years to learn more about each specimen and figure out what they all are.  This time, NO PROBLEM!  We know what they are and where they come from.  All specimens include a descriptive tag.  

Start your collection now!

Franklin Classic Car Club

Visiting from throughout the United States, the Franklin Classic Car Club comes to Murphys and Ironstone Vineyards.  Over 60 Classic Car Buffs invade Calaveras County, one in particular having driven all the way from New York State!  And NOT in a trailer, but on the road.  

History of the Franklin Company and Club

The Motor Car and the Company

The Franklin motor car was invented by the engineer John Wilkinson and manufactured by the industrialist H. H. Franklin and marked under his name. The Franklin was one of the most innovative motor cars of its time, featuring an air-cooled engine, scientific light weight and flexible construction at a time when other luxury car manufacturers were making ponderous machines. Although it was a luxury car, its unique features made the Franklin a pleasant and easy car to operate, and consequently most Franklins were owner driven. The company always featured many body styles, both factory and custom-made, which were conducive to being owner driven. The Franklin's design allowed it to set many records in point-to-point races which revealed its superior nimble handling, durability, economy and speed over the rough roads of the day. Throughout its history Franklin was a luxury car and it was in this part of the automotive market that it competed with the other notable makes of the day. As such it fell victim to the Great Depression along with many of these same fine luxury car manufacturers.

  

These remarkable motor cars engendered such a loyal and faithful following that interest in these automobiles never died out. Many individuals continued to operate Franklins as their every day automobiles or preserved them right up to the emergence of the antique and classic hobby, decades after production ceased in 1934. The H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company was a very large employer in Syracuse, New York area, its home base, and many people across the world had very fond associations with the company and its motor cars either as employees, dealers, service personnel or just loyal customers of that fine make. For others who were younger it may have been an unforgettable recollection of a Franklin in the family or one which was owned by a neighbor. They were very distinctive automobiles and were not easily forgotten.

Information from the Franklin Car Club
http://www.franklincar.org/about/history/company-and-club.html

Lady Antebellum was a sell out show and awesome!

Hope you got to see the show! It was awesome!  
We have been away buried in work and unable to join you here, but, we are back!  And will get updates on line again...

Post Clinic images ...

If you missed the Free Appraisal Clinic by Holabird & Associates
here are a few more items that came in...

This was an antique shadowbox that was animated. Excellent condition and very funny!

Several antique Guns & Rifles came in. This was the more rare

 Interesting figuring fetching around $300

Fake? or Museum Treasure?  Turned out to be a lovely print... not worth as much as the frame!

There were several outstanding collections of original art that came in. These were done by artist D. Schuler

 Yes, there was GOLD as well, some outstanding specimens too!

Prospector Mario brought in his bathroom waist basket and discovered it was a custom art piece from the early 1900's.

This might be a Miwuk paint brush?

Some things required a closer inspection...

 Is this genuine? The blade seems to be, but ...

 More outstanding art..

This was an outstanding collection from an authentic gold rush bad guy!

  Rugs and more rugs..

 Excellent antique rifle ..

Antique clothing well preserved

Great old metal & glass sign