Posts Tagged ‘antique’

Fair Finds

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

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selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show

We made the trip to Lincoln Antiques and Home Fair on Monday. Our alarm was set for 5.30am, so it was quite an early start in the cold and the dark. Add in a few hours driving and you have to hope that the effort will be worthwhile.

selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show including a bolt of vintage 1950s fabric, set of sky blue Czech enamel containers, circular Nymolle pottery plaques designed by Bjorn Wiinblad, trio, vintage Marks and Spencer blue and purple floral curtains of fat lava West German vases and antique 18th/19th century wooden pie/bread peel

Fortunately it was – and we picked up some very nice pieces – some favourites are shown here. It’s mainly vintage, mid 20th century stuff; but we couldn’t resist a couple of country antiques too, such as this beautiful 18th century bowl and bread/pie oven peel.

selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show with antique 18th/19th century turned wooden bowl highlighted

We bought quite a few West German ‘fat lava’ pots, concentrating on bold reds & oranges. Their prices are certainly on the rise. Other ceramics included the wall plaques designed by Bjorn Wiinblad for Nymolle of Denmark. Each one represents a month of the year and features a loving couple’s story – from courtship to parenthood. We like the whimsical, folk art design and we’ve actually got a set on our kitchen wall.

selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show highlighting a set of 1950s teak coasters in a matching lidded holder

A slightly more recent piece of wood was to be found in the shape of this 1950s/60s teak coaster set. We’re not sure who the maker is, but it’s got real quality to it – it’s very Scandinavian and has a gorgeous, warm colour.  There was no shortage of enamelware to be found – we plumped for this set of graduated blue kitchen pots – the largest has an impressive 18 litre capacity!

selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show

The sewing box dates from the 1960s and is made of a plastic weave material. Some people call in Dandycord – which we think was a trade name or brand of PVC flooring. The same material was used in the manufacture of these sewing boxes. You also see chairs, plant pot holders, magazine racks etc from the same period made from it. We were given a real flash of flower power colour when we lifted the lid!  Equally bold & bright were the lovely little teatowel and this absolutely stunning roll of unused 1950s fabric, with it’s classic vase design & period colour combination of yellow, red, grey, black & blue.

It’s always tempting to stay in a warm bed, but we’re glad that we didn’t when we look back at this haul!

Mystery Object

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

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Mystery object with antique metal candleholder on pine topped table

So, what’s this mystery object? And we don’t mean the candle holder!

Try and guess what it is before the last few photos.

Mystery object on pine topped table

We bought it at the weekend from our local antiques centre. This is obviously quite an old example, but new ones are still being produced.

Having said that, the design hasn’t changed much as it does the job perfectly.
Mystery object on pine topped table

It might make one particular little job a lot easier towards the end of July or early August – a foraging type job…
detail of mystery object on pine topped table

…OK, no more clues…
curved dry stone wall with bilberry bushes growing above

…it’s a bilberry comb!

Bilberries (also called whimberries, whinberries, wimberries, winberries, windberries, blaeberries, whortleberries, hurts, myrtle blueberries and fraughans) grow wild round these parts – in fact, local conditions seem perfect as they’re widespread on lanes & hillsides. They’re the most delicious little berries. They’re a bit fiddly to pick individually, but that’s what we’ve always done previously.bowl of freshly picked bilberries

We’ll look into the pros & cons of this tool – judging by the age of this one, they’re not a recent phenomenon – and are still widely available to buy at country stores. Most people sing their praises, but initial internet searches have thrown up a few dissenting voices.

Their concerns seem to centre around the fact that they’re a bit indiscriminate with regards to picking both ripe & unripe berries – and also their efficiency doesn’t leave much behind for wildlife.

We can’t see the point in harvesting till the majority of berries are ready. With regards wildlife, some parts of the bush are hard to get to – and some bushes themselves are very inaccessible to people – so there should be plenty left for the birds and small animals. We’ve noticed bush craft & foraging guru, Ray Mears has them for sale on his website.

plate with a slice of bilberry tart and cup of tea

We know one thing … they make superb desserts – warm, homemade bilberry pie with cold, thick cream just can’t be beaten!

Perfect Pitch!

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

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We recently decided to upgrade our space in the local antiques centre from a cabinet to a room-sized pitch. It will enable us to sell a much wider variety of items. It’s our usual mix of mid-century modern, handmade objects and rustic antiques.

There’s enamelware, ceramics, glass and fabrics… we’ve had some fantastic vintage posters framed for the walls… there are clocks, lighting and larger pieces of furniture.

It’s been quite a busy week – there are slideshows below charting the move.


BEFORE
(Items cluttering up our lounge, waiting to go)


DURING
(boxes to unpack, shelves to put up & pictures to hang)


AFTER
(More tweaking will surely be done, but we’re happy with the result so far)

Come pay us a visit if you’re ever in the area!

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Potato masher… we think!

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

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We often feature mid-twentieth century items in our blogs, but we also have a real passion for old country furniture.

We picked up this wonderful piece of rustic kitchenalia – we think it’s an antique potato masher.

Perhaps Irish in origin, although we’re not sure at this stage… a bit more research is required.  It’s a very unusual piece.

BLOG UPDATE: 22nd  June.  We now think that the object in question is actually a cheese press. The wet cheese, contained within a cloth is pressed by the wooden block, the excess liquid draining through the holes. We’re still not sure about the country of origin. British/Irish is still likely, although continental Europe is a possibility – and we were also sent pictures of a very similarly designed piece which was in a U.S. auction of farm machinery. (Thanks to Erik Schepers).

If you like cottage interiors or country furniture, these books are well worth a look:


Irish Country Furniture (Amazon UK)

Irish Country Furniture (Amazon US)


English Cottage Interiors (Amazon UK)
English Country Furniture (Amazon UK)
English Cottage Interiors (Amazon US)
English Country Furniture (Amazon US)

Tom Thumb table

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Amongst the items we sourced this week was a very quirky piece. It’s a rustic Victorian pine kitchen table… with a difference – it measures a mere 24 inches long & 8 inches high!

It’s a lovely period piece dating from the 19th century, beautifully made with turned legs and jointing – the wood having a wonderful, aged patina.

We think it could possibly be an apprentice piece – the young craftsman displaying his skills before tackling a full-scale piece. We’ve seen miniature cabinets & chests before, but never a table.

It’s lovely just to look at… but we’ve been trying to think of possible uses. A children’s or dolls’ tea party springs to mind. It would look great with one of those vintage miniature tea sets.

It’s the perfect size for a breakfast tray…

…or tea ceremony.

It could also function as a storage or display surface.

Anyway, if anyone has got the perfect use for it, we’ve just put it on the H is for Home website – it’s in the kitchen department. You won’t need a lot of space to give it a good home!

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