Forthcoming Attractions: mid June 2012

"Forthcoming Attractions" blog post banner

selection of vintage items to be shortly added to the H is for Home shop including triangular corner shelf unit, desk lamps, bright yellow Habitat floor lamp, 1950s cream coloured storage tins, blue Hornsea ashtray, Hornsea "May" mug, red thermos flask, white Metamec wall clock, stainless steel tea strainer, "Gaybox" wall fitting, orange-handled aluminium colander and Scandinavian salad servers

Here’s a selection of recent vintage homeware purchases heading for our shop.

set of 1950s cream coloured kitchen storage tins with an orange-handled aluminium colander

We regularly come across these vintage aluminium colanders, but not often with groovy orange handles.

detail from a set of 1950s cream coloured kitchen storage tins

There are seven of these vintage metal containers. We think they’ve been repainted at some point – a long time ago and rather expertly it has to be said. The cream & dove grey colour combination is lovely.

vintage op art, red & white Thermos flask and vintage black & white Metamec clock

Next we have this drinks flask produced by Thermos.  So famous are this company for producing vacuum drinks flasks that most people actually call them Thermos flasks – in the same way people call vacuum cleaners ‘Hoovers’. This is a lovely example dating from the 1960s with a bold, graphic pattern in red & cream.

The clock dates from the same period. It was produced by another famous maker – this time Metamec. They produced this type of clock in many different colourways. They’re also well known for their sculptural starburst clocks.

vintage stainless steel tea strainer

This stainless steel tea strainer was made in Denmark. It’s neat & well designed – ideal if you’re a regular leaf tea drinker.

The Hornsea mug is one of a set celebrating the twelve months of the year. Each one features a couple occupied in typical activities for the month in question e.g. celebrating bonfire night in November, building snowmen in January, dodging rain showers in April and so on. This one’s for March and they’re being blown about in the wind.

blue vintage Hornsea Pottery ashtray

The ashtray‘s also by Hornsea – but a much simpler, geometric repeating pattern this time.

unmatching pair of vintage metal goose necked desk lamps

We have little & large of the desk lamp world. Well, the larger lamp isn’t that big, it’s just that the smaller one is very dinky indeed. They both have a really good mid century modern look. The larger of the two was produced by Anglepoise, the smaller by Tensor.

vintage "Gaybox" wall fitting in its original box

This wooden shelf system is so 1950s…

detail from a vintage "Gaybox" wall fitting in its original box

…not only the shape with its interlocking squares, but also the packaging – and its name of course – the “Gaybox”… wonderful!

vintage triangular corner shelf unit and bright yellow "Bobby" Habitat floor lamp

This corner unit also dates from the 50s – it would sit very nicely with blonde Ercol furniture. The bright yellow floor lamp is a much more recent product. It’s called the ‘Bobby’ lamp and is sold through Habitat.  We bought a pair in a recent house clearance auction. We like the colour, styling and functionality – in fact, Adelle’s been using it all week as her task light of choice for sewing.

set of vintage Danish teak & stainless steel salad servers

Finally, we have these salad servers in teak & stainless steel. These examples date from the 1960s, but are boxed & pristine. Great styling & quality materials – just a lovely piece of classic Danish design for everyday use.

All the items shown will be heading towards the website or antiques centre soon, but feel free to enquire about anything that particularly takes your fancy.

E is for… Enamel

'E is for... Enamel' blog post banner

Vintage chocolate brown enamel saucepan Vintage red, daisy-patterned enamel bowl Vintage Cathrineholm sky blue enamel saucepan

Antique orange enamel candle holder Vintage cream coloured enamel colander Vintage orange enamel bread bin

Vintage cream coloured enamel bread bin set of 3 vintage chocolate brown enamel saucepans Vintage yellow enamel coffee pot

We’re big fans of vintage enamel homewares. The process involves paint actually being baked onto metal, glass or ceramics. Used in all manner of household items, it’s practical, hard wearing and incorporates some fantastic colours & patterns.

Also, a bit of wear and tear is no bad thing – a few small chips and dents create a lovely, homely, lived-in patina – not usually the case with other materials such as pottery and glass.