Tag: bird

Vintage beaten copper plaque

Vintage beaten copper plaque above the bed in our top-floor bedroom | H is for Home

Last week, we published a post about our recent decorating exploits – specifically our top floor bedroom and its shades of grey and black. At that point, there was a large space above the bed waiting for a suitable piece of art. We’d mentioned that there are lots of things relating to nature in the room – and also copper highlights dotted about. Imagine our joy when we found this gorgeous vintage 1960s beaten copper plaque at a local flea market this week.

Tail detail from vintage beaten copper plaque | H is for Home

The first thing we saw peaking out were the feathers. “Oh, that looks interesting!”, we thought…

Head detail from vintage beaten copper plaque | H is for Home

…and, as we pulled it towards us for a better look, the bird’s head was revealed.

Vintage beaten copper artwork above the bed in our top-floor bedroom | H is for Home

We absolutely love it – the stylised bird, so typical of the era, the materials used, texture, patina and colours. We thought we’d be waiting quite a while to fill that long, narrow space with something suitable – but a few days after taking the initial photos, there it appeared. We very nearly missed the market that day too, but fortunately fate intervened!

Charity Vintage: Fajance bird plaque

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Vintage 1950s Fajance pottery bird plaque for sale by & in support of Age UK Cheshire East (ends 29 Aug, 2014 10:58:45 BST)

This week we’re featuring yet another lovely piece of vintage Scandinavian pottery. This is a Fajance plaque designed by Beth Breyen for Royal Copenhagen in the 1960s. It’s sometimes referred to as a ‘Crazy Bird’ and is from the Tenera range. We’ve only ever had a spoon rest with this design but you can also find it on salt pots, trivets and strangely, coffee filter holders.

Fajance is an earthenware pottery that derives its name from Faenza in Italy, where it was first manufactured in the 16th century.

The plaque is in perfect condition and is being sold by & in support of Age UK Cheshire East*

*Age UK Cheshire East is a local, independent charity dedicated to improving the later lives of people in Cheshire East. They do this by offering projects and services that maintain health & wellbeing, improve knowledge and provide practical support to anyone who is, or cares for someone, 50+



Shelf Pottery bird

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vintage Shelf Pottery bird with yellow tulips in the background | H is for Home

We picked up this striking pottery bird last week. It’s actually a money box and it was made by a company whose wares are very familiar to us – namely Shelf Pottery – who operated in Shelf, near Halifax and only a few miles away from where we live in Todmorden. We often come across their pieces at local markets, antique centres & auctions.

vintage Shelf Pottery bird

It’s quite distinctive pottery in terms of design & colourway with the warm oatmeal, cream, beige & browns. We love some of the stylised birds that they produced in the 1970s era. You can also find some great bowls & vases with quite eccentric and abstract forms. You’ll find a little more info and images of a few more examples on the 20th Century Forum