Forthcoming Attractions: Early May 2016

Selection of vintage homeware sourced by H is for Home

We’ve acquired some fabulous vintage items this week.

Vintage Thomas Flammfest lidded casserole dish and Johnson Brothers Op Art coffee pot

We’ll start with two pieces for the kitchen diner – both items having a distinct Op Art feel. The coffee pot has a bold pattern of squares & circles in chocolate brown, black & white. It was produced by Johnson Bros in the late 60s or early 70s. The lidded casserole dish was made around the same time and has an equally striking design – this time, a repeating pattern of tulip heads in vibrant green & blue. It was made by Thomas of Germany. As we mentioned in the last Forthcoming Attractions post, we’re big fans of much of this company’s output.

Vintage toy Mettoy Elegant typewriter with original box

This toy typewriter is a lovely example. It’s the Mettoy Elegant model in shades of pink – complete with original box. We’ve had a few of these Mettoy typewriters, but never in this colourway before.

Small vintage Dümler & Breiden fat lava vase and Cascade glass piggy bank

Next is an old favourite – the West German fat lava. This example was produced by Dumler Breiden and has a striking, sculptural form with flashes of orange to the rim and twin handle like openings. The piggy bank was made by Cascade in the 1960s/70s. We like the design and pewter colour of the glass. You might want to use this money box for display only because there’s no stoppered hole to retrieve the coins – once they’re in, they’re in!

Small goose neck desk lamp and mid century modern teak, metal & glass wall pendant lamp

And last but not least, two nice bits of lighting. The miniature desk lamp is really cute. It dates from the 1950s/60s era and has a brass coloured flexi neck – perfect for those dramatic grey interiors perhaps. The wall lamp originates from the same period and is a real beauty. The mount is teak with brass & copper detailing – the glass shade has a wonderful swirling pattern. This piece looks good against grey too – and we can also see it hanging on a bright white wall in a pared back Mid Century Modern space.

Detail from a mid century modern teak, metal & glass wall pendant lamp

If anything has taken your fancy, most of these items have just been put into our web shop.

West German vase collection

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Vintage West German vase collection | H is for Home

We’ve been Fat Lava fans for a long time. It was over 7 years ago that we first blogged about our West German vase collection. All the fabulous shapes and glazes make them a wonderful thing to collect. There’s much more information coming to light about the various factories and designers that produced them which adds further interest and insight. Books, websites and magazine articles dedicated to the subject have appeared over recent years.

Vintage West German vase collection | H is for Home

We’ve seen quite an addition in our own numbers recently. As mentioned in Tuesday’s post, we bought 21 vases at auction last week.

7 vintage West German vases | H is for Home

There are some real beauties, including pieces by Dumler & Breiden, Carstens and Sheurich.

Trio of vintage West German vases | H is for Home

Some work well in small groupings…

Carstens Luxus range 'Beehive' vase designed by Dieter Peter | H is for Home

…others are very impressive stand-alone pieces, such as this large, sculptural Carstens Luxus range ‘Beehive’ vase designed by Dieter Peter.

Trio of vintage fat lava vases | H is for Home

As well as adding a couple to our own West German vase collection, we’ve put about fifteen of them into our antiques centre space; they work very well in a large display. We’ll also add some to the website in the coming week – here’s what we currently have for sale in our online shop.

Forthcoming Attractions: Mid-September 2015

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Selection of vintage collectables heading to the H is for Home shop - September 2015

Here’s a selection of recent vintage buys heading shopwards.

set of vintage Beefeater steak plates

For starters, we have a classic bit of what is generally termed ‘vintage retro’ these days. These ‘Beefeater‘ steak plates scream 1960s/70s.

detail view of a vintage Beefeater steak plate

They were produced by English Ironstone Ltd in Staffordshire. Aren’t they fabulous? We’ve got some young bulls on nearby farmland – you won’t be surprised to hear that they’re not quite as colourful as these.

Vintage Easimix mixing bowl by T. G. Green with blue patterned vintage fabric

We’re staying in the same era with this fabric offcut.

Detail of blue patterned vintage fabric

Actually, the style is very similar – the same artist could have been responsible for both the plates and the textile!

Vintage Dumler Breiden 'fat lava' West German vase with wooden deer figure

This pair of items makes a nice little grouping – they would look perfect on a vintage, mid-century modern teak sideboard. We love the contrast of glazes on the vase – and the flash of orange of course. The stylised antelope is lovely. We come across similar wooden sculptures quite often, but this one stood out from the crowd. It’s particularly good quality in terms of material and skill of carving.

Yellow vintage fondue set

This fondue set is top quality for its type also – enamel pan with teak detailing, warmer and a set of six forks. It’s pretty much unused and a superb English mustard colour. Pop that on the sideboard too… ready for the retro dinner party.

Orange original vintage Anglepoise lamp

More vibrant colour with this vintage lamp – our favourite Anglepoise for some time. We love the stepped base, shape of the shade and bold red colourway.

Detailed view showing maker's mark on an orange original vintage Anglepoise lamp

It’s a Herbert Terry original and would look great gracing any desk or worktop.

Detailed view of a vintage Neiman Marcus poster celebrating Danish Fortnight

And finally, onto the poster that’s in the background of many of these photos. We’ve had it for a while, but it’s been rolled up in storage. We’ve just had it framed so we’re counting it as a new item! It’s a vintage poster advertising Danish Fortnight at the department store Neiman-Marcus in Dallas. The poster is gorgeous – and you can guarantee that most of those 1960s Danish homewares on sale were gorgeous too!