Forthcoming Attractions: mid June 2012

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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.

Forthcoming Attractions: Early April 2012

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vintage Lena & Al Eklund tin coasters and vintage jigsaw with hey diddle diddle nursery rhyme illustration

We’ve assembled some new items that we’ve picked up recently. They’re all arranged on a lovely vintage kitchenette – itself a recent auction purchase.

vintage Lena & Al Eklund tin coasters and vintage jigsaw with hey diddle diddle nursery rhyme illustration

We often put these kitchenettes in our antiques centre pitch – they’re good sellers and an added advantage is that they’re great for displaying lots of other items whilst they wait for someone to give them a good home. They require varying amounts of work when we buy them – a good wash usually – then painting, fresh lining paper etc. This one’s had its thorough wash, but apart from that, it’s good to go. We like its caramel colour and daisy patterned paper.

pair of vintage perpetual calendars

Moving onto the smaller items – two perpetual calendars to start with – one wooden, one red-orange plastic. Both probably dating from the 1970s. Perfect for the home office desk or shelf.

TG Green Domino spotted cream jug and vintage Worcester Ware coffee tin

Also sitting on the upper shelves are this pottery jug & coffee tin – slightly earlier in vintage – both 1950s/60s. The jug was produced by T G Green and is from their ‘Domino’ range – we like the colour and simple polka dot design – ideal as a milk jug or for displaying cut flowers.

vintage Worcester Ware coffee tin

The coffee tin was produced by Worcester Ware. They made some lovely metalware items around this time – storage tins, place mats, serving trays, waste paper bins and so on.

set of vintage Lena & Al Eklund tin coasters

Sticking with the metalware theme, we have this very vibrant set of coasters. These were designed by Lena & Al Eklund and produced by Laurids Lonborg of Denmark. Are they fruit trees or flowers?

vintage jigsaw with hey diddle diddle nursery rhyme illustration

Next to the coasters on the main photo is this fabulous children’s wooden jigsaw. It features the nursery rhyme, ‘Hey diddle, diddle’. It was made by Arrow Games Ltd and we guess it dates from the 1960s. We love the illustration – it is signed by the artist ‘Hutchings’ although we haven’t established a first name yet – perhaps someone out there knows?

vintage Mousie Mousie party game

This sweet little party game will be of a similar age – this one produced by Spears Games. Justin says he’s got some vague memories of playing this with his granny. Who needs an X-box when you’ve got ‘Mousie-Mousie’?

pair of vintage Thermos flasks

With summer approaching, thoughts turn to picnics, camping and trips to the beach. Colourful melamine and vintage Thermos flasks always prove popular from now until November.

pair of vintage Thermos flasks

This sweet little vase was made by Hornsea Pottery and is part of their ‘Rainbow’ range. There were lots of shapes made in this pattern – plant pots, vases, ashtrays and cruet sets.

vintage saucepan on atomic wire pan stand

To the left of the main photo is this tall pan stand – the red ‘atomic’ ball feet are a nice touch. On it sits a set of three aluminium saucepans with teak handles – they’re totally unused and have a great stylised flower design in eye-catching orange & blue.

various vintage enamel kitchenalia items

We always make sure we have a selection of vintage enamelware in stock. Its always popular as it gives a retro feel to the most modern of kitchens, without breaking the bank!

J is for… jug

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trio of vintage milk jugs

Here’s a little blog in praise of the humble jug.

mosaic of four vintage jugs

An essential part of domestic life over thousands of years – we use jugs for carrying water, pouring milk, washing & bathing, displaying flowers – the list is endless.

trio of handmade salt glaze jugs by Damian Keefe

Justin’s brother is a potter  and we have some of his jugs dotted around the house. We love the salt glazed ones above which he makes. They’re quite timeless – you can imagine the one on the right filled with ale in a Pieter Bruegal village scene. The simple thumb detailing around the base is lovely. We need some bowls to match if you’re reading this Damian!!

trio of handmade slipware jugs by Hannah McAndrew

And, as if we didn’t have enough jugs, we bought 3 more at last October’s Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. We couldn’t resist Hannah McAndrew‘s wares for a second year – her traditional slipware pottery drawing on medieval influences. They look perfect set upon antique wooden furniture  – but would look equally fantastic as stand alone pieces in a very contemporary modern space.

Here are a few more favourites that have recently passed through our hands.

mosaic of four vintage jugs

vintage Figgjo Flint pottery jug

bright green vintage vacuum flask

mosaic of four vintage jugs

A well designed & attractive jug will give you a little bit of pleasure every time you use it!

Camp it up!

We’re always on the lookout for vintage camping & picnic wares.

Our favourite purchase in the last week has to be this fabulous set of camping chairs.

The 4 canvas chairs – dating from the 1940s or 50s – come in their own carrying case.

This case has corner holes and converts into a sturdy, wooden-topped table.

We’ll add them to our Great Outdoors section sometime soon.

This department has been popular with our customers this summer – here’s a few of our favourite items that have passed through … or are currently for sale.

This set of lovely, sunshine yellow cups & saucers went to Norway recently…

Their new owner, Camilla Elene Erøy, blogged about her new acquisition

Another of our customers bought a few vintage accessories from us for her new VW camper van hire business.

We started our own camper van fund a while ago – which has slowly been building up. It will make our holidays, weekend breaks & buying trips a bit easier… especially with a large dog to consider.

We even have a camper van ‘bottom drawer’.

This cool box and melamine plates are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new home… a vintage, two tone green VW camper van…

… along with a selection of cosy blankets & throws.

We also picked this set up yesterday on a day trip to Ilkley. We think it’s destined for our bottom drawer – but how many melamine plates will we need?!

We got it from a lovely little shop that we’ve just discovered. It’s called Cakewalk and it’s tucked away on Trafalgar Road. It’s only a small shop but it manages to display a great selection of vintage and recycled fashion & homewares. Well worth a visit if you’re ever in the area.

Happy camping!!!