Panoply Vintage Shopping, Finds 1Q18

When you're an antiques & vintage goods dealer and shopping opportunities arise, you're best to act upon each one, especially when it is winter. These opportunities are typically few and far between when most of the region is lying dormant. Most people are deep in the throes of the typical purging and organizing processes in January, February (more on that later), but some choose to have it done professionally. That makes for some great estate sales. My Panoply sisters and I have gone to a few sales, and made one trip during this seemingly short first quarter of 2018 (1Q18). Let's go armchair shopping!

First, I'll show you what I did NOT purchase. My sisters and I traveled to Lewisburg, WV to shop recently. It's very near where the Greenbrier Hotel is located. If you know me at all, you know I love beautiful dishware and table settings.

Both of these tables I'm showing caught my eye, as did the needlepoint pillows and other accessories. The pillows are made with Carleton Varney fabrics (Mr. Color, President of Dorothy Draper & Co, and the Greenbrier's decorator).

Now, onto the things I purchased during these last few months. The things I did buy during 1Q18 eventually take on themes, either coordinating with similar items my sisters purchase and we ultimately style together, or things I gravitate toward which personally appeal to me.  These first items are things which personally appeal to me.

I love majolica, and the colors in these items just sing to me! They are varied in country of origin - Western Germany, Occupied Japan, Portugal, Italy - and from where they were sourced - various dealer friends and antique shops. Aquas/greens/yellows - all have a cottage vibe and shout spring to me!

More cottage looks in the pottery and glass are pictured above. Not one, but two bulb jugs/pitchers with ice lips. And, if you recall, I already had another one in my arsenal, as seen in my sunroom last summer into fall (here). I guess that makes another collection. The matte, greenish-aqua one (top L) is a Rum Rill - likely made by Shawnee Pottery in Zanesville, OH. The middle row are all flower vessels - Fire King jadeite, Empire Works (England), and possibly Shawnee (far rt, tulips). The items on the bottom just struck a chord - a lamb plate (chickens on the back side), an Art Deco Pierrot clown soap or trinket dish, and hobnail milk glass.

The items above are categories I like, but a few are random. I love metals for how easily they store - the greyhound dog by the fireplace, the bacon press, the pineapple napkin rings, bracelets (personal collection) and the bird bottle opener - all are metals. The tiny salt & peppers are Salty & Peppy, popular mid-century kitchen items. The random dog book is a 1946 edition and will sit nicely with a pair of Roseville dog bookends we have in the shop. The porcelain pair of greyhounds are Italian, and the detail was irresistible, plus they'll display nicely with the metal dog in our booth. The print in the bottom left corner is one I just adore. It is a lithograph of the painting by Paul Peel (1860-1892), "After the Bath". I have another, smaller version of this hanging in my office. The remaining finds pictured above are various linens bought for resale.

The last of the items I purchased will all be for resale - at least I think so. 😉 Mostly all of these I consider mantiques - the equestrian (trinket, cup, bookends, and shot glasses), hunt (Libbey fowl glasses), bottle capper with caps, and belt buckles - all are fun things to stock our mantiques booth. The center items - an aged pottery frog and glass fishing float - could work in a garden or coastal theme. The far right, middle and bottom, are more primitive in nature. The chopper handle had great patina, the wood stirrup was nice and grungy, and the donkey is an antique bottle opener. The pitcher (bottom R) is unique - a pewter metal vessel with a wood exterior and intricate metalwork trim.

Okay, let's talk about the proverbial elephant in the room. In January, I talked about my purge proposal, yet here I am buying more stuff. Well, I am sticking to my plan, I want you to know. Sometimes it's just about rotating things, making things fresh and new, right? Fostering, selling and keeping things for personal use....the lines are often blurred when I shop, but eventually I'm ready to let most things go, either by selling in our booths or yard sales, or in gifting.

Pictured above is what I am affectionately calling my purge patrol. I have purged that many packages since mid February, and I'm still working methodically. So, if we've communicated on the subject, I haven't forgotten you. I just haven't gotten to you, and I'm not about to stop until the project is complete in my mind! I've emptied at least three 16-gallon storage tubs, and several other nooks and crannies where things have been stored. Believe me when I say this process has truly been cathartic!

Speaking of rotating things, making things fresh and new, we've been doing a lot of moving and restyling in our booth spaces since the first of the year, too. I'll soon have a post highlighting some of those changes.

Thanks for coming along on this virtual shopping trip, and indulging me with my account of shopping finds. Did you see anything you liked? Have you found some fun finds lately? Feel free to leave your comments. It's always fun to hear what you like, and what seems to be trending in your region.

Rita C. at Panoply

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