Early Spring 2018 Vintage Finds

Just like Mother Nature outside, the end of March, early April brought about a flurry of estate sales, a private pick, shopping from our own antique mall, and a remarkable auction indoors. Let's take a look at my early spring 2018 vintage finds.

A trip to Ohio to connect with sister J was mainly for a private estate pick, which turned out to be less than stellar. However, we sisters know how to turn a bad day of picking into a good one two.

Look what my sister M spotted for me, pictured below! This matches my favorite majolica plates found and used in this post. If I found nothing else, this was my favorite find! It's Zell (German) majolica, and dates from the early 20th century, in beautiful condition.

Next, I found more dishes (surprise, surprise). The green platter in back (Bordello Pinheiro) is not all that old, but I liked the bunnies and will use it with my cabbage plates and other Easter things I already have (most of which is already packed away for next year). The two fruit plates in front are French, St. Clement (plums on left, apples on right), and were found in two separate locations. After researching, I've found there are several other fruit plates in the series, but I'm not sure if I want to start another new collection. These will be nice for late summer, early fall display (or resale).

The rabbit compote below was found in my own antique mall - spotted by fellow blogger, Fonda, and her wife, Katie. Fonda was a participant in my inventory purge, and I met the two of them in our mall on the 29th as they were passing through town. As they shopped the booths, they found the compote and alerted me with a text message!

While this compote is not as old as the Minton original, circa 1870, it is a terrific vintage/reproduction example, and is in equally terrific condition. I might have mentioned here that bunnies are multiplying in my house. This guy remains on display at home a little longer than most of my other spring bunnies.

Gardening season is promised here this week. I picked all the vessels you see pictured below, as well as the cheery tablecloth they're sitting upon. The birds and the wheelbarrow (isn't that adorable? I think I'll use it for dips!) are vintage McCoy, and I'm not sure about the little girl or yellow, Art Deco vase to her left (both unmarked). The daffodil pot is sitting on an upside down hobnail while milk glass planter (mostly out of view).

One more bulb jug couldn't be passed up for its condition and price! That now makes four in my stash, and all four are different shades of green/aqua. I'll line them up sometime for a photo shoot and share it. The napkin rings are Fiestaware (sea mist), from the 1980s, and came with maker napkins. The personal teapot is unmarked, bought for its color and price.

The pillow below was purchased for its happy colors, already in my sunroom, and the lamb is the newest member of my flock.

Textiles....condition, colors, themes, price, hand work....all are reasons to pick these up when we vintage shop. Hand worked items include a quilt, pillowcases, potholder, and a tapestry square. The Fiestaware napkins and dish towel are incidental purchases.

Mantiques are picked simply by what my eye is drawn to. The handsome man in swivel frame just might be my long lost flapper soulmate. The tiny money box on which he's perched matches two other, larger, banker boxes I have. Faucets and handles are great garden items for repurposing as knobs and a few other things. The horse shoes are very old and flattened, plow work horse type. The baled jar is full of obsidian rock, Native American fragments from Tulare County, CA. The pitcher at right is a Hazel Atlas match to the glasses I found and mentioned here, and will make a nice fall display. The casters, similar to those I bought and mentioned here (which sold as a lot), are popular for those who restore antique furniture. The clamps are simply utilitarian and have makers' marks.

A few other random items (clockwise, starting L): a French bulldog doorstop, an Aigner basket purse from the early 1970s, a wooden cheese box with advertising graphics, a set of five Russian matryoshka dolls, and a pair of asparagus tongs.

That's it for all the individual picks from the various estate sales, private pick and antique malls of late March, early April.

Sister M and I attended a local auction right before Easter of an historic inn, the General Lewis Inn of Lewisburg, WV. Originally constructed in the early 1800s, the inn changed hands in 2014, and the new owners decommissioned many of the antique primitives first curated for the inn.

Pictured below is a collage of a few of the antique items we Panoply sisters purchased. Clockwise, from L: Sister M is a master dollmaker, and purchased the china head doll in original clothing. Sister J scored the wood and metal square with handle, a carriage footwarmer. The metal insert was for heated coals, and the perforated metal box would emit the heat beneath the passengers' feet.

Pictured below the footwarmer is a unique Victorian, individual silverplate table place setting (my purchase). It includes a salt cellar, pepper shaker, napkin ring and butter pat (in back), all on a wheeled base with bird motif in front. Bottom L is a tiny coal miner's oil lamp, designed to hook onto the front of a helmet, and a rare, miner's oil lamp filler flask (J's). The photos just above the miner's lamp and flask include a closeup of the porcelain doll's undergarments and legs. She is stuffed with sawdust (and was leaking a bit, which M can repair). The bisque baby with basket on its back is a vessel, most likely for either flowers or matches (also my purchase). Most of these type babies - also called piano babies - were placed on the piano to hold a shawl in the well-appointed Victorian home.

Two quilts also purchased from the General Lewis Inn auction are pictured below. The birds are cross-stitched on the quilt (mine), while the blue and white quilt is entirely pieced (M's)

As a matter of education, I want to share this stoneware jug pictured below. Although the frames are not clear (taken with my cell phone from my seat), I wanted to get as many angles as I could. This is called a harvest jug with a strap handle, circa 1860. It was made by G.M. Fulton, and was most likely a presentation or lead piece, meaning the potter created it to demonstrate his abilities in pottery making. It was in pristine condition, with flow blue designs. Guess how much it sold for.....

Let me first say, stoneware jugs command very good prices in our region, and have held their value over the past decade, for sure. My sister J collects these, and is always interested in the gavel prices. The more typical ones go anywhere from $200 - $800. But this one? Well, it went for $27,500.00. And this guy (below) was the buyer.

Regardless of the shades, he was anything but inconspicuous!

Have you been vintage treasure hunting lately? See anything you'd also buy in these lots? What's hot in your region? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear! As always, thanks for your visit!

Postscript - Monday, April 9, 2018: I had forgotten about buying the sign pictured below until I was loading my car (where I had left it) for my weekly trip to work our booths. It's a piece of wormy, repurposed wood and an old garden hose. Cute, isn't it?

Rita C. at Panoply

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