The Panoply sisters have been on the loose again, pickin' and packin' some new vintage finds. Wanna see what we hauled in? Grab a drink, and sit back. It's show and tell time!
First stop...Ripley, WV. Though not associated at all with
the Ripley's, we still saw some incredible deals there. Each year on the days surrounding the 4th of July, the small town of Ripley (pop. 3,256), just about 40 miles north of home, is host to an annual antique and flea market. Sister M and I made the short trip on the Saturday of the holiday weekend. Believe it or not, we were there about 3 hours, and only made it to two booths. Yep, it's how we roll when we find a booth we like...we stay and shop.
We came across the sweetest gal who sold some great furniture at some great prices. Pictured above is a collage of the gal's booth space in the hosting barn facility (top, complete with sand and sawdust floors). Also pictured is the skinny strip of the driveway I navigated between that big truck and the ditch beside it to get my SUV through. Finally, a shot of the gal and me, after we loaded the car.
Here's what we bought and loaded (Sometimes we amaze ourselves. Believe it or not, it all fit in the SUV!): First, this two-piece stepback cabinet (pictured below). It's finished in Annie Sloan's Old White (light distressing on edges), and the top is sanded and clear-coated with polyurethane.
Next (photo below) are two pieces my sister purchased: a repurposed island and refinished tea cart. The collage shows two views of the island, both front and back. Not certain what the piece was in its former life, the gal informed us it cranks from a center handle to raise the attached wood surface (freshly applied) up to the height desired. There's an attached bar on one side for hanging towels or tools, and a heavy (new), enameled pan on the shelf below (removable from the stationary shelf on which it sits). The whole thing's got a sort of farmhouse, industrial vibe to it. The tea cart has a lift off glass tray, and the cart itself has two lift up side panels. If told what paints and finishes were used, I've forgotten, but the island is a grey, while the cart has more blue in it.
We both purchased some smalls, too, which we stuffed into the car's trunk. I picked up the smalls pictured below. Funny, how things have their way of finding
you, isn't it? Does that little covered bowl in the left frame look like a familiar pattern? If you read
this post of mine, you'd recognize it's the same pattern! On the right is another McCoy planter, and a sweet cross stitch message and old garden weeder.
This being an election year, I couldn't resist this assortment of political buttons for the prices asked:
Alrighty, that was the end of that trip. The following week, our next stop was the Ohio River Valley of Cincinnati and neighboring Kentucky. Sister M and I met up in sister J's hometown for a couple days of hard work (!), combing through one thrift store and three different antique malls. One of our two days involved packing a picnic lunch, as we shopped from 9am to 7pm (including our commute to and from J's home).
You know we don't go anywhere that we don't typically sniff out some good textiles. When shopping with my sisters, it's just a question of who will take what. We try to share. Believe it or not, we each had nearly an equal amount of vintage textile finds. Below is a photo collage of all that I brought home on this trip.
Did you know granny square afghans are having their day again? At least in our area, they are. The top left frame shows the afghan I bought - not huge, but a nice lap size coverlet. It's of tightly woven wool yarns, I think, as it sort of has the smell of wool (but not dirty). I think it may have been machine washed, resulting in that tight, felted feel, which may explain its size (shrunken). The top right frame shows 3 great, vintage cotton tablecloths (the tulips one is a Startex brand), two pairs of crochet-edged pillowcases, and 4 crocheted cup or glass cozies. The bottom right frame is holiday related: a home-sewn (child's) holly berry apron, 6 matching plaid, 2 snowflake holiday napkins and 4 matching fleur-de-lis damask napkins (versatile for any season) - all either new old stock or like new. The framed watercolor is a winter snow scene of a man walking a country road. Finally, the bottom left frame shows a fantastic pair of lined draperies made of barkcloth, with wonderful farm valley graphics. I thought they'd be great for projects, such as pillows or placemats - cut, hem and stuff!
For those of you who follow me, you remember on one of my
last trips to this area, I left the Quimper vase (in the top frame of the collage above) behind. It was still there (!), and it was marked down! I also found the pudding mold (marked Germany), and that child's ironstone casserole - sweet! The bottom frame shows a little collection of smalls that intrigued various interests of mine - 2
clothes brushes to add to mine at home, an equestrian scarf and gloves (thinking of Derby vignettes), a bakelite tipped olive server (so very mid-century!), and an old copy of
Silas Marner, a classic.
Last but certainly not the least of my picks are the items pictured above, most all of them with a fall theme. The THANKFUL pillow was made of new fabrics - dropcloth front and ticking stripe backing - with the hand-stenciled word on front. It sits on a naturally chippy, yellow painted stool, and in front of it is a hand-stenciled and painted APPLES sign on old wood. The tiny little apron is a child's, fashioned of old denim, and trimmed in a rooster print. The sunflower plate is Bordallo Pinheiro. Of the ironstone molds, the very small two are for butter, while the oval one (a rabbit) is for pudding.
Sister J is a lover of primitives, and all but one of the items above are picks she either bought on this trip or recently acquired alone. The top frame of the photo collage are two really great pieces: an 1800s Virginia-sourced wooden pitcher, and a hand-wrought grain scoop with square nails and wood bands. The bottom frames, L to R include a Cream of Wheat [period] framed advertisement (titled, "Financially Embarrassed"), a primitive quilt, and the tiniest little doll quilt with two dolls. The doll on the left is a Topsy Turvy (J's), and the doll on the right is Black Americana (M's).
No doubt you'll be seeing most of these items in some not-too-distant future Panoply display changes in the antique mall. We have some planning to do of our spaces, and we'll likely spend a day or two revamping our booths. I'll be sure and do another post of those updates.
That's it for the latest Panoply show and tell. I'm to the point where I only buy what I like these days, just in case things don't sell and I end up necessarily keeping them. My biggest problem, though, seems to be letting go of things right away because I like them so much. I haven't decided which of these finds I'll keep awhile yet. Which ones would you keep? Did you see anything you liked? Let me know!
Rita C. at Panoply
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