Thursday 25 August 2011

We take Our Hats Off to All Organisers of Antiques Events!

      

It seems to be quite difficult to set up a successful antiques event - inclement weather, difficult customers (buyers & sellers), mistakes in advertisements - a whole host of factors can tip the balance from success to failure. Still intrepid entrepreneurs do their best to set up new events. Mr Kevin Brown has created the bric-a-brac bonanza that is the York Racecourse Car Boot Sale, attracting hundreds of sellers and many more buyers on summer Saturdays, and he is now venturing into the organisation of antiques fairs.


We wish him GOOD LUCK!


Monday saw the last of this year's antiques fairs in York and we attended with great anticipation as usual - and left flushed with success and with a stash of treasure.

A huggable North Country slipware jug.


A dreamy Edwardian "Downton Abbey" dress.


A cute vintage elasticated swimsuit in an Abstract Expressionist cotton print. 


And a Georgian enamel patch box with a beehive on the lid, symbolising industry...


We could not, of course, leave York without a little top-up of history and high culture, so we called in at Treasurer's House, close by the Minster.


A pink sandstone statue, blushing beautifully.


The house is full of sparkling light and deep, subtle shades.






Dramatic renovations are taking place "chez nous" so we were looking for inspiration here - dark colour on the window frames enhances the the view outside and could be just the thing... We love Gustavian pale interiors as much as the next World of Interiors addict, but colour is so intoxicating.


'80s fashions are in vogue now so may we stencil again, please?


And did we mention the ghosts who inhabit Treasurer's House?


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Saturday 20 August 2011

IT IS ALWAYS SAFEST TO WIND DOWN SLOWLY AFTER SUCH A BUSY WEEK AS THIS.
Withdrawal symptoms are hard to avoid and jaded adrenaline-junkies are often revived by ANOTHER tramp around ANOTHER field at a country car boot sale. (That's my opinion whatever others might try to insist.)


So today we took a short trip up Leeming Lane to Bedale, a small market town with an historic church and surprisingly elegant buildings on its wide main street. 



Locals and visitors enjoy browsing around the enticing High Street. And we found another antiques shop! Red House is very modish and "dans le vent". It makes total sense of the forbidding heaps of scary stuff we encountered at this week's Lincoln antiques fair. 





The clever Red House owners use it to make quirky and appealing interiors.



We love Bedale and its heart-in-an-ancient-tree-stump sculpture.

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BUSINESS WAS VERY BRISK AT THE THURSDAY IACF ANTIQUES FAIR AT NEWARK IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.                                                

Tables were cleared in a flash - sellers were happy and many buyers were laden with boxes of antiques.


What a good thing that there was a proliferation of antique perambulators everywhere on the showground!





By the end of the day we felt as if WE had walked around the world, but we did not need a pram to carry our purchases, which were mostly exquisite small textiles, (apart from the Victorian ladies purple-spotted bloomers...)


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Tuesday 16 August 2011

Antiques Hunting

The bi-monthly LINCOLN antiques fair came round again on Sunday - HOORAY !                                         


Sometimes these huge events can seem a little daunting and unpromising...


...we call this Post-Apocalypse Chic. It's not our style.


The end of a tiring day


"What's a knick-knack?"
"Something to put on a what-not"
Don't blame us - this is a genuine antique Laurel & Hardy joke - honest!


Time's up again - just look at what we found, hidden amongst the filing cabinets.



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                                 FOLK ART FLOATS OUR BOAT!

Its charm lies in how close to the object the mind that imagined it and the hand that made it seem to be, however old it is - and how easy it is to enter the artist's world.                                
                                                   
                                                                                                                                          


A naive miniature diorama.

                                             A grumpy woolwork cat on a cushion.


A rather bonkers Norwegian wooden pot


An intricate Victorian sampler from Norfolk.


A sweet and serene spaniel in a decorative primitive frame.


A pugnacious pooch, carved in wood.


A romantic embroidery from the 1970s.



A darling girl with...a boiled egg!



A colourful Norwegian painted board.


A stalwart pair of be-smocked farmers from Lincolnshire.


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Some of our antique folk art for sale on ebay this week.

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