Treasure hunting

Saturday is the day I go with friends to our charity shop, Emmaus. We hadn't been in a while and as the weather was fabulous the store was almost empty. I usually buy practical things, this time a large wicker linen basket and the wooden blind show in the previous post. I bought some books for a friend along with two pretty 1930's tea pots as she has a guest house on the river. 

I found this odd oriental table/stand in the trash pile of the shop as it had a missing lower leg and couldn't resist taking it for all the pretty gilt metal trims I could use for something. I spent the evening carefully prying them all off to find that the whole table was crumbling to dust with woodworm. 

 There droplet pieces will be useful somewhere surely ! 

 These swags will make excellent curtain pelmets or a table trim or curved round to make the base of a chandelier.

 This is just a modern shop counter in 1:12 scale and the little gold figures I will paint to imitate 'Staffordshire' ceramics. I paid 2 euros for the lot.

We then went to our favorite 'brocante', Junk shop to meet up with our favorite 'brocanteur' Stephane. His place is huge, he empties houses and schools and sometimes chateaux and convents. As the last thing I need is more furniture I concentrate on all the boxes of bits and pieces. Stephane had just lost his dad the week before so we spent some time talking about this with him as he is someone really genuine and special. His mum turned up and we had some wine and talked some more. 

I found these bits in a basket, all of use in some way, some day. You can see I found one of my favorite finds, the electric 'pear', a nice one with ivory trim.

This is a little tailors pocket brush used to brush off lint from clients. I will use it to keep my work surface clear of dust. I have a thing about brushes and somewhere there is a large box of them, then again there are boxes of about everything somewhere in the house !!! 

This antique Budhha is Kmer and came in this velvet lined box.  It's probably a souvenir from the 50's or 60's before they began making them in resin for tourists. It's big/small enough to be a large budhha in the house one day.

Evertime I go to a junk store or charity shop I say 'no more pictures', the attic is full of paintings and pictures of all types, all lovely originals waiting to be hung along with boxes of frames and folders of prints and drawings waiting to be framed. 

BUT

I couldn't resist these little pictures. The top one might be a hand painted engraving, it was the fashion at one point of ladies to paint over black and white engravings.

This next one is really pretty, there were about 20 others but I just took one. Stephane had bought the contents of an artists atelier with many studies and drawings and easels etc. I bought some months ago several charcoal classical studies from another artist whose studio be acquired. I used to collect charcoal classical studies then architectural drawings then it got a bit out of hand. I stopped this mania for collecting when I began making minaitures as it turned my focus.

This is just a little ruin in pencil. Somewhere I have a small collection of framed drawings of castles and ruins in pretty old frames, this will add to it one day.

Here you can get an idea of why I bought the following item. Immediately I saw it I thought 'bedhead' and then saw that the piece was part of a broken letter stand in cloisonné gilt metal. The stand had a missing foot and the screws that held the central piece had broken.

I'm not sure if I will use it in the chinese bedroom as I have just bought a Chippendale style bed but when it's time to decorate I might change my mind.  

This last piece sat on a high shelf until I found it. Sadly it is missing a leg and once held a cristal dish for some garnish on a victorian table. I could cast the missing foot and patina it up to match the table. It is about 6 cms high which x 12 would make it table height when a top is added.

 I think it's lovely although my house is not French in style I might yet add it somewhere.

I also bought the most gorgeous huge plaster sculture of an angel in profile which I need to consolidate before photographing. I also purchased an early 18th century marriage mirror in gilded carved wood, really gorgeous but the top was broken in many pieces and the idea of restoring it correctly to its former glory just provoked me into saying yes.

I will make a separate post on these two items one day. 

So in all a good day with some sadness, lots of conversation and fantastic weather.