the easter loot shoot ….

by Sharon Santoni
One of the good things about the country brocante fairs and yard sales that I love to go to is that they are so early in the morning  … I don’t mean that I actually enjoy the moment when I have to leave my warm bed and get dressed to go outside …. what I mean is that my reward for starting that early in the morning is that I can be back here in time for breakfast with the family.
That is what happened this weekend, and I was very happy with the fairs I found.   Let me show you some of the treasure I came home with….
Another handsome and very chic find,  a tea service for two, made in Limoges and hand dated – who knows an FC?![

How about these Napoleon III candle holders.  Made of bronze, and with a wonderful off white/gray patina, they are in perfect condition, and would date from about 1860.

Next I found a lovely landscape painting, and the most charming old paintbox, complete with brushes, palette and original tubes of paint!

A tureen,   you know I can’t resist them … and some sweet little cream pots

and some textiles, a stunning linen sheet with matching pillow cases, all monogrammed AS.  Then two pieces of vintage or antique printed fabric;  a pretty toile de jouy, and a much older piece of very fine printed cotton.

Then finally, and most unusually I found two wooden boxes, with numbers on their sides.  They are most certainly from an old haberdashery, and are full to the brim with ornate lace and trimmings. ….

Very easy to date, because the newspaper lining one of the boxes is titled January 1902.

Thank you for all your easter wishes, you are the best!

18 comments

Katey April 1, 2013 - 7:22 pm

I guess dragging yourself out of bed isn't such a bad thing after all. What awesome finds!! When we were in London it was so exciting to get up well before the sun and find some coffee and take the train to a fair. We got there before some vendors had set up and it was like Christmas watching them unpack!

Reply
vicki archer April 1, 2013 - 9:15 pm

Seriously fabulous candlesticks Sharon… xv

Reply
Dolly Cocossino April 1, 2013 - 9:48 pm

lovely finds! greetings from Norway

Reply
Ms Lemon of Make Mine Lemon April 1, 2013 - 10:06 pm

Here is the States there was a commercial where a woman got such a good deal at a store that she jumps in the car like it is a getaway car, locks the doors and tells her husband to hurry and drive away. Every time I see your post of a loot shoot I have a vision of you making a getaway. Can you hold your smile until you get in your car? Hope you had a wonderful Easter.

Reply
Misty April 1, 2013 - 10:29 pm

You sure found some great items! I have a feeling yard sales in France are more interesting than here in the states. 🙂

Reply
Vicki April 2, 2013 - 7:50 am

I agree with Misty. In my neck 'o the woods, there's never a yard sale like what I'm seeing in Normandy. You live in a whole 'nuther world than some of the rest of us, Sharon! This is a particularly nice bunch of loot, isn't it. The tureen, the little cream/crème pots and love the paintbox, not to mention the vibrant landscape painting. I think you have a great start to your season.

Amazing to think/see what is saved in a family over so many decades or centuries before they come on the market. It's hard to be the descendent who has to make the decision to further keep or part with an item. I'm having to do that with my mother's things right now; it's excruciating and emotional, but no one follows, and I cannot absorb my parents' entire household into my own. I'm charged with finding the right homes for things and I'll do my best. I'll lose money on the piano, yet I've found a local man who revers old consoles and uprights, so I'd much rather he take it and sell it to the right, new family than hand it over to a chain/outlet store. I've found a distant cousin who shares a Dutch ancestor; she will get his late-19th century accordion. Another cousin several times removed will get my great-great grandmother's china; the girl is young and loves all things shabby, chic, vintage and ancestral, so she's a good fit.

But I know some of our family loot (not a lot, but enough) will wind up in a sale, although I look at it differently now, since I've seen right here on the blog and from other occurrences over time, that possessions of one family become the treasures of another, and it's all good. The main thing is that loved things of the past remain part of people's lives. It's everybody's history, the things of old. Originality, fine craftsmanship and materials…they held up and passed the test of time. Fascinating to learn about them and try to imagine their stories.

Here in the U.S., on public television (I think it's PBS, anyway), there's a series called Antiques Roadshow where "normal" people bring in something they've picked up or inherited…jewelry, furniture, a whole range of things from dolls to tools or weapons and books or incredible collections or toys (it runs the gamut)…and experts in several specialties evaluate the piece(s) to let the owner know a background and value. I never fail to be positively staggered by things of antiquity which have managed to stay intact, or learn about how and when they might have been put together; what was their function.

Reply
Lynford Rozario April 2, 2013 - 7:52 am

Loved the crockery..!

Android Developer

Reply
La Brocanteuse April 2, 2013 - 8:58 am

I love when you share your brocante finds! It is a few minutes of being there with you as you unpack- gosh how I long to be there!
Love to you- Colette xx

Reply
PamLuvsPink April 2, 2013 - 9:43 am

Hi Sharon!!!

You hit the jackpot with your treasure!!!! I wish we had fairs here. We have a flea market that's held every Sunday, but, we haven't been going because it is mostly stores owned by orientals and they bring all new items to sell. Years ago it used to be great to see some vintage items there, but, not any more.
Have a great week!!

Pam
xox

Reply
Carla Coulson April 2, 2013 - 10:14 am

Sharon love your post title made me smile, you have had a very productive easter even if with no sleep ins! adore the white candleholders the box filled with lace and trims looks like there would be some treasures to be in found.
I hope you enjoyed your easter Carla x

Reply
MyFrenchLinenarmoire francoise April 2, 2013 - 12:59 pm

Oh I am a FC!!! if those initials were on sheet, you would have an immediate sale Sharon…. i do like the FC porcelaine tea set, but would not use it , it reminds me of a "cup and saucer set" i received for my first communion in Brittany, I still have it – love the loots!!…

Reply
Karen (Back Road Journal) April 2, 2013 - 1:54 pm

As they say "the early bird gets the worm". You were able to find some real treasures…especially the boxes with the lace and trimmings.

Reply
Karene April 2, 2013 - 2:43 pm

Hi Sharon, I love everything you found! (I think the painting was my favorite.) And I agree with all the comments. I don't know how/where you store everything in your store! I can't purchase anymore brocante! I do live in the states, and between all the "stuff" in our house, and in my husband's parents' house, which we still need to sell off, and all the family pictures from my mom, who has gone to heaven, our kids will be holding their own brocante sale when we leave! It's certainly overwhelming for the family to deal with all the inherited items, and you can't keep everything, so how do you decide what to keep???

Reply
La Contessa April 2, 2013 - 4:47 pm

THAT WAS worth the effort of getting off the bed!AS for the FC cups!FOR CONTESSA!LOVE everything!HOpe the bunny had a nice hop in your yard on Easter morning!
XXX

Reply
BRASWELL April 2, 2013 - 5:22 pm

A warm bed can be so comfortable early in the AM however "the early bird gets the worm" + you have many fabulous things to show for that early awakening! The thrill of the hunt is what draws me to yard sales, flea markets + I always find something I treasure. one mans junk is another mans treasure.Great Loot! xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

Reply
White Ironstone Cottage April 2, 2013 - 6:01 pm

Oh My such treasures sigh Love everything
and your beautiful pics too
xo
Pam

Reply
Pip April 2, 2013 - 9:25 pm

This comment has been removed by the author.

Reply
Zanna from Zona April 20, 2014 - 7:22 pm

Wonderful stuff… I ,too, live in a perfect area for finding where the elderly pass their treasures on without knowing where it goes. Sun City is just around the corner and the estate sales are full of great finds. I married my husband because he loved to shop as much as I do. He lived and worked in Paris from 1960 to 1970. He acquired friends all over Europe. We were invited to spend the 17 days of our honeymoon in England, Nairobi, Kenya, Mombasa Island and finish with three glorious days in Paris. I will ever forget it. I had always dreamed of having my own set of Limoges China and one day my darling husband came home from an estate sale with a box that he sat in the middle of the floor in the kitchen and walked away. Without a word I began to look at the bounty. I unwrapped each glorious piece one by one and fell to my knees and cried like a baby. It was a full set of twelve of every piece a set could possibly include. Even candy dishes, all for $50. The pattern is a Banner/ Old Abby all gold filigree on white and I know it is old. I can only imagine how many Easter and Christmas meals where served on it. It is the most precious thing I own. I will love it till I am gone and my daughters will use it till they are gone. It’s value to us is unmeasurable. They are not just cups and bowls and turines and linnens and furniture and paintings we buy to enliven our homes. They are the immortal beings that share and shape the stories of all of our lives. In their own way they record who we are and how we lived and loved.
Bless you my darling friends and happy Easter.
xoxo

Reply

Leave a Comment