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Yesterday morning found me up early , driving through open fields as the sun rose. I wasn’t alone, we have lovely Dutch guests in our cottage and Esther decided to come along for the ride and hopefully find some treasure of her own.
For once the best fair was in a small town. I generally prefer to treasure hunt in fields, but with the recent rain, dry road offered its advantages.
I forgot to take pictures of the fair, these shots were in the quiet roads leading back to where our car was parked.
Pickings were fairly good and I think that Esther was happy with her share. I let her snap up any linen we saw and helped her negotiate the prices. She was particularly happy with the old baskets we found for her, and for the beautiful piece of sculpted wood.
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I am in love with the old Provençal hat that I found, it’s hanging on a wall downstairs, elegant and feminine.
Also pleased to find these balls of old linen string, the sweet inkwell and the turquoise siphon.
the metal moulds in this shot would have been used for cheese making, probably goats cheese in this shape. Today they are fun for small plants, or for candles as the light shines through the holes onto the table around.
More little ‘perigordine’ glasses, but you know I love these for individual flowers on a table.
Maybe the most unusual piece I found was the patented copy binder, brought out for the Universal Exhibition of 1889, the same year as the Eiffel Tower.
I hope you all had a great weekend. [blank]
Have a good week!
22 comments
Hi Sharon
Your "trouvaille" are very beautifull !
Unfortunately in Italy there is not much anymore and what little there is is really expensive.
simonetta
Hello… there isn't one thing that you've bought that I wouldn't have bought myself….all so adorab……Lucky You…. ciao Alison ( Italy )
What fantastic thinks.. perfect to dream!I adore!!Have a happy day!
Stefy
Shabbyecountrylife.blogspot.com
OH LA LA! We Love the street lantern…depression glass is beautiful!
Have a wonderful week!
XO,
Renee and Angela
Dear Sharon,
Here's a "brocante" anecdote (from the American South) that you should find interesting.
A longtime friend of mine is just an absolute bloodhound for thrift-sales, the weekly "antiques" fair at the state fairgrounds (essentially, a brocante on steroids), "vintage stores", etcetera. She LIVES for these events and stores. Fortunately for her friends, she gives away most of her finds and bargains (suffice it to say that, on an elementary-school art teacher's salary, she's always managed to give the most genuinely interesting and delightful gifts among all of my friends).
Over the years (including just this past week) she's given me 15 or so of those vintage (circa 1900-1950) pillowcases, obviously embroidered by some under-occupied, middle-class lady (I know the type well here in the South). All of mine have an elaborate "HIS" embroidered on the "cuff", so to speak, of the pillowcase. The "joke", of course (and not to put too fine a point on the matter) is that there hasn't been a "her" in any of my various beds since I was 6 or so and my favorite tomboy cousin was visiting.
In any case (and this came up in a discussion just the other night), my friend claims that there are, indeed, always "His" and "Hers" sets to be found….but this sort of matched, vintage embroidery costs a predictably good amount. Strangely enough, she claims (and she does know her business) that there are ALWAYS lots of unmatched, inexpensive "His" pillowcases, but she doesn't recall ever seeing an unmatched "Her" pillowcase.
So, what's the deal, we found ourselves asking? Did thousands of Southern women sit around, starting out on a set, but never getting beyond the "His" pillowcase? I doubt that, and it's also doubtful that the majority of women automatically began with the "His" pillowcase. One not-particularly feminist-oriented, yankee (and male) friend said "Well, Southern women used to just lay around in the bed all day while maids did all the work. I guess they just wore out the "hers" pillowcases." The women in the room glared at him, and I told him that was scarcely the case for the VAST majority of women….not since 1865, and certainly not before these fairly recent days of microwaves, washing-machines, vacuum cleaners, and day-care centers.
Then, I recalled my grandmother's and great aunt's sitting at a vanity every night, doing as they'd done every night since 1950 or so……armoring their "hairdo" with twenty or more of those flat, metal hair-clips that supposedly protected their "hair-do" (which they rigorously had re-done at least once per week at the local "Beauty-Shop"). I was fascinated by that nightly procedure when I was very young. They always went on to bed, looking like metallic armadillos. I don't see all those hair-clips getting along very well with embroidered pillowcases.
I asked my partner (he's French) about this. He said he doesn't recall seeing "His & Her" sets of anything, let alone pillowcases, in France. So, no help there…..
In any case, we thought this was all rather fascinating….yet another example of a socio/historical "story" waiting to be noticed by someone who haunts flea-markets, brocantes, and antique stores.
thanks for the interesting blog, of course; I've just discovered it.
sincerely,
David Terry (who's packing tomorrow for a twelve day trip to Languedoc/Rousillon)
http://www.davidterryart.com
I love the tones of your pickings especially the baskets and the compote and hat, well if I were in France I'd rush right over to your shop!
We will be in the Bordeaux area in a few days and I'm determined to go to a brocante on Sunday morning. I'm so looking forward to it. The whole trip…not just the brocante. 🙂
The beauty of that village breaks my heart. I could live there happily. I'm sure it would be hard to get my harp up the stairs…but that's what strong, handsome French neighbors are for, right? (oh, a girl can dream.)
I love the soap dish, too!
Hey, Dutch guests…Esther wrote me a few months ago that she was going to visit your cottage.
Beautiful treasures!
Love that inkwell!!
Very charming finds!
But please forgive me, Sharon, 'perigordine' glasses do not exist here in the Périgord nor anywhere else, sorry.
These charming glasses are simply digestif glasses or small aperitif glasses and were used allover in France.
Greetings,
Karin
P.S. will send you a mail regarding the glasses and sacks.
What a wonderful colection . . . well done!! Love Helenx
Oh I love all these things! I was trying to pick one or two to mention and no…. can't do it.
I like every little bit.
I have to see where you are putting all these lovelies! Hope you will post where they end up in your gorgeous home someday soon.
🙂
xx
Alison
Ti seguo sempre perchè hai un blog bellissimo!
Una meraviglia gli oggetti brocante che ci hai mostrato!!Adoro andare per mercatini,peccato che nella mia zona non ce ne siano di tanto belli.
Ciao
Daniela
Italy
I choose the humble cheese molds!! I'd cluster several of them on a tray with candles inside. Maybe something sparkly or green as "the season" approaches. Thanks for sharing!!
I love all of your loot!! I wouldn't be able to part with it all!!! I love your blog!!!!
This is sooo gorgeous and I am thankful you post these on Pinterest. PERFECT!
I love meet your friends ❤️ and the stories!
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