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Posts Tagged ‘French antiques’

Today was a crisp and very cold day at the Oedo market at the International Forum, but as usual there was lots to see and plenty to buy. I have been wanting to find a way to start sharing what I am seeing at the markets every week, but when there isn’t a theme or cohesive feeling about the merchandise I find it fairly boring to post about. I have been thinking that real-time photos of what I am buying, both for myself and for sale, might be more fun and more interesting for both me and for my readers. So as of today, my plans are to start instagramming (is that a verb yet?) while I am out and about at shrine sales and antique shows. So if you would like to keep up with me, you can follow me on Instagram on your mobile device here.

One of the fun parts of Instagram if you haven’t tried it is playing with the filters and the framing to add special effects to your photos. Typical me, I like all the filters that give an aged feel…

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…and I am a sucker for those old-fashioned photo borders…

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…or burned edges.

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I already made a faux pas in editing this photo down so that it didn’t fit the Instagram format.  Won’t make that mistake again.

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The photos have the perfect format for a blog post – a nice big square. There is also a very effective exposure button, used to fun effect here.

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This art deco mirror glows like a jewel using one of the filters.

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Kasuri kimonos seem lit from within.

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As usual Oedo was full of European goods, these lace patterns being some of my favorites.

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No lack of British goods either. This collection rivals any I’ve seen in English antique shops.

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Couldn’t resist these door knockers – just for Steve at An Urban Cottage.

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And you know you want it…If you see items you want to buy, just let me know via email.

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I made a couple of wonderful scores for myself, including this handmade folksy heart chair. It has a beautiful grey-blue wash paint and is soooo much prettier than it looks in this photo – the only find of the day that the Instagram filters failed to enhance.

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I know just where this sweet little baby is going to go…

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I have also been finding the most irresistible and inexpensive art lately which deserves a post of its own. But this little oval print (nothing better than a few art pieces with circles or ovals to break up a lot of rectangles) is headed to my youngest daughter’s room at the beach…

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…along with this chiyogami you may remember from here. She begged me to hold it back for her from the sale so I did.

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Won’t they look so sweet in here?

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I am going to try to add the Instagram button to my sidebar, probably right below the Pinterest one. But I am including the link here again, in case I am not successful.

Related Posts:
Like La Brocante…French Day at Oedo Antiques Fair
Paper for a Thousand Years…Vintage Chiyogami

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So, I have been offered the chance to buy this amazing French marble-topped bakers table (expensive, but reasonable for what it is) from a friend of a friend. It is the kind of piece I have always dreamed of and written about.

Melding brass and steel, gold and silver, with its classic scrolling base and a white Carrera marble top, it is divine, much like the one I have always adored…

…in Suzanne Rheinstein‘s kitchen…

…and more recently at Charles Spada‘s Normandy Chateau.

Unfortunately, I believe that it is perhaps too large, too grand and too fancy for my humble cottage, although I am tempted to buy it anyway and keep it in the basement – it would be great for folding laundry, don’t you think? – for a future home “someday.”

In the meantime, I have been out looking for a similar style table, something with an iron base and a marble top. I saw this little cutie (much less expensive) down in Point Pleasant made from a vintage sewing machine base with an oval top added. You know what a junkie I am when it comes to repurposing!

The side view shows the nice detail on the base. Unfortunately, I think it is too small and the oval top too rounded to be very useful. You’ll see what I mean in the very next photo.

Searching online I discovered the perfect piece, with a classic French metal base and an oval top that is more like a long rectangle with curved ends, much more practical for serving and display. Unfortunately, it sold at auction somewhere in Atlanta back in March.

Just to torture myself some more, here it is in an outside view – I just love the simplicity of it.

It reminds me of a piece I spotted in a photo from Tone on Tone, Loi Thai’s gorgeous Bethesda, MD antiques store, which I have never actually visited in person, only drooled over on-line. Loi has recently started writing a great blog too, featuring his pitch perfect interiors. While I am posting this photo for the bakers table, I’d happily take anything else from the shop!

Last weekend I bought this vintage school desk at a garage sale (very inexpensive). I just could not resist those amazing ironwork supports. I thought I might replace the desk with a marble top, only it is way too low to be a practical work table. I have been thinking about ways to build up height in the legs but they all seem ugly and cluttery! If you have a good idea – let me know!

I keep coming back to this inspiration photo from stylist Lucyina Moodie. Long oval table with iron base, a lamp and some display items. And note the simple sisal like runner – that is the final decision for my white painted stairs too!

Related Posts
My Kitchen Island is Back on the Table
What’s Cooking? Peri Wolfman’s Kitchens Through the Years and That Marble-Topped Bakers Table

Image credits: 1-2, 5-6 & 10. me, 3. credit unknown, via Cote de Texas, 4. Weranda, photo credit: Andreas von Einsiedel, via Boxwood Terrace, 7-8. via Live Auctioneers, 9. via Tone on Tone, 11. Lucyina Moodie

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Just been perusing the Jayson Home Fall Flea Market full of to-die-for antiques and other items, when I spied this late 19th century marble-topped cast iron table from France…

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…And this Belgian one with a salvaged oak top.

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Now I have talked a lot about the perfect kitchen island for my tiny Victorian beach cottage here. And just a few weeks ago I waxed endlessly about my long-term dream island from Peri Wolfman’s house here. And we all know that whatever I choose will be antique, but all of a sudden, the particular charm of a cast iron table base has really caught my attention. It wasn’t just these offerings at Jayson Home either. I saw one, brought all the way from France, at the Oedo market that day out shopping with Peri. I loved it – it was sold of course – and I wasn’t dragging it back to the US anyway (imagine the carbon footprint on transport from France to Japan to the USA). But I think the idea has been germinating in the back of my mind for a while.

The more I think about it I realize the idea is not a new one for me. I looked at a similar one this summer in Asbury Park at the great cast iron and garden furniture store.

It had a great rusty patina (I can hear some of you chuckling at that idea) but I also might have considered painting it. It was actually too small and once again sold to boot, but I liked the idea then. It was also missing its marble top.

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So I went off to check that magic market of all things – eBay – and came up with a few gorgeous, but wildly expensive options (the items at Jayson have pretty hefty price tags too), including this 1920s French marble-topped butchers table with bull head details.

Amazing, but too large and at over $8000, definitely not the answer. But liking this idea…What say you all???

Image credits: 1-4. Jayson Home, 5-9. me, 10-11. via sillyrabbits95428q90

Related Posts:
Ingenious Repurposing…Unusual Kitchen Islands and Printers Drawers
What’s Cooking? Peri Wolfman’s Kitchens Through the Years and That Marble-Topped Bakers Table

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