Still Catching Up: Some Finds

I've visited two antique and collectible malls recently, one in Coxsackie, NY and one in Nyack, NY.   I'll be keeping some of my finds and using others as gifts.

First, the gifts.

These two ruffled edge ruby glass plates will go to my sister-in-law who collects ruby glass.  You have got to love collectors; they are so easy to buy gifts for.

Now, for the keepers.

Months ago, I saw a photo on a stitching blog of a grouping of seasonal smalls displayed in a long, narrow wooden bread tray.  At the time, I thought, 'How clever!"  Well, I found one of my own and will be borrowing the idea.

I enjoy cooking and baking.  So it is not surprising that I have a small collection of vintage kitchen utensils.   I found this pretty little pastry cutter in one of the stalls at the Coxsackie mall.

Whenever I go browsing for collectibles I search for antique needlework tools and for interesting teaware.  Sometimes. I am lucky, sometimes not.  I haven't spotted anything recently in either category and that's seriously disappointing.

Some Recent Finds

My husband and I made another road trip to the Coxsackie antique and collectible shops on Rte 9W in Greene County last week and I found some real treasures.

First off:  four lovely green glass salad [or maybe sandwich] plates in a thumb print pattern.  These match some depression glass pieces I already have, in color though not in pattern.  Which is fine with me since I do tend to do the mix and match shabby chic thing.  I don't think these are depression glass though because of the presence of tiny bubbles which make me think these plates may have been hand-blown.

Then, I found this lovely Japan ware Phoenix pattern syrup pitcher and oval serving bowl.  The syrup pitcher has a lid that completely covers the spout and must be removed before pouring.  I had never seen the pattern before but it was love at first sight.  I am thinking of pairing this with my pale blue depression glass breakfast set the next time I serve pancakes or French toast with fruit.

Here is a detailed close up of the phoenix motif.  I suspect these were restaurant pieces because of the heft of the porcelain.  We are not talking delicate translucent china by any means.  Although the glaze and design mimic high end ware, I am reasonably certain this graced the table of some modest commercial establishment.  The mark on the bottom simply says Made in Japan.  I would date it to the 1950s or so.

Some more shabby chic: sixteen mismatched silver plated iced tea spoons.  I recently ran across a method for making cold brewed iced coffee syrup to avoid the bitterness that iced coffee often has. See this link for directions.  That and a yen for some solar tea had me scrambling for iced tea spoons.  It seems I only had the one and it was stainless steel.  Now, I have a treasure trove of silver plated spoons and all I had to do was dig through two 3x3x3 boxes brimming with assorted spoons marked @ $1.00.

I picked up another sugar shell and an interesting serving spoon to use with my oval dish [see above].

And I couldn't resist a teaspoon with a pattern that looks like pebbles viewed through a stream of running water.  I haven't researched this yet to find the true name of the pattern but I have started calling it my Babbling Brook spoon.  

And I hit the jackpot when it came to stitching accessories.  I always look for stitching related stuff but aside from the occasional button jar, I rarely find any.  This time I found not one but two animal themed pin cushions.  Serendipitously, SANQ is running a two part series on animal pin cushions this issue and next.  The first one I came across was this crazy little turtle lying on his back and with a very surprised look on his face.  He is seven inches long from tail to head and is about three inches high.  The pottery body is textured but unglazed and his belly is a worn and faded gold velvet cushion.  He has black and white flat glass eyes.

Here is a close-up. There is a tiny chip missing from the top of his left eye but the piece is in remarkable condition otherwise.  Judging by the wear on the fabric I am thinking this might be a late 19th century piece but I am not sure how I would go about researching it.  I'll be checking out a few Internet sites and I'll look at the footnotes in the SANQ articles to get further leads.

The second pin cushion is probably a mid 20th century piece.  Much smaller than the turtle, it is a white glazed ceramic rabbit with the cushion on its back and surrounded by tiny flowers.

So, all in all, a very good haul.  The funny thing is that I went in looking for a brass handled walking stick for my husband.  He needs a cane due to rheumatism and arthritis but he dislikes the generic drugstore variety.  He prefers something with more character.  Our next road trip will have to be to a huge place on Rte 17 in Ulster County.  I may have better luck finding a walking stick there.

Last Weekend in Coxsackie

There are two fairly sizable indoor Antique malls in Coxsackie, the kind with booths rented by different sellers, sort of like a high end Flea Market  but definitely not a high end antique shop, if you know what I mean.  Mostly they stock collectibles like silver, silver plate, estate jewelery, china, ceramics, books, depression glass, basketry, bric-a-brac and some furniture.  I love browsing in such places.  I tend to look for depression glass in ruby red, cobalt blue and celadon, for tea ware, and for sewing and stitching accessories.  It's a great way to find unusual and impressive birthday and Christmas gifts, as well.

I hit pay dirt:

Some ruby red pieces that I will be giving to my sister-in-law for her August birthday and for Christmas.

The first is a nine inch bowl with the thumb print pattern.  My sister-in-law has a set of four dessert glasses in this pattern and the bowl will make a nice companion piece.  I can just see her using it for her mother's classic Thanksgiving dessert: cranberry mousse.

And the second photo is of a very simple sugar and creamer set.  I think she may already have this.  I shall have to check discreetly on my next visit.  If she does, I'll keep it to go with my ruby red luncheon set.

And I found some celadon pieces for myself: two star burst pattern luncheon plates.  I enjoy mixing and matching  my depression glass tableware when I serve tea or lunch, especially when I have guests, but just for my husband and I as well.  I have some amber pieces, some emerald pieces and even some medium blue pieces that will pair well with this pale green.

This Art Deco tea room creamer is a real charmer.  Now all I have to do is find the sugar bowl to match.  But most of the joy is in the hunt.  I will be making a day trip to another big antique mall cum flea market in a few weeks.  This one in Ulster County rather than Greene County.  I will be on the look out for the companion piece.

The tea strainer is an addition to my collection of teaware.  And I found myself drawn to a number of interesting silver plate spoons, especially the sugar shells.  The large bowled shell spoon is a bit large for any of my silver sugar bowls but it is a nice size for the sugar bowl from my mother-in-law's wedding silver coffee and tea set which I have already passed on to my daughter-in-law.  I plan to send the spoon to her as one of her Christmas gifts.  The smaller bowled shell spoon is too long for my sugar bowls but too short for an iced tea spoon.  However, it is the perfect size for my Waterford honey pots which I can now use as jam jars when serving scones with tea!  And the little fruit spoon with the Bakelite handle just appealed to me for reasons I can't explain.  It has some very delicate engraving on the bowl of ribbons.

But the find that has me really curious is this little cup which I assume was a presentation gift for an infant.  I have started to polish it up but it is so black, I'll need to spend the better part of a Saturday morning to bring it up to a proper shine.  What polishing I have done though has revealed the initials A. F. in the medallion on one side of the cup and the date Dec. 1907 in the opposite medallion.  The mark on the bottom has a 4 within a diamond surrounded by the words Quadruple Plate which in turn are surrounded by the words Fairpoint Mfg. Co. New Bedford , Mass.  As you can see, I still have a great deal of polishing left to do.

I picked up the cup simply because I liked the floral motif that wraps around it and I thought it would be fun to use it when my granddaughter visits.  She is the girliest of girly girls and loves all things fancy and fussy.  Even at the tender age of 5 she has made it very clear that the way to her heart is with lace, crinoline, flounces, frills and pink, pink, pink!  So I think a little silver cup bedecked with flowers would please her no end.

Antiquing Adventures

My husband and I took a quick trip up to the Coxsackie area where we visited two of those enormous consignment barns that are a cross between an antique mall and a thrift shop.  You know the sort of place: where you can find everything from a Civil War era Colt pistol worth thousands of dollars to old mechanical banks worth hundreds to fine silver to china of all grades and patterns to antique clothing to estate jewelery to knick knacks worth just a few dollars and so on and so on and so on.

Such places can be overwhelming with so much to see at every turn.  One simply can't do those sort of places justice and I don't really try.  I go in prepared to focus on certain goals.  On this last trip I was looking for some ruby red glassware, some tea strainers and spoons and stitching collectibles such as pin cushions, chatelaines, needle cases and such like.  But I never go in so focused that I am closed off to the unusual or interesting finds not quite on my mission list.

So what did I find?

I will giving these two pieces to my sister-in-law as a birthday gift [the goblet] and as a Christmas gift [the Anchor Hocking 6" bowl].  She collects Ruby Red glassware, making it ever so easy to find gifts I know she will appreciate

The last piece, a 3" Anchor Hocking bowl, I will keep for myself.  I believe it will make a lovely jam bowl for tea and scones.  None of the pieces cost more than $8 and the small bowl was only $4.

 This silver plated tea strainer on a stand.  This piece was badly tarnished but only $8 and I figured I could afford the risk of disappointment.  When I got it home and began cleaning and polishing it, I discovered that the glue from the price sticker had corroded and pitted the silver beneath it [or the price sticker was used to mask a corroded spot].  Which wouldn't have been so bad if the spot hadn't been right in the middle of the strainer bowl.  There was also some stubborn grime on the handle of the strainer and in one tiny section of the rim.

Judging by the greenish tinge, I suspect it is the residue of old silver polish never properly rinsed off.  I will continue to work at it.  But since I like the intricate design of the piece, with the dragons on the stand and the floral scroll work on the strainer rim, I am seriously considering taking it to the local jeweler and having it professionally cleaned and re-silvered if necessary.  It is difficult to read the stamp on the underside of the strainer without better magnification but I think it said "Italy".   Once properly cleaned up, it will make such a lovely addition to my tea table.  

And, last but not least, this hand carved Santos.  I love folk art but particularly covet wood carvings.  According to the label this is supposed to be St. Joseph but without a T-square and hammer or a lily, the conventional symbols of St. Joseph, I am uncertain as to the true identity of my saint.  I might have called this fellow a monk but there is no tonsure.  So that riles out St. Francis, St. Benedict and St. Anthony, among many others.  An apostle?  A bishop?  I am not at all certain but he does seem a rather stern fellow.  But the primitive style of the carving is enough to make me treasure the piece.