Tilt-A-Whirl

Container Party 2008

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

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August is moving on, fast!  As we get closer to fall I start to plan for the European container to arrive with all the goods I traversed all over Holland, Belgium, and France for this past July.  The container will arrive soon and then after everything is unpacked, cleaned, inventoried, etc., I will close the shop for several days and get ready for the annual Container Party, which is like a sneak peak of all of the usual unusual objects I found on the continent this year.  The date for this year’s party is Thursday, September 24th,  5 pm to 9 pm.  This will be the fifth Container Party at the shop.  Here are a few images from last year’s party. Click on images to enlarge.

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Amish Quilt behind a Victorian wire plant stand and a French forged iron clock case.

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Woodard chairs on either side of an unusual painted gaming table, possibly used at a carnival.

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Marble top coffee table with French zinc basin containing wooden bowling balls.

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The early European bread baking trays make a statement against the glazed brick walls.

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French Jielde lamp with zinc fishing floats in cast iron coal hod.

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Hammered copper leaf on marble top table.

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The six leg, ten foot long table originally from a St. Louis convent has two very large copper vents on either side of it.  The vents were  taken from an early Missouri barn.

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The large heart on the back wall is actually a 1930′s florist’s moss-covered flower form.

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European weathervane next to an ironstone foot-tub with Japanese fishing floats inside.

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This Carousel panel was one of the things I thought was very special in last year’s container.  It is carved out of wood and retains most of its original polychrome.  To the right of the panel is a polished steel Jielde lamp arching over the table. Click on images to enlarge.

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In one of the bookcases behind the counter a vignette with  an advertising scale model of a dress form from the 1920s, alongside a group of marionette torsos from France, and a carrier pigeon award on the back wall.

Atomium Monument in Brussels

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

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The Atomium in Brussels Belgium was built for the 1958 Worlds Fair.  It seemed a natural place for me to visit on my Brussels shopping adventure, being from St. Louis, Mo.  The Atomium has similarities to our Gateway Arch here in St. Louis.  Not only is it clad in bright shinny stainless steel as is the arch, it can also be seen from many vantage points in the city, just like the Arch.  The Arch and the Atomium were also symbols of modernity for their time.    They are just as modern, fresh and exciting to the eye as they were in the 1960s.  If you would like to check out the Atomium’s website click here.  Click on images to enlarge.

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This is a great vintage photo of the Atomium as it was being built.  The monument is actually the visual representation of the concept of an “atom.”  It symbolizes an elementary iron crystal with its 9 atoms and magnified 150 billion times. It honored the metal and iron industry and the belief in the atomic power. The architect was André WATERKEYN. Most of the pavilions built at the Worlds Fair had a very modern futuristic architectural style to them, with the “Atom” towering over them all.

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I thought this was an interesting vernacular image of a mother and child in front of the Atomium.  It looks like the image could have been taken at the Fair in 1958.

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Just like the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, you can go up into the Atomium to various levels.

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This image is of the interior of one of the spheres, very futuristic, furnished with Verner Panton chairs.  It also has a “snack shop” with the most startlingly tasty Belgium Waffles.  I had to sample one, being in Belgium.  They serve them all day, not just for breakfast, what a great idea.

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Futuristic escalator tube, going up.

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Looks like a set from 2001 A Space Odyssey.

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Like the St. Louis Arch, the Atomium is fun to photograph.

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I found this cool image on the web.  Great reflections captured in the car mirror.

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Interesting how something so large can look so small from a different perspective.

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Repelling from the top of the Atomium, in the rain.  Not my idea of a vacation activity.  However, maybe it’s something we could think about doing here in St. Louis. Repelling from the top of the Arch.  It just might catch on.  Click on images to enlarge.



Store Display at the Shop

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

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I have been blogging about store display recently,  and thought I should include some of my own.  The images I have here are “assemblages” of objects in the shop.  This image has everything from a French leather bicycle seat to a 1970′s copper sculpture to a pair of sawtooth shark’s noses.  Click image to enlarge.

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There is a large school trophy case in my shop loaded with religious artifacts.  This is just one shelf with Santos figures.  The porcelain plaque in the back is a signed KPM hand-painted porcelain of Sybil in its original carved Black Forest frame.  Click on image to enlarge.

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These porcelain enameled letters are in a large store display cabinet.   They are graphically very strong, being stark white and so large.

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In this display I’ve used a French 1950′s Jielde lamp on an Art Deco store display console.  On the display table are assorted objects with a naturalistic theme.  The back of the shop has box-car glazed brick walls, original to the building.   It was used as a bakery from 1883 till the 1940′s.  The white brick works wonderfully for store display as objects show up very well against it.  Click on image to enlarge.

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Carved Indiana Limestone bird bath.  Inside the bowl is an 18th c. slate sundial found in the Netherlands.   Having concrete floors in the back of the shop is perfect for someone like myself who seems to like garden pieces more if they are Really, Really heavy.