The holidays seem to have come early this year.   It  seems like just yesterday we had the Container Party at the shop and now I’m working with fake snow and icicles and giving away the pumpkins and squash.   Time flies!  I’m just not always sure I’m having as much fun along the way and it seems I should for how fast time is going by.   This year’s window display features a wonderful 19th century cast iron garden bench in the blackberry and fern pattern.   The garden statue is “Summer” from the four seasons set of cast stone garden figures.    One of the doggies in the window is a 1920′s paper-mache store display dog and the other one of-course is the infamous Roxie – not a fake.   Remember if you see any items in the blog photos that you have questions about please feel free to email me from the website or call the shop at 314-773-8500.  Click on images to enlarge.

The Holiday Party at the shop was a huge success, we extended it over a three day period which seemed to provide  enough time for our customers to make it to the shop during the event and for some it meant they could come back more than once to see if that special treasure was still there.

The candle holder in the center of the wall is actually a large exterior flower pot display but makes a perfect candle holder for a large wall or for over a mantle.   The tole flowers on the right side of the photo are French 19th century hand painted tole bouquets in gilt wooden urns, they found a new home within the first few minutes of the opening.

The Baccarat four-light candelabras add to the holiday sparkle as does the Heisey epergne and the Steuben glass bowls, nothing like a little bit of “bling”  during the season to add sparkle and elegance to any Christmas table.  Click on images to enlarge.

Sterling and pearl handled knives displayed in a French wire basket all under an early dome on a 1920′s mirrored plateau; there are times when you can see by the shop’s merchandising how much I enjoy this particular part of having a shop.. the display part….most of the time.

Domes, domes, and more domes, for some reason I have been lucky enough to find several nice 19th century examples which are always fun to do vignettes in, especially for the holiday season: note the tiny little monstrance in the large dome on the right, ( under the full size French Monstrance ) the tiny one is made out of lead and the full size version is of bronze and silver plate.

Paul E. Harney (1850-1915) from Alton, Illinois was one of the founders of the St. Louis Artist Guild and was best known for his chicken paintings and this particular one is a beauty.   This oil is dated 1913 and looks to be in its original arts and crafts frame.  Click on images to enlarge.

The zinc architectural mirror looks great over the 1850′s zinc altar angels and between the lead flowers on either side of the angels.

These English lead flowers were hard for me to part with, they were made to look like water lilies and planted in these paint decorated cast stone planters.

The huge white poinsettia just fills the early hammered copper pot on the French wine tasting table in front of the Christmas window.   The large copper pot is the perfect size to put a live Christmas tree in to hide the base and to protect your wood floors.   I have sold several of these over the years for the Christmas tree and for logs by the fireplace.

I love vintage antler handled flatware and it is not easy to find.   I had two sets of English cutlery again displayed in these wonderful vintage French wire baskets.  Click images to enlarge.

Keys, keys, need a key?  I seem to have several, mostly 19th century and all found in Europe.

Vintage Christmas ornaments from the 1940′s and 1950′s are so cheerful and bright, they seem to reflect the simple charms of life that we like to apply to that era.

The painting in the arts and crafts frame is by Katheryn Bard Cherry (1880 – 1931 ) she was a St. Louis artists that not only painted here in the city but also in Gloucester, Massachusetts in the artist colony there during the summers.

Both of my bird carvings “flew” away ( sorry couldn’t resist) very quickly.   They were both by the same artist and from the late 1960s.

I have never had a collection of early German “Dresden” Christmas ornaments in the shop and didn’t have these for very long.   Click on images to enlarge.

The details are just incredible in Dresden ornaments.  This owl was completely made out of pressed paper, assembled and then hand-painted and now has survived over 120 years in mint condition, remarkable.

The Dresden fox looks ready to run at the first sign of danger.  I am amazed that he survived with his ears intact.

I am not sure if this large carved wooden eagle from the early 20th century was from a lodge or possibly some fraternal organization, whatever it was from it certainly had presence with its severity and quite large wingspan.

I have always liked horn stools and to have one four legged and one three legged stool at the same time is pretty cool.   They seem to go well with the turtle shells, the African mounted horns, and the German antler lamp.

The back of the shop seems more edited this holiday season.   Well, maybe edited for how it usually looks!

The mid-19th century cloche just fits inside of this large feather tree base made with a fence.   When you fill any glass dome or cloche with glass Christmas balls it makes for an easy and cheerful holiday display.

Wow, talk about red, the early hand knitted mittens were just as intense in color as were the poinsettias in the folk art stone planter.

Gold gilt dried pomegranates in a modernist European planter, simple and festive.

The fourteen foot long English pine bookcase was filled with leather books, sea shells, and early shell lithographs and made a nice backdrop for a collection of odd stools that for the most part are now all gone.

Most of the shell lithographs are framed in 19th century vinegar-grained and gilt frames in a myriad of different patterns.

The white glazed brick walls in the back of the shop really make some pieces pop visually, such as the European teaching chart with the life cycle of a jelly fish that fits right in with the aquarium, the coral, and the framed shell engravings.

The “Jewel” slate bottom aquarium is now in Ohio being prepared for live fish again.   I think it’s great that some people still have the interest and passion for using the things they collect, often for its original purpose.   Talk about recycling!

The splayed legged bench from Pennsylvania makes a perfect platform for the mounted iron rings, the two smaller of which have been made out of early 20th century automobile wheels that all of the wood and rubber have rotted away from.

This early 20th century paper-mache goose decoy fits perfectly inside the large copper candy kettle and makes for an ideal holiday centerpiece for a fireplace hearth or a harvest table.

Many, many, many Infants of Prague for as far as the eye can see, all found in a St. Louis estate belonging to a priest.   They are hard plastic and date to the 1950s.  Click on images to enlarge.

” May no shadow darken your Christmas, may joys around you brightly glow, and peace and hope for ever flow”.   Not a bad sentiment that still applies over 120 years after this Christmas card was signed and sent to a loved one during the holidays.    This is the time of the year to make our homes festive and cheerful not just for our loved ones that will be coming over to ohh and aww but for ourselves also.   I often  say that after getting the shop decorated for the holidays I am done with it all and will not be decorating at the house, but invariably I start piece by piece unpacking those treasured ornaments from my Christmas collection some of which I have had for over 25 years, old friends they have become.   My holiday collection stays packed away for the better part of a year so when I start unpacking it a smile begins to form on my face and I can’t help but keep unpacking them so each one gets to shine during this special time of the year, some of those ornaments have been putting smiles on faces for many generations.   They have been good friends for many people before me and hopefully will go on to delight others long after I am gone from this earth.   This Christmas during all the hustle and bustle I hope you can stop and think about all the smiles that can be given and shared during this holiday season and each day after.  Enjoy!