Christmas Open House 2010 is now over and was a great success. When I first started setting up for the Christmas party this year it was 72 degrees outside and did not feel much like Christmas, even though it is actually just a few weeks away, but as you can see from these photos by the time Thursday night arrived the shop had the feel of winter in the air. Feel free to ask any questions about items shown in the blog photos. Click on images to enlarge.
One of the many new additions to the shop is the steel and brass table in the foreground, it was a perfect spot for a snowy tablescape.
Old Paris porcelain combined with a French iron urn and a wonderfully worn deer skull make for surprising combination that works well together.
The silver gilt trees held ornaments of silver key blanks. Click on images to enlarge.
The art deco martini glasses looked festive with a full glass of vintage key blanks served “straight-up” style.
The silver gilt trees created great shadows giving the shop a feeling of being in the woods, albeit sparkly woods full of shiny silver trees.
Tole wine coasters behind chalkware 1940s angels.
This photo shows the very front of the shop and the back of the shop’s Christmas window display, I will get a photo of the front of the window up on the blog soon.
Roxie in her favorite place. The wonderful continental chair sold first thing Thursday night. The iron marble-top table next to the chair was one of the last things to sell opening night. Click on images to enlarge.
I have eight of these amazing pressed flower botanicals left. They date from late 19th century and have been archivally framed. Several of the specimens have a combination of fine watercolors and pressed material, a technique I have never seen before.
The velvet log cabin quilt provided a dramatic backdrop for the gilt branches and for George.
George Washington is an early plaster or chalk bust probably made for a school in the late 19th century. He seems ready for the party in this photo.
Sparkle, Sparkle, Sparkle…gotta have it during the holidays.
The large drafting table from Belgium held a grouping of giltwood altar sticks and religious artifacts.
The silver gilt Louis Philippe mirror seemed to double all those vertical sticks.
I took this image just for fun to see what the front of the shop looked like with only the Christmas lights on, rather cozy.
This orrey lived in my house for a brief while before coming into the shop. It is a very hard thing for me to part with. An orrey is a planetary teaching aid that shows the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in our solar system. This orrey is a very rare form and dates from the late 19th century and is specifically designed to show the varies phases of the moon according to the time of the year. Click on images to enlarge.
This Chimpanzee skeleton is from Wards Scientific Co. and dates to the late 1950s. It is in remarkable condition.
The rare mercury glass tulips display well in the sterling pitcher sharing the shelf with a large crystal gazing ball as well as the yellow Meissen double-handled snake vase and other assorted treasure.
Kugels don’t have to be displayed only on a tree, this group hung out well together in the bookcase.
Often the vintage Christmas items seem to end up displayed on this general store cabinet, it holds them well, lots-o-Christmas.
This Dutch diorama dates from the late 19th century and is made entirely out of cork. Many hours went into making these jolly little bakers and their cork mill.
The middle room I setup as a man’s study. The large iron table displayed as a desk worked well with the 18th century Italian chairs.
Why is it that one’s dog always seems to be in your favorite chair the minute you get out of it. The 1930s chalk dog was adopted Thursday night and hopefully has found a comfortable new (old) chair to set in.
A French faux bois planter, a few sprigs of greenery and eight vintage mercury glass candlesticks made a quick and easy holiday centerpiece.
The Jielde floor lamp is from France and dates to the 1950s, it’s polished steel provides a nice contrast to the dark iron table and leather chair.
This photo is of the back of the shop looking towards the front during the day. Click on images to enlarge.
The above photo is of the back of the shop at night. The image shows what the shop looked like the night of the party, (without the crowds of people). The large “snowflakes” hanging from the ceiling are actually French bread baking trays that I drew some funky snowflakes on them with blackboard chalk. The bread trays date from the late 19th century and make great serving trays, kitchen chalk boards, or a large baking trays for those of you with huge brick baking ovens.
The 1960′s Pachinko machine was a big hit in its day, it lights up and has a built in ashtray (so state of the art), remember those days?
Clowns can be scary but this one seems….ok scary. I guess I subconsciously hid him in the back of the display for that reason.
This huge battery jar I found in Belgium works great with a festive holiday display. The marble trivets next to the battery jar are a big seller at the shop. The trivets make great cheese trays and gifts.
The 19th century German hide covered rocking horse was all decked out with her beads and ready to go.
The ornaments on the feather tree were made by a local artist in the 1960s from found objects. I can safely say I have never had ornaments like these ever before in the shop. There were several ornaments made from a 1967 Missouri license plate from a car. Click on images to enlarge.
The large clams shells all graduated in size held a variety of ornaments.
The marble trivets I used here as pedestals, they have a wonderful warm patina with their aged surfaces.
Sour is not a word usually found on a Christmas tree ornament, like the one in the above photo, more often it’s words like merry, or hope, or faith. I think we are fortunate to have artists that challenge our perception of what belongs and doesn’t belong…even on a Christmas tree. This collection of ornaments has found a new home with an art collector who I know enjoys the humor of a “sour” ornament. Click on images to enlarge.
The French carousel figure seems to be showing off her hat in front of the trumeau mirror.
Variegated holy under a glass dome, very Christmassy.
The 1950s robot bottles on the top shelf are a warehouse find, they were made to hold soda and were meant to be used as banks when the soda was gone, but these were never used. The oil can collection on the next shelf down would be a fun collection to add to over time.
The French bottle drying rack got wrapped with white lights and provided a nice sparkle in the room.
The large woven tray above the shelves is a French grape drying basket in an unusual form, I think it has a great graphic quality.
The art deco ski poster shares the wall with a pair of local advertising pieces that are very rare: the two Budweiser lamps on the wall to the left of the poster are “spinners” or lamps that continuously spin from the heat of the light bulb, they were popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
I took this photo just before we put the on the music and opened the door for the party. It was a great event and now it’s time to get ready for Thanksgiving and spending time with family and friends for the holidays. Thanks for checking out the blog and remember if you have any questions about items in the photos, such as prices or dimensions, please do not hesitate to email me or call the shop. Have a Great Thanksgiving!
