Spring came early to St. Louis when I filled the shop with blooming branches and bulbs for the winter party.   I would like to thank all of those who attended and those well wishers that could not make it to the event but were there in spirit.   The party was a great success and a lot of fun.  Click on images to enlarge.

The zinc mirror hanging on the wall is actually a late 19th century window surround, typically found on French mansard roofs.   Architectural  zinc building elements are very rare to find in this condition.  Repurposed it makes a dynamic mirror.   The prints on either side of the window are French teaching charts with botanic and insect educational information and date from the around 1900.

The faux bois planter in the middle of the large iron table went to a wonderful new home in Little Rock, AR.  Click on images to enlarge.

A free-blown jar from eastern Europe holds forsythia next to a French coal hod filled with clam shells.

The French carousel figure seems small next to the huge free-blown glass bottle.   This bottle is one of the largest of its type that I have ever had in the shop.   The wooden magnifying glass in front of the bottle dates from the early 19th century and is Dutch.   Click on images to enlarge.

Tiny house, big presence.   This tiny ceramic building had been left outside for years and developed and nice roof of lichen and moss.   We did not even have to hire special movers when the house was taken from this location and transported out of state.

The French Jielde lamp illuminated the “stage” of  flowering quince and spring bulbs on the large altar.  Click on images to enlarge.

The pressed flower botanicals look great on either side of the silver gilt Louis Philippe mirror.   The large free blown jars holding the quince are from Europe and date to the late 19th century.

The smell of the blooming bulbs in the shop was amazing.   I can’t wait for spring.  It made working towards setting up the party a joy…most of the time.

Among my favorite things in this new inventory are these carved wooden pigs.   They are butcher’s store display pieces, possibly used in window or counter displays.

These European pigs are packed with personality, (sounds like an advertising for bacon).   The piglets date from the first quarter of the 20th century and sport forged iron tails and carved wood ears that are pegged on.   Pretty darn cute.

This wooden shield shaped banner is from a lodge in Fredericktown, PA.

Three interesting pieces of iron in front of a French grain bag.   From left to right, we have a pair of late 18th to early 19th century Dutch hinges in the form of elegant bird heads,  next to the hinges is an American windmill weight from Iowa which is next to a wrought iron snake “trade sign” dating from the early 19th century.   Click on images to enlarge.

The oil painting is by a well listed Dutch impressionist and is flanked by two pairs of wonderful glass pieces that were made around 100 years apart.   The apothecary bottles are French and date to the 1870s and the pair of apothecary form vases are Scandinavian and date to the 1970s.

I think this store display manikin is one of the most subtle and beautiful objects I have in the shop at the moment.   It was hand sewn in Europe in the mid 19th century and has been made of woven cloth stuffed with straw.   The manikin form was made to display clothing in a shop window.   Click on images to enlarge.

I just acquired a variety of American Indian material including a few Northwest Coast Indian carvings as well as a wonderful Zuni woven belt.

This  winter container party we had some remarkable antler pieces and several remain in stock.  Be sure to inquire about pieces shown in the photos.

Tramp art, antlers, and an English 18th century gateleg table all work well together in what became the “antler room”  at the shop.

The six gun rifle rack, shown here on the right,  was one of the most interesting pieces of antler furniture I have ever had in the shop and has now found a new home out of state.

British navel epaulets dating from the late 19th century.  Click on images to enlarge.

I have to admit to liking shoes in all of their infinite varieties, well these Dutch 19th century wooden and leather shoes are just about as wild as they come.   They look like giant elf shoes.

It’s Electric!

Balancing a large crystal formation on one side and an early marble mortar filled with oxalis on the other side, this European scale shows off well in the morning light.

The architectural terra-cotta finials are from a theater built in 1906.   They are flanked on either side by a pair of lamps made from recycled farm implements.  Click on images to enlarge.

Shooting gallery target from a carnival in front of a terra-cotta finial.

European ladder in a great orange color shown with bowls full of wonderfully worn brass gaming balls.

This large format Kodak photo of New York City came from an advertising agency in St. Louis that operated during the 1950s.   The ocean liner and the airplane have been colored-tinted by hand to juxtapose these two forms of transportation.   The terra-cotta architectural panels below the photo show off well against the glazed brick walls in the shop.  Click on images to enlarge.

This is a wonderful mid-19th century American primitive fruit painting representing “bounty” hanging over a collection of copper pieces and a biedermeier style bucket.

This bibendum, aka the michelin man, is just hanging out on his temporary new home a long way from the top of a Michelin tire truck in  1960′s Europe, where he started out life.

Another party has come and gone, and spring in St. Louis is just a few weeks away.   The pussy willow tree in my backyard has fully opened and the daffodils have started to push their way through the mulch to announce the arrival of spring.    Speaking of spring I will be exhibiting at the Chicago Botanic garden show in mid April, check out the link here.   I will also be exhibiting at the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair that starts April  29th, the link for that show is here.   Enjoy spring and please try to make it to these amazing shows in Chicago if you possibly can.  Join us now on Facebook here.

Art Chicago is an annual event held at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, Illinois during the Artropolis event.  I exhibited at the International Antiques Fair at the Mart that is held concurrently with the art fair, this past May.  Click on images to enlarge.

These large scale prints are composed of tiny images of other “personalities,” such as the Madonna image might be made up of tiny pixel images of Marilyn Monroe.  The artist is Alex Guofeng Cao.

The gallery had cards in the form of small boxes with photos on two sides.  Greg and I were disappointed that the boxes didn’t have any treats  inside of them, it would’ve been a nice touch.

This artist’s work has a jewel-like quality to it.  Click on images to enlarge.

The imagery of this piece of artwork is haunting and rather mysterious.

The “boy with a bird” looks like it was drawn using gunpowder that has been burned.

She is in such a relaxed state after her refreshing swim, still dripping with water.  I’ve always enjoyed watching the reactions people have to life-size super-realism figures.  I find this sculpture more calming than most of the life-size figures, especially those of Duane Hanson.

I will never get tired of looking Deborah Butterfield’s Horses.  This polychrome over bronze example has such an elegance and looks effortless.

Richard Wright Gallery had two really fine Harry Bertoia “bush” sculptures on a low coffee table.  Click on images to enlarge.

Packer Schopf Gallery never disappoints.  Aron has an amazing eye that I like to think has been influenced by his years in the antiques trade.

The “beast” has been composed out of many, many books; most likely encyclopedias.

This cut work on books at  Aron’s gallery is by Brian Dettmer.

This artwork is by Diem Chau.  The artist has stretched very fine “fabric” over ordinary household china plates and stitched these curious images of people or parts of people.  You can check out the Packer Schopf Gallery here.

This life-sized sculpture was covered entirely in puzzle pieces put on end, thousands and thousands.

Now that could be Duane Hansen sculpture on the right, but he is actually a Merchandise Mart employee.  Click on images to enlarge.

This paper and cotton sculpture was so delicate and so beautifully crafted I was fascinated by the workmanship as well as the concept.

There were about seven or eight of these “smoking aircraft”  sculptures along the back wall of the gallery booth, they were so clean and white and yet so tragic. I loved them.

Odd little creatures their bodies covered in shells.

This humming bird is just a little larger than life size and is made from cast lead, it and following snake sculpture is by the artist Mark Calderon.

The snake sculpture has a sinuous sleekness about it.  It would look great displayed on a large table as well as it does hanging on the wall.

I rarely see contemporary photography that I find fresh.  If a  photographer’s work makes you take a second glance than you might stand a chance at a show like Art Chicago.  This photographer has challenged the viewer to stop and question the refection in the puddle and what it is telling us about the reality of the street scene.

As far as I am concerned William Edmondson was one of Americas most important sculptors of the 20th century.  This totemic as well as whimsical sculpture by Edmondson was shown by Fleisher/Ollman Gallery at Art Chicago.

Both of these labor intensive drawings are by Joan Linder who uses very tradition materials in her work.  The dandelion drawing is over six feet tall and was drawn entirely with a ball point pen.  Joan is represented by Mixed Greens Gallery in New York City.  Click on images to enlarge.

Carl Hammer Gallery always has great contemporary fine art as well as an amazing inventory of antique folk art.  These polychromed “jiggers” date from the 1930s and have great appeal en masse.

This piece of artwork by California artist Cameron Gray was one of my favorite pieces at Art Chicago.  The artist uses tiny paintings to create his large scale artworks.

The smaller scale paintings are all from the history of art.  Many of the greats from the Renaissance to post impressionist are used in his work.   Gray doesn’t actually paint the smaller panels but has other artist do these pieces and then he assembles them into a larger cohesive image .  Cameron Gray’s website is here.

I rather think Vincent Van Gogh would have been fascinated by many of his paintings being used to help form a much larger piece of artwork completely unrelated to his original work.  Or maybe not.  Art begs questions sometimes more than it makes statements.  This is the joy and the challenge of going to shows like Art Chicago.  Make plans to attend the 2011 Art Chicago show now, all of the info is here.  Click on images to enlarge.

The Chicago Merchandise Mart annual Antiques and Fine Art Fair was held April 30th thru May 3rd, it was a distinct pleasure to be exhibiting at the Mart again this year.  The quality of the dealers at the show and time they take to create engaging booth spaces makes the show exciting to see.    So here are a few photos to give you a taste of the variety of amazing material that was shown at the Mart during this past event.  Click on images to enlarge.

The two photos above are dealers from Italy that always bring objects that I especially covet, their business name is Il Segno Del Tempo and they have a great website you can check out here.

One of many booths with rare Art Deco and Modernist pieces.  Click on images to enlarge.

More tramp art than you can shake a stick at, this is the booth of Clifford Wallach who has an intriguing  website filled with tramp, you can see it here.

Now this is a billiard table.  The inlay work is impressive.  To the right is a large double gaming wheel slot machine.

This back wall panel is European tile and is spectacular, it is in the booth of Rita Bucheith, Ltd.  Click on images to enlarge.

Harvey Pranian is good friend and a great dealer with an ever changing inventory of folk art.  His website is here.

Tiffany, Tiffany, and more amazing Tiffany everywhere you look.

Mid-century modern at its best.  The banana yellow Tommy Parzinger console at the back of the booth is one of those show stoppers I would love to try to work into my house.  It would make a great “stage” for sculpture and objects.

The scientific sign makes a strong statement in this eclectic booth display.  Click on images to enlarge.

I could move into this room.  The lighting was tweaked just so to help give the room the impression of a luxurious apartment in an exotic locale.  These last two photos were taken in the booth of  The Golden Triangle, located in Chicago.  They have an extensive website you can check out  here.

Hard to believe this is a booth at an antiques show until you notice the white walls in the distance.   If you did not make it to the show this year hopefully these photos will entice you to visit the Mart in 2011.  The photos I took at Art Chicago will be coming soon to this blog site.  Stay Tuned.  Click on images to enlarge.

I thought this year’s show at the Merchandise Mart was more visually interesting, and even an even higher level of quality then in any of the previous years I’ve been to the show.   Setting up at the show is an amazing experience on many levels.  Set up allows me the luxury of seeing  rare and sometimes startling objects being moved past my booth before the show opens up as everyone is trying to work their booths into beautiful room-like settings.  The enormous Mart building, two football fields long, fills up in just a few short days with antiques from all over the world as well as dealers from several different countries exhibiting their very best for this fair.  Click on images to enlarge.

My booth at the mart show had my usual mix of periods and styles that for some reason seem to work together.  I like to think of the pieces as all settling in together in the booth whether they like it or not.  Each piece seems to find to place to show off without competing with the others…or so I tell myself.

The 19th century framed botanical flowers formed a backdrop for the dark oak 18th century gate-leg table with a small grouping of santos figures on top.  Click on images to enlarge.

The santos shown in the previous photo replaced this grouping of 19th century candlesticks that sold one by one at the show.

I love this mix of art work on the back wall of the booth.  The top painting is by Guillermo Silva Santamaria, an artist from Bogota, Colombia below it is a painting by a St. Louis artist, Margery Dodson Imster.  To the left of the lamp are three 1920s stained glass window watercolor studies from the Emil Frei Art Glass Studios in St. Louis.  Click on images to enlarge.

Greta Von Nessen “Anywhere Lamp”, circa 1951 in original mint condition.  The lamp and the painting in the background found really good new homes.

The Italian gilt mirror on the back wall was a recent lucky find just a few days before the show.  The modernist painting on the right is by St. Louis artist Virginia Davis, it stayed behind in Chicago, now showing off on a new wall.

The 19th century European skull and crossbones pediment was lucky enough to find a new residence in the Windy City.

The soft whites of the walrus tusk and the shells play so well against the warm browns and grey color tones on the 18th century Russian table.  Click on image to enlarge.

The brass swan sculpture on the wall is by Curtis Jere.  To the left of the Jere are two French manikin forms, both the manikins and the Jere represent the variety of objects I bring to show and fortunately seem to be what I sell at the Mart as both stayed behind in Chicago.

The rare advertising poster behind the manikins announces Herman Miller’s opening of a store in New York City that would sell their furniture as well as fabrics by Alexander Girard and “sympathetic” decorative objects (those objects I would be curious to see.)  The poster must date from the late 1960s to early 1970s and is in mint condition.

My booth is on a corner so I have an outside wall to decorate.  At the beginning of the show the wall looked like this, and then after several things sold it evolved to the wall pictured below.  Click on images to enlarge.

The wallpaper stamps shown in the previous photo got replaced with a collection of vintage dog photos. Part of the fun of being at the show for so many days is seeing the other booths at the show change as items are sold and moved out and new things are brought in from storage and the booth redesigned.

I brought one of the showcases from the shop for displaying collections of objects.  The shelf has a collection of 19th century plaster heads and hands.

“Just say ah.”  Which is appropriate for this sculpture and is also a cool website showcasing the work of Adam Hughes.  You can check it out here.  The object in the image above was made as a European medical teaching aid in the 1930s.

One of my favorite pieces that I brought to the show was this balustrade from the Chicago Stock Exchange building designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler and completed was in 1894. Click on images to enlarge.

Staying in downtown Chicago is an experience, however staying on the 33rd floor of a downtown hotel is a better experience.  This was our view from the Hotel 71.  Wacker drive is on the left and the Merchandise Mart is on the right past the wonderfully ’60s Marina Cities twin towers.  Every morning  starts off with a nice brisk walk to the mart with a quick stop for a morning shot of caffeine and then to the 8th floor for a visual feast for the eyes as the elevator doors open and the day of selling begins.  There is something about the energy of downtown Chicago and the Mart that makes going to the show a time to remember and something I very much enjoy.   Photos from other booths at the show as well as images from Art Chicago will follow in this blog soon.  Click on images to enlarge.

I had to trim the pussy willow tree at my house this week, it was invading the neighbor’s eaves and gutters, never a good thing.   This was a great opportunity to fill the shop with one of the first signs of spring. Click on images to enlarge.

We had a pussy willow tree behind the house when I was growing up and I can remember my Mother forcing those tender bare branches into beautiful fuzzy bouquets of the softest grays and browns.  Antique Battery Jars make the perfect container for forcing branches as well as for forcing spring bulbs in.

Pussy willow branches dry very easily for arrangements, they are also very easy to root for planting a new willow tree.  I have given several cuttings  from my tree as my Mother did from hers years ago.  Spring is the time to think of  bringing flowers from the outside in and maybe giving a few away to friends and neighbors to brighten their day.  Click on images to enlarge.

This is the second year for the Winter Party and I have a to say it was a great success.   St. Louis still had some snow on the ground and it was snowing the day before the party, but last Thursday turned out to be a  beautiful sunny day, the perfect weather to feel the beginning of spring at the shop.  Click on the images to enlarge them.

Surrounding the 18th century English mirror are European wallpaper stamps from the 1950s.  The stamps make a dramatic wall covering and hence are almost all sold out.

Miniature roses fit perfectly in the Dutch white ironstone “tub”  surrounded by French mother of pearl opera glasses.

This French style chair has been upholstered in black silk with a hand-stitched Crane across the back.  The forged iron table has bronze detailing  in the manner of Oscar Bach.

A French 19th century cast iron urn with more miniature roses poses in front of a pair of garden planters.  These smaller iron urns can be used in so many different ways inside the house as well as outside.  The urns can be changed out for the seasons with a variety of contents, ie: blooming bulbs in the spring, shells in the summer,for fall.. well you get the idea .  Click on images to enlarge.

The theme for this Winter Party was “Spring” so fresh flowers continued throughout the shop .   In this photo note the wonderful European iron awning, for over a door, that hangs above the terra-cotta obelisk.   Hanging from the awning are several hand-painted Mexican pottery birds from the 1940s.

A very whimsical European armillary sundial rests on the round marble top table.

The teaching posters were printed in France in the Flemish language.  The circa 1940s posters have wonderful graphics and color.  Click on images to enlarge.

The zinc downspouts on the left of the photo were found in Belgium.  I think it would be interesting to make lamps or sconces out of the pair of downspouts, the shadows that the light would create could be dramatic.

The whimsical painted dove weathervane stands between several European cut stone planters.   To the right of the planters is a carved stone well-head of a mans face that has an incredible worn surface.

In the two previous photographs you can see the window display is of Japanese paper lanterns from the 1930s.  Roxie is keeping watch in her window perch, a job she takes quite seriously I might add.  She often feels the need to alert everyone in the shop to the presence of a dog being walked in front of her shop, often loudly… unfortunately.

The bookcases behind the counter hold an array of unusual objects.

I have never seen the bronze pieces with hands mounted on stands shown in this photo ever before.  They are the pockets from a 19th century billiard table and are made of bronze.  The ivory balls shown in the hand-cups would fall through the hole and be “caught” by the small hand that is holding the round cup.

To the right of the Italian Mirror is a very organic bronze light in the form of a gnarled grape vine with leaves.  It has holes in the base suggesting this wonderful bronze light might have been used on a newel post of a stylish house in Europe at the turn of the century.

In this photo a wonderful 19th century religious artifact with carved gilt-wood rays hangs in a shelf above the ever wacky doll head mold forms.

Blackforest antlers surround the wooden “gear” mirror made from an industrial mold form.

The venetian mirror in this photo found a new home very quickly.   The owl sculpture is by a St. Louis artist, Tom Blaizer.  The owl body has been made out of tin and the eyes out of sliced agate stone.

Nothing says spring like fresh flowers and we had a nice assortment of them at the shop for the party.  For me forsythia brings back childhood memories of my grandmothers gardens, she let it grow huge and wild, it always seems so bright,  bold and cheerful.   The forsythia is in a huge battery jar I found in Belgium.  The oversized chrome strainer also on the table is by Curtis Jere and dates from the 1970s.

I currently have a great collection of vintage medical teaching aids in the shop.

One of the more unusual items in the shop right now (and that’s saying something) is shown in the center of this photo…. the “mirror.”   A relief sculpture made from resin of a muscular nude male holding a woman in his arms has been applied to the mirror glass and put into a chrome frame, the piece has a Los Angeles label on the back and dates to the 1970s or early 1980s.  Click on images to enlarge.

A Curtis Jere swan sculpture hangs above the 1940s machine age aluminum tricycle.

One of my favorite pieces to just come into the shop is this European industrial cart.  It has great surface-ware and patina.

The wire “donut” on the wall is actually a handmade wire crap trap,  I think the trap has a fine sculptural quality to it.   The tin trays, the lanterns, and the candlesticks are all from Mexico and date from the 1940s.

Rosalie seems to be pondering the wooden bowling balls from Europe that are on either side of her carousel panel.

I am fortunate to have tall windows in the back of the shop that really let the light pour in.  The anatomical charts on the back of the shop wall are from Belgium.  Click on images to enlarge.

I wanted to end this post with a photo from the shop of simple a simple way to say spring.   I used green depression glass salt and pepper shakers for mini vases.  I placed three of the bouquets under a 19th century glass cheese dome on top of a plain glass cake stand.  The flowers have been in the shop for almost a week now and still look great.  There is so much we can all do to enliven our lives with fresh flowers without costing a fortune.  I try to have something blooming or have cut flowers in my house throughout the winter.  It makes the house smell great and it makes me feel good.  Until spring gets here and gives us fresh bouquets daily get out there and bring some flowers home.  You just might need an antique battery jar or garden urn for those flowers, luckily R. Ege Antiques has a few of those.  Come in and check us out.

Santa Claus’s face is one of the most recognizable faces in the world – a  face known the world over and also a face that none of us have actually seen in person in order to verify his accepted appearance.  We all have a concept of what Santa looks like.  Some of those concepts have been influenced by the best advertising minds of our time to sell the latest and greatest widget.  Some of us have been influenced by Santa Clauses that were made over one hundred years ago and look very different from the Santa we see portrayed today.  I thought it might be interesting to see how Santa Claus’s face has changed over the years.  The Santa face pictured above belongs to a German roly-poly dating to the 1930s.  Click on images to enlarge.

The Santa Clauses in these images all belong to a couple who have been collecting holiday antiques for a number of years.  I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph a small part of their collection.  This German paper-mache Santa dates to the late 19th century.

These early German Santa Clauses almost always have blue eyes.   This one has a hand-painted paper-mache face with a rabbit fur beard and dates to the latter part of the 19th century.

When I started collecting early Santa Clauses one of the things I noticed was that some of them had teeth.  The smiling faces of Santa that I grew up with seemed not to be showing their teeth.   Santa Clauses with teeth seemed somewhat disturbing to me.  This is the face of a Shoenhut roly-poly Santa made in the US of paper-mache in the last quarter of the 19th century.

This late 19th century German Santa has a very rare beard made of glass icicles.  He has a serious, concerned expression on his face.

Most German Santa candy containers had paper-mache faces.   This rare 19th century Santa has a bisque porcelain face with glass eyes.  He also seems to have very bright white bisque teeth.

German Santa candy container with a red mohair suit and a lambs wool beard dating to the early 20th century.

This paper-mache Santa dates from the late 19th century and seems to have the face of a tired old gentleman.  He looks rather wizard-like with his long white beard.

Belsnickle Santa with a yellow-green coat.  Belsnickles were made in Germany from the late 19th century into the early 20th.  They were made in a large variety of sizes and colors.  All Belsnickles have hand-painted faces done by a number of different crafts-persons so the facial expressions vary quite a bit.  I have seem Santa Clauses that look totally inebriated as well as those with a stern authoritarian countenance.

This German candy container Santa looks like he is up to no good with a whimsical expression.  He dates to the late 19th century.

Toy Santa Clauses from the 19th century are unusual.  This one has a wooden body that “dances” when you pull on a string.  His head is made of composition and shows great brushwork in the painted details.

This German Santa has bushy white painted eyebrows and a fur beard.  He dates from the last quarter of the 19th century.

Another bisque face Santa Claus with glass eyes and a long fur beard.  His facial details are very different from the other bisque face Santa.  This face seems more joyful, even with his teeth showing.

Chromolitho Santa face on an advertising tin dating to the early 20th century.  This wonderful warm Santa face shows the influence of 20th century illustrators such as Reginald Birch and E. Boyd Smith, who drew from the late 19th century work of  Thomas Nast.

This is one of the largest German Santa lanterns that I have ever seen.  The face and beard have been modeled beautifully in paper-mache and the eyes and teeth are painted on paper so they would glow when the candle was lit.

Chromolitho on paper Santa face applied to the top of a wooden box containing picture blocks.  These boxes usually date from the late 19th to early 20th century.

This Santa has a very nice face but it seems to be overshadowed by the beautiful head on the reindeer.   The paper-mache German reindeer has gilt Dresden decoration on his bridle and glass eyes.   The reindeer is also a nodder so his head gently moves up and down.  Click on images to enlarge.

Santa Belsnickle holding a baby.  This Belsnickle is rare, rare, rare, and I’ll type it again, rare.  Not only is the Santa holding a baby but the baby has red polka-dots all over it, including his face.  Even Santa seems surprised by this one.

This is a cloth faced Santa dating to the 1920s.  He has a sweet gentle face and a long fur beard.

German paper-mache lantern from the late 19th century.  This is an unusual form for a Santa head lantern and has an expressive face showing us his very large teeth outlined in red.

As I noted earlier Belsnickles come in many sizes.  This reindeer seems to be responding the same way I did upon seeing this white feather tree. Wow!  Wow, that’s many, many rare tiny little Belsnickles all dating from the late 19th to early 20th century.  Not a one of them have teeth.  I like that.  So if any of you happen upon “the” Santa Claus in the flesh, not of these modern day department store varieties, let me know.  I would like to find out if his teeth really are that big and scary.  Merry Christmas!  Click on images to enlarge.

The shop Christmas window for 2009 features a wonderful folk art train from Kirkwood, Mo.   Kirkwood is a part of the greater St. L0uis area and has some wonderful historic  homes and a railroad that goes through the center of town.  The folk art train is hand-painted and embellished with “Kirkwood Railroad” on the sides.  Click on images to enlarge.

The cut paper trees were easy to do and would also be fun used in house windows.

The Santa I used in the train is one of those wacky 1940s clay face Santas riding high on a mound of packages. The train engine is open car full of decorated trees.  Vintage brush trees provided a nice forest backdrop for Santa’s train.  Tin stars hang from the sky lighting the way for Santa and his deliveries.

Santa waves hello to all those who pass by.   Christmas seems the perfect holiday for using antique and vintage objects to decorate our houses with.   The ornaments could be grandmother’s treasured blown glass pieces or a funky 1960′s elf made of felt.  If you do not have family treasures then it’s time to start your own collection to pass onto family and friends.   The shop has many vintage Christmas pieces this year as do many other antique shops in the area.   If you are in Southwest Missouri my Mother and Sister have a wonderful shop in Ozark called Ozark Market Basket.  Their shop has many vintage holiday ornaments and decorations.  You can check out their website here.   Support small local business whenever you can and especially this time of year.  Remember when you are buying vintage you are recycling wonderful cheery reminders of Christmas past and not contributing to the mass produced excesses of our time.   Christmas doesn’t have to be about Black Friday or Cyber Monday.  The staff and I at R. Ege Antiques would like to wish a Merry Christmas to all.  Please click on images to enlarge.

Christmas morning circa 1959 was the theme for the 2008 Christmas window

Silver aluminum trees became all the rage in the late 1950′s thru the 1960s.   This tree was simply decorated with red balls.  I used the color red to unify the separate elements of the window display.

I was looking for one of those 1950′s cardboard fireplaces for the window display but could not seem to find one in time.  I have always found those fireplaces curious.  I guess if you did not have a fireplace a cardboard one served the purpose, sort of.  Lighting a fire in it could be a problem and then there is the issue of Santa and the chimney.  So for this window a hand-drawn fireplace served the purpose quite well.

The 6th annual Christmas Open House is now over.   I would like to thank so many very special people for making this year’s party a huge success.  We had a great turnout with lots of friends coming into the shop and lots of treasures going out of the shop.  The group of garden figures in this photo, all covered in winter’s chill, welcomed you as you came in.  Remember to click on images if you wish to enlarge.

The 19thc crazy quilt provides a great backdrop for the four seasons garden figures.  The quilt has a number of very creatively stitched “P”s.  We are lucky enough to have a note pinned to the quilt stating it was made by a member of the Parker family.

Hanging on both sides of the crazy quilt are four Chinese-export bird watercolors dating to the late 18th century.

The American Flyer Train comes complete with its Pullman cars, just the right color for the holidays.

German Kugels from the 19thc are suspended over the train, reflecting the world around them.

Draped over the center table is an amazing French Aubusson carpet from the late 18th to early 19th century.   The coal hod holding the orchids sports a hand-painted winter scene perfect for the season.

A French wire basket seems right at home filled with gold-gilded dried pomegranates.

The European painting was a lucky find.  It came out of a wonderful, stately St. Louis home.  The oil has now left its brief home at the shop and gone back into another beautiful St. Louis home.

Sheep everywhere you look, in the old paris porcelain, on the bow-front chest, and under the early glass cheese dome.  The English brass candlesticks are another recent addition to the shop.  The sticks have a curious form, somewhat Christopher Dresser-like.

This lady’s writing desk is one of the nicest pieces of painted satinwood furniture I have ever been fortunate enough to have in the shop.

The desk is covered in hand-painted garlands of flowers as well as neoclassical figures.  It also has several hidden compartments, just big enough for those “private” letters.

This is an image of the decoration on the back of the desk chair that accompanies the lady’s writing desk.

This painted chair is not typical of my usual merchandise mix, however I could not resist its five legs, looking as if it’s ready to flee the scene.

So after the front of the shop has begged for your attention the next thing you come to in the shop are the bookcases.  I like the fact that the bookcases force the eye to focus and to see in a different way than when looking at a room full of furniture and objects.  This image shows an early 20thc cast iron windmill weight made in Nebraska, as well as a zinc clock trade sign an over-sized store price stamper for a window display.

Sterling silver on one shelf and a hand-painted tin trolley on the other makes for visual contrast.

A shelf of dog oil paintings, toy dogs, and an early leather dog collar.  The lower shelf contains a wonderful architectural terra-cotta panel from a St. Louis building that was torn down.

The bookcases at the shop are full of things you just don’t see at very many other places, from hands to heads to caravans, it’s all here!

These two photos are of a collection of French stone fragments from a Gothic church dating from the 17th century.  Displaying them in a vitrine or dark bookcase would make a dynamic display.

General store cabinet filled with vintage Christmas as well as an early Steiff  bear on wheels with his original button.

Spun cotton ornaments share space with vintage wind-up Santas and Shiny Brite ornaments.

These watercolors are by James Godwin Scott, well known for his depictions of life along the Mississippi and in and around St. Louis.  The watercolors were  painted during the time he lived in this area.

Pond boat fits perfectly on the Korean Tansu chest.

The middle room of the shop was decorated with a nod to the nautical.  This image  shows a vintage toy tin racing boat on a  marble topped drafting table base.  The table is flanked by a French creel fishing basket on one side and a tall buoy on the other.

Feather tree festooned with ornaments on top of an Italian gold gilded iron table.  A bit of sparkle is good for the holidays…. or anytime.

Bead garland, clip-on birds, Shiny Brite ornaments all on a dense little feather tree.  As I have said before…. every house should have at least one feather tree!

These 19thc Apothecary jars are filled with silver-leafed dried artichokes and share space with a 1920′s butterfly weathervane.

The vintage ski poster, ca 1928,  is by artist Paul Brusset and advertises winter sports at Mont-Geneva.   The poster hangs next to a huge porcelain enamel letter “X” from a sign that was on a St. Louis building.  The X begged to be joined by the 1930′s letters M, A, and S, all covered in red sparkles.

The French cast iron coal hod is filled with more gilded artichokes.

It is safe to say I have never had anything quite like this in the shop before.  The “hurdy gurdy” type street-cart has been fitted with a Regina ca. 1900′s music box that still plays beautifully.  The coin slot took pennies, several wheat pennies were found in the base which holds the extra metal playing discs.  There are 25 different music discs with this Regina.

The cart yoke looks like it could have been pulled by goats or a large dog.  The case has been painted with baskets of flowers on the doors topped with a rather New Orleans looking “house” that contains the Regina.

The music box cart is right in the middle of the back room so it can be appreciated from all sides.  It was played several times during the party.  It is interesting how music that is 100 years old can sound so cheerful and fresh.

For the party the desserts were placed on these European pastry stands, perfect for our tasty American Christmas cookies.

This image was taken the day after the party with the sunlight pouring in.

The German hide covered rocking horse was awarded a wreath of vintage glass balls and foil leaves.

French carousel painted panel above a vintage paper-mache store display figure.

This 1930s paint store display figure was found in a Kirkwood, Missouri estate.  He would have originally held a small can of  “Mautz” brand paint.  Christmas at the shop will extend throughout the season with new merchandise added weekly.  Be sure to call the shop or email me if you have any questions about any of the merchandise shown in the blog images.  Please click on images to enlarge.