Finally here are the photos from the September 23rd, 2010 Container Party.  I want to thank those of you that attended this year’s Container Party and helped to make it the best one we have ever had at the shop.   I want to especially thank all of the friends and customers that drove from several states away to help make this year’s event a true party.   So here are the photos of the shop before it all started to go away.  I will  soon be posting the photos from the Merchandise Mart International Antique Fair that I attended the week after the shop party.  All in good time.

The Madonna and Child are from Belgium retaining their original hand woven clothing made with shimmering gold thread.  The devotional figure dates from the mid-18th century.  The gilt-wood altar sticks are from Belgium and France and are from the late 18th to early 19th centuries.  The Madonna figure was bought from an amazing woman whose father collected early religious artifacts from the region they were from in Belgium.   I bought a large ex voto collection from the same woman that had also belonged to her father.  Click on photos to enlarge.

The plaster head fragments were used as models in academic drawing classes in the late 19th century.

The bronze dress was found at an early morning market unwanted by the usual buyers of fine art bronzes because the piece was missing its head and arms, which would have been made out of  ivory, and the dress seemed to have a small bullet hole running through it.  Because of the sculpture’s failings I fell in love with it.  The piece has a simple elegance to it.  The sculpture was one of my favorite pieces in this container.  Luckily it  sold opening night to a very special person that used to live in St. Louis but now calls Ohio home.

The 18th century large iron altar stick shown in the center of the photo is also from the same collection of religious artifacts from Belgium.   I have a pair of these unusually fine wrought iron altar sticks that date from around 1780.   The pair of french chairs have been recently recovered in Belgium linen.

The repurposed medicine cabinet looks great with a wide assortment of European curiosities.

The large drafting table holds a variety of interesting fare, from an Italian 18th century cabinet to a pair of French angel wings standing above a Queen Victoria’s Royal Guard’s billy club.   The German antler table is barely visible next to the Italian leather hall chair.  The two drawings of female nudes found in the Netherlands complete the grouping.

This Italian cabinet is loaded with hidden compartments.  It is covered in burl and gilt-wood figures, it dates to the 18th century but it has been made in the style of a 16th century cabinet of curiosities.  The cabinet has amazing workmanship and is in remarkable condition.  Click on images to enlarge.

The brass dog collar shown in the upper right of the photo still retains it’s original lock for that very special dog.   The ammonite was found in Belgium.

The large architectural panel was found locally but fits in perfectly with the items from the container.

He was a handsome man then and still is today.   The French portrait dates from the 1820s and has found a new home to watch over.

This large academic architectural rendering was done with a very sensitive hand.  Large scale drawings make a strong visual impact in a room, especially ones like this that also add a sense of architectural detail to a modern space.

Cast iron fence finials found in the Netherlands.  The finials have found new homes but I still have some of the marble trivets left that I used here in the photo as display stands for the finials.  The trivets also made great cheese boards and plant stands.  Reuse, Repurpose, recycle, as antique collectors we do it everyday!

Here is the collection of ex votos that I had mentioned earlier.  This group are mostly made of silver and date to the late 19th century, they were found in Belgium but used all over Europe from Spain to Italy.   Ex votos are basically votive offerings to saints.  The wikipedia link describing their use is here.  I have been fascinated by them for years but have never found many old ones available to buy before this collection.  I have to admit to keeping two pieces from this group….why not?  Click on images to enlarge.

Photographers’ lenses, lots of them.  This is the largest group of lenses I have ever found in Europe.  This collection sold at the Merchandise Mart show and are now on their way to Mexico City.  The Art Deco terra-cotta figures are by a Danish artist.

Meissen porcelain vase with snake handles shares a shelf with a French 19th century glass newel-post finial and an early 18th century panel relief carved with a skull.

The miniature store manikin on the right was made to display the latest in French brasiers from around 1910.   The millinery hat form on the left was handmade and covered in linen, it dates to the 1920s.  Click on images to enlarge.

The bookcases behind the counter hold a wide variety of objects in my shop.  This photo shows shelves with souvenir models of buildings, terra cotta parts of buildings, and a colorful Meccano 1920s fire truck.

The miniature ladder in this photo looks to be a salesman’s sample by the construction details.  The articulated artists’ models seem to fit the ladder well.  The dogs on the upper left shelf date to the late 19th century and are covered in real fur with glass eyes.  The head of the larger of the two dogs is movable for a very lifelike appearance.

Dogs seemed to dominate the store cabinet across from the counter this year.   You can tell I am very much drawn to vintage dog related items.  Roxie, my dog, might be jealous if I brought home a real dog but this way, with these dogs she couldn’t care less…as long as she comes first, always!

I bought a skull collection in Europe, can you tell?   Some great material from the 18th and 19th centuries. The hand in the center of the photo is from a billiard table and is the “pocket” for catching the ball.

Another one of my favorite things was this plaster cast of a skeleton hand used by an artist in the late 19th century as a drawing model.  Click on images to enlarge.

The middle room at the shop seems to lend itself to showing off the antlers and black forest items.  The most unusual antler piece this year was the large gun rack shown on the white pedestal, the rifles would fit vertically into the rack.   Another interesting piece is the cast iron trade sign clock case from a butcher’s shop that hangs above the spool cabinet.

A wonderful interior painting of a Dutch artist’s studio hangs above a pair of mounted antelope horns.

More antlers, paintings and a rather large cat.

The aggressive stance of the French Art Deco panther seems incongruous with the languid Dutch landscape.  The cat has been carved from one piece of alabaster and dates from the 1920s.  It has been sold and I thankfully will never have to lift it again.

Dutch targets and a horse door knocker, all found new homes.

I have been buying and selling these cast iron 19th century door knockers for far longer than I care to admit.  I have always been drawn to the sculptural beauty of the ladies hands, usually complete with rings and ruffled cuffs.  Click on images to enlarge.

The back room at the shop always seems to lend itself to a more contemporary way of presenting objects.  I think the glazed brick walls, the huge glass windows and the extra high ceilings gives the space a loft like feel.   The front of the shop with its finished plaster walls seems to set up more in a more formal and slightly European way.  It has been interesting these past six years exploring how the shop looks best and what areas customers gravitate towards.

The sun was being very dramatic in the shop while I was trying to take the photos.  The man in the oil painting with the blue background was found in the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands.

I was lucky to find some nice ironstone pieces this year as well as two Queen Victoria abc plates bought from the same woman who got them from the same house.   Were there twins in the original household that owned these plates?   These questions will never be answered.

Two unusual French bottle drying racks in front of a large tin bread tray used for baking.

The lead frog fountain was made in England but has found a new home in a St. Louis pond.

This pair of bronze cranes seem to be admiring their reflection in the French 19th century silver-gilt Louis Philippe mirror.

Vintage medical charts make a strong graphic statement in a room, or in this case inside a large general store cabinet.  I took the charts with me to the Merchandise Mart Antique Fair and sold several of them there.  The medical charts created a bit of a stir at the show and were written about in a few local blogs, you can check out one of those blog articles here.

A view from the very back of the shop looking towards the front.  The “electric” sign on top of the blue cupboard dates from the 1920s and is metal with milk glass letters.  The sign still works great.

This photo shows several of the unusual pieces of lighting I like to carry in the shop: from the French polished steel Jielde lamp to the spotlight from a Dutch freighter to several Dutch railroad lanterns, all rewired and ready to go.

The Diesel Jeans store display sign was found in Europe and has been made to look like a vintage auto tire sign.   The 19th century tower clock hands have been mounted on a contemporary stand so that they still move, in case one needs to set the time.

Another one of my favorite things were these brushes from the Netherlands, (I know I have more than a few favorite things, but this was a large container).  Not sure what all of the brushes were used for but I think the bottom one and the one on the far right were paint brushes used for decorative wall painting effects, dating to the 1920s.

The academic drawing of a skeleton sold to the nicest southern woman that seemed very unskeleton-like.  I love it when someone surprises me by what they want to take home with them, unpredictable people are usually very interesting.   I am fortunate not to have many customers in the “ordinary”  category.

As the sign seems to say, she’s electric!  Saving the best till last, one of my very, very favorite things in the shop is this 19th century European carousel figure.    This figure reminds me of the 19th century female circus performers with the tiny cinched waist and short skirt riding the back of a prancing white steed, ostrich plumes coming out of her chapeau.   This carved wood figure has been carefully scraped down to her original paint and dates to the late 19th century.   Check in later for a post on the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair.   With fall here I just finished the shop Halloween window display last week, so  I will try to get a photo of it posted on the site soon… I promise.  Enjoy this amazing fall weather it won’t last forever.

This skeleton at the Packer Schopf Gallery is made entirely out of plastic cassette tapes.

This shows more of the detail of the construction.

The Gallery had some of this artist’s work last year at the Fair.   The attention to detail is amazing.   I  like the concept of a book pulling you through it, taking you on a journey as you read it and this artist doing the same thing in a very unique visual way.

Another cut-out book at the Packer Gallery.

Also at Packer Gallery are these white mac lap-tops that have been inked in a technique that looks like scrimshaw.

“Beware the tendency to become the things you covet, it’s unsustainable & will only disappoint you in the end.”

I am drawn to the beauty of wood, especially carved sculptural pieces.  This piece has such an elegance and strength about it.  This skull is by Laurel Roth also at the Packer Gallery.  Laurel Roth has described this new series as, “..based on the bones of food animals using  finely polished wood, crystal, and gold to highlight the sacred and the profane aspects of food in an age of industrial agriculture.”