Sweet September and thoughts on collecting

The famous gourd pyramid at the Country Living Fair is something to strive for! I'm building a very small version for my porch table. My pumpkin patch did not provide for something as stupendous as this.

 

 Next year, I am going to plant the entire hillside in front of the barn with Ornamental Gourds. Aren't these gorgeous?

  The fair was GREAT! We had an absolutely fabulous show, signing books non-stop and selling more lithographs than I have EVER sold at any show. My paper gardens were a success as well but I did not sell my favorite one, weird. James and I participate in 20-25 art festivals each year, as I have done for over 25 years. It can be very exhausting. But some shows are simply a pleasure to do. This was  just such a show. I never had a chance to leave my booth, so the only purchase I made was this antique bird cage that was luring me from the booth across from ours.

 I hung it on the bathroom wall above the claw foot tub.

 The fair was filled with wonderful artists, craftsmen, and antiques. The crowds were enthusiastic and loaded down with treasures. It got me to thinking, when I came home, about how many collectors of art, antiques and curiosities,   are out there in the world. Nearly everyone that I know collects something

or MANY somethings.... a good rule of thumb is: if you have more than 3 of IT, then IT, is a collection.

Collections are as varied as individuals. I have a good friend who collects HOUSES.. she has 7 of them!

I collect  many things....like...

BIRDS.

Both outside AND inside the house.

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I have often  discussed my collections on this blog and today will continue to lure you into the world of "collecting stuff".

Wooden birds are one of my favorites... also birds nests,  bird cages, old bird prints, feathers and broken eggshells. 

I had found this wonderful old bird dish which I hung on the wall. At some point it was knocked off and broke into 5 pieces. I loved it so much, I just glued it back together again and it now sits atop a cupboard with a wee wooden bird inside. 

 I don't mind the cracks, I just see the birds.

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 Little Birds sit upon shelves, window sills and mantles..

 along with pewter tea sets, teapots, creamers.

 I LOVE PEWTER AND BRITAINNIA WARE

 I could use a different tea set every day, and that is fine, for

I dearly love tea.

  I find these vintage items to be quite lovely. They connect me with history and a way of life that is  foreign to us in this high tech world in which we live. I like the beauty of the vessels and the simple ritual of pouring tea, which it represents.

Why do we collect things? Perhaps it is an appreciation for

design, form and beauty. Maybe you actually put your collections to use. I have many old watering cans, and I use them all.

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The salt galzed stoneware pottery in the old cupboard above is not antique,  but created by talented artisans who have kept alive the method of throwing stoneware, the old way. I really appreciate artists who work in traditional ways to keep old crafts alive.

These tiny stoneware goods are no bigger than 2 inches, most are much smaller. Can you imagine the patience it takes to create these tiny treasures? I love that! No wonder I collect them.

BASKETS

 At last count, there were 70 antique baskets in this house.

 Again, baskets were an indispensable part of life in Early America, the "paper and plastic bags" of the day.

 The difference being, they were hand made, attractive, and lasted a lifetime...or longer. When I look at an old basket, I see the skill that went into weaving it, the peaches it carried, the eggs it gathered, the laundry it held. It is truly a thing of grace.

Miniature baskets are the sweetest.

Psanky eggs.

 Think about this- someone takes a humble egg, blows out it's insides , and then spends countless HOURS with a stylus,waxes, dyes, and a small flame, to create intricate and delightful designs upon aforementioned humble egg-shell. Why WOULDN'T you want to have a collection of these delicate and fragile artworks??!! 

Sewing implements

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Sewing baskets, pincushions, needlework items are fun collectibles. 

Threads, needles, pins, darning, embroidery hoops,,, these represent the delicate work of  a woman's hands. Whether she was sewing the family clothing, or darning socks, counting tiny stitches in her pieced quilt, or exercising her creativity with an ornate sampler... It was the work of her hands that provided so much for her family. Every woman had a sewing box,  from the farmers wife to the Lady of the Manor.

  Some may consider it  materialistic to collect so many things, what  a lot of unnecessary junk, they may think to themselves. But I don't care. Some folks love  travel and eating out, some women love jewelry, clothes, new cars, and having their hair and nails done. I don't care about any of that. I am...  a collector.

Collecting helps the economy- I am serious!  Just think of all the self-employed artists and craftsmen, small antique businesses and entrepreneurs we are supporting. I am one of them! If folks did not collect my books or my art, I would be out of business.

I also collect  fuzzy things. 

This is Sasha.

 I want to hug them,  kiss them, cuddle them, indulge them with their favorite treats , love them and give them a good home. 

This is Peepers, a very undignified name. 

I have known SO many cats in my life. I guess you could say I've Collected them. They are all unique, just like we are,  Just like our collections are.

 I hope you are a collector too. 

   Just a word about my birds... I lost 3 beautiful hens to a predator while we were out of town. It just breaks me up when that occurs. One of them was raising 10 baby chicks.  

To my dear departed Demelza, Esmeralda, and Baby Mavis, may you dwell in the land of Heavenly feathers with all my other lost lovelies.

Collections, Show and Tell

 
 Admit it, you collect something right? Some women collect jewelry, or clothes or shoes. I don't claim any of these as my pets, well, maybe the shoe part.  ( I just found the BEST little red MaryJanes!) But when it comes to antiques... therein lies my weakness.   I aquired this " habit" at around age 12, when my love of horses seemed to ride off into the sunset along with the Barbie dolls. ( YES, I was one of those little girls with a room full of plastic horse models, horse portraits, and every rendition of "Black Beauty" ever printed. I even had a bridle, even though I never actually had a horse).

 But having a mother with a penchant for the OLDE, led me to a life of addiction... yes ADDICTION... to the 19th century. If you would be so kind as to accompany me around the house. may I share with you a few of my favorite collections?

 I will start with Old games, puzzles, toys and blocks and books.

The graphics on late 19th century games are simply delightful.

 The games of Tiddly winks, Jack Straws and Lotto seem to have been very popular in the early 190o's.

The boxes  alone, are reason enough to collect these, but when the contents are still in the box, that is REALLY fun.

Directions are a must, since many of these games are as foreign to us as the games of MARBLES and JACKS are, to today's youngsters.

I love showing these to children, many of whom have never even played a board game!  (We grew up on Monopoly)

Displaying your collections properly and to best advantage is really important. In our house we use a lot of these long colonial style shelves with pegs.

Antique ABC blocks, ( which also have great graphics) are displayed in the old printers box.

The vintage storybooks are hanging off the wall in an old wire card rack.

 All these are in my studio ( which I recently moved from my tiny room, to a guest room twice as large) I am constantly inspired by the artwork on these items. Maybe it is one reason I love creating story books in an old world style.

  Now, here are the old crocks. Long before glass jars came into use, crocks held everything from preserves to whiskey. The crocks beneath are made by Heinz and contained not only pickles but preserves of every kind. 

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Finding one with a label intact isn't easy . I only have a few of those.

  As I always say, presentation is everything, and don't those images of fresh fruits on the labels make you want to purchase a 5 gallon crock of strawberry preserves?

  I look for  antique canning labels with fabulous artwork on them. I just paste them on my existing crocks.

 

 Crockery was also used for butter churns, as seen here amongst the glass churn and the metal churn and butter molds. The cow is actually an antique cast iron doorstop.

I don't know how many crocks are around this house, but I do try to put  most to use, hiding non-vintage items like "sweet n low" packs, baggies, scouring pads, and the like. Since our house was built around 1890, we try to stay in that era, or earlier, with decor.

 And here, to show you that some things never change, they just get older... one of my favorite collections. HORSES.!!... but not like the ones I had as a girl!

These are made of plaster over wood. You could buy them in the 1910 Sears catalog for 49 cents and up, but they were imported from Germany. The Germans made marvelous toys back in the day, think Steiff.

This guy was in dreadful condition when I bought him, he was ready for the dog food factory. But I restored him well. He is actually made of some kind of animal skin (ICK) which was stretched and stitched along his body.  All his stitching had to be replaced along with his eyes, tail and mane, which I replaced with dyed flax. Now, he is ready for the Kentucky Derby!

This was my first little horse on wheels. He is covered in a felt-like fabric and I paid $75 for him long ago when I really couldn't afford it. (Gee I hope you are not bored yet, because we have to trot over to view the rest of the horse show!)

These charming little work horses are made of flat wood with paper lithograph atop.

And this lithographed horse pulling the workable wagon is joined by a metal WWI horse and a cast iron horse from 1890.

Where would we be without George Washington riding in on his trusyt steed?

And here is the head of a STICK horse, minus the stick, MY FAVORITE.

I could go on and on.... show you the cows, donkeys and sheep, but I don't want to BORE YOU TO DEATH!  Let's face it, half the fun of collecting, is showing your STUFF to other people- who like your STUFF as much as you do!

And this is how this collection is displayed, in our Front Parlor, on the way to the Keeping Room.

Next time we do a show and tell... I will bring along my Southern Belles,

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  and all the wooden birds and pewter teapots.

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What do you collect and HOW do you display it? Do you have a blog post showing your ideas? Let us know!