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| Dressing table set |
If, like me, you enjoy collecting small and pretty things, make a bit of impact in a corner or above a low piece of furniture. I have always preferred to make a small group which give interest in a room or passageway, rather than repeating the same object many times! Having a theme gives you much more chance of finding additions, both cheaper, and much more interesting to the casual visitor! I started collecting 'same things' for my 3 daughters; china shoes for the second, mini tea sets (2 or 3 inches across their little trays) for the eldest, really as a means of getting into antique shops and spying out stuff for my own collections. It worked well, and god parents and aunties knew what to give them as little presents, but now there are few shops that deal in such trifles and the prices, if they do have any in stock, are not at all triffling! so the fun has gone out of it. Last month, on Ebay, I did buy a pretty dressing table set, Victorian with blue/green foliage and pink flowers on the candlesticks, little lidded pots and a ring tree for £10, which is great, and there are more at that sort of price, but there is a limit to my number of dressing tables to hold them and my time for dusting them. Kitchen dressers are an obvious display area and personally I love a good mix of pottery, jugs, mugs, bowls and tea pots, either all rather bright and rustic, or china in soft pretty shapes and colours in a more elegant layout. I like to have a shelf of pretty things below a window on the stairs, or high above the kitchen stove or the sink which are not usually things of beauty - and they cheer me up when I have chores to do!
A collection of different patterned French enamelware can be good fun if you have a good space to fill; if it is chipped and faulty, it will be cheap, but do not be tempted to use it for cooking, it can be very dangerous and poison you! French kitchen and table fine wirework arranged in a group can look so attractive against whitewashed plaster walls and you can still find good examples. Baskets hung from the ceiling always look good; butter and cheese making tools are other possible fields for collecting. Looking round the 'byegones' and tool stalls at French fairs can start you off and do allow time for the seller to tell you their history and use. Ebay can be a useful source, but is not such fun as digging and delving at a big general antiques fair and actually handling the goods before you buy.
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Breakfast time! Egg baskets and part breakfast service. French 'marriage' china below
with white rabbit jelly mould |
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| A good collection of baskets. Laduz Museum, France |
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| French wirework kitchen tools |
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| Vintage Dorset Buttons for Babies' clothing |
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