Bama Planter

I"m feeling better lately so I'm back at the blog.  Here is some purple transferware I bought from an auction in Bainbridge.   I am always fascinated by the movements of the people.  They always seem to be so busy.  Where have they been?   I read that the saucers were deep so as to hold the coffee -  that it was impolite to drink from the cup.  I've heard other victorian stories that were just made up ( such as the petticoat table myth)  so I never know if these tales are true or not. I remember the old folks here pouring their coffee into their saucers and blowing on it to cool it, so there is some truth to the drinking from the saucer part.  I saw that myself. Where is she going?  Who are these people telling her goodbye? 

A portrait of a young boy has arrived from an auction in NY.  He has no frame and no identification for either himself or the artist who painted him.  There will need to be a touch of dark infilling around his collar. The canvas measures 28 1/4 x 23  1/4.     He will need a gold gesso frame with an oval insert to fit. That hunt might take a while.

Crazy Quilts seem to be popping up in a lot of auctions lately all over the country.  I've purchased three in June and can't seem to get enough. Unless a person sews, there is no way of realizing how much time went into their creation. The quilt collector books seem to agree that the fad of the crazy quilt was a late victorian thing. Silks, satins, wools, velvets.... All have the same format, yet some of them show greater skill and artistic ability.

He is a large oval  43 x 35 frame  from an auction house in Pennsylvania, ca. 1850. He holds a book which some say signifies that he can read. Other just call it a prop. Usually a person well off enough to pay for an oil portrait was well off enough to have some education.  The canvas is 35 x 27.    I think the gesso decoration on this frame is going to be some of the best examples I have of that lost art. He should arrive within two weeks.  I need more wall space.

Quilts airing on the porch railings. Welcome to my Alabama Home. Sunny today but not too hot.. Sit down and relax. Ring the bell so I'll know I have company. The bamboo creates a nice alley to the back yard garden. I have yet to built boxes to turn these into Peanuts 5 Cents carts. View from the front porch to the fields. The oak settle.  Not common in Alabama. A Yankee thing. Yes, red is the color now.  Fainting couch with crazy quilts. Dough bowls and a red cranberry wreath. Corner cabinet with pink lustreware. My prize is the 1680 mushroom chair from Massachusetts in honor of my witch ancestors hanged in Salem in 1692. Red lusters; King's Rose dishes, Mohican girandole all flanked by two Ogee clocks. My latest lady portrait. Hunting gear; another recent lady; and pink theme with Old Paris. That's a spinning wheel in the middle, end of wheel view. Two chairs in rosewood surround marble t...

My friend Gerry, known to many as the Linen Lady,  buys and sells top quality linens from estate sales and auctions. Sometimes she will repurpose a really beautiful piece. She created this pillow from an embroidered runner . Inside is mattress ticking. If you have the March/April 2016 issue of Victoria Magazine you can see this pillow on page 44.   You can see the gold pin she added.   Her creations are seen often in Victoria.   They use them for photo spreads then mail them back.  She has kept a few as souvenirs but sells some.  I bought this one for my sister.  It looks good in the 1850 rosewood chair, but I'm mailing it this week to my sister with a copy of the magazine to show what a celebrity pillow it is! 

Do you see him sitting on the fence post?  This picture was taken one morning from the window of my library.  Can you see the wise old owl?  A poem we learned in 5th grade.  A wise old owl sat on an oak. The less he heard, the more he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard. Why can't you be like that wise old bird?