We’ve been having the most glorious late spring/early summer weather here in Todmorden and our vintage garden chairs have been seeing some action for the first time this year. We completely disagree with whoever came up with, “blue and green should never be seen”!
Here’s a new batch of recent vintage finds - slightly more items than our last ‘Forthcoming Attractions’ post!
We’ll start with a few pieces for the kitchen. Quite a blue feel to the selection. These vintage mixing bowls often have cream interiors, but more rarely have these lovely coloured glazes in blue, orange or yellow. The utensil sitting inside the bowl is a drinks mixer or frother. The metal whisk end spins as you press the handle down - perfect for cocktails, hot chocolate etc.
The sugar or flour sifter is classic 1960s with its geometric pattern in sky blue & deep olive green. It’s from the ‘Tivoloi’ range produced by Portmeirion Pottery.
This bowl could also find a good home in the kitchen, but has a thousand uses around the house. We often feature these pieces of colourful enamel produced by Cathrineholm of Norway - teapots, pans, bowls, ice buckets and more!
Now for a bit of wood. The butter knife set is a great bit of Scandinavian design - sculptural and useful. It was produced by Karlsson & Nilsson of Sweden in the 1950s or 60s. We think the letter box is very sweet - it would give a lovely vintage touch to an office desk or hallway.
Probably our favourite object this week is this 1960s shopping list board. It’s a humble object and quite a rare survivor being so simply constructed. It certainly has lots of charm.
We love the graphics - wife doing a spot of homemaking, hubby out collecting the parcels!!
And finally, a bold flash of orange. The lampshade is a very good quality piece of cased glass - it was produced by Holmegaard of Denmark, in the 1960s or 70s. The fabric is from a similar era. We think it might have been produced by Crabtree Fabrics. It would make great cushion covers.
Or perhaps even more perfect… curtains for a vintage camper van. One glimpse of these and you’d be in a happy, holiday frame of mind!
There isn’t the usual number of items in this Forthcoming Attractions post. It’s just that they really summed up the last few days. We had a magazine photoshoot on Wednesday chez H is for Home. The groovy flower-power apron represents the hours of cleaning we had to do before they arrived - and the fabulous Cathrineholm kettle represents the endless cups of tea that kept us going! It’s not that we live in a dirty house or anything, but there’s a constant battle against coal dust & dog fur.
Both items will be hitting the shop soon - and a further post about the photoshoot will follow very shortly too!
Justin arrived home with this dress last week after a trip to a local auction.
He was well aware that it may not find its way into the shop.
It’s very ‘Me’ - vintage, bright and very versatile. I’ll wear it on its own, with this thin belt, with brightly coloured tights, over trousers and/or a blouse - the combinations & variations are almost endless!
…and what a groovy pattern!
In the same week he came across this vintage Welsh wool tapestry handbag. And he was even more certain that I was going to keep it for myself - I have a cape and a purse in the exact same fabric & colour!
It’s in absolutely mint condition - and look at its gorgeous brushed steel clasp!
Perhaps ‘find’ is too strong a word - more a patient track down. We’ve long coveted this particular enamel mug designed by Kaj Franck for Finel.
We’ve been holding out for a really good example, in pristine condition. Our wait ended this week when we won the bidding on a well-known auction website. We just love the stylised birds and fiery colours - it really is a stunner!
Finel is responsible for some fantastic pieces of enamelware.
Great designers such as the aforementioned Kaj Franck, Seppo Mallat and Antti Nurmesniemi worked for the company.
Their pieces are decorative, functional & well made.
We have quite a few pieces dotted around the house including cups, teapots & bowls.
This bowl is decorated with a fabulous mushroom design. It was probably intended for the kitchen or dining table, but ours seems to have adopted the role of tea light storage container!
We also like to keep examples for sale in the shop. We currently have one of the teapot/kettles shown above. Also, this lovely set of bowls - perfect for serving starters, salads, curries, desserts - anything really! It consists of one large bowl with the geometric circle/grid design and six smaller bowls in the same vibrant blue.
One more design that still eludes us is the repeating red & white heart shape one - but we’re keeping our eyes peeled!
This amazing pattern is from a sample of vintage fabric designed by Jacqueline Groag in the 1950s - one I’ve not seen before.
It forms part of the Designing Women: Post-War British Textiles exhibition currently on at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London (ends 16 June 2012).
The exhibition celebrates the work of, amongst others, Lucienne Day (1917–2010), Jacqueline Groag (1903–86) and Marian Mahler (1911–83).
We’ve assembled some new items that we’ve picked up recently. They’re all arranged on a lovely vintage kitchenette - itself a recent auction purchase.
We often put these kitchenettes in our antiques centre shop - they’re good sellers and an added advantage is that they’re great for displaying lots of other items whilst they wait for someone to give them a good home. They require varying amounts of work when we buy them - a good wash usually - then painting, fresh lining paper etc. This one’s had its thorough wash, but apart from that, it’s good to go. We like its caramel colour and daisy patterned paper.
Moving onto the smaller items - two perpetual calendars to start with - one wooden, one red-orange plastic. Both probably dating from the 1970s. Perfect for the home office desk or shelf.
Also sitting on the upper shelves are this pottery jug & coffee tin - slightly earlier in vintage - both 1950s/60s. The jug was produced by T G Green and is from the ‘Domino’ range - we like the colour and simple polka dot design - ideal as a milk jug or for displaying cut flowers.
The coffee tin was produced by Worcester Ware. They made some lovely metalware items around this time - storage tins, placemats, serving trays, waste paper bins and so on.
Sticking with the metalware theme, we have this very vibrant set of coasters. These were designed by Lena & Al Eklund and produced by Launds Lonborg of Denmark. Are they fruit trees or flowers?
Next to the coasters on the main photo is this fabulous children’s wooden jigsaw. It features the nursery rhyme, ‘Hey diddle, diddle’. It was made by Arrow Games Ltd and we guess it dates from the 1960s. We love the illustration - it is signed by the artist ‘Hutchings’ although we haven’t established a first name yet - perhaps someone out there knows?
This sweet little party game will be of a similar age - this one produced by Spears Games. Justin says he’s got some vague memories of playing this with his Granny. Who needs an X-box when you’ve got ‘Mousie-Mousie’?
With summer approaching, thoughts turn to picnics, camping and trips to the beach. Colourful melamine and vintage Thermos flasks always prove popular from now until November.
This sweet little vase was made by Hornsea Pottery and is part of their ‘Rainbow’ range. There were lots of shapes made in this pattern - plant pots, vases, ashtrays and cruet sets.
To the left of the main photo is this tall pan stand - the red ‘atomic’ ball feet are a nice touch. On it sits a set of three aluminium saucepans with teak handles - they’re totally unused and have a great stylised flower design in eye-catching orange & blue.
We always make sure we have a selection of enamelware in stock. Its always popular as it gives a vintage feel to the most modern of kitchens, without breaking the bank!.
The new May 2012 edition of Homes & Antiques magazine popped through our letterbox today - an ‘upcycling’ special.
We loaned a few things to stylist, Kiera Buckley-Jones for her ‘Flea Market Finds’ feature.
The items look great - some super styling from Kiera, incorporating them into various room settings.
Lovely photographs by Carolyn Barber capture the combination of classic period pieces and upcycled projects which give tired or neglected materials a new lease of life.
We’re not being biased, but this magazine is an excellent read - it’s evolved over recent years and now includes lots of vintage loveliness in its various articles and house tours.
We’re saying a fond farewell to our gorgeous Stig Lindberg bowl in a few days. We bought it last year at auction and despite it being very tempting to keep hold of these items indefinitely, we have to make a living. So it’s up for sale!
It’s a stunning piece with blue band and black zig-zag design - hand decorated by Stig Lindberg for Gustavsberg of Sweden in the 1950s. Fully marked to the base with the artist’s distinctive markings.
We put most items on our own website, but we’ve decided to list this one on eBay. There are avid collectors of Scandinavian pottery from this era - and Stig Lindberg-designed examples in particular. It will reach a wide audience for collectors worldwide who are searching for him by name. If you’re a fellow fan, there’s still 4 days left of the auction.
We’ve enjoyed living with it for a while, but it’s just got a bid… so it looks like goodbye!
This cute illustrated tray has been getting a lot of views, comments & favourites since we added it to the H is for Home website and Flickr stream last week. We spotted it on a stall when we visited the Lincoln Antique and Home Fair and knew that it would be perfect for our shop!
If we hadn’t started H is for Home, I (Adelle) would have loved to be an interiors stylist on a glossy homes magazine. This week’s Friday Folks interviewee, Kiera Buckley-Jones, is actually living (and working) that dream! We’ve known Kiera since the really early days of H is for Home and she regularly features our wares in her photo shoots. We were glad of this opportunity to find out a bit more about her working life.
Who are you & what do you do?
I’m Kiera Buckley-Jones and I’m the in-house stylist at Homes & Antiques magazine. This involves organising photo shoots, producing shopping pages and coming up with ideas of how to show antique and vintage collectables at their best.
How did you get into the business?
I started by doing work experience at various homes magazines in London, which was a great opportunity to get some hands-on shoot experience. Through these placements I met a number of stylists who I then assisted over the years, learning on the job. When the opportunity came up at Homes & Antiques, it really was a dream position as I’ve always loved going to jumble sales, collecting and history; and now I get to combine all these interests in each feature/project I work on.
Who or what inspires you?
Old magazines and films are great reference tools. I’m also inspired by collectors (and I meet a lot of these), people who are passionate, knowledgeable and have dedicated their lives to their subject.
What has been your greatest success?
It was tremendous fun working on the Hemingways’ Museum of 51 last summer at the Southbank. I was given the task of creating a Homes & Antiques 1950s living room to reflect the design of the period. I begun my research by looking at old footage of the Festival of Britain site at the Southbank and reading home improvement magazines of the early fifties. The room needed to reflect the optimism of the period, the colour and the sense of the ‘new’.
Have you got any advice for someone wanting to break into the business?
Get as much experience as you can, as you never know when it will come in handy. Not only will this help you develop your skills, you’ll also meet lots of contacts along the way.
We made the trip to Lincoln Antiques and Home Fair on Monday. Our alarm was set for 5.30am, so it was quite an early start in the cold and the dark. Add in a few hours driving and you have to hope that the effort will be worthwhile.
Fortunately it was - and we picked up some very nice pieces - some favourites are shown here. It’s mainly vintage, mid 20th century stuff; but we couldn’t resist a couple of country antiques too, such as this beautiful 18th century bowl and bread/pie oven peel.
We bought quite a few West German ‘fat lava’ pots, concentrating on bold reds & oranges. Their prices are certainly on the rise. Other ceramics included the wall plaques designed by Bjorn Wiinblad for Nymolle of Denmark. Each one represents a month of the year and features a loving couple’s story - from courtship to parenthood. We like the whimsical, folk art design and we’ve actually got a set on our kitchen wall.
A slightly more recent piece of wood was to be found in the shape of this 1950s/60s teak coaster set. We’re not sure who the maker is, but it’s got real quality to it - it’s very Scandinavian and has a gorgeous, warm colour. There was no shortage of enamelware to be found - we plumped for this set of graduated blue kitchen pots - the largest has an impressive 18 litre capacity!
The sewing box dates from the 1960s and is made of a plastic weave material. Some people call in Dandycord - which we think was a trade name or brand of PVC flooring. The same material was used in the manufacture of these sewing boxes. You also see chairs, plant pot holders, magazine racks etc from the same period made from it. We were given a real flash of flower power colour when we lifted the lid! Equally bold & bright were the lovely little teatowel and this absolutely stunning roll of unused 1950s fabric, with it’s classic vase design & period colour combination of yellow, red, grey, black & blue.
It’s always tempting to stay in a warm bed, but we’re glad that we didn’t when we look back at this haul!
Any Jane Austen fans out there?
We’ve got the perfect vintage biscuit tin for you!!
Dating from the 1950s and made by A.Romary & Co Ltd from Tunbridge Wells, it’s decorated with Georgian dandies doffing their hats to the coquettish ladies riding atop their horse drawn carriage - all in their period finery.
So settle back with your chocolate digestives for the next episode of Pride & Prejudice - perhaps you could even tempt your own Mr Darcy round for tea & biscuits!
My two most favourite colours in the world - violet purple & tangerine orange - TOGETHER - in a gorgeous vintage kitchen setting!
[Image via Beautiful Spaces and Places]
Here’s a quick peek at a few of our recent purchases.
We’ll start with fabrics - a lovely pair of heavy curtains with a striped pattern in blues, greens & turquoise - perfect for keeping out those coming winter draughts. There are more shades of gorgeous green and a groovy pattern in the duvet cover.
The pottery kitchen storage jars are from the Kleen Kitchen Ware range produced by Sadler - a classic 1950s look.
The pedestal alarm clock is by Rhythm - its orange hour markers are a nice detail.
These stacking stools are perfect for a camper van or small kitchen - they’re stamped to the base ‘Chair Centre January 1972’.
This lovely Scandinavian mid century modern teak pestle & mortar is by Karl Holmberg.
The camera bag has all kinds of pockets and compartments and was manufactured by Hinomoto.
And last, but not least - the nest of tables that all the items are sitting on. They’re a wonderful shape and were manufactured by G-Plan.
