Sunday, April 18, 2010

For the love of a lamp, I can be reduced to begging.

Just a hint! Never be the driver when you are Estate Sale shopping with your competitive antiques dealer buddies. While you are parking the car they are buying everything worth having!!!!!

That is what happened to me years ago and the chickens in the picture below were involved. By the time I got TO the Estate Sale my friends were already leaving~ one of them with these chickens in his hot little hands. The chicken are a lamp! A lamp I LOVED. I am sure HE got the lamp at a great price, but I had to HAVE it and was reduced to BEGGING!

I have never been sorry that I bought it from him {I don't even remember what the price was}, but I NEVER drove my competition around again!




In the background of the photo is one of my old oil paintings of fruit. Another collection. I have several oil fruit paintings of various qualities~ this one is probably the best.




The little sleeping pig is a ceramic bank. I have a couple ceramic piggy-banks. He is the cutest.




Here is a closer look. The money slot is on his back. He doesn't have any money in him. If he did, it would be staying there because the only way to get it out would be to break him. Can you imagine? What a waste of a darling little guy.




These are plaster-like eggs inside an old general store jar. The eggs are what I have always called "hen-encouragers." After farmers took the real eggs they replaced them with "fake" eggs. The idea was to encourage the hens to continue laying more eggs. I don't know if it worked or not. I don't think farmers do it anymore. I have owned and sold old "hen-encouragers" in ceramic, glass, and wood.




This is another old general store jar with a tin lid. This one has some bay leaves, nest stuff, real dried eggs and oranges in it. These old tin-lidded glass general store jars are the only kind I collect/keep. I have a nice collection of general store jars now, and have never had them for sale. Anymore you only see them at better country antiques shows/shops. I haven't seen one for sale at an Estate Sale in years. The last one I found didn't even have a lid, but I bought it anyway.

There have been several versions of this type of jar reproduced, but the originals have handmade tin tops, are made of hand blown glass or old molded glass with seam lines. They are always clear glass that does NOT have a bluish tint.

All of these things are sitting on an old green storage cupboard that I bought in a Wisconsin shop. It was part of an Estate of a country collector whose family didn't like "Country" furniture. Goody, for me.

I continue dusting. I mean I am REALLY dusting~ I am taking everything off the surfaces, dusting and rearranging. So far it has been very rewarding.... it has literally been years since I have done this. I will keep dusting and photographing and sharing for as long as my allergies can stand it. Or if you can't stand it anymore!!!

I will know you have had it when my follower and visitor numbers start dropping like a stone. You could tell me to cut it out if you want to before that happens though.

26 comments:

  1. O love your collection.
    I so agree with you on driving and also having shopping company...
    I prefer to shop alone - it's bad enough I have to compete with the the "regular" shoppers let alone a friend :o)
    Kammy

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  2. I say if begging works for you...by all means , BEG!
    My grandaughter collects piggies...she would flip over your piggie bank...
    certainly a charmer!
    Have a wonderful Sunday.
    xoxo~Kathy @
    Sweet Up-North Mornings...

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  3. Your collections are unique and wonderful! I will not even estate shop with my friends. We all have similar taste and I know there would be trouble!

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  4. Sorry you had to beg for the lamp but it is awesome! Love your collections so keep on dusting and showing us.

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  5. The jars are wonderful as is the pig. I've never seen one like him before. As for being the driver... when I go with friends that like what I do well lets just say the adreneline starts pumping and my legs move faster than ever! I try to maintain composure but really who are we kidding... we want the same rusty stuff! The gloves are off!! Thanks for sharing the dusting pics! Theresa

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  6. I enjoy seeing your collections. It makes me feel better about mine!
    Somehow dust and vintage collections kinda go hand in hand...don't ya think!LOL

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  7. Lovely old items and you have them displayed so nicely on the books!

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  8. I totally agree with you never ever drive others to an estate sale!

    I love looking at all your photo's. I love the chicken lamp... I have chickens and am crazy for them!

    I love estate sales but the antique dealers are sometimes the gate keepers and price things high. : (
    Pattee

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  9. Personally Joan...I enjoy seeing you dust...when you finish up there, do you mind stopping by over here? It really needs it!
    I have a bunch of those glass eggs but no antique glass jars with the old tin tops...lucky you!
    Hope your week is good!
    :)

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  10. Better beg for a lamp than some other things. Yikes.

    You keep dusting & photographing...then I don't have to. Nah I do, but your stuff is so much cooler. Love hens & chickens & eggs so this was quite entertaining. (And the porker is a doll...)

    I did not know about encouraging hens...my grandparents did not have those thingies. I wish. Now, I realize that they deprived their darlings.

    I need a lamp for the newly-recovered real estate on my desk (cleaned it off)...that hen lamp is probably a fortune for a poor writer, huh?

    xo

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  11. Didn't know so much about the old general store jars..thanks. Love your piggy bank. I do go to estate/garage sales with friends and we just go in opposite directions and are happy when the other person finds something wonderful. I do, however, know people I would not want to shop with or there could be trouble.
    Annette

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  12. Please keep sharing; I love your displays. You definitely have the gift of vignette-ery.

    I've yet to find one of those wonderful jars.

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  13. I enjoy your posts - keep on sharing! I use to have a lot of the country/Primitive decor, but got rid of most of it years ago. I was running out of room and I did not want to dust it all. :-D Many things, I now wished I had kept.
    Have a great week.

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  14. Never, keep it coming. You have delightful treasures. Thanks for sharing!

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  15. Sweet collections! Love the piggy:) You are inspiring me with the dusting! Have a blessed day dear friend!

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  16. I could be reduced to begging for that darling pig......

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  17. My shopping buddy knows better than to take off without me. She is on strict orders to wait for me until we can walk up to a sale together. It's only fair!
    It makes me so happy to hear that I'm not the only one who hasn't done a thorough dusting job in years!
    Happy Monday!
    Carol

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  18. I like everything in this collection although I think I incline towards the oil or the lamp the most...

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  19. I don't blame you for begging, that lamp is gorgeous! You have a very pretty vignette...Christine

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  20. I cant picture you begging,lol. But I bet it ws fun to watch!

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  21. Joan, That was a great story about the chicken lamp. And the little pig is so cute. We also luv to collect old fruit oils but they are getting harder to find for a great price. Have a good evening...Julian

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  22. Love your lamp and that little piggy bank is too cute. You've stirred up the memory of how I came to own my rooster lamps. I've written about this memory in my blog and included a link to your lamp love post and blog. I'd love to share this with you, please check it out, thanks, Susanne.

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  23. Can I please curl up and take a nap with your piggy bank?
    xoxo
    Pam

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  24. Dusting? Don't you know that the dust cushions your pieces so the danger of breakage is lessened?
    I always tell friends that I am waiting until the dust gets so thick that I will be able to roll it up, like cotton batting. How bad is that?

    LOVE your things. Most of my friends and family do not love junking the way I do, so I head out on my own. I never thought about the competition, however.

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  25. Fake eggs are indeed used to "encourage" hens to lay their eggs where YOU want them to. Otherwise, they may choose to lay them just about anywhere, which is not convienient for the chicken farmer when it comes time to collect the eggs. Chickens are followers..., they like to copy each other, so if they think the other Girls are laying their eggs in a particular spot, they will use that spot too. Many folks use golf balls to encourage their hens to lay in the nest box. Not nearly as classy as your vintage faux eggs!

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  26. I just saw one of those jars at a sale this past week.....I haven't seen any in years either. I used to have a lovely collection of them and sold the darn things for $1,000. Still regret it. I bought several of them for five dollars each. Obviously an uninformed seller. They were on a shelf with blue Ball jars....also five dollars each. :-) One of them was soooo dusty and full of vintage clothespins. Ahhh.... a lucky day.

    Love your lamp too. Good for you for begging!

    Warm blessings,
    Spencer

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