You don't imagine for a moment, do you, that in all this haring around on top of mountains, we have forgotten our new delightful activity, foraging in thrift shops? Certainly not; and here, in no particular order, is a sampling of our newest finds, from the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and other exciting venues that make the expensive new Santa Mammon Mall, I mean Santa Monica Mall, look boring!
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| Pindar contemplates the Tik-Tok lamp, which is lit in this picture |
It was Paul who found this lovely lamp, whose shade reminded him of the hat worn by the robotic character Tik-Tok in the Oz books. I quickly appropriated the lamp for the chatchka-laden table where, Midas-like, I like to sit and fondle my baubles. Paul thinks he's getting the lamp back. Ha!
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| Catullus's turn to enjoy the lamp. I think you see its grey tones better when it's unlit. |
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| Why we call this lamp "Tik-Tok's hat" |
The next acquisition was this pretty little octagonal wooden table. I was amused when a visitor to our reading group commented, "There were so many books we had to eat on them!" This struck me, however, as a little too true to be comfortable, so in the picture below you'll see how I've placed this little table so my reading group guests can have a bit more table space to rest their teacups.
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| Inlaid wooden table |
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| Placement of the little table |
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| Swedish blond wood bookcases |
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| A small selection of thrift store pins, animal and flower themed |
Then there was the 30-piece set of little Chinese dishes, with soup tureen for centerpiece, bought for a song, and just the thing to enhance the home made wonton soup!
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| Chinese soup tureen with little gold handles |
It all goes nicely with this pretty cloissone Chinese vase, in "my" cobalt blue, with flower pattern.
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| Chinese blue vase |
The brass traditional Jewish serving platter, and white Venetian mask, are both thrift store acquisitions. Perhaps they go oddly with the pine cone (not to mention, with each other)...
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| Peter's desk - the two glass vases are new (to us) |
And these are some of the masks we brought home from Venice - not thrift store ones!
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And now, to finish off, I give you a small collection of Jane Austen quotes about Shopping.
"Their eyes were immediately wandering up in the street in quest of the officers, and nothing less than a very smart bonnet indeed, or a really new muslin in a shop window, could recal them." - Pride and Prejudice
"'And we mean to treat you all,' added Lydia; 'but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there.'" - Pride and Prejudice
"Look here, I have bought this bonnet. I do not think it is very pretty; but I thought I might as well buy it as not." - Pride and Prejudice
"Oh! but there were two or three much uglier in the shop." - Pride and Prejudice
"Here I am, you see, staring at a picture. I can never get by this shop without stopping. But what a thing here is, by way of a boat." - Persuasion
"Once, as he had stood in the shop in Bond Street, he had counted eighty-seven women go by, one after another, without there being a tolerable face among them." - Persuasion
"...examining and debating for a quarter of an hour over every toothpick-case in the shop..." - Sense and Sensibility
"What a happy day for booksellers, music-sellers, and print-shops!" - Sense and Sensibility
"I have entered many a shop to avoid your sight." - Sense and Sensibility
5 comments:
I have not visited your blog before, but immediately I saw all those pretty things and your books I felt at home! What marvellous collections you have, but do you have three 'matching' cats? I thought I'd overdone the gin in the G&T (only joking!) when I saw three kitties all alike! Love that cloisonne vase; I do think the beauty of cloisonne is under-rated by many (not the exceptionally high qualtiy, museum standard pieces, but the pieces you can find in charity/thrift shops.) I shall certaily stop by again. (Found your blog via the link on Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover.)
Margaret P
I have not visited your blog before, but immediately I saw all those pretty things and your books I felt at home! What marvellous collections you have, but do you have three 'matching' cats? I thought I'd overdone the gin in the G&T (only joking!) when I saw three kitties all alike! Love that cloisonne vase; I do think the beauty of cloisonne is under-rated by many (not the exceptionally high qualtiy, museum standard pieces, but the pieces you can find in charity/thrift shops.) I shall certaily stop by again. (Found your blog via the link on Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover.)
Margaret P
Hello Margaret, thanks for stopping by, wish I knew how to contact you, but maybe you'll see this. My cats are not exactly alike, but they do have a family resemblance, as they are litter mates! The two "blackie" long haired Torties are Catullus and Marshal (Marsh-wiggle) and the pretty striped Alpha is Pindar. Two years old, and dearly beloved beyond the usual lot of cats. They're all girls, despite my husband naming them for classical poets! ;-) I love Random Jottings, or more specifically Elaine, a friend of mine from the Dovegreybooks@yahoogroups.com list. Are you on that list? If not, you would like it. Cheers, Diana
Hello, this is a very belated comment on your most recent post. I liked all the pictures of your 'habitat' but especially the pictures of your 18th century political cartoons. I am interested in these cartoons which are so full of puns both visual and literary. It is the popularity of such material during the time that J. Austen was writing which makes me a believer in some of the subtext theories regarding her work. I wonder if you know whether the Austens had any cartoons of political satire in their library? I think Jane might have enjoyed Thomas Rowlandson's work. I bought the book London city of laughter, but was disappointed to find the reproductions so small that one could not read the text. Are there any books on 18th century cartoons which you would recommend? Regards, Cathy
Hi Cathy, sorry for such a belated reply, but I just saw your comment - and I don't know your email address to be sure you'll get this. But if you ever see it, I wanted to tell you I'm afraid I don't know that much about Regency satiric cartoons, except that Rowlandson and Gilray were the great exponents of the art, and they really did bring it to an art of devastating wit, at that period! I wouldn't think the Austens had books of cartoons, because they were actually up on walls and in shop windows then; however, a gentleman's library would have books of engravings, so perhaps they had some of those artists. I'm also afraid that, not having made a study of the subject, I don't know which is the best book to recommend - but keep looking, I know there are lots of beautiful books on the subject!
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