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Sunday, August 30, 2009

More Hunting and Gathering

This gal knows how to have a good time


Maybe I should just call this blog The Hunting & Gathering Bulletin and be done with it. I did limit myself to one sale this past Saturday. I'll show you what I found and also the dancing lady above, from a previous yard sale.

Now I'll have you know that I bought two eminently practical items Saturday. The one below is a very curiously designed case and appears to hail from the Victorian or Edwardian era. It's metal and doesn't quite close right any more. The seller wondered if it was a glasses case. He also suggested a purse, but I don't think so. I've never heard of anyone carrying a metal purse around in those previous eras. My theory is opera glasses. Anyway, is this not pure steampunk?


Perfect for glasses or a lorgnette (if I used the latter)



The mysterious case opened. The insides are really a lovely dark blue.

So pleased was I at my thrifty practicality, that I treated myself to a 1920's gilding kit, complete with all the supplies I'll need. Every home should have one. And if you look at the labels, the first thing they suggest you gild are the radiators. Of course, why didn't I think of that?



My mother used to warn against gilding the lily, but I say why not?


All the supplies are intact and there's still gilding solution in the bottle, see below


The little gilding pan is so sweet.

As I'd been so circumspect in my purchases heretofore, I threw caution to the winds and acquired this bowl below for 1.00! On the bottom of the bowl there is a picture of a duck and the notation "foreign". The country that dares not speak its name, apparently.



No garage/vintage sale is complete without a bunch of cabinet photos on offer. I found this lovely gentleman. What a dapper fellow he is. That very afternoon I cast him in a 3-D encaustic drama.




Wedding of a Dandy Mixed Media on Wood Panel 13" x 9"

(Encaustic medium, encaustic paint, vintage metal findings, reproduction of vintage photo, fabric, vintage pressed flowers, waxed thread, vintage watch part)

While in more or less steampunk mode, I also made the piece below.



Watch Me! Mixed Media on Panel 9" x 13"

(Encaustic medium, oil paint, reproductions of vintage photos, reproductions of vintage engravings, vintage pressed flowers, dried flowers, charcoal pencil, vintage watch part, vintage text, and photos by Julia Gardner.)



6 comments:

Jessica said...

Wow - these are some fantastic treasures. And I really like your "Watch Me!" piece.

Serena Barton said...

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for your comment! I just read your profile. We should Hunt and Gather together some time!

Serena

Dayna Collins said...

I'm loving your Hunting and Gathering posts - I always enjoy seeing what others discover and it looks like you are a pro!

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I don't know whether you'll read this but I certainly hope so!
You know that cute Steampunk case
which you think might be for opera glasses?
I have a little brother/sister just like it !

Exept for the fact it's gold
and looks a bit more like
a pillow (more decoration to it). By crazy coincidence I found a
photo of your little case when I
was searching for pictures of
antique traveling cases :D

I don't know whether you'll read this, but I certainly hope so!
Maybe I could send you some
pictures of mine, might be fun to
have something to compare it with
since they're probably both rare.

I don't know anything about the
case myself, bought it a couple of
months a go in a junkshop for
around €10 (I live in a tiny
country called Belgium somewhere
in Europe)and I only know it kind
of looks Art Deco to me, so indeed
someting 20/30's maybe? But for
the rest, no idea who made it or
where it's from or something like
hat. Which is a shame because I'm
so intrigued by it !

If you happen to read this and
would like to see my case, I'd
love to send you some pictures! If
that'd be okay for you ofcourse ;)
So if that would be the case: I'd
love to hear from you :)


Kind regards and greeting from teeny tiny Belgium :D

Serena Barton said...

Hello, anonymous Belgian commenter! A few months after writing this post about the mysterious case I met another woman from Portland OR who had bought a similar case, also thinking it was an antique. She said she later found out that these cases were made in India in the 1970's.

You paid about the same as she and I did. Though the cases may be only a little vintage and not antique, they are still wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Oh great, I was so curious about that :D Thanks for letting me know! Do you happen to remember if she knew a makersname or something like that? Anyway, great info, I already had a hunch it could be Indian ;)
And yeah, they look great don't they (not very useful though, still haven't figured out whether you could actually put something more then a cellphone in it without it falling out whenever you open it) but indeed very steampunk, as was my first thought too :D
Shame they're not as old as they seem in first glance, but still wonderfully original cases to have, like you said :)
Now I'm actually curious to see other similar cases, since mine is slightly more decorated then yours (it has pleats, like some sort of pillow) there might be even more decorated ones out there, maybe also from other materials or something ilke that.
But: already glad I happened to stumble up on your blog :) because if I had actually ment to look it up I wouldn't even have known where to begin, since I have no idea what it actually is. So thanks a lot for the info anyway! :D