Vintage finds and retro handmade--a sweet mix I know you'll love.

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Vintage Has a History

Every piece has a history.  That's what always fascinated my Granddad about old things.  He was a brick and stone mason for a living, and he loved to collect old bricks from buildings that he helped demolish.

The interesting thing, which you may not know, is that old bricks were always stamped on the back with their place of origin, and sometimes a date.  My granddad had bricks from all over the southern U.S., many marked "Oklahoma Territory"  "New Mexico Territory," etc. In case you don't know what that means, it dates those bricks to pre-statehood days, when the populations of these states were still so low that they hadn't even earned full statehood and voting power under U.S. laws.  Oklahoma, for instance, earned statehood in 1907.

I wish I could show you one of these bricks, but I haven't been able to find the Oklahoma Territory one that he gave my mother.  I'm sure it's somewhere in my parents' garage.  Whenever I do, I might revisit it.

My latest vintage history adventure has been researching two pieces of fine porcelain I am planning to list soon.  I found them both at a thrift shop, and instantly realized they were something very special.

 The plate is marked on the back, "Jyoto.  Made in Occupied Japan."  I know that dates it to the postwar years, between 1945 and 1952, when Japan's industry was being rebuilt and large amounts of pottery and porcelain products were produced for a U.S. audience.  I am having a great deal of trouble uncovering more information about this plate.  One source seems to identify it as "pattern 58," by Jyoto, but I am feeling very uncertain.  I'm still waiting for better confirmation of my information.

Here is the mark on the back.  I know it doesn't seem to read "Jyoto," but I realized that is the correct company name after an entire exhausting evening of research.  If you have any information you could add, to help me along in my research and identification, I would really appreciate it.

The other plate is more of a platter.  It, too, bears the hallmarks of fine work.  It is very heavy, with a supporting ridge down the middle of the underside of the platter, to prevent cracking under heavy use.  It is so large, I think a gigantic turkey might look a little lonely without some dressing or rice pilaf around it.  I love this plate!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Spring into Spring!

On Artfire, you are allowed to put together collections of just your items, for promotional purposes.  I thought that, since I have over 160 items for sale in my Artfire studio right now, it might be good to put together a spring-themed collection.  These, and many more, are all available for sale right now.  All the images are hyperlinked, so if you click on them, you can go read the listing, check out price and shipping options, and more.

By the way, I have noticed that I have fans in quite a few countries, but I have only a few countries listed in my shipping rates.  I think I need to spend some time calculating some more rates.  If you want something displayed here, don't hesitate to contact me, either in the private contact link in my studio, or here in the comments section of my blog.  I can look into rates, country import rules (some things are not allowed in to certain countries), etc.

If you want anything in time for Easter, act quickly.  If you are not from the United States, it may already be too late to ship something in time for that holiday.  U.S. customers have a little while longer, but for heavier items, I don't recommend waiting too long either.  Parcel post is the cheapest rate I can quote you, and it can take up to 13 days to arrive, depending on how swamped the post office is, and how far from me you live.

Without further ado...

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Collecting: Vintage Illustrated Books

I am a big reader.  In fact, I used to read about twenty books a month when I was younger (and I mean things like Dickens and Austen, along with young adult books of all kinds).  As a result, I have "collected" a lot of books over the years, mostly paperbacks.  I don't have very many hardcover books, and most of them are not well-known by any means.

I do have a few nice ones, though, and I thought I'd share some pictures today. This is my copy of Peter Pan and Wendy, by James M. Barrie, published in 1925.  I love the story, and the pictures in this book are dazzling!  I will never sell it!  Besides, there are several loose pages from some rough treatment by the previous owner.  This proves that you can find some great stuff if you're willing to visit a few garage sales!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Collections: Start the Bookworms Young

I was just remembering what a joy it was for me when I learned how to read, so I thought I'd put together a collection on ArtFire of some fun children's books with bright and beautiful illustrations for children.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!