February 2, 2012
Funny the things people find when they’re cleaning out the house. Take this Carol Grigg print for instance. It’s been packed up for a long time and was never framed. One of our generous volunteers brought it to us in recognition that if it takes 20 years to start a project it stands a good chance of never being completed and one might be better off without it at all.
So here we are. This print is 24 inches wide by 18 inches tall. It’s in good condition with a couple minor wrinkles in the corner and three really hard to see reddish spots near the upper edge (almost directly over the rider’s left hand). They’re barely discernible in the picture.
Because of this minor damage and since the print is unframed we’re willing to let it go for $25.
Posted in $21-$25, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Paper, Print |
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February 2, 2012
Happy February 2nd. It’s also Groundhog’s Day, Candlemas, Imbolc, and/or St. Brigid’s Day. It’s a busy day with all those holidays stacked one atop another. Luckily they’re pretty much mutually exclusive and none of them have any relevance to the subject at hand, namely this vintage love seat.
It’s a decent old piece. The wood work is nice and the upholstery is in fair shape but in a somewhat dated pattern (little flowers, thank goodness it’s not plaid). Generally it is in fair condition.The major strike against this piece are two water stains, one on the far left edge of the seat and on the left arm and one on the upper portion of the left side back.
I gave them both a good sniff and they don’t smell bad or even seem to stink at all. This is a good thing, 1) ’cause I don’t have sinuses saturated in wretchedness and, 2) the love seat can still be used until you can get to reupholstering it.
This piece is about 58 inches wide, 36 inches tall and 32 inches deep. The exposed wood work appears to be mahogany and it has a collection of carved flowers and leaves at the center of the back.
Posted in $251-$300, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Chairs, Couches, Fabric / Fiber, Vintage, Wood |
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February 1, 2012
In real life Big Bird is an “eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright primrose-yellow bird.”
Really, he is.
He’s known for being both easily confused and for being surprisingly talented. Among his many talents are skating, dancing drawing and riding a unicycle. This is a little incongruous since he is described as a six year old in the TV show’s writer’s guide. Luckily slight inconsistencies like this haven’t undermined his career.
He’s also know for saying wise phrases as “I guess it’s better to be who you are. Turns out people like you best that way, anyway” which seems equivocal and subject to revision at a later date. Maybe he’ll decide that people will like him more if he’s a cookie jar? Obviously, if this really were Big Bird’s favorite cookie jar it would be more than just a touch narcissistic.
What Big Bird is here, for us, now is a cookie jar.
He’s 12 1/2 inches tall. Although he looks like he is from about the same era as the E.T. lamp we just had the text along the edge of the base shows the design was copyrighted by the Muppets in 1971.
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Posted in $16-$20, 20th century, Artistic wonder, AVAILABLE!, Ceramic, Eclectic, Kitchenware, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
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February 1, 2012
This is a BCM/HL Registered Design which is a mark of high quality furniture. Well, I hope it is.
The BCM/HL label seems to be something of an enigma, with no one exactly sure what it stands for. I did a little looking around and it seems that BCM most likely stands for Bath Cabinet Makers.
Not the ‘rubba-dub-dub’ kind of bath, but Bath, England, which might be most familiar from reading Chaucer in high school.
The HL component of the name is unknown to me but it should be decipherable with access to the correct references (which I don’t have).
Bath Cabinet Maker’s was founded in 1895 and claimed to produce the highest quality furniture in England. At some point after the late 1960′s the company was absorbed into the Herman Miller empire, however the brand survived to some degree at least as late as 1984.
This armoire/wardrobe is about 40 inches wide, 77 inches tall and 17 inches deep. It is in great condition and has two clothes hanging bars in the upper section, with attached hooks. Below is a full width drawer.
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Posted in $251-$300, 20th century, Arts & Crafts, AVAILABLE!, Otherwise useful, Storage, Vintage, Wood |
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January 31, 2012
Mr. Froggy went a courtin‘ and since he was a bank he only paid 15% taxes on the income earned while he was doing it.
Meanwhile the hard working blue tailed fly was holding two jobs just to keep current on his mortgage for a little dung heap that was worth less than he paid for it. He paid 30% on his income.
Seething with the injustice of his exorbitant tax rate Mr. Froggy ate Mr. Blue Tail Fly as he was commuting to his second job one afternoon. Then he foreclosed on the fly family dung heap.
He was a model business-amphibian.
Vintage ceramic frog bank. He’s about 10 1/2 inches tall and in great condition. Like investment banks, retirment plans and ponzi schemes everywhere he does not have a hole by which one can remove one’s deposits. You can attempt to fish money out via the slot you put it in or you can smash the whole thing and start over.
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Posted in $11-$15, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Ceramic, knickknack, Otherwise useful, Sculpture, Vintage |
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January 31, 2012
This is a smashing vintage silver-plate tea and coffee service in the Ascot pattern by Community Plate. The only thing missing is your own personal* Peter Vaughan (who played the old Mr. Stevens in Remains of the Day).
Included in this set are a coffee pot (9 inches tall), tea-pot (7 inches tall), cream pitcher (4 1/2 inches tall) and lidded sugar bowl (5 1/2 inches tall). The large rectangular tray is about 30 inches long (including the handles) and 17 1/2 inches wide.
All the pieces are in excellent condition. $150
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*Rest assured that the continued decline of the middle class, the slow painful death of the social safety net and the aging baby boomer population will combine to make sure there is a good supply of workers who will have to keep at it long after their ability to do so is gone.
Maybe having your own tea and coffee service will be the edge to get you in the downstairs employment door when it’s your turn?
Posted in $101-$150, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Dishes, Kitchenware, Metal, Otherwise useful, Silverware / silverplate, Vintage |
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January 30, 2012
The payoff for doing my job and working as part of this blog is that I get to learn new things and feed my research addiction*. For instance, until last Tuesday I didn’t know that there was such a thing as a Stilton scoop or server. That was the day that one of my whip-smart colleagues figured out that’s what these are.
I never thought of having a specialized tool just for a particular cheese. My kitchen seems so inadequate now that I know I don’t own even a single Stilton scoop, and I quail in horror at the missing Cheddar pincer, the lack of a Camembert épée and most regrettably the vacant space upon the counter where a Roquefort chisel should be.
In a city full of foodies (and wanna-be foodies) I imagine you must be at least somewhat sympathetic to this glaring inadequacy. And now, with this public confession, my credibility is shot.
However, there is still time to save your reputation (or that of one of a close friend) with this lovely set of six Scottish silver-plate Stilton scoops.
They’re each 7 1/2 inches long and come in a presentation style box. They were made and sold by Wilson & Sharp Ltd, Goldsmiths Silver Smiths & Watchmakers, 139 Princess Street Edinburgh and Dundee.
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*For example I learned that in the flatware family tree cheese scoops are closely related to marrow scoops and that Wilson & Sharp was a partnership between Robert Wilson and Andrew Sharp which was established in 1880′s. The firm made a wide variety of items including condiment sets, menu holders, hollow-ware, flatware, candle sticks and watches. Sometime in the 1970′s they were absorbed into the English firm Mappin & Webb. This then is a terminus ante quem for when these were originally purchased.
Posted in $26-$30, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Kitchenware, Metal, Otherwise useful, Seemed like a good idea . . ., Silverware / silverplate, Tools, Vintage |
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January 30, 2012
A very well crafted hardwood sculptural box signed C. Cobb* and dated 1978. When it is closed it is 6 inches tall, 5 3/4 inches wide and about 2 1/2 inches thick. The interior dimensions are about 1 3/4 inches deep and between 2 and 4 1/2 inches tall.
I’m not sure of what kind of wood it is made from, but it includes at least two kinds of clear grained hardwoods. I like the organic, flowing lines this piece has.
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Perhaps Charles B. Cobb?
Posted in $41-$50, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Mid-century, Vintage, Wood |
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January 30, 2012
So I was showing off this awesome toothpick pecking bird and she said “I’m so glad you don’t bring more of the stuff you find home.”
Foiled again.
This plastic bird is about 4 1/2 inches tall. When you press down on the bird’s head a little drawer slides out and it picks up a toothpick in its beak.
Retro cool!
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, Kitchenware, knickknack, Otherwise useful, Plastic, Retro |
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January 29, 2012
This is a nice pair of bowls in the ever popular Burple pattern by Anchor Hocking Glass. I believe it’s real name was actually Inspiration, but almost no one calls it that now. The pattern was introduced in the 1940′s and these are the so-called Large Dessert Bowl (as opposed to the “I’m on a diet” size small bowl).
They are 8 1/2 inches in diameter and are in perfect condition.
We’re selling them as a pair for $20.
Posted in $16-$20, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Dishes, Glass, Vintage |
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January 29, 2012
Gertrude got married not long after she had her hair bob cut*. It was the 1920′s and along with china and glassware, furniture was a good wedding gift. There were tables, a Windsor rocking chair (now mine), fern stands and bedroom pieces. She didn’t get this particular piece, but I remember seeing one a lot like it so I presume this is from the same era, if not somewhat older.
This dresser is in very good condition and has two half-sized drawers and two full-width drawers. Having the beveled edge mirror oriented in the landscape position is a bit unusual and I think it’s a nice touch.
It is just over 42 inches wide, just under 20 inches deep and almost exactly 58 1/2 inches to the top of the mirror.
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*They did a bad job and then she had to have the chop job fixed by her father, a part-time barber. This must have been a great mark of shame or recrimination since we still remember it. The cool part was that she kept her long braid when her hair was cut. It was found in a box in the back of her closet over 60 years later and then we knew where the family auburn hair came from and who we should blame for all of us going gray before 30.
Posted in $251-$300, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Mirrors, Storage, Vintage, Wood |
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January 28, 2012
He grew up to be a fierce latch hook dragon rug. It was a long way from when he was just a scrawny little scaly latch key reptile.
It shows you never can tell, that awkward kid you knew in elementary school might now be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a nightmarish terror straight out of a fairy tale.
The rug is about 67 inches wide and 35 inches tall. As you can see in the picture above the edges were never bound so it looks unfinished. The rug could also use some backing and it is slightly soiled (maybe a real good vacuuming would do the trick?).
Posted in $41-$50, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Eclectic, Fabric / Fiber, Needlework, Rug |
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January 28, 2012
School days, school days
Dear old Golden Rule days
‘Reading and ‘riting and ‘rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hick’ry stick
You were my queen in calico
I was your bashful, barefoot beau
And you wrote on my slate, “I Love You So”
When we were a couple o’ kids
A nice pair of antique cast iron and wood school desks. Each has a shelf for books, a hole for an inkwell, a pen groove and the seats fold. Both are in pretty good shape and are roughly 28 inches deep, 21 1/2 inches wide and a maximum of 26 inches tall.
We’re selling them separately.
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Posted in $41-$50, 19th century, 20th century, Antique, AVAILABLE!, Metal, Otherwise useful, Storage, Tables, Wood |
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January 28, 2012
We interrupt our normal It Could Be Yours messaging to say Thank You.
Sometime today this little blog will pass 500,000 all time page views (over half in the last year alone). For some blogs that’s not a big deal, but we’re pretty stoked.
So Thank You for checking in with us.
Thanks to our local supporters who come to the store, who sometimes we amuse, and without whom we wouldn’t be doing this. Thanks especially for your tolerance for sometimes awkward verbiage, misplaced commas and for indulging the occasional rant.
Thanks to you folks who’ve found us through Google or other search engines. Thanks for sometimes buying stuff from us. For those of you researching the stuff you already have: I hope you find what you’re looking for, whether it’s hidden wealth, sentimental value or a way to kill five minutes at work.
Thanks especially to everyone who’s helped us get here:
Thank you Claire, Evy, Nancy, Ruth, Laura, Mary, Gayle, Jess and April for all your hard work at all the stages where you’ve helped and are continuing to contribute.
Thank you to our family members, for your understanding when vocation creeps into the realm of avocation and for accepting the nights and weekends spent working on this instead of with you.
Thanks especially to all the other Warehouse and Store volunteers. From helping sort incoming items, to helping families, to working in the store, to knowing a guy who might want a piano; without your efforts we would be able to do anything here. You are truly the glue that keeps this place together and the wheels on the ground.
Finally thank you all in advance for continuing to check in, for helping, for shopping, and for commenting in the future. Thank you for sharing posts you like with your friends and for indulging our off-key days.
It’s been a long and interesting journey and there are miles to go yet.
Onward to Mayhem!
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Posted in AVAILABLE!, Organization News |
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January 27, 2012
Telephone tables are sign number 437 that things have changed and kids have it too easy.
“Back in my day we had to have special furniture for our phones. It wasn’t some easy thing where you carried around more computing power in your pocket than the Strategic Air Command and could do internet searches for even the simplest stuff, like how to breathe. No, we had to remember phone numbers or look it up in a book. Ever hear of a book kid? It’s not some E-lek-tronik doo-dad, no sirree, its analog and uses paper and you had to know how to spell to use it. Bah you kids!
Wanna play Words With Friends?”
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Posted in $41-$50, $51-$75, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Chairs, Furniture, Metal, Otherwise useful, Vintage, Wood |
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January 27, 2012
This old mahogany game table is in good shape. The only notable flaw is that one of the feet has been broken off, but it was re-glued and appears to be firmly attached (see pictures below).
When fully opened this table is about 30 inches square and 28 1/ inches tall. When folded in half for storage (or for a game of cards for two) it is about 15 inches by 30 inches and 29 1/2 inches tall.
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Posted in $201-$250, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Empire, Tables, Vintage, Wood |
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January 27, 2012
Rupert knew he was special, not just because his mother told his so, but because the light of the world emanated from his hind-end.
Approximately 20 inches tall by 14 inches wide and features a plastic giraffe 3/4 mounted on a brushed copper plate with savannah scene. The photo doesn’t do it justice as it’s not quite as red as the picture above, yet not as pale as the picture below and the strange effect of the light is best viewed in person.
The Watercloset Gallery will be open from 10 am to 4 pm.
Posted in $11-$15, 20th century, Artistic wonder, AVAILABLE!, Eclectic, knickknack, Metal, Plastic, Seemed like a good idea . . ., Vintage, White elephant |
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January 26, 2012
This is a Fenton, hobnail, milk glass, crimped-edge epergne. That’s a very high falutin’ name for a centerpiece, but that seems to be what they’re called.
It is 8 1/2 inches in diameter and 6 1/2 inches tall. There are four pieces, namely the base and three flower-like “horns”. All the pieces are in perfect condition and it may have never been used at all.
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Posted in $21-$25, 20th century, Glass, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
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January 26, 2012
We just received 12 cool prints produced* for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial (2003 to 2006). Luckily they stand up well on their design merits and don’t show prominent dates. This means they aren’t outdated like so many other commemorative pieces (think of gallery opening posters, or music festival posters: Immediate obsolescence).
Eleven of the posters are framed in a 13 1/4 inch wide by just under 26 inch tall frame. These are in great condition although one poster is unframed. There are two duplicate prints, one each of the Clatsop (which are slightly different tones) and of Fort Clatsop (one framed, one is not framed and it is a little wrinkly).
UDPDATE: They’ve been flying out of here! The prints we still have available at this time (4:30 pm on 1/26/2012) are the the two copies of “The Clatsop”, “Ecloa” and the unframed ”Fort Clatsop”. The one last remaining print is the greenish colored version of ”The Clatsop”, all the others have been sold.
*According to the publication of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (Volume 1, Number 19, 2005):
NOBLE ERICKSON INC., Denver, CO, working with a team of partners including the National Park Service, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Association and Washington State Parks, created artwork for interpretive panels, posters, and collector memorabilia to unify signature sites throughout the recently dedicated Lewis and Clark National & State Historical Parks.
Posted in $1 to $5, $21-$25, 21st century, AVAILABLE!, Contemporary, Paper, Poster, Print |
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January 25, 2012
Valentines Day is coming and what better way to say to that not quite special someone “You’re so something but it’s not special” than to get them this thing?
This vaguely heart-shaped dish is made of glass pieces and held together with large amounts of lead. The coded message is that you’re subtly saying “I don’t give a rat’s derriere about your central nervous system” at the same time.
Perfect!
It is about 7 inches by 6 inches and weighs nearly 1 1/2 pounds.
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Glass, knickknack, Metal, Otherwise useful, Seemed like a good idea . . ., Vintage |
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January 25, 2012
I look at this leather upholstered bar stool and think, “If this were at my drafting table I could sketch cities, build Important Edifices or design untold futures.”
Instead I have an old cast iron and oak stool that’s just a bit too short, the mark of a plonker, a dilettante, someone who’s not, note the capital s- Serious.
But I’ve had that old stool too long to casually toss it aside for a flashy new brunette. I spent a lot of night sitting on it with only a purloined milk-crate for a footrest and a wall to lean against and it suits me pretty well.
This new bar stool is about 48 inches tall with a seat height of 30 inches. It is 23 inches deep and 21 3/4 inches wide, unfortunately we have only one.
If you don’t have a drafting table it’d class up a home bar much better than tossing an olive in your PBR and calling it a martini.
Posted in $76-$100, 21st century, AVAILABLE!, Chairs, GONE! SOLD!, Leather, Otherwise useful, Wood |
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January 24, 2012
George regularly said his prayers as a child.
He forgot to say them for a long time in his later youth and adult years.
Then on one June afternoon in 1875 he found himself wishing he had kept it up.
This little ceramic figurine is about 4 1/2 inches tall.
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Ceramic, knickknack, Vintage |
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January 24, 2012
Last week I salvaged some sterling silver from a shipment of scrap we were about to send out. I looked around a bit more after that and found a few more pieces that seem too nice to melt down. Here they are.
Here we have four individual butter knives by Oneida Sterling in the King Cedric pattern (who the heck is/was King Cedric?). This pattern was first issued in 1949 and combined they weigh a total of 3.59 troy ounces. $110
It weighs 1.06 troy ounces and I think it is an olive spoon. The handle does have a monogram that appears to read MAB. $35
Finally there is a nice set by Stieff Sterling in the famous Stieff Rose pattern. There is a large hollow handled knife, a wacky looking lettuce server, a little two prong fork, and two tea spoons.
Due to the stainless steel blade and the filled hollow handle we didn’t include the weight of the knife when we considered the scrap value of this set. The remaining Stieff Rose pieces weigh a combined total of 4.17 troy ounces. We’re asking $150 for all the pieces.
Posted in $101-$150, $31-$40, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Kitchenware, Metal, Silverware / silverplate, Vintage |
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January 23, 2012
Moriage is a Japanese ceramic decoration technique where ceramic items are decorated with the application of raised slip lines and dots. This gives the pieces a wonderful textural quality although they are prone to being easily damaged.
There is a lovely coffee or large tea-pot, a smaller pot that could be used as a tea-pot or overly generous cream pitcher, a lidded jar that’d work for sugar, tea storage or biscuits, six plates, five teacups and six saucers.
So, it is a nearly complete set for six except for one teacup.
The main scene features Kannon (a.k.a. Guanyin) a Bodhisattva of kindness surrounded by four rakan. Above her head is the traditional heraldic symbol or crest of the Shimazu clan.
According to our source (see item #1230) these ware were produced for export from about 1915. The end date of production of these is less clear but it is seemingly ends during the early Showa Period (i.e., the reign of Emperor Hirohito). Given this uncertainty these pieces could date from the 1930′s to the 1950′s (my guess is the 1950′s).
The tea cups have a lithophane geisha on the bottom much like the ones in the Kutani golden dragon set we had last August which makes sense since I think they bear the same makers mark, which consists of the words “Made In Japan” and a view of Mt. Fuji.
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Posted in $41-$50, 20th century, Artistic wonder, Ceramic, Dishes, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
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January 23, 2012
We know this table is old, but like my high school French teacher, it’s not about to say how old it is.
It seems pretty certain that this table was made in the 19th century. The drawer has hand cut dovetail joints and there are a number of nails visible underneath (and holes where others have been removed). Most of these are post-1880 wire nails, but one has a hand forged head and might be an early 19th century hand-made nail.
Overall it is in OK condition however the top has a plethora of water ring marks. None are bigger than a drinking glass so I think it may have been used as a bedside table.
I think if one looked at these marks long enough you could probably distill the story of a lifetime from them . . .
The table is 21 1/2 inches deep, 21 3/4 inches wide and it is 30 inches tall.
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Posted in $151-$200, 19th century, Antique, Farmhouse/Country, GONE! SOLD!, Rustic, Tables, Wood |
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