Pages

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Vintage Thursday: Imperfect but Beautiful

Regular readers know of my love affair with glass. I have far more of it than any one woman needs, and yet I cannot resist buying it when I see a bargain, or a glass bird, or almost anything in red glass. Fortunately, my booths give me an outlet to sell some pieces when I get overly enthusiastic, but still, a lot of glass ends up living in my house.

I blame this passion entirely on my mother. My mother had windows lined with little glass pitchers, mostly crackle glass, in every color of the rainbow and almost every shape that a pitcher might come in. Many of these pieces were West Virginia glass, although I did not know that when I was a child staring at the kaleidoscope of colors cascading onto the floor when the sun shone through the pretty glass. I just loved the colors and sparkle; that was enough for me.

I have not changed much over the years. There were times when I was into pottery, it is true, and I still like handmade pottery pieces. But my real love is glass, with 30's and 40's kitchenware a close second.

Here are a few pics of a recent glass arrangement in my house:

 These were taken in our log room, the old one, not the one we're currently working on:
 The table belonged to my parents, and it was where all 13 of us children gathered for meals. It's been beat and battered, but it has 4 leaves and can extend to about 12 feet long. The square pedestal dishes can be stacked and they make a lovely display for fruit, cookies, or flowers. They're by L.E. Smith and came from the Marietta Antique Mall--a real bargain. Sometimes bargains can be found in antique stores.

The ruby pitcher was an eBay find. Sometimes things sell cheap on there for no real reason, and this time I was the lucky bidder.


This ruby bowl came from the Riverbend Antique Mall where I have my other booth. It is quite large, but it has a couple chips in the rim. That doesn't bother me; I just love its shape and color. This was made by Anchor Hocking in the 40's, and is the pattern called Oyster and Pearl, I believe. For $5.00 I was happy to give it a home.

This jar is older than it looks. It's Early American Pattern Glass, and I forget the maker and pattern name, but it is heavy and sparkles just beautifully. It was in an auction box and I was so sad to find it had a large crack in it. But I've kept it anyway, just because I enjoy its shape and sparkle.

Another L.E. Smith piece, I found this at another antique mall in Richard Westfall's booth. Yellow glass is another of my favorites, and this tall beauty fits so well in my house. The tall piece behind it came from a flea market and I think it is quite old, but there is no marking or anything that will help me discover its maker. The rose bowl in front is a real sparkler in the sun, and was in another auction box lot. Sometimes $2 can buy the neatest treasures. The double-handled biscuit jar belonged to my mother, and I have always loved it. It too has a large crack in it and is very fragile, but the sun shining through its pattern is so pretty-and when it falls apart, I'll probably glue it back together and keep it anyway.

Not glass! But I do like this little silver teapot with its crooked finial.

This is a look under the table at its massive legs. (The Victorians would be shocked!) It was a banquet table and is 5 feet square without any leaves in it. I believe it is mahogany. It's scratched, dented and dinged but it holds many memories for me, and is quite at home in our log room.

So there you have my scratch-and-dent collection for today. Perfection is nice and certainly carries more dollar value when sold, but the chipped, cracked, dented and scratched have their own value perhaps not in dollars but in beauty and memories. After all, which of us can say we're perfect? I know my hand is not raised!

Linking today to Colorado Lady's Vintage Thingies Thursday, Open House Party, The Thrifty Groove, Home-Sweet-Home, and Treasure Hunt Thursday.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

9 comments:

  1. Very interesting! These are beautiful! I am new from southern charm! I would love for you to check out my blog and follow me back! Have a great day,Nicole

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love all of your pieces. I have some Fire King, but not a whole lot of glassware. You have some gorgeous pieces!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love glass and also collect I have a hard time walking away from art glass or paperweights. The pieces you showed us in your post were great the Ruby bowl is wonderful I have one in the same color that was my grandmothers.
    Denise

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome, Nicole and Denise! I'll be checking out your blogs too. Nice to know there are other glass lovers who understand my addiction :)

    Michelle, Fire-King is really popular these days. Maybe sometime you can show us your collection.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I blame my glass addiction on my mother too. Vacationing, we stopped at any glass factory we could find and I distinctly remember touring one in West Virgina in the 1960s. Also, my Mama cherished the glassware of her mother -- and my own memories of the 1930s/40s kitchenware of my dear Gramma's kitchen is to blame for my obsession with Fire King and pyrex and oatmeal glass today. PS: I have many cherished pieces with dings and chips and cracks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely, lovely pieces, all! Your ruby pitcher is marvelous - I have one simple little ruby flower bowl and just love the way it looks on a sunny sill.

    I've been thinking a lot lately about the things I keep and why, and find that perfection rarely fits into the equation. Except in cookware; I cook almost entirely in old Pyrex, and am wary of even tiny chips as I have heard such horrible stories about glass shattering while in use. I make enough mess cooking without having my pots and pans shatter!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your glass pieces are so amazing! I love the red color!! Thanks for sharing at TTF!

    Linda

    ReplyDelete

  8. Appreciating the imperfections, signs of having lived! We remind each other in aqua-aerobics that life is all about adapting to the changes and keeping on.
    I just put an old, imperfect pitcher in the refrigerator to have cold water on hand . . . I'm enjoying its sparkle, and despite a chip, it still pours well . . .
    You are so good at finding beauty everywhere!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't mind owning beautiful things that are a bit damaged, as long as I get a deal on them!

    =)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Comments are moderated so may not appear immediately, but be assured that I read and enjoy each and every word you write, and will post them as quickly as possible.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...