Treasure Box Wednesday: Porcelain, Pottery, and Personality

In the world of secondhand treasure hunting, it's funny how things go in cycles. You can spend years looking for a certain type of thing, and then in a short span of time you will find that style of item everywhere-- and all for amazing prices.

Recent readers of The Thrift Shop Romantic will probably notice I've been in that cycle of luck with portrait plates and bowls lately. And my thrifting buddy Scoobie has been having a similar sort of good fortune with the Western-themed goodies she collects.

This elaborate unmarked bowl was a find from the Riverfront Antique Mall in New Philadelphia, Ohio...

With its extensive detail and deep aqua color, it was a quick decision for me to bring it home. You can see a close-up on the French lady transfer portrait here.

I also found this little Austrian portrait bowl at the same antique mall. It was in a booth that had mostly hardware and lamp parts, and it seemed real luck to me I stumbled upon it. And at $8, it was very affordable.
Lastly, at the Red, White and Blue thrift store in Bellevue, I got this cheerful little pottery teapot planter...
(No, it's not a real teapot. You'd be boiling up dirt residue from its insides, if you used it that way!). What I liked about it was how much personality it seemed to have. There's something vaguely like Disney animation about it to me... like if it took off dancing to a musical number you wouldn't really be that surprised.

Anyway, that puts a lid on this Treasure Box Wednesday. I hope to get back into doing some humorous recipe and general collectibles posts soon, but I've been spending some time trying to get an agent for the novel I wrote, so my energies are temporarily elsewhere.

Happy Hunting!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Portrait of Happy Hunting

The skies may have been black and the winds, they did bluster to the point they broke the door at the North Versailles Goodwill, but the treasure hunting this last Saturday... it was a blast!

I journeyed down Route 30 with my buddy Scoobie and her brother, and as a collective we came away with so many goodies we had to use the back seat to help hold them all. I realize looking at my photos, I didn't even take photos of all my finds. So I will save those for a future Treasure Box.

My favorite finds of the day were two early 1900s portrait vases which drew me in instantly. This one is from Austria...

The rich color and a great price meant I could not leave it there in the cabinet of the Fleatique II in Ligonier, PA. It seems very happy with the other pieces I've accumulated from the same time period.

Then at the L&L Fleatique in Adamsburg, I snagged this pink portrait beauty...

This is an American Whiteware piece from the Owen Pottery Company of Minerva, Ohio. It's now sitting happily displayed on top of my china cabinet along with some pastel Hull pieces.

You can see a better closeup of the lady on it here...

At the Fleatique in Ligonier I also got four of these nice blue (they don't look so blue here, but are) carnival glass styled plates...
I imagine they're from the 60s or early 70s, but I usually see carnival dinnerware in marigold or amber instead of blue. So this was a nice change, and the price was right, too.

I got this little aqua sandcastle at a thrift store-- which one, I don't recall anymore as we went so many different places it started to be a blur!
And just because I forgot to include it a week or so ago, I'd picked up this nice tole 1940s-styled waste basket at an antique store in Bellevue, PA. I think I'll use it for my upstairs office.
So that pretty much bins this Treasure Box Wednesday. Hope you're able to turn trash into treasure where ever this week takes you.

Pretty Maids in a Row: American and Austrian Transferware

Longtime readers of The Thrift Shop Romantic have seen rooms in my small Victorian house evolve, collections amass, and tablescapes and mantles get facelifts. But I don't believe I've ever given any of you a full-fledged peek into the built-in china cabinet in my living room!

It's the place I safely display a lot of my American whiteware pottery from the East Liverpool, Ohio area, as well as its sister transferware pottery from Austria.
Much of the pottery is from the early 1900s, and I've gotten pieces over time at garage sales, flea markets, antique malls and-- yes, absolutely-- even thrift stores!

What I love about it is its rich warm tones, unique, often organic shapes, and the sheer quantity of blossoms.
So much of it coordinates so well with other pieces, making for a case that "more might very well be more"...

I'm always amazed where I find some of these pieces. The central plate, for instance, and rose-hued portrait vase on its left both came from the Salvation Army thrift store!...Now I know they're not everyone's taste. Some might find them gaudy or too ornate for today's streamlined lifestyles. But that's a-okay. It would be really boring if we all liked the same things. And anyway, it may very well be because it's not trendy right now that I was able to get portrait plates like the one on the far left for a single dollar...

This row of pretty plates at the back were also thrift store finds...
They didn't come with the teacups up front-- those were birthday presents from one of my friends-- but my, how they match!

Anyway, that closes the door on this little peek into the cabinet....
I hope you all have a bright and colorful week ahead of you.

Treasure Box Wednesday: the Road Less Traveled

In Sunday's post, we talked about how the Victorian look isn't particularly popular right now, so those of us who love romantic decorating can find some pretty amazing things at thrift stores.

This post will explain where some of that idea came from.

Saturday's thrifting was a late start for me, as I'd met my buddy Scoobie in the Strip District of Pittsburgh (no stripping involved!) for lunch and some wholesale food shopping.

I had thought, given I was hitting the stores in the late afternoon instead of mid-morning, that the thrifts would be as picked clean as road kill in vulture territory.

I have no problem admitting I was wrong.

The first thing I spied at the Red White and Blue thrift store was this small, deep Victorian pickle dish...
Made in Austria and partially handpainted, I had a hard time believing this was just sitting on the shelf with the bakeware and serving bowls, and not nestled somewhere safe on the shelves behind the counter.

Guess our scantily clad nymph was a bit much for the locals...

Anyway, it was a surprise find, and needed to be rescued.

Heading down to the second level of the store, that's when I came across this large alabaster table lamp...

Ones at 2/3s the size of this go for around $100 at antique malls, and here I found this much larger one-- in pearlescently beautiful condition-- in a thrift store. It was the second find to blow the mind just a bit. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. How could it still be there waiting for me?

And then was my "inkling" find at the Goodwill. By now it was about 5:30 in the evening and I was heading home. A shelf of planters revealed this pretty leaf planter which I had a very good feeling about...
It reminded me strongly of two McCoy pieces I have-- taller ones, but a similar glaze, similar style and color. It wasn't marked on the bottom, but at $1.99 I didn't really care whether it was or wasn't McCoy, because I thought it would look terrific with the other two.

I had a sneaking suspicion, though...
Here you can see it with its buddies.

Upon going home, I sat in my favorite chair and reveled in my good fortune. And then I pulled out my McCoy collector's book. Boy, it never hurts to have good reference books for the things you collect!-- And I was rewarded. The unmarked vase was, absolutely, the real McCoy.

Right now it sits on my mantle, looking very much at home with its cousins. Yee-haw!

Oh, and lastly-- just because I'm finally feeling happy about it (largely because the hard work is done), I wanted to show you all the finished mantle in my one spare room...
All the bits of plaster and grouting and the newspapers and painter's tape (and frustrations) have been wiped away, leaving me with a lovely, calm and quite French sitting room. The cute little blue lamps on the mantle came from the L&L Fleatique in Adamsburg/Jeannette, and the mantle mirror was an Ebay find-- it's a new piece, not an antique, but I think it tops everything off pretty nicely. I'd wanted something that was already painted so I wasn't defacing any antique pieces.

Well, that wraps it up for this Treasure Box! So, here's hoping as you choose your path in your treasure hunting travels, you uncover the things no one else wants-- but which you absolutely love.

Sometimes being eccentric has its benefits!

• Oh-- if you missed Sunday's post on how the Victorians would have loved thrift shopping, click here.

And maybe I'll see you folks on Sunday. That is, if you aren't out scouting for buried treasure.

Treasure Box Wednesday: Portrait of a Happy Thrifter

Just when I think I've seen everything at the thrift shop, I turn around and am awed once more. Some of my forum friends online have already shared in my joy in this, but I believe some of you still haven't seen this yet. This was my find of last Wednesday-- a Victorian portrait vase with the beehive mark of Royal Vienna.

Now, I do know a number of companies of the era ended up using this beehive mark, who were not actually Royal Vienna. But judging by the quality of the vase, the handpainted details on the decal and the overall feel of it, it's a real possibility.

Either way, it was wonderful to me. I'd been having kind of a rough day at work when I'd determined to take myself on a thrifting respite at lunch... And that's when I came across this.

And also this...


...A 50s aluminum tea canister. I was happy enough with this for $0.99, but then the vase came along and my day was absolutely made.

Then over the weekend at the Goodwill in Monroeville, I came across these pink Depression glass plates...


I haven't been able to find the pattern name in my Depression glass books, but at $0.50 a piece, they were a good buy.

Lastly, I got this vintage tablecloth for $1.50 at the St. Vincent DePaul in Monroeville...



They were having a half-off sale, so that was an extra special surprise. And WOW, you should have seen the people there. It was amazing to witness the sort of things people were discovering.

I'm afraid that closes the Treasure Box for this week. If you'd like to take a peek at Sunday's post on Fourth of July postcards-- and a special postcard download for you-- click here.

I'd mentioned earlier, I have one of my friends paying her annual Fourth of July visit this weekend-- yay!- so I might be a little delayed with the Sunday post. But I promise, I'll get to it. I might just be a little slower in posting.

Happy Fourth of July, folkses!!