Hey Lady, Get Back To Work!

"Sold" is A Good Thing 
when you have an antiques booth.

Small-scale refinished cherry drop leaf table.  Sold.

 Not replacing what's been sold

with new old stuff?

Not so good.

Used to have two of these old darlings.  Both Sold.

I am guilty as charged.

Nursery chair, tray table, 19th century stand, and "smalls."
Sold.

I popped into my booth at

Somerville Center Antiques the other day.

All Sold.

I have been neglecting it lately.

Pretty much everything in this picture, except the cradle, Sold.

I didn't take a picture of the
near-empty booth. Too neglected-looking.

I've got some things in storage to haul out and polish up,
or paint, or otherwise make ready for a new life.

Like this piece:

This adorable miniature bombe chest needs a little more work before it is
booth-worthy.  It's been vacationing in my parlor;
I will miss its chubby good looks when it goes to the booth!

On Sunday, Howard and I are going to
a country auction.  In a barn.

Out in the boondocks of northern New Jersey.

Yes, there are boondocks in northern New Jersey,

and they are beautiful.

Wish us luck!  -- Cass

What Graffiti?

Business has been moribund at my antiques
booth at Somerville Center Antiques.

Moribund.

Now there's a perfectly good word that I don't think I have ever used before.

This slump is probably the fault of a slow post-holiday economy,

and my totally ignoring maintenance and updating at the booth.

Probably more the latter.

Daughter Anne says she'll give me a hand this week,

moving some no-sellers back home, and bringing in new items.

And - because she is both an artist and a good soul -

she has agreed to help me do something with the

walls of the booth, which currently are a dull and dreary,

scuffed and worn-looking cream color.  Ick.

What will we do?

I'll let you know after we do it.

I probably should ask the landlord first . . . .

Cass

Mystery solved!

So back in January, 
I wondered what had happened to this:

Turns out, it got sold, and was not lost or misplaced.

Yay.

We like "sold."

I need to get to the Booth and bring fresh stock,

but I can't haul this stuff in alone -- most of the time --

and I am hoping that Howard can give me a hand this weekend.

My friend Emily was an excellent helper . . . 

until she had twins earlier this month.

How inconsiderate of her.  (Wink, wink.)

Next post:  New Old Stuff.  Promise.  -- Cass

Goodbuys And A Mystery

The gorgeous hand carved swan decoy in my
antiques booth has swum off to a new home.

Swum?

Yup, swum.

Mr. Swan hung out in the booth for several months before

some sharp-eyed collector spotted him.

Or, maybe, just someone who thought,

"Hey, cool.  A big swan!"

**********************************

Also off to a good home, the 2-drawer stand on the left, below.

A lovely and useful original antique - 

well made American country furniture, early 19th century.

With glass pulls to die for.

My favorite kind of furniture - spare and graceful,

and not machine made.

And now, a mystery.

The tole tray on its stand has gone AWOL.

Missing.

It's not in my list of "sold" items,

and it's not in the booth.

Odd.

There are occasional thefts at the shop, but

I cannot imagine anyone smuggling

this out under his or her raincoat.

Most likely, it's taken a walk to some other booth and settled down

there for a cuppa and a chat with the other old geezers.

Or, it was sold, and credited to another dealer by mistake.

Eh, I'll figure it out later this week when I'm back at Somerville

for some booth-sprucing.  Many smalls are sold, and

some furniture, so it's looking kind of bare at the old booth.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I wish you all good things in 2013 and beyond.

-- Cass

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Booth sales were sluggish in November.
Truth?  "Sluggish" would have been an improvement.

So why, with sluggish sales, am I on the verge
of taking a second booth at another antiques mall?

Because I'm crazy?

Yes, there is that ever-present factor.

Because I've got a really supportive husband, who likes

that being busy with antiques keeps me (mostly) out of mischief?

Well, yes.

Because I think I can better target what people might want to buy

if I split my inventory between two very different locations?

Bingo!

I am beginning to accept that I am not my own buyer!

I have a passion for American country furniture from

the 19th century (18th if I can find it!).

Pieces like this:

And this:

Sadly for my sales, American country furniture

is languishing in all too many antiques shops.

 Despite all that gorgeous patina.

These pieces have such character, and they are

part of our country's history.

But period antiques are just not hot right now,

even at bargain prices.

*******************************

What is selling?

Let me give you an example:

this little table sat for months in my booth, in its original state:

I finally brought it back home, painted it with

Old White chalk paint, and popped it back to the booth.

It sold in just a few days.

Time to change tactics, don't you think?

I have been peeking around at other antiques malls,

looking for one that would be a good fit for the American furniture.

I think I have found it.

I'll be changing the Somerville Center Antiques location

to appeal more to people just starting to furnish their homes,

rather than collectors.  My period antiques will move to . . .

I'll let you know when I sign the contract!

Yeah, I'm such a tease.  :-P  

Merry Christmas!  -- Cass

What's the Opposite of Smalls?

Antiques dealers lump their china and knick-knacks,
their antique linens and lamps and artwork,
under the vast umbrella of "Smalls."

Sales at my antiques booth lately have been mostly "smalls." 

Smalls are what dealers call things that aren't, well, LARGE.

These are smalls:

And so is this:

This is not: 

Here's a whole bunch of Smalls:

And . . . ditto:

So what do you call things that are not

classified as "Smalls?"

I like to call them "Sold!"
:-)

This gorgeous little table sold last week

to a lucky customer, whom I hope is

just crazy in love with it.

'Cause it deserves the very best of homes.

I hope you had a wonderful, bountiful,

and beautiful Thanksgiving!  -- Cass

Sprucing Up

Some bits of furniture sold at That Old House's
antiques booth last week, so on Sunday
Howard and I tootled down Route 287 to
Somerville, New Jersey, to restock the booth
and jigger it around a bit.

Usually I forget to take pictures when we do this.

But this time, I remembered.

Here's how we left it:

I like to take pictures so I can look at them later,

at home, slap my forehead and say, "What was I thinking?"

Whenever I do this, one thing in particular screams out at me:

"I hate white walls."

Picture those 3 walls a nice warm soft yellow,

maybe with a pumpkin-colored back accent wall.

Old wood looks really lovely against yellow walls.

Or perhaps painted a soft dreamy sage green, or a warm gray.

Anything . . . and I mean almost anything . . . except white.

Cold and temporary looking -- that's how it strikes me now.

We added three pieces of furniture.

A pink upholstered, walnut

Empire-style slipper, or nursing, chair.

An antique cherry drop leaf table -- nice smaller size,

country style, and in great shape.  No drawer.

Sturdy wood "wings" for holding the leaves.

And the demi-lune table that I painted in August.

I kept it at home until I was happy with the finish on its top.

By the way, that left leg is not crooked.  Optical illusion.

There are a few real favorites of mine still waiting for their

forever homes, including this mahogany piecrust table:

It has the prettiest crotch veneer on its top.
And no, I'm not being naughty.

I've always loved tole trays on stands, used as

coffee or side tables.  This tray's old, with a Chinoiserie style image.

The stand would fit any size tray; it expands as needed.

I'm seriously enamored of this writing table/desk, below.

It's just so gorgeous and classic, and made by Southwood.

In fact, it's so high end that it's too high-falutin' to live with us,

and begged to be sold to a classier gang.  :-)

This pumpkin/squash tureen is kicking off my Fall offerings.

Now I need to find some more.  Gee, what a hardship!

Now the oddest thing we put in the booth on Sunday was this:

It's a wee little corner cabinet, painted an unfortunate

green and cream, and it replaces

the larger black one that used to hold so many of the "smalls."

That larger black one was not for sale, but . . .

someone bought it.  That's the antiques biz, folks.

Anyway, another dealer was moving her booth yesterday,

and didn't want the little green fellow, above,

so I got it for thirty bucks.

It's not my dream solution by any means, but it will do for now.

Happy hunting in your neck of the woods! -- Cass