More ANTIQUE Mall Shopping & My Comments & Tirades:

Here is a continuation of my last posting, of a shopping trip at Sleepy Poet Antique Mall in Charlotte , N.C. One of my fav places to go and buy all sorts of antiques. Above is a grouping of vintage suitcases/luggage. People now use these to store items at their homes, instead of for travel.

Gorgeous Art Nouvea, early 1900's picture frame. I think it was 175.00, way too high for resale. PASSED on it.

Beautiful Art Nouveau vase, would have bought it but she has a major chip under the faux foliage. Passed.

I have seen this old print many times there lately, and I love it but it is too high for resale. See she is trying to choose between the man with the car and the man with the horse and buggy ?

Thanks be to God someone left this old tole chandelier in it's au naturel state. If you have missed any of my previous posts on antique shopping, I am a rabid ' hate everything painted white' gal.

OK students time for an antique lesson. see this ' old' painting ? Looks quite old, Folk Art, mid 1800's. But let's take it off the wall and let me show you something...

This is some sort of reproduction, as the canvas has been painted ( to fool the average buyer) , not aged naturally, with a swash of brown paint.



  A definite Pass, unless you want just the ' look ' of an antique , and don't care if it is actually old.

This dealer has handmade some bible verses and religious quotes, and wrote them on burlap, and then framed them in old windows.

Great pair of Art Deco bouncy lawn chairs.

Very charming handmade romantic cards for sale, these were made by Abe's wife. He is another very nice employee/dealer there who helps me with my purchases . The nicest people work at this mall. Wish my picture was clearer, she embellishes them with glitter/pictures and a pun on words.

Much better than Hallmark.

Wonderful antique portrait, I want her, but she is way too expensive for resale for me to buy. So I leave her,

but still want her.

Another great antique oil portrait painting, in massive antique gilt frame. Still a bit too high for resale, and since Maxine and wrapping large heavy paintings have torn my rotator cuff muscle( recovering here), and I am looking for smaller items to ship.... I am going to have to pass.

New heart rocks for sale, I bought one awhile back that says TRUST. One of the hardest qualities/actions I cannot achieve. Still trying, ever so minuscule.

Decorated antique dress form.

I'm old enough to remember people wearing these, I think it was 1980's.

I love anything with a heart. I used one of these one time and I have it on my keychain. Just take the pin off the back, and you have a heart to put on a keychain. My husband thinks it is completely dumb, as he crams his  keys in his pockets and he doesn't like all the ' junk' ( treasures) , I have dangling from mine. He tells me so often, I ignore him about it always.

It's MY keychain.

More ( ugly painted ) mirrors.

I should have bought this, as it is a church with a heart birdhouse, but I have no where to put it. It was only 8.50.

A steal.

Another antique art buying lesson students. Here we have what looks like an antique painting in an antique frame. But remember, FLIP it over...

New repro painting in new frame. See the color of the back of the frame, how new the finish is ? Also do not be fooled by the little plugs of wood in the stretcher corners, of the painting. Look at the angles, and see it is stapled or something, all in all, not old. And I firmly believe the sellers need to SAY SO ON THE TAGS. Nice , but NOT an antique.

Good example here, new repro dog painting on the left, and vintage ( 1970's) pastel dog painting on the right.  Also most dog paintings, which are very collectible, the ones that are old or vintage are not perfectly rendered always, and that gives them the charm they have. the new ones are so perfectly painted( a few antique ones area also), but mostly they have a individual artist's style, that is not exactly perfect.

Sort of like all of us humans.

A very nice vintage painting of Charleston, SC, that I have almost bought for myself many times. I try not to buy anything for myself, as I have too much stuff already.

Except little heart items.

I may buy this one day if I can get him to come down on the price some.

OK, ready for me being dumb as a brick story ? This little aluminum vintage icetray reminded me of it. When I was over at my parent's house one day, probably when I was about 22-23 years old, I saw my dad fill up the icetrays with hot water and put them in the freezer to make ice. I looked at him and asked him why he used hot water and he says '"Hot water freezes faster than cold." I thought that was odd, but since my dad , a college professor, a whiz at math and science and such, told me..then I believed him.

So everytime I filled up my trays I used hot water. My husband saw me one day, and goes why did you just put hot water in the trays? I tell my husband, dad told me it freezes faster, and relayed the old story to him. By happenstance, my dad and mom were eating dinner with us that night, and I called dad into my kitchen . I asked him to back me up on hot water freezing faster than cold. He looks at me like I'm nuts, and says,

"Of course it doesn't , who told you that ?"

I told him ' YOU !" and relayed the decade old story of him doing it. My dad looks at me, has a huge grin on his face, and goes, " And you BELIEVED me ?"

I stood there with both of them laughing at me, I put my hands on my hips and said,

" YES, I have been doing it for 10 years now!!!!!!!"

You see I always believed what my dad told me.

Now I knew why my ice always took so long to freeze.

DUMB as a BRICK.

There you go, another tour of Sleepy Poet in Charlotte , North Carolina. You can tell Jason, Jamey, Dexter, Jerry, Abe , and I am going blank on everyone else's name that works there, but tell them I sent you . Each and every one is great to deal with and help you with your purchases.

Until later,

Gina

More ANTIQUE Shopping Tips & Rants :

I go to Sleepy Poet Antique Mall in Charlotte . N.C. about every week or two weeks usually. A HUGE mall with super nice employees that make my shopping a pleasure. I finally took my camera along again recently, and got some shots of some interesting antiques, and some dumb antiques( my opinion ), and a final story of me being dumb as  a brick many years ago. But let me just take your hand and show you what I saw...

Another painted mirror, I do not think this is old, I believe it is a newer piece, but silver paint seems to be in vogue, which means, do NOT go spray an antique mirror silver simply because it is in vogue in 2012 !!!!!!!

Another case in point ( and there will be many),someone painted an antique cherub  base WHITE, and then added a top. This may have been metal, I think it was wood with metal, but still, RUINED for future generations that don't want everything painted white.

Bust with pink velvet sombrero, nice touch.

Great 1960-70's vinyl cowgirl jacket, I would have bought it but it smelled heavily of cigarette smoke. Always give vintage jackets/hats/purses the sniff test, as old cigarette odors are about impossible to get out after so many decades. I know some people toss them in the dryer with a febreeze sheet or spray them with febreeze, but that doesn't last always.

So sniff first.

Here is Jamie( Jamey), one of my very favorite employees/dealers there. He is showing his large 1980's Vietnam soldier painting he has for sale. While he was posing, a very tall older man walked up and looked intently at the painting. I asked him if he remembered the war, and he said he was a Vietnam Vet, and we discussed how unpopular the war was back then. I still remember the look in this man's eyes when he was staring at this.

Here it is on the wall in his booth. It was oil on canvas, about 250.-275.00 I believe. Nice large piece of artwork.

Plus he has a nice' come and get it' Western meal -caller thingee that they used on ranches and farms.

With a handy old screwdriver used as the tool to start all the noise for , " ' Come on in to dinner ' round up .

Moving on I spy a 1980's ala Micheal Jackson purple leather ensemble.

A great old vintage 1960's ESSO gasoline plastic clock, I would have bought it but it had a break on the side of it. Passed.

Vintage 1980's poster/album cover which personifies perfectly a few men I have known.

Another mirror destroyed for the future with white paint. Shabby-yuck-chic. Sorry, very tired of this paint all this nice wood madness.

Great smaller booth with lots of neatly arranged vintage telephones. I miss the click-click sound of dialing a rotary phone.

A really neat vintage movie poster , loved this movie, but the price was close to 200.00 so a no-go for  resale. Passed.

Killer gorgeous antique pair of large cement garden statues. I think they were about 950.00 for the pair. Here is the other one...

These were very large and expensive, but high quality, and original old statuary. Love these.

Another painted white tole chandelier. I swear if I see anyone walking a round with a spray can of white paint, I will tackle them.

Another nice vintage cement statuary for your home and garden.

Nice old pastel of a terrier dog.

If I can't stop this white paint madness soon I am going to explode. Better yet, I see I have run too long here, I have much more to show you, including the story of me being dumb as a brick in the next post about my trip. To find Sleepy Poet antique mall, click here.

thanks to you all for coming with me,

more later, Gina

Antique MALL Shopping with ME

Here is the last of my installment from Sleepy Poet Antique mall in Charlotte, North Carolina , from my last outing there. In this one, I will show you some artwork I saw, some problems with them and some other random silly-fun-sights I saw . Hopefully it will help you decide what to buy or not buy ( my opinion--your choice ), concerning condition , etc. with antiques and art.

Here we go...

Above is a handmade yarn/textile piece of art , that when you pick it  up and flip it over...see this,

A handwritten description ( I can't read Spanish, but assuming that is what this is ), with the artists signature. As I have said before, signed pieces have more value , handmade items are always a smart buy. This is not the type of art I sell or collect, but I do appreciate the work and creativity the artist used.

 This is a beautiful landscape , that I showed in a previous post...that the dealer had marked down. The frame is also beautiful, which increases the value of the piece. I went up front later, asked for an additional discount if the dealer could do so...and got one.

Scored .

 Watch out, because Ms. Pitch-a-fit-about -frames has returned. I know that frames, like the antique one above, are being used for the shabby-chic look in homes. Seriously...do you know what your children are going to do with this when you are gone...chuck it to the curb.

To repair all the broken gesso would cost more than buying an antique picture frame in very good condition.

Beat-up, chipped to bits, damaged -beyond repair decorative frames are a fairly goofy-looking design idea.

To me.

Always remember, I know that everyone's tastes are different. 
à chacun son goût ( French-to each his own taste )

Here is another picture about antique dealers  who can be their own worst enemy, with  sales. This booth is one of my favorites...but it is almost impossible to reach anything, see anything , as stuff is all over  the floor, stacked high, jumbled up. Dealers need to at least make a area for a shopper to be able to walk in to see their merchandise without tripping over things.

 Beautiful pastel portrait, late 1800's of young girl. Too expensive, frame has too much damage, and would be a bear to ship . Passed.

Basic advice...unless you are a restorer, or learning to restore paintings, skip any paintings with this much damage. They are not chic, they have almost no value...unless they were painted by a famous artist. Most art dealers and knowledgeable collectors wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole.
I wouldn't touch it with a one foot pole. 
But, someone looking to learn how to restore...would need a painting like this to practice on.

Gigantic stained glass doors for sale. Smart dealer putting a light behind them to show the colors of the glass.

 Looks like a seamstress used an old horse buggy blanket to make these pillows, or maybe one of those thin carpets from the 1920-30's time frame.

 I have bought a few paintings here, let me show you the back of one,

Definitely looked 1960-70's to me from the age of the canvas.  Always remember to try to look at the BACK of a painting to help determine age. The darker and more crackled the canvas is...the older the art. An exception is if the art has been relined with a new canvas. I say this , because there are so many dealers in antique malls and shops, and they to the best of their ability, gauge the age of something. The more you see of the really old antique art, the more you will be able to determine what you will pay for it.

Needlework art 1940-50's time frame.
 

 What is shown above is an antique oil painting that someone had either left in an attic, basement..somewhere that had water that leaked down on it and damaged it...to the far right side of it.

That is what water can do to a painting, and you can pay some restorer big bucks to restore it for you. Showing this to reiterate an old post about not keeping ANY artwork in attics or basements or garages. Slide them under your beds to store, better yet..hang them on the wall or give them to someone else to hang on their walls.
Humidity, temperature changes and of course water can start to destroy a piece of art or a piece of furniture.

 Super cool original Art Deco mirrored vanity. 1920-30's time frame.

I don't know if you can see this well enough, but wanted to show you just because a paintings IS old...and this one is...and the frame is old...does not mean it is a good piece of art or valuable. The painting above is not very well done, the frame has numerous areas of missing gesso...all in all...not worth too much. Remember age in a painting does not always equal a valuable piece of art. Now in a person...I think age can increase your value ( to others )...if you have used your time wisely with love and caring.
Not to God , of course, we are all equally valuable to Him .

 Wanted to show our younger audience ( under age 40 ), what a vintage paint by numbers painting is. Back in the 1950-60's, manufacturers made art sets that people would buy and take home, and whip out their little papers out of the box and accompanying paints and paint the number on the container , to match a outlined area on the paper. Without much thought, anyone could paint a paint by number painting.

They are easily recognized by the ' chunks' of color painted on. These are not worth very much, maybe 10.00-15.00 or so. Only the nudes bring a little more. I have seen some dealers believe these are worth 25.00- 45.00 or so, not realizing they have not much value on the market.  Young people decorating in the retro style like to use these.

 Always a wonderful decorating idea, take that old quilt that Grandma made, or mom or someone...and hang it with special hooks to display as a piece of art.

 A dealer who has her items laid out perfectly. All have price tags, all accessible.

Just love this antique mall...on and on. You will get lost the first 2-4 times you come in. One of their helpful staff is usually walking around , they will help you get your bearings or carry some items you are holding up to the front to wait for you.

For the vintage clothes, assessory collector...they will love this ladies booth. I really like her old jackets, the mens..and my favorite thing she sells is here...

Cowboy boots !

 Since I was born in Austin, Texas...and all my relatives are from Texas...I have a soft spot for cowboy boots. If I could I would have like to have tried on about 4 or 5 of these. I did not have time..but will show you one of my favorite pairs. Look at these...

 Boots with serious dandy-attitude. Conchos , metal tips. Way too much fun. I can tell you if I saw a man walking around in these , I would stare a hole into his boots.
Probably the Texan in me still.
Truth be told I would want his boots for myself.

A wonderful original art deco pastel portrait of a sailor in a blue frame , that has ORIGINAL blue paint on it from that time period. I'm sure this young man meant something to someone.

Now this is an old Victorian celluloid dresser box. These were very popular from the late 1800's to 1920's time period. The problem when buying these, is that the celluloid becomes very brittle with age and cracks...like below.

This cannot be repaired. Too many cracks and breaks decrease the value of these a bunch.

It used to have perfumes or bottles to put perfumes and tonics in for personal grooming.

There is a big crack through the cover piece here.

On top, they used to hold combs and brushes. They are usually lined with silk.

 

Here is the back, in good condition, morning glories abounding. Again, these are made of cardboard, covered in celluloid..which by the way became illegal to sell in the 1930-40's because consumers found it to be very flammable.

Celluloid was a hard plastic used in the 1920-40's time period. They used it to cover boxes, cover photo albums,and made purse handles and some jewelry. One this large, in very good condition, maybe 85.00-145.00. In fair condition 48.00-55.00, poor condition 20.00 or so. I would say this one was in fair condition.

Look what I found below !

Vintage cowboy chaps , circa 1940-50's , hanging from the sky...or rather a loop a dealer used. Too fun, the guy who buys these has to buy the boots with the conchos as well.

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Vintage butterfly tray, 1920-40's time frame. More valuable if the butterflys and the inside decoration, under the glass,  is in good condition.

A tip for collectors and re-sellers, handsome men sell better than unattractive men. Same goes for beautiful women paintings sell much better than less attractive women in art. 

Please note, I am well aware beauty is only skin deep in real life.

I see that more, with time .

There you go, my disclaimer here is I am only expressing my opinion on many of these items...you go out and shop for yourself, enjoy,

Gina