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

More ANTIQUE Shopping Tips w/ Personal RANTS about What I SEE

 Let's continue our tour through Sleepy Poet Antique mall in Charlotte, NC with me....just walking about and giving you some tips and pointers , and of course random rants....about what I see. Let me do a small personal rant about what designers, or people,  like to do with perfectly nice furniture to mess it up for future generations. Case in point above. Someone took a perfectly nice 1950-60's dining room set and painted it a lime green and white. Now I know that this look is in  the magazines, that it is considered very ' hip ' by many people. the problem, down through the years, when it is no longer ' hip ', then you are left with some goofy looking furniture . That happened starting in the 1960's when so many people ( including my mom ), painted oak and hardwoods sage green, avocado green, yellow, lime, orange ...lots of fruit colors. Then in the last 20 years, many people do the faux white finish , shabby-chic. That phase of decorating will pass too. Then your grandkids and great-grandkids are left with a bunch of painted white or painted lime green wood. I am not a 1960-70's furniture lover, I know some awful furniture for the general public was produced then...so if you want to destroy or change furniture from that time frame...that would be better than doing it to pre-1960's furniture. Wood is so beautiful , simply stained a natural color. It truly makes your surroundings calmer and more conducive for your artwork to display without competing with colored furniture.

I say, " Save natural wood furniture !!"

Rant over, for now..let's keep moving...I really liked this display of the old mannequin and her cap and earmuffs.

 This dealer, below, is moving to Manhattan, per her sign. In her booth is many 1940-50's Rococo inspired furniture that she or someone she bought it from...

PAINTED OVER WITH SILVER AND BEIGE PAINTS !!!!! 

 

 From what I have seen at antique shows, and shops, this is a big no-no, if it had been left the original finish, whether that be natural wood color or the original faux beige, it would be worth twice as much or more of whatever it would be priced.

Look what I saw, a little 1950-60's cardboard snow village house. Only 4.00. I did not get it as I have enough. I did buy a large church in Charleston a few weeks back though to go with my village.My youngest son was very pleased with that.

I liked these two religious prints, housed in homemade horseshoe glitter encrusted frames. Do not know if this was prison art ( men in penitentiaries made a lot of folk-art when they were confined 1930-60's ), and it is collectible now. Lots was religious ( Christian typically, lots specifically Catholic ), or if these were made from a person who was religious for their home back in the 1940-50's time frame. I was amused that someone was hedging all their bets by displaying religious images AND the ' lucky ' horseshoe frame to give them extra protection .

You don't need luck if you have God on your side.

They were not expensive, I grabbed them up.

 A nice picture frame below that someone repainted with too garish a gold color. Please try to use antique gold and painting it on instead of spraying the frame, is advisable.

I believe the outer molding of this frame is original finish, while the decorative gesso has been touched up with too bright a gold.

It appears someone touched up the center decorative gesso and the surround is the original gold finish, or re-painted in the last 10-15 years. NO SPRAY PAINTING antique picture frames. It destroys their value. ( and by the way, Ms. Smarty-pants here has done that a few times in the past and learned that lesson the hard way ). Either touch them up with antique gold paint by hand , or leave them as is.

Aha! Case in point to show the difference in painted or left with original antique finish picture frames. All are 1920-30's frames. to the left , original finish, to the right painted white and for the future, value declines exponentially.

Again, I do know it is a personal choice...just trying to help all the furniture I can for future generations here.
Let me show you a new  decorator painting, they sell these in stores like Pier One, target, Bed bath and Beyond, etc. They are machine painted on canvas...

 You can see that , by no roughness to the canvas at the front, and the sides here, a STRAIGHT line across, and original painting would have little uneven lines, and stray brush strokes. If you turn there , unframed paintings and examine the edges, you can see this. Perfectly straight all around. That means it is machine produced.

 Now by the way, these are fine, alot of people like these in their homes, and the price was 40.00, so fair. Young people, particularly like these, and they use them to decorate their new homes and apartments. Hopefully, they will be able to buy original paintings, produced by actual people...for a bit more in price, down the road.

Remember, the backs of anything ( art ) new is usually a bright white, or may have a fake-looking tan or brown paint wash.

 This little PRINT almost fooled me,as it is printed on textured canvas, but the sides , when you flip it, are a straight line across and no raised paint on front. I could not get a good enough picture of the sides, always came out totally white, thanks to my pesky flash.

I smiled when I saw this flimsy, sheer, 1960-70's short negligee...as it made me immediately remember that my grandmother always gave my mom one of these, all colors...always flirty and short...for her anniversaries or Christmas.  My mother was always embarrassed and did not like them. My mom had drawers full of these, and you know what she did with them ? For some reason, she gave them to me and my sister when we went to college. I thought they were very fun, my sister never liked them...but I would not recommend any mom give their daughters negligees when they go to college !!!!

Negligee plus mom rant.

Moving on...

Below is a chalkware ( plaster ) Art Nouveau statue or bust that is in terrible condition. I have bought many of these, they are copies of the bronze statues, and usually have the signature of the artist , molded into the base at the sides. They are not signed by the artist, simply the manufacturer is showing they are really a copy of that artist work. I am showing you this one, because it would be crazy to buy one in this condition. They are made of plaster, breaks when you glance at it, and cannot be repaired , some areas can be painted over...but not repaired. I would say pass on one of these, late 1800's-early 1900's statues unless they are less damaged. Oh ! Some people also spray paint these over , all one color, that decreases their value tremendously. I recall paying around 45.-95.00 for one of these in good condition ( minor chips and breaks ). They will never be in very good or perfection condition, due to the fragile nature of chalkware. If you want one  in perfect or excellent condition, then go find one of the original bronze statues these were copied from and pay 450.-600.  or so.

eBay probably has some, just type in Art Nouveau busts or Art Nouveau original statues. Ask the dealer if they are repro or originals, and check the seller's feedback before you buy.

Or go hunting in antique malls like me.

 Lots of shabby chic booths in this great antique mall. I will not say one word about the two benches on the table below, painted white.

I couldn't say one word anyway, it would be more like 10 or 20 words.

 Now lookee here folks. Down below, I found a beautiful original 1920-30's art deco bedroom set that has it's ORIGINAL finish with carved  accents. No new white paint on this,no painted over pink or lavender either. I have seen this set before in plain wood finish with the carved accents ( the flowers, swags, fruit in the front and center areas ) painted colors. These accents are called barbola when they are made of plaster to mimic the carved-wood look here. Barbola is mainly on mirrors, and home accents pieces, not so much on furniture as it is easily broken and chipped. I am telling you that as often this French style of furniture, is called a bedroom set with barbola. That is very popular , people who decorate with the Victorian style particularity love anything that has barbola accents.

This is a great find for someone. Dresser,  two beds and nightstand. I forgot to look at the price as I had the cutest young girl, about 11 years old, blond hair.... watching me take these pictures. She was shopping with her mom, and when I smiled at her and passed them, her mom hugged her and spoke to her, she absentmindedly stroked her daughter's hair. 
I kept walking, wondering if the mother understands how precious that moment was between the two.
To be able to physically hug or hold your children is one of the biggest gifts God affords us.

This is too long, I have more pictures, mainly art to show in my last installment of this trip,

many blessings,

Gina

More ANTIQUE Shopping at Sleepy Poet--Antique Shopping Tips

I ended up going to Sleepy Poet Antique Mall ( located in Charlotte, NC ) again last week, and as you can see...someone was unhappy about being thrown out in the yard for most of the day when I left. Here's a closer look at the black spot through the fence to the bottom right...

Maxine, looking forlorn. She'll be fine, left her food and water and dragged her big dog bed out for her to snooze on for the day. Ok, let's go to the antique mall.

I arrived about 10:30, was glad to see Jason,  the owner's son who I think is the manager, who is such a very nice young man. I like everyone who works here. I had spent most of my moohla for art in Charleston a few weeks ago, so I had to be very thrifty with my shopping. I saw many paintings I could not afford to get for resale . Darn. That's alright, I found a few things. I will say again, I am NOT an art expert, there are so many art history majors , historians, museum curators who would stick their nose up at my limited knowledge here. I am just an art lover,and I try to sell paintings online . But...I know more than the average antique art shopper, and I like to share what I know if it may help you in any way.

 I liked this western themed frontier style painting , but it was bit high for resale. Would consider this one again though. Let's look at a tapestry...

This was a nice larger, maybe 3 or 4 feet long machine loomed tapestry, 1920-40's time frame. She had over 400.00 on it, too high for what they normally sell for. Most of these go for between 75.00-150.00 in good condition. When you look at these, check them out carefully for holes, tears, stains, etc. All defects are big deals in linens and tapestries. Also check that it is not too faded . Machine loomed are a uniform weave throughout, hand-loomed, much more  valuable, have a nubby appearance on the back and front. Hand-loomed , or weaved, can cost thousands of dollars.
Any machine-loomed tapestry with holes, tears, satins, and excess fading will be worth maybe 25%-50%( or less ) of it's value if it was in very good condition. 


Look at this little frame....

I almost bought this, but am being thrifty today. Wanted to show you that it is a newer frame, last 1-10 years, but is hand-signed by the artist on the back. That makes ANY item, that is handmade, more valuable. Support hand-crafted items at all times , when you can.

Decorators and homeowners have been using old fencing to decorate their walls at home. Neat idea , old fencing can be found at antique shops, salvage places , and large antique shows. 

 Gorgeous 1800's gold gilt mirror. I would say always buy an original old mirror instead of spending 100's on a new one that they make look old. Old antique ones will increase in value as well.

1800's gold gilt mirror

Metal decorative touches.

New reproduction painting of an old masters art. I could not get a good enough picture to show you that these are new. These are sold in home decorator stores, malls, ect. I would encourage each one of you to buy ORIGINAL antique or vintage or even new original art , instead of these mass-produced paintings that sell for 300. and up. Most are machine painted , mimiced to look old. They all have brand new frames as well.

Liked this old , probably English...1800's, wood panel painting. It had damage to the bottom left, and still a tad to high for resale...this time. This is another type of painting that has been faked by importers and sold in designer shops.

The original old wood back, shows you this is truly old.

This is another item that has been reproduced. These were mirrors for the 1800's, brass frames, but if you look at the back of this one...you see it has a new stand, and the backing is new. So a nice repro ' antique ' mirror. The original stands broke on many of these, and they look different from this one.

Wish we could turn people around and look at them from behind and see if they are genuine. I think God does that by looking at us when we are alone, no show, no audience. He knows what's ' behind ' are motives and actions.
Antique-religious-philosophy 101.

 Killer gorgeous pastel antique painting. Many problems for me with this one, foremost, pastels sell for less, usually than oil paintings. No 2 : It is large, covered with glass, a absolute nightmare-stressor to ship. And lastly, too expensive, even with his sale to make it worth my while. For re-sale .

Beautiful.

 Here I will frustrate myself, but try again to show the difference between a PAINTING and a PRINT of a painting. This is a copy or an antique painting, It is completely smooth to the touch, housed in a newer frame. Original paintings, the paint can be felt , unevenly over the surface.

 Completely flat and smooth.

Look at her fingers , no paint is seen or felt. This is a PRINT of a painting. Also , try not to call PRINTS of paintings, PAINTINGS. Even if they are a print of a painting, they are correctly called PRINTS.
Sound like a stern school teacher don't I ?
Sorry, pet peeve of mine...
I did find two nice items in the same booth as that PRINT above. This pretty pink chenille bedspread in very good condition. 
Look at the sparkle silver thread in the middle section , loved that.

And this early 1900's original PRINT ( do you feel as if I am trying to make a point ), of a grouping of pink and yellow roses in its original old frame. 

 Let's flip it around,see the dark cardboard backing ?

 Scored with these two, as they were in a 50 % off booth.
I see I am getting too long , I will continue our shopping tomorrow or the next day.

 Wishing you all love in the New Year,


Gina