Balanced

Reader, it's not that I don't think of you, it's just that life gets in the way.  I feel like I am always making excuses for not writing and I know that you sit at home nightly with your box of tissues crying your eyes out for a new post from MTSS, but I don't have time to shop or a place to put all of my finds.  Please rest assured, when I do shop, you are the first to know!  There isn't some secret blog where I am posting for some other readers about things you aren't seeing, I promise.  It's only you, it's always been you, it will always be you.

But, this past couple of weeks have been insanity.  It is just one of those time with lots of balls in the air and tons of things happening.  I am surviving and I felt the balance last weekend with a little shopping...

I have to say that one of my favorite new tools for shopping estate sales is estatesales.net.  It's great in that it tells you where the sales are, plus has lots of photos of what they have.  You can see if there is anything you might like or discover instantly it probably won't be worth your time...this one was!  The issue of course is that you see things you want, but then you get there and they are already gone.  But, I guess it was my lucky day as the two footed bowls (the same, but with different china markings) were still there and I got them for half off since it was Saturday morning.  They'll be perfect with all of the other white dishes of mixed pedigree. 

Shells.  Faux shells.  You know about my obsession (here, here and here), so I was more than thrilled to add these two, lovely specimens from Wedgewood cast in the bone china to the collection.  It grows, its shifts...it expands.

I always eye salts at the antique store covetously because I want them so badly and they are always fifteen to twenty dollars EACH.  Is the market for salts really that strong?  I guess so, but I was very happy to find four lovely little specimens at the estate sale for next to nothing.  They remind of little crystal urchins and next time I have a little formal dinner I will serve my very exquisite salt in these little guys.

This little matchbook was not priced, but the woman at the checkout was so delighted we wanted something "from my era" that she threw it for free!  From Japan, it opens out the end and has a different little house image on both sides.  It is kind of the palette of our kitchen in Terre Haute and the hanging objets above the sink, which is not to say the same as the palette in the Texas kitchen, although close.  These things are always changing and evolving.

These glasses have been following me all over the country!  I'm sure they're just something basic from Libbey that was just sold everywhere, but I have managed to find them in Wichita, Terre Haute, Madison and now West Texas, amassing quite a collection.

These, on the other hand, I have been hunting forever and have never found.  Until now.  What are they, you ask?  Stemware from Russel Wright for Morgantown Glass, eight goblets and seven sherbets in chartreuse, for a song.  Scott at Ars Longa seems to stumble over a few of these every time he turns around, but for me they have remained elusive.  I'm not a big collector of Wright, but I do love these glasses.  Unlike plates and ceramics, they're unmarked, so you really have to know what you are looking for.  And be lucky!

Plant stand?  Or modern sculpture?  Either way, it is going to look lovely with pots in it until I convert it a serving piece by attaching plates some way to the little pot circles.  Hmmm...

...and then felt revived and restored, with some wonderful finds and a chance to share them with you, my dear reader.

White Away

I used to think plain, white dishes were just boring. I would never look at anything at the thrift store that was just plain white. I wanted bright colors, atomic patterns, coordinated (but not matching) serving pieces and a mix of everything. And I have that and it's really funny, because even when I try to do an 'eclectic' table, it all seems to coordinate and vibrate in some unconscious, magical way. But then one day, I reversed my stance on white dishes and I began to be kind of be obsessed with them.

I remember it well: it was the day I found the Schonwald--such a magical moment it inspired a drawing and a poem. The dishes are simple, gorgeous and have a heft that make them amazing to hold. I have four pieces in an ovoid shape: large and small serving bowls, platter and sauce boat. And after that, I began to look at white differently and to find pieces that were unique in treatment, shape and design. Some are pedigreed, others are not. But, what it means is that I can easily mix in serving pieces with any of my chinas (the family grows) and simply coordinate a table.

But, what worries me is that guests think my lovelies are "just a white bowl from the restaurant collection at Kohl's or Macy's." They're not. They're vintage, gorgeous and special and I assume those who know me well realize that. But, I was thinking about the whole farm-to-table phenomenon the other day and how you can't just have an egg anymore, rather a Meadows Farm of Happy Chickens Egg. What if I did that at parties and made little cards that read, House-made French Onion Dip with Expensive Potato Chips served in White Porcelain Bowls from Schonwald, Germany. Affected? Well, of course.

Anyways, here is a parade of the white dishes including the last super-find from Russel Wright. Enjoy.

The Schonwald gravy boat, with attached under plate.
It has made multiple appearances, here at MTSS.

These two bowls make me believe I am
a shaman and can work magic in the kitchen.

The platter is simple, with just a slightly turned up edge.

Altogether now.

This plain, white lotus bowl probably came from Pier 1,
but as it's the largest in the collection and the only white one,
it is the Queen of Lotus Bowls in this household.

Yes, you can find Paul McCobb's Contempri all tarted up with various patterns, atomic and otherwise, adorning it. But, the plain white example has been stalking me across the country for years and evidenced here and here.

Eva Zeisel. What can you say? These simple white bowls could be used in a Sci-fi film today, decades after they were made, and still conjure 'the future' in the mind of the viewer.

Ben Seibel's Impromptu line says it all, simple and elegant;
always ready to entertain or to be entertained.

This Russel Wright divided bowl says to me,
"Fill half of me with pretzel M&Ms and the other half with plain M&Ms." What does it say to you?

Thrifting Through the Blizzard

My darlings, I have for you a much delayed post on the holidays which took us on a long, snowy tour of the lower Midwest to see family and friends. The travel was dangerous and grueling, but as they say, "When life gives you lemons, make time for thrift shopping." And we did, finding many wonderful and amazing items along the way.

I popped into a thrift store in south Omaha that I only hope I can find again: there was so much it was unbelievable! I could have outfitted an entire kitchen and dining room with the wonderful items they had. And after you finish this post, you'll probably think I did...

I wish there had been ten--no twelve--NO TWENTY--of these bowls, I would have bought them all. They are low, but deep enough for soup, pasta or a big salad. And perfect for spaghetti and meatballs. I won't every eat spaghetti from anything besides these bowls again, I promise you. They are that perfect. And Pyrex. Did I mention they are Pyrex? With a lovely greenish-blue rings that match my favorite coffee cup. One of my favorite coffee cups--I try to remain impartial.

Say what you will about hoarding, but I will never pass up a chip-less, lotus bowl if it is a color other than white. These are the smallest size and I now have two in red, two in green and two in yellow. Traffic light! Plus, twenty or so in the slightly larger size in a variety of colors. For rice bowl emergencies. Geez, I've totally explained this to you before and it is completely logical.

This lovely little bowl is a very light gray and unmarked It reminds me a of a shape from either the 40s or the 80s and is perfect for some nuts, olive pits, sesame seeds, soy sauce, ketchup, flaky salt or anything else you might want or need to put into a small bowl. Hello, my name is Brian and I'm addicted to small bowls. I can stop anytime I want. I just don't want.

I'm calling this lovely 70s Madonna and Child wall plaque, 'Our Lady of Ventriloquism' because it does kind of look like he is her puppet. Sweet regardless, it's now hanging beside the front door which took some getting used to as I kept seeing it out of the corner of my eye and thinking, 'What the hell is on the wall!?!'

This fantastic serving piece is that Japanese-made plastic that is supposed to kind of look like lacquerware. It has six little trays that are removable and a center wooden section for....sauces, a fondue pot, condiments, a centerpiece....or whatever. Did I mention it's fantastic?

These trays are plastic, but made to look like a gold-veined stone. Very unique, I could not pass them up...

A silver tray shaped like a giant leaf was impossible to resist.

In Wichita, we did a little shopping with Molly, popping into the DAV at Central and Edgemore to find...giant piles of Russel Wright dishes! It was so strange, at first I spotted some creamer tops to the Iroquois Casual China and then some tea cups in a variety of patterns and colors. Eventually, saucers, bread plates and dinner plates began to reveal themselves in the mess of dishes on display in the store including: service for eight in the Iroquois Casual China in Pink Sherbet with cups, saucers, bread and butter plates and dinner plates. I have always coveted this pink. I'm not sure why as I'm not really a pink person (give me some fuchsia here and there, but not pink pink), but every time I see it I just think, 'That is the perfect pink.' So, dear reader, I could not resist when presented with the opportunity to buy such a large group at the thrift store.

When I got home, I realized that the pieces came from different production lots because of the variety of markings. I think all of this china must have belonged to some collector who might now be in the 'big Russel Wright shop in the sky' and their family didn't know what this was. Just a bunch of old china! So, I'm glad I rescued a collector's collection, or at least a little part of it.

This beauty was already featured in the gravy-boat-confessional-crossover post between MTSS and bigYELLOWbowl. But, it's still quite the find. Perhaps I should give it away in some sort of contest?

Returning home, I guess I was still hot and heavy for shopping (twas the season!), so I popped into Goodwill and found this lovely shell in a deep brown practically black for the faux shell collection. I think I'll fill it with BVMs.

Since then, I have kind of been ignoring the thrift store. Trying to be good! Fret not, it won't last...