Bordeaux - A 'Chineur's' Paradise

Every three months the beautiful city of Bordeaux holds the 'Grand Déballage' which roughly translates as the 'Big Unpacking' (some things truly are lost in translation but you get the gist).  

It's held in the Place Canteloup beside the stunning Basilique St. Michel and couldn't be a more charming setting to rummage for trucs.

However, the last time we visited the market it was really, really, really cold and the sun flatly refused to put it's chapeau on.  So my first survival tip for conditions such as these is to take your shopping trolley (the brighter the better so it doesn't blend in with all the trucs on sale) along with your trusty notepad and pen, find a warm brasserie and order a large hot chocolate:-

Then mentally prepare yourself for the freezing conditions by smugly looking out of the window at the poor people shivering outside.

Now take a deep breath and get stuck in...

When you can no longer feel your toes it's time to duck into one of the large and treasure packed antique centres...

then finish the day on a high by finding somewhere timelessly elegant to enjoy a well earned coffee and a classic pâtisserie item of your choice (I can recommend a tarte citron for an energy boost).

I can hardly wait for the next one in the Spring!

Marsac - The BIG One!

This Sunday we woke up at 5.30am in order to get to one of the largest brocante fairs in France as soon as it opened.

The Bric à Brac in Marsac is a two day event but we went on the second day in the hope of being able to haggle down the prices a bit (although we also ran the risk of missing out on some real treasures).  At 8am we stood in a queue waiting to pay our 3€ entry fee before being let in after a quick security check (understandable in light of recent events).

I do not exaggerate when I say that this fair is MASSIVE and covers about four large fields but this did not dampen our enthusiasm as it was such a joy to see so many traders in one place with such interesting stock.  

I found loads of trucs and spent a small fortune and had our future antique shop been open I honestly could have bought ten times more.

By about 2pm we were seriously flagging.  Tiredness had set in and the stifling heat that had been with us all day was beginning to get to us so we literally staggered around the final field (almost hoping we didn't see any more things to buy!) and made for home. 

Here are just some of the buys from Marsac that are in my office waiting for a good clean:-

This antique fair is not for the faint-hearted but in my opinion was well worth the effort - I can't wait to get my new acquisitions listed on my Etsy shop!

Pretty as a Pitcher!

Please excuse the cheesy title of this post but believe me it could have been much worse.  I was initially toying with the idea of going with 'Pitcher This!'  and then I though what about  'Nice Jugs!' so you see what I mean!

Anyway, you have probably guessed that the subject of this week's post is pitchers and jugs and here are a few that I have had in the past and some more that are patiently sitting on the shelf of my office waiting for a new home.   

The first example is this barbotine (French majolica) pitcher in the form of a duck by the maker St. Clément.  I often see them when I'm out and about so I finally gave in and decided to buy one.  He was pretty mucky when I found him and he looked a bit unloved so being the former owner of a little duck that looks quite similar (Claude who has moved to the duckpond in our local park in Cognac along with his buddy Jacques) I just couldn't resist.

Click here to link to his listing on my Etsy Shop

A real favourite of mine are enamel pitchers and jugs and I buy them whenever I can because they are equally decorative inside the home or out in the garden and have a great shabby-chic/vintage look that's still so popular.  This particular one I have kept for myself because there were some pin hole pricks in the side that I missed when I purchased it.  Luckily a bit of clear silicone has solved this problem but having found another one in better condition I put that one up for sale in it's place. 

This little jug is another example of barbotine and is from the Art Nouveau/Belle Epoque period.  At present it is still waiting for a new owner on my Etsy shop.

Click here to link to it's listing on my Etsy Shop

This little pitcher has beautiful pale duck egg blue enamel and would look great on the table filled with flowers in a country or shaker style kitchen.

Click here to link to it's listing on my Etsy shop

This one I sold some time ago.  I secretly wanted to keep it after filling it with lilacs and photographing it so I was genuinely sad to see it go!

This last little fellow is from the same maker as the duck (St. Clement) but completely different in style.  Modelled as an owl with a lovely bright yellow glaze I don't think it will be long before he finds a new home.

Click here to link to his listing on my Etsy Shop

Weird and Wonderful 'Trucs'

One of the many joys of dealing in vintage and antique items is that you never know what you are going to find so every now and then it isn't that surprising if you come across something so eccentric and frankly mind boggling that it reminds you what a vast, diverse and fascinating world we live in.

The item that prompted me to start thinking about the weird and wonderful was a very strange truc I found at a brocante in the Charentaise village of Hiersac.  As is often the way it was the box that first attracted me to the item.  Anyone who goes antiquing on a regular basis will know the lure of the closed box and this one with the highly recognisable name 'Christofle' clearly emblazoned on the lid was an obvious draw.  

It was only when I opened the box that the true mystery began.  The truc nestled inside was a silver plated dish with strange cut-outs on the top and another dish (like a plunger) inverted and fitting snugly inside the top one.  The stall holder informed me that it was a wedding present from his marriage in the 1960s.  He went on to explain that this enigmatic object was a butter curler and if you fill the underside of the top dish and insert and depress the plunger the butter comes deliciously oozing out of the top in curls.  This unusual butter dish would then be placed as a centrepiece on the table for everyone to take their portion and admire the owner's obvious sophistication and taste.    

Would you have guessed what it was?

I did overfill it a bit as you can probably see!

Woohoo... I can't tell you how satisfying it was to see the butter oozing out!

I find items like this truly irresistible and as far as I was concerned this truc was up there with muffin dishes. The fact that something as silly as a muffin dish once had a place in society really makes me smile so I have therefore made it my mission to one day own a particularly elaborate one.    

So here are a few more examples of my trucs that I feel fall into the category of the 'weird and wonderful':-

1930s Miniature Spy Camera - What home would be complete without one?

1920s set of china figures for bonsai tree landscaping... really, I kid you not!

A retractable chain for chandeliers - I wish I had ceilings high enough to need it! 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing these fascinating items (that you never knew you needed until now) as much I did when I found them.   Don't you agree that the world be a much sadder place without butter curlers and muffin dishes?

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

It's been a fairly uneventful week this week as far as antiquing goes.  Lots of hard work on the house, Spike feeding the hoards at the Cognac Blues Passions Festival and for me some part-time seasonal work at a lovely local gite complex (more spending money for trucs... hooray!) so as a consequence I've not had a moment spare to buy any new stock this week or concentrate on my Etsy shop.

However, I knew that a week like this would come one day so I've been saving this post for a situation just like this.

A couple of months back in the beginning of May we stumbled across a truly magical place after visiting a flea market in a little village called Plassay.

A bit of a small brocante but good to get out and about all the same

It wasn't the best market ever but we bought a couple of trucs and on the way had earmarked a lovely little restaurant with a pretty courtyard in the charming village of Port d'Envaux for lunch.  We decided to sit outside and the sun came out for us - it was one of the first really sunny days we had had this year and I decided to try some locally produced goats cheese... it was yummy!  

Spike insists that I use the "fuzzy" setting on my camera for all food shots!

I digress.  The thing I really wanted to share was the amazing place I mentioned earlier. As we left Port-d'Envaux we caught sight of a couple of stone sculptures and being intrigued pulled over to investigate. There was a distinct lack of signs or obvious publicity but the unassuming car park led to a place where artists from all over the world have visited and carved some awe inspiring sculptures into the natural rock face of the area.  I later found out that that this curious centre of art is called Les Lapidiales.

I can't really describe just how impressive these carvings were especially as they were found so unexpectedly on a quiet little road -  I just hope that my photographs of just a handful of them go some way to doing them justice.

It never ceases to amaze me the wondrous things we come across just driving around our area and this place appears to be one of its best kept secrets.  

As we set off for home Spike spotted a little sign indicating that a roman aqueduct was to be found down a small lane.  Well we couldn't miss out on that and with visions of towering archways built out of stone carrying water at a great height I have to admit that we were a little disappointed at what we found!

Not quite what we had hoped for but the mosquitoes seemed to like it!

Oh well you can't win them all!  

Enfin le Printemps!

I'm so pleased to be able to say that spring appears to have arrived at last.  Our fruit trees are laden with blossoms, our honey bees (from Spike's two hives) are out and about again and there are daffodils, tulips and irises popping up everywhere.   

With all this wonderful activity in the garden and surrounding countryside I thought I would share with you one of my favourite songs - Enfin le Printemps by the little sparrow herself, Edith Piaf.

  

It's been a quiet week as far as being a brocanteuse is concerned so with little to report I hope you agree that this wonderful song is an appropriate and joyful way to welcome the arrival of le beau temps.  

Miroir Magique au Mur...

I thought it would be fun to look at mirrors this week .  They come in so many shapes, sizes and styles that one can be found to suit any taste or budget.

A French 'Granny Mirror' I have for sale dating from the 30s/40s

When I was a child my Nana had a frameless 1930's mirror on the wall of her living room, complete with metal chain, and I have to admit that at the time I wasn't keen on it at all - well it was the mid 70's and if it wasn't made of teak or a dodgy Spanish style wrought iron one it just wasn't in (I may well have to eat my words when they suddenly become the next big thing!)

Having come to understand a bit more about vintage interiors these frameless bevelled mirrors are style icons of their age and in their original context have great design merit. All things considered I have now formed a strong attachment to what I affectionately term as 'granny mirrors' and will be on the lookout for some when I'm back in England on my long awaited shopping spree!  I have seen these granny mirrors in numerous interior magazines grouped together on a blank wall and I think they look amazing.

Whilst I'm on the subject mirrors I couldn't resist including a photo of a beautiful Venetian mirror I have at home.  I wish I could fill my brocante stall with them but these mirrors are very allusive and when you do find them they are extremely expensive and I don't have that kind of spending power I'm afraid (or the buyers for that matter).

Venetian Mirror  - it's not for sale...  it's mine (hahaha!)

Gilded mirrors are still very popular in France and I know that if I could find some at a reasonable price they would fly off my brocante stall in no time so I hope that I can source some on my upcoming trip to England.

My stunning antique French gilt mirror

A few years back I painted an Edwardian gilded over-mantle mirror for our living room in the shabby chic style and do occasionally feel a little bad about it (but doesn't it look lovely against the natural stone of the chimney breast?... Please say YES!!!) 

My painted Edwardian over mantle mirror

Many mirror frames can be greatly improved with a thoughtful lick of paint but I wouldn't (normally) condone painting an antique one unless it's already been overpainted in crappy gold spray paint (which many of them have) in which case there is no need to feel guilty (or should that be gilty... sorry about that!)

Modernish mirror frame painted with a chalky matt paint

Art Déco is still in high demand and I do have a mirror in stock at the moment that is halfway between a granny mirror and a Venetian mirror with a peach glass frame.  I think it's gorgeous but it does have a wee chip on the edge of the frame so I'll have to see how much that holds it back over the summer.  Perhaps I should brazenly stare at the potential customer like the French dealers do and say "Well it's old, what do you expect?"

I do find it very hard to find stock over here that is not damaged in some way as the majority of trucs languish in barns and attics for many a year before finding there way onto the market.

Gorgeous peach tinted glass framed mirror ready to display on my stall

One thing I have found though is that antique and vintage mirrors seem to be much kinder to the user than new ones so for that reason alone, aside from the obvious investment potential, they're a must have in every home!