C'est Vieux! C'est Rare! C'est Napoléon III!

Anyone that's experienced buying antiques at a brocante fair in France will probably have heard one or more of the following key phrases from the traders.  Any one of the there should set alarm bells ringing... all three together and you're probably fighting a losing haggle. 

"C'est vieux!" (it's old) - This is the standard response (often accompanied by a Gallic shrug) if you pick up an item that has chips, breaks, bits missing or disintegrates in your hands.

"C'est rare!" (it's rare) - This phrase is the prelogue to an extortionate price that can occasionally be justified but more often than not cannot.  Best to smile sweetly, compliment the item, put it down very, very gently and swiftly walk away.

"C'est Napoléon III!" (it's Napoleon III) - For a little light entertainment I like to have a friendly bet with my husband, Spike, on how many times we hear an object described as "Napoleon III" when we're out shopping for stock (if you ever decide to play this game and it looks as though you may have guessed too high you can usually coax it out of a dealer by asking for the age of any object that look vaguely old).

Having said all of this I particularly love the Napoleon III period (1848 - 1870) which bucks the trend of the light and airy Scandinavian decoration so favoured today by being heavily ebonised with brass or gold ornamentation.  Here are some lovely examples that I've been lucky enough to own:-

These coat hooks would have looked wonderful in our Napoleon III (yes I said it) house but they are now gracing someone else's home.

This gorgeous bent wood coat rack was also a reluctant sale but I can't keep everything so I regretfully bid it adieu.

This beautiful treasure is still in my life and sitting happily on our dining room table although I don't think it will be too long before there is an empty space to fill.

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This charming lacquered papier mâché and mother of pearl pen box is also looking for a new home.

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And to finish I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to find this stunning Napoleon III (that's twice now) artist's watercolour paint box complete with contents:-

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This handsome and refined period in French history (see how I dodged saying it) saw, among many other important events, the elegant Haussmann buildings rise in Paris and the end of the Second French Empire.  This style of furnishing French homes went into exile with Napoleon III himself (I promise that's the last time) and paved the way for the beautiful Art Nouveau period... but that's another story for another day.

Travelling Through Time!

One subject I know very little about is clocks and timepieces but being a bit of a 'dabbler' the fact that I have no expertise in this field hasn't stopped me from making a few purchases over the years. Here are a few of the little alarm clocks that have passed through my life and my Etsy shop.

This lovely vintage wall clock is surprisingly still with me but I'm enjoying having it on display in my office while it waits for a new owner.

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One clock that we bought to keep for ourselves is this pretty little French mantle clock.  It's made from marble and has the most delightful little chime.  It can be a temperamental from time to time but if we remember to keep it wound up it's fine.  

My husband, Spike, is half Swiss and has very fond childhood memories of spending his holidays in the home of his Uncles in the mountains of Switzerland and ever since then he has nursed the dream of one day being the proud owner of a cuckoo clock.  

This dream of his is something that I have tried to avoid for many years because cuckoo clocks are really not my truc and I am very particular about what items make it over the threshold of our home.

However, a while back at a brocante market I foolishly pointed one out to Spike that I had spied tucked away in a box behind the stall.  When his face lit up I could see immediately that it was love at first sight and I was in trouble.  I grilled the seller in the hope that he would crack and tell me that it wasn't working.  A trick we employ with smaller clocks is to shake them to see if they begin to tick but obviously the mechanism is different and you can't go grabbing a large cuckoo clock and start shaking it up and down anyway (although at one point I was sorely tempted!).  

The next straw that I frantically grasped at was that it would be priced way out of our reach but being the end of the day I think the old guy was glad to get rid of it.  He offered the clock at such an annoyingly low price we couldn't say no and I suppose there's not much call for cuckoo clocks in the South West of France (I also personally believe that the vendor was a cruel, cruel, vindictive man because I made it perfectly clear that I wasn't keen!).

I immediately made Spike agree, as a condition of purchase, that it would live in his workshop (I was trying to sell the man-cave thing) and that's where it is at the moment (although worryingly this space will one day be our kitchen so I'm not out of the woods, or should that be Black Forest, yet!). Thankfully after all the trauma the clock does actually work and the little cuckoo can be heard reverberating around the house from the basement so we always know what time it is wherever we are (even in the wee small hours... guests beware!).

All this being said I have over time rather begrudgingly grown quite fond of it (at least it's an old and relatively tasteful example of a cuckoo clock - I can't believe I just said that!).

Moving swiftly on... here's our latest acquisition to join the noisy gang of clocks we seem to be amassing.

It's a Napoléon III 'Oeil de Boeuf' clock.  OK, I know it's a funny looking thing but when we saw it a couple of weeks ago we just loved the old lump and it has a really soft mellow tone when it chimes (please try to ignore the plasterboard backdrop!).

My ambition one day is to own a long case clock but I would go back to England to buy one because I find the French ones a bit odd looking compared to their British counterparts (or is it just me?).

    

French

English

I would particularly like one with a sun/moon dial in a honey-coloured burr walnut case but that's one ambition really is going to take some time!

Any Old Iron!

I have noticed a trend in my buying lately that around 90% of my stock is made of metal. I seem to be drawn to silver, silver plate, copper, tin, enamelled metal, brass and iron. Even when I make a conscious effort to buy something wooden, glass or ceramic I still find myself rushing towards something large, often rusty and nearly always incredibly heavy.  

Luckily I have to keep the weight down on my Etsy shop items otherwise my postage fees would be ridiculous.  Without this constraint I do believe we would have a house and yard full of scrap metal and anyone who's watched the vintage series Steptoe & Son will know that this is not a good thing.

Take last week for example I came away with some lovely buys for my shop but all but one of them (a pretty English teapot) was made from some form of metal.  

I found this super 'Foie gras' set in silver plate

I also bought this gorgeous 'Lu' biscuit display tin from the Belle Epoque era but have decided I can't bear to part with it so it's mine, mine, mine!!!

I did manage to stray from the metal by buying this lovely glass lamp but again it's mine, mine, mine (well it does match my bedside lamp perfectly!)

This money box is a new purchase from my ever growing range of tins

 And this tin I just couldn't ignore because it's so BIG!

These lovely Art Deco knife rests are once again silver plated

And this 1930s Mirror and brush set is a mixture of guilloche enamel and metal so that's kind of departure... isn't it???

This beautiful lantern is made of brass (and a bit of glass!)

And finally, I couldn't pass by this rusty old vintage advertising sign (which was very nearly a keeper but I am resisting... for now!) for the French aperitif 'Byrrh' (please don't ask me to pronounce it).

So I'm afraid that as much as I try to tell myself to stay away from the hard stuff it can be so varied and interesting I honestly can't make any promises!

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!