Quite a few years back I used to work within walking (brisk walking mind you) distance of Maynards, an auction house in Vancouver that sold liquidated property as well as some estate auctions. I used to love going in there and pouring over the finds prior to the actual auction. I didn’t have a lot of money as a single Mom but looking was free!
Every now and then I would put a fairly “low-ball” absentee bid on an item with the hopes that nobody else would want it but never had any luck, I was always out-bid.
I had a special affinity for Art Deco pieces from the 2o’s through the 40’s. One time I had my eye on two occasional chairs that were pretty close to these (the smaller chairs) but the material was different. The wood-work was in fabulous shape on the chairs but the upholstery needed replacing. Someone stole them out from underneath me along with a gorgeous desk from the same estate lot that came from the elderly woman’s cabin. It needed a bit of love and attention, I hope the person that bought it restored it to it’s glory. I have fun every now and then surfing through Ebay and various other online sources “window shopping”.
An old friend of mine had a Deco sideboard they inherited from their Grandmother, it needed refinishing which would have been quite a bit of work with some inlaid wood, but instead he PAINTED IT. Flat grey. Ouch. That hurt me.
I suppose I like Deco because it is modern and retro all at the same time. I know after a while it was considered to be flashy and overdone but I truly love it and would love to have a really nice Deco vanity in our bedroom, even better an entire bedroom set, and maybe one of those nice bar cabinets. When Tom and I were poking around some antique stores in both the Bellingham area and down in Pine Mountain Georgia I saw some really beautiful pieces that I just wished I could buy. I mean it’s not like we have any room for any more furniture in our place anyway!
One of these days..
Posted by americanuck
