Thursday 19 April 2012

Not for the faint hearted.

Even though everyone tried their best to dissuade me from going to the forth coming antique fair so soon after my illness,
my mind was made up and my heart set on getting there early.
I like to have everything ready the night before for a quick morning getaway. 
Got to bed at midnight and was up and on my way at 2.30am to a market not yet explored by my bleary eyed persona -NEWARK.
After arriving at 4.15am there was some time to kill as the gates don't open for trade till 5.30 so,as you can tell by this rather boring photo, I had very little to do but to sit in the warm car and play around with my iphone camera.
 
As the darkness gave way to the glorious dawn, fabulous stalls came into view like this one, filled to the brim with authentic costumes of various ages from famous and much loved theatre productions of the West End.
Some stands were still decanting; after all, it was only 6.45 in the morning.
 These lovely dovecotes are hand made in various sizes. If you look closely you'll see that some have more 'holes' of different dimensions. The larger ones are for Doves and smaller for Blackbirds,Thrushes, Starlings etc.












After a liquid breakfast in the form of a hot chocolate, I went on exploring the ever growing number of stands.
This Gustavian dresser cought my eye and the collection of the beautiful Italian confit jars was simply irresistible to pass by.
 I wasn't about to leave empty handed either.
 This sweet German spice kitchen cupboard had my name all over it so,
 it too came home with me.Now in my shop, it's wonderful china pull out draws command a lot of interest.




Some other items sneaked into the boot too

 These horses and mice were carved by hand from a tree root. Not something I usually pick up at an antique fair but each one totally unique and beautiful.






One can never have too many monogrammed antique linens.






 This is my next project,just need to decide on the paint colour.Suggestions very welcome. 
Wishing you all a sunny weekend.
xxx



10 comments:

The Cloth Shed said...

Well that was certainly worth getting up for at 2.30am!
The carved horses and mice are really unusual...I can just imagine the fun you will be having re arranging your shop to get all your new purchases in place.
Have a good weekend Joasia,
Julie x

Riddlers cottage flowers said...

Looks like you had a great time, so many lovely things where was it.Enjoy your wekend Lesley.

Rustic Vintage Country said...

Oh my goodness what treasures, perhaps it's a good thing I don't have a car! Suzy x

Jill said...

Hi Joasia
OMG I wish I had been there!! You bought some great items especially the cupboard! Hope you are feeling a lot better now and have a lovely weekend.
Jillx

Marina said...

The early start wouldn't bother me either - but only for something like an Antiques Fair! Like you, that would be me sitting in the car at 4.30 am! Husband would think me MAD. Very jealous, I would love to go there and I love your finds - am really liking the carved horses & mice too! :o I'm off to our local Antiques Fair next month at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells, I'm very much looking forward to it as I missed it last year! Marina x

Pingere said...

Some really beautiful finds Joasia.
Hope that you are fully recovered now and enjoying your weekend,
Essie x

Poppy said...

I thought I told you to take it easy Joasia??? it did look like an amazing fair & you got some fab bits! So I will let you off.
I hope you’re feeling a bit better now....

Lou xxx

Helen said...

Ooooooh all gorgeousness!!
Great fair, bet you will go again or was the early start too much?
Love Helen

galant said...

Love the carved mice ... they remind me of the mice on furniture made by Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson!
Re the letters rack ... you could use Farrow & Ball match pots and paint each little pigeon hole a different shade, but all complementary rather than contrasting shades, such as various shades of blue or grey. This might be an expensive way of dealing with it, but you could use the remainders of paint in the match pots for other small painting jobs. Or you could paint the whole body in a pale grey and then the front edges could be painted in a wonderful deep contrasting rich red, and LETTERS and the numerals also picked out in red. Just a thought...
By the way, love the new header photo of flowers.
Margaret P

Madelief said...

Hi Joasia,

I wish we had such big flea-markets in Holland. This one in Newark looks enormous. There are so many beautiful items on display. I think you did well with yours. I am not sure if I would paint the letterbox. I like the black numbers inside.

Wish you a happy new week.

Madelief x