Weekly Thrift Report: Here And There

It's been a slow week with our thrifting activities being incidental side trips rather than all day campaigns. With our Etsy store being open, there's a lot more to focus on than just acquisition. Fortunately one of the new areas of focus is shipping orders–big thanks to everyone who has purchased from us!

To all ceramic artists out there: maybe try signing your work with a bare minimum of legibility...or I could just get better at IDing stuff. This pitcher is beautiful and I wish I knew who made it.

We've barely posted a third of our inventory in our shop, and we plan on constantly updating, so please check in often. In the meantime, we've got some new items to add to the queue after the jump.

TBT: Carlo Scarpa

Carlo Scarpa with master glassmaker Arturo Biasutto (aka “Boboli”), Murano, 1943. Archivio Storico Luce. via

via

Weekly Thrifting Report: Vacation Edition

You heard we launched our Etsy store last Friday, right? To celebrate, we headed up to Santa Ynez Valley to go wine tasting. We stayed at a Super 8 motel Friday night and were pleasantly surprised to find two large thrift store within walking distance. Lo and behold, they were both great!

I've been jonesing for my first Wiiinblad, and this pewter-lidded stein for Rosenthal did the trick! Some initial research says this is part of a series of steins depicting a series of tales that I am not familiar with. The lid is personalized, which...

Countdown: We're Open For Business!

Go check out our store! Let us know what you think.

Weekly Thirfting Report: Scratching The Itch

Remember how we didn't make it out last weekend? Well, I couldn't stand it and went out one afternoon this week. Fortunately, it ended up being one of my favorite hauls so far!

Found my first Kokeshi doll! I'm really impressed with the level of details on this, like the cut patterns on the bun and bottom and the beautiful red staining and super subtle flowers on the kimono. It's larger than I expected too, at about 6" tall.

Keeping with the theme of wooden Japanese figures, I found this hors d'oeuvre toothpick holder in the shape of a pig. Guess this would be perfect for tiny pork sausages or something? This pig definitely has a world weary expression. Some of the holes had broken toothpicks jammed inside, so I drilled them out. I'm always uncertain about how much to clean, repair, or refinish objects, but it seemed like a no-brainer on this one.

How about this *huge* Tonala owl, eh? Amiright? It's only signed "Mexico", so it's not Ken Edwards or Jorge Wilmot, but it's HUGE!

I'm always looking for good vintage Christmas stuff, and it's hard to come by. What says "Christmas" better than two nefarious-looking blue-eyed reindeer and a giant lump of coal?

This is a detail from an amazing Japanese printed handkerchief in perfect condition. I didn't even notice the black rabbits until after I bought it.

I'm a sucker for handkerchiefs and an even bigger sucker for kachinas. Guess what...? This!

Allright, how do two Braun Type 4 kitchen scales designed by Dieter Rams end up side-by-side in the junky kitchenware section of a thrift store? Granted, they basically look like nothing with the covers on, but seriously. I may have to keep one for myself...

Ooh, I also found a huge G. H. Bass & Co. canvas and leather duffel bag from the 90s. I forgot to take a photo. It's in great condition even thought the top is super faded and the leather has an amazing patina.

That's all for now. Can't wait to get this stuff in the store, which opens...wait for it...TOMORROW!

Countdown: 2 Days

Almost there!

Countdown: 3 Days

Commence official handwringing.

Countdown: 4 Days

Starting to feel the heat! We're working day and night to prep everything for our store launch.

Weekly Thrift Report: Nothing To Report

Between prepping for our Etsy store opening this Friday and house guests this weekend, we did not do any thrifting this past week (gasp!) Not to fear, I thought I would use this as an opportunity to showcase some of our vintage studio pottery that will [mostly] be for sale in the coming weeks on Etsy.

Janel will not be relinquishing the large vase on the left, but it looks so good with the rest of the pieces pictured I had to include it. Basically all the pieces in this post are signed but unidentified. Some are obviously student pieces, while others are obviously made by very skilled artists.

Both these casseroles are huge and beautiful. Both are obviously made by accomplished potters.

I love these teapots in spite of their missing lids. I probably should leave pieces like this behind, but I just can't. Incidentally, they could have a great second act as watering pots for plants.

L-R: Large ruffled paste-striped bowl (unsigned, actually, I think); small pastel-glazed planter; larger red and purple-glazed planter; austere white vase with a signature in Japanese on the  bottom.

It's fun to pick these things up all over the place and have them coalesce into a collection.

These two humble planters have lots of great details if you take the time to look.

We use random sets of studio pottery like these beautiful green-banded bowls around the house. They're great for serving condiments or side dishes at parties and dinners. Most of our  serving bowls and platters are handmade studio ceramics picked up at thrift stores.

Both of these have lids that are glazed on both sides with the floral motifs continuing on the underside as well. The bottom right casserole has an amazing thick bubbly glaze.

The lidless teapots again. Both have intentionally incomplete glazes, but with significantly different effects.

Detail of the large vase that will not be for sale (thanks Janel!) It's signed on the bottom and then stamped with a potters mark that looks like a crab at the bottom on the side. I would love to ID this since it's so nice.

Countdown: 5 Days

We're in the home stretch now!

Countdown: 6 Days

Six to go; starting to feel too close for comfort...

Countdown: 7 Days

We're spending the weekend getting everything together in preparation for this coming Friday!

Countdown: 8 Days

Eight is great!

Countdown: 9 Days

Firsts: Vera Scarf

I found my first vintage Vera scarf this past weekend. It was basically staring me in the face, wrapped around a headless mannequin's neck. I pulled it off and proceeded to be the creepy guy buying women's clothing at the Goodwill.

100% Acetate, Made In Japan. Probably from the 60's.

The scarf isn't technically my first piece of Vera. I found an Island Worcester sunflower coffee pot and creamer a while ago, but I've kept my eyes peeled for a scarf for some time now.

Having snagged the scarf, I set about researching and placing it production-wise. Seems like the material (acetate), the upper case "V" Vera, and the ladybug place it in the early 1960's. Earlier scarves were made of silk and had a lower case "v". Later scarves omitted the ladybug and were made of polyester.

I was super impressed while researching by Vera's patterns. Reissues by Target and Crate and Barrel have focused on floral and figurative designs, but I found tons of amazing modernist geometric and abstract patterns all over the internet.

Check out Scott Lindberg's Flickr set chock-full of amazing designs.

Countdown: 10 Days

Only ten days to go? Oh deer!

Countdown: 11 Days

It's Twosday! Eleven days to go; we're scrambling to get everything photographed, measured, and properly appraised so we can start posting.

Weekly Thrift Report: A Bountiful Harvest

We had a house "re-warming" party this past weekend–a flood in the kitchen prompted a huge, unexpected, and traumatic renovation earlier this year, and we've finally reached a level of decor we can show off to others . We also got to show off our soon-to-be actually for sale (November 15th!) inventory, and it was great to find out people really care about what we find and what we're doing!

That said, without further ado, I present our weekly thrifting report:

I hereby commit to you, dear reader, to take in every vintage desk lamp that crosses my path with clumsy proportions and blemished surfaces of nondescript colors.

This huge studio pottery vase may never make it out of our house. It's signed illegibly and stamped at the bottom edge with a crab-shaped potter's mark. The design of the glaze is too good.

This silver plated bread basket is stamped "EL Italy" on the bottom.

Picked up a set of four high-ball glasses with a black and white version of the same pattern on the two tumblers found two weeks ago.

These candlesticks are heavy and beautiful and signed illegibly with three bees and a name.

This set of Nuutajarvi Lumme candle holders was designed by Kerttu Nurminen to resemble lily pads. They were  originally packaged with a pair of unflattering small bulbous candles in an assortment of colors.

By some  coincidence, I found more Nuutajarvi glassware at in the same trip, but at a different thrift. This set of four small dew drop coasters was designed by Oiva Toikka,

More Ingrid plastic mugs. These aren't worth a ton, and this is my third set, but I can't get over the simple modern design no matter how blatantly it riffs on Heller.

This large signed studio pottery casserole was way more than I usually spend on anything, but I couldn't pass on the beautiful construction and incredible abstract leaf motif glaze.

I found my first Vera Neumann scarf! It was on a mannequin right next to the register. This on probably dates from the '60s being made in Japan from acetate and bearing a ladybug with the signature.

It's not the most elegant Tonala ceramic I've ever seen, and it's simply signed "Mexico" on the bottom, but if that isn't the most charmingly winsome cat face you've ever seen, I'll be damned!

In other news, this Tonala toucan is large and beautifully formed and decorated. It is signed, but I can't make out the signature, it being neither KE or JW.

I've long coveted other peoples' thrift-based scores of mid-century wooden animals from Scandinavia and Japan, and I feel like the thrifting gods are winking subtly at me with this tiny wooden cat. It has sparkling blue eyes and leather ears.

NOT PICTURED: our CA-issued seller's permit! We're officially opening our Etsy store in just under two weeks on November 15th. Keep up with developments here, on Instagram, and on Facebook.