One of my favourite pastimes at the weekend and on public holidays is to spend time wandering around vide greniers, brocante markets and antique fairs on the look out for beautiful objects to add to my collection of all things vintage French..
(When I first began to collect Quimper faience in the '90's I was lucky enough to meet Millicent Mali, a respected Quimper expert and author, at an antique fair in Brittany who kindly explained that the French word for antiquing is "chiner" and we are all "chineurs"!)
What is a collector?
- someone who collects objects because they are beautiful, valuable, or interesting according to the Cambridge English Dictionary.
The Merriam Webster definition is not as complimentary: a person who collects certain things as a hobby, a person whose job is to collect something (such as trash or money) !
Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so they say and what is one man's trash is another man's treasure.
My mosaics this week feature some
I can still find vintage French enamelware at reasonable prices now and again but "kitchenalia" seems to have become very popular souvenir of tourists visiting Normandy and the competition is tough.
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| storage canister sets come in many different colours and patterns |
"Enameled Kitchenware" by Pikul & Plante is a book that has helped me a lot with my research into the many different designs, styles and patterns that I come across.
It contains a wealth of information on both European and American enamelware.
I checked and it is still available from amazon, the photographs and descriptions are excellent but I don't know if the price guide is still relevant to the marketplace.
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a selection of "coffee biggins" an 18th century French invention for brewing coffee |
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| utensil racks - decorative and useful |
Are you a collector too, what do you collect?
Please let me know, I'd really enjoy hearing what it is that you will be searching for the next time you go out to chiner.
