Why, hello there. Would you like to go shopping with me? It’s a beautiful day out, why not? What? Oh, for antiques of course. Is there anything better?
For you see, while we were up at the world’s most peaceful mazet recently, the twice yearly Foire Internationale Art et Antiquités was being presented at a mere ten minutes drive away in the always beautiful L’Isle sur la Sorgue.
So what say you? Shall we swan along together? A tiny bit of time travel will be required but just wiggle your nose Bewitched-like and we’re off…This week’s posts will be dedicated to a little virtual wish-listing. And while I am sure that Remi will sigh in exasperation at my including too many photos (as usual), I wanted to make sure that there was something for everyone…
Of course, all of the usual suspects were present, such as charming old pétanque balls…
…eye-blinding bling…
…la vannerie that would look very smart slung over a crooked elbow at the farmer’s market back home…
…plus – the perpetual favorite – pots à conserve whose prices finally seem to be going back down…
…as well as grain sacks waiting to be plumped into expensive scratchy pillows or upholstery in upscale boutiques around the world.
But there were a lot of unusual items as well.
I was especially fascinated by these oriental molds for printing wall paper. Wouldn’t they look lovely mounted in a group in a hallway or in a bath?
Similarly, Remi and I were both drawn to this set of silver molds until we saw that A) it was 287 Euros and B) it was made of ivory. Ahhh, non et non.
For the intrepid, there were many tables crammed with interesting and inexpensive bric-a-brac to trawl through. Alas, patience is not exactly my middle name…
No, I was drawn by the bigger gestures and especially the stands that offered an intact aesthetic, such as with this seller’s juxtaposition of French provincial with Asian antiques. Now we are talking.
These six sculpted Chinese flowers might have gone home with me in better days (ahem) and I loved how beautifully they complimented the gorgeous faded colorway of the dresser.
Of course, there were plenty of smaller pieces that caught my eye.
Who can ever have enough crackly old suitcases to stack at the end of the bed…
…or passmenterie to pull back those extra long linen drapes?
Pieces with authentic or even exaggerated patina were still in abundance, even while the “whitewash everything/Annie Sloan chalk paint” look is fading into the past.
Simple seems to be the order of the day, which is just fine by me…
…as well as using basic items or materials creatively, such as these stacked (albeit wobbly) vegetable crates as end tables…
…or sections of old Indonesian boats to form a perfect outdoor sofa (although I will pass on the hot pink plastic Rhino head, thank you very much).
Not all of the faire’s 250 vendors (in addition to the permanent shops) are in the old goods business.
I knew that I had seen the yellow mid-century style console before and sure enough, everything at this stand was the work of two young women from Arles. Eve and Soriana, created their company En goguette (which means “a little bit drunk”) in 2009 and since then have been creating their designs out of cardboard. The results are precisely well thought out, fun and environmentally friendly.
Which is just wonderful. For while it is always a delight to puff up the dust of the past, how important it can be to keep one eye squinting directly towards the future…
Have a wonderful week everyone! More soon…
And thank you kindly for all of your interest concerning Vickie Lester’s “It’s in His Kiss”…it tickled me pink.
What's better than walking through a brocante especially in Iisle sur la Sorrgue on a sunny day and having plenty of time to appreciate. Would also had an eye of the ivory moulds as I collected already some from India in timber.Bought recently the same sofa as you show in one of the last pictures for my terrace here in Spain. Do you
remember the price it was? Would be interesting to know.
These are the places I could spend hours looking for the amazing in the piles. Seems I have an amazing amount of patience at that time. Great post, Heather-Poo.
Are you sure Kayni? I could offer to you as a "Welcome to Lost in Arles" gift. Plus it is on sale! 😉
You can take them OUT? But not in? *scratching my head in surprise* Well, this is good to know, David. Who knows, maybe you have just saved someone a fortune in their reading this. What do musicians who don't want to use ivory do?
And yes, today you would be able to sell your dog couch for several thousands!
Oh Gina, I should have thought of you and taken some photos of ceramics expressly! However, I looked at the posts ahead and all I have to offer is the sixth photo down in today's post. And those pots are nothing extraordinary, even if collector's do love to snatch them up. I promise to think of you next time!!
Ah, as your home(s) have the innate elegance that many a designer dreams of, there are none needed! Let alone, how many people have had books published about their gardens? If that isn't the proof of true design sense than nothing is.
And that is fine by me. Just prop me up in a corner somewhere in the sun with a pitcher of rosé and I will be all too happy to wait while I people watch.
As for the prices? They were much lower, really noticeably so across the board. There were bargains to be had for those truly looking. We were just there for "le plaisir des yeux" – and what a pleasure it was!
Sending bisous,
Heather
It would be lovely to walk and peruse these antique shops. There's something about the old that smells nostalgia. I agree…no thank you to the hot pink plastic Rhino head.
Oh, I was onto that scratchy-sack upholstery trick at least twenty, maybe 25, years ago. A friend of mine owned an Indian restaraurant, and I used a staple-gun & about ten basmati-rice sacks to "uphoslter" a torn-up couch that the dogs all used to sleep on. I shoved old pillows into a few more sacks, sewed up the ends….and, voila…..future-chic (I now gather) dog bedding.
At least I had the good sense to keep that couch and cushions out back in the garden-shed (a prime squirrel-watching spot for hyper-vigilant terriers).
As for the ivory silver-molds? As I expected would happen (I should emphasize that I don't have a psychic bone in my body…just a load of common sense), I recently heard a report of all the immense trouble/difficulties/anxiety currently being experienced by, of all folks, professional string-instrumentalists and pianists. Almost all old pianos still have the original ivory keys….so, be careful if, as a professional pianist, you buy a beauitful old Pleyel or Bosendorfer while you're living for a couple of years in Tokyo, Berlin, or Paris. The same goes for the bows (and string instrumentalists are, as you may know) VERY choosy and protective about "their" individual bows; the tips of practically every one of them (at least the old ones) are made of ivory.
So, oopsie, if you were thinking of bringing your instrument back into the United States (although, paradoxically enough, you can readily take it OUT of the USA). Unless you can provide the proper "proof" of the ivory's provenance, your 1890 Bosendorfer or the-bow-actually-used-by-Paganini(!) will end up living forever in a warehouse somewhere in outside of Newark, Dallas, Altanta, or Baltimore.
Advisedly as ever,
David Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Hello Heather,
Well, it will surely be no surprise that we should love to tag along with you to visit this glorious fair. When it comes to these affairs we can have the patience of Job so you might just have to seek out a cafe au lait whilst we rummage around for an hour or two.
The furniture would definitely be coming home with us if it is at the right price. We can place the armchairs and the chests and, yes, the suitcase with no problem at all. Minimalism is an unknown concept in the Hattatt household so more is more is fine with us. But, we have never gone down the linen sack looks chic look. They just look like old dusty musty sacks to us………no budding interior designer here alas!
Dear Heather, What a wonderful invitation. Thank you. I will take all of the baskets, please. Will say no to the scratchy linen sacks which, for some strange reason have become the darlings of Interior designers. I was hoping for a photograph or two of hand painted and antique ceramics. Is there such a photo? ox, Gina