Some weeks our fresh to market vintage picks are purely decorative, things whose only function in life is to be admired. This week we all chose something that’s useful as well as decorative. Great minds think alike? No, probably not. Like every other week, it’s purely random.
The cookie jar, flag holder and coffee pot are all absolutely ready to be used. And the hankies, too, are ready to do exactly what hankies are supposed to do. But holy cow, it would be difficult to do more than daub a tiny tear from one’s eye with something that pretty without feeling the heavy weight of guilt…for using that hankie for the purpose it was made! Oh, perish the thought!
Enough talk about such distasteful things, instead enjoy this week’s fresh to market vintage.
One Dozen Monogrammed Hankies
I have a soft spot for vintage and antique linens of all sorts. These vintage hankies came to me as part of a much larger lot. Each one is a different pattern, but each is monogrammed with the letter A. There was a handwritten note in with the lot stating that one of the hankies was at least 100 years old. Now if I only knew which one? If you have a hankie lover whose initial is “A” this would make a wonderful holiday gift.
Lot of 12 Monogrammed Hankies, $25.95
-Pam, Vintage Renude
Dedham Style Cookie Jar Made in Concord Mass.
This cookie jar was made in 1981 by the Potting Shed in Concord Mass. It carries on a design of a crouching bunny and crackled glaze technique of the much earlier original Dedham Pottery. (Here is a quick history of this company.) I always wondered what the motif was between the rabbits, which reminds me somewhat of a chess piece. Those in the know have disclosed that it is a vegetable stalk. One former employee of the original company said that it was brussels sprouts.
In the past I have had the original pieces of pottery when I could get them. Some of the other designs featured elephants, dolphins, polar bears, chicks, swans, turtles, ducks, butterflies, lilies, clover, and mushrooms!
Potting Shed Rabbit Cookie Jar, $65.99
-Mary Ellen, AuntHattiesAttic
Cast Iron Masonic Flag Holder (c 1883)
I’m a fan of American lodge memorabilia and this piece hits all the right buttons for me. It’s heavy cast iron, has ball & claw feet and features embossed Masonic verbiage reflecting their principles of loyalty, fraternity and charity.
Antique Masonic Flag Holder, $225
-Linda, Selective Salvage
Raymond Loewy Mid-Century Coffee Pot
In his career, industrial designer Raymond Loewy consulted for over 200 companies. His work includes the Shell Oil logo, the Studebaker Avanti car, the Greyhound Scenicruiser bus, the 1970s USPS eagle logo, shark nose steam locomotives, the first Lord & Taylor store and the interior of Air France’s Concorde among other notable projects. This china design for Rosenthal-Continental, the Rhythm pattern, seems like a small afterthought when compared to the interior of the Concorde, but its simple clean aesthetic is good design at its finest.
Continental China Rhythm Pattern Coffee Pot, $95.
–Laurie, NextStage Vintage
That’s this week’s fresh to market vintage. All useful and nice to look at as well. Good design is so satisfying, is it not?
Subscribing to our blog is also satisfying. You get one email a week with all our posts so you don’t miss a thing.
And speaking of satisfying, knowing how to get stains out of vintage linens like the pretty hankies is indeed gratifying. It’s a little bit chemistry, a little bit alchemy and a little bit luck. We’ve got tips for getting those whites white.
