This week’s fresh to market vintage has four belles of the ball. The rhinestone brooch, the dresser lamps, the wedding dress and the Belleek vase are all elegant, timeless and romantic.
But there’s something about that pair of dresser lamps. First of all, it’s amazing they are still together. Lamp pairs often get separated over time and transitions. Secondly, they remind us that while we can be tempted by the trendiness of lamps in a big box store, those lamps are the equivalent of fast fashion. They’ll give you a quick thrill, but their style is not something that will be as interesting in five or ten years. Vintage lamps, on the other hand, have character. Sure, like humans, when lamps have been around for 50 or 60 years, parts of them might need updating. They don’t need new knees and won’t need to go to PT, but their wiring might need upgrading and tired shades might need fresh replacements. Vintage lamps are entirely worth the effort.
Do you have a favorite vintage lamp in your home? Share it’s story with us in the comments.
Gold Tone Leaf Brooch w/ AB Rhinestone Flowers
Popular items are often copied, that’s a fact of life. This brooch is one of those items that was copied from the original. There are subtle differences, enough to notice that it’s not the original, but to the untrained eye, still a lovely piece at a lower price. We could go on a rant about knock off items elsewhere, but not here. So for today, note that this brooch is NOT an original Coro Pegasus Leaf brooch, but reproduction by an unknown maker. Still lovely, still just as wearable, without the marking and most likely not quite up to Coro’s higher standards.
Gold Tone Leaf Brooch, $ 25.95
Pam, Vintage Renude
Pair of Vintage Glass Dresser Lamps c 1940s
Offering a matched pair of vintage cottage-style dresser lamps. They feature classic glass bases with original pleated pale green plastic shades that clip onto the light bulb. Unfortunately, the shades have aged over the years, which makes this pair a perfect candidate for making your own. Check out the suggestions on Dannelle’s Craft blog
Pair of Cottagecore Dresser Lamps, $75
Linda, Selective Salvage
1970s Gunne Sax Wedding Gown
Gunne Sax dresses are instantly recognizable, reviving the romance from history in style. Their Romantic Renaissance Collection from the 1970s reached from prairie to regency style. This princess dress is opulent with its lace, but somewhat simple compared to others from the same collection, and that makes it more timeless. It also gets mad respect for the fact that it’s hand washable. Normalize hand washable wedding gowns!
1970s Gunne Sax Princess Wedding Gown, Size Small, $195.
–Laurie, NextStage Vintage
Belleek Lotus Blossom Spill Vase
The Belleek Pottery is Ireland’s oldest fine china pottery works, in operation since 1857. The company was started by a landowner to provide jobs for his tenants after the Great Famine. His property had the essential ingredients for fine pottery, kaolin and feldspar, so a pottery works made sense. Belleek’s original products were utilitarian things like sinks and tiles, but in 1863, the factory was successful in making the parian ware porcelain that remains their hallmark to this day.
This Belleek vase, with its ruffled rim and bulbous body, was designed to resemble an unfurling lotus blossom. Made in Belleek’s signature ivory porcelain, the soft pink and gilt gold accents highlight the luminousness of the porcelain. The name “spill vase” is a historical reference to a vase that would hold spills, thin pieces of wood or paper that were used to light candles or pipes from the fire in the fireplace.
Belleek backstamps are useful for dating when a piece was made. The company graciously provides a chart on their website.
Vintage Belleek Lotus Blossom Spill Vase, $ 39.95.
Available from this week’s guest Tina, atatteredtulip
It’s a rare week when all of our fresh to market vintage picks bring the same attitude. Probably won’t happen again for a while. We don’t synchronize watches on our picks. We’re as surprised as you are to see what each of us has offered up every week.
Vintage Unscripted is kind of like that as a blog. Ideas for posts come from all over la vie vintage. We all have different things that stir our creativity, so what we’ll write about next is unpredictable, which in our minds is the equivalent of fun. (At least it’s fun when we’re talking about blog posts and not wild animals.) Don’t miss a single post by subscribing to our email newsletter. You get one email a week with links to all our posts from the previous week. And rest assured, we would sooner trip and face plant in the wedding cake than ever share your information.
