A Passion for Collecting

I'm not sure how many of you are interested in collecting antiques, but I am passionate about collecting objects with history. I enjoy learning about the purpose for odd items and what dictated their design. Although I am not a history major, thinking about the history of mankind is fascinating. The period that most fascinates me is the Victorian era (1890-1910) because it was a time of over-the-top decoration and excess. There's a ton of gaudy stuff out there just waiting to be collected. This tea cup is missing its saucer which is why I picked it up for a song (trust me, a song from me is cheap, under $5) even though it is probably a real antique piece (over 100 years old). This very tiny transferware (not hand painted and slightly flowblue glaze) cup may date from as far back as the 1850's (flowers look a bit Asian so possibly it is from the Aesthetic period) but most likely it is from the Victorian era. The reason it is so small is because tea was a prized commodity and highly taxed (remember the Boston Tea Party) so servings of tea were also petite. I plan to turn this mini cup into a pincushion where the inside mini pillow can be taped down and removed if desired. This will preserve the integrity of the ceramic piece.

Can you guess what these pieces were used for? Probably you guessed that they are vases but actually I believe they are fireplace mantle decorative pieces used for holding long stick matches. The reason I think that this was their purpose is because the backs of these pieces are glazed but not colored which suggests that only the fronts were to be displayed. I think these pieces are slightly younger than the teacup and date them to be from the 1920-30's because of their gold details. The style suggests they are European (possibly Austria or Germany) but there are no maker's marks. I can't quite remember but I don't think I spent more than $10-$12 for either of them. Anyway, I love these pieces and want to look at them often so I've placed the containers in my bathroom and use them to hold make-up brushes.

I hope this blog post has been of interest to you and that perhaps I've inspired you to keep your eyes open for bits of history to preserve and enjoy. If you look at collecting as a way of recycling and learning about a past culture, I'm sure that your crafting/collecting gene will get excited. Thank you for visting this site today. Never stop learning and thinking creatively!