Hello, Goodbye

Those of you who follow my thrift store escapades on Facebook might not believe me, but I really am trying to scale down my collection. I've sold a lot on Etsy and eBay, and a week ago I participated in a garage sale with The Modfather. Boxes of stuff have, like Elvis, left the building, but an embarrassing mass of crap exquisite mid-century designs still clutters our little corner of Glen Meadow Estates.

My new guidelines for making a purchase are: 1) is this an essential item that will enrich my life and contribute to a well-curated collection? and 2) can I easily sell this on Etsy for at least double what I'm paying for it? You'd be surprised how much still slips through those filters, but it's considerably less than before.

One recent acquisition I was proud to welcome to the home - and which, I believe, also met with Paul's approval - was a long-sought Charles Murphy "Chess Queen" vase for Red Wing.

Impressive in scale, the Queen (which goes with a companion King vase) reminds me of Camelot, with its distinctly mid-century depiction of medieval royalty.  While I would have preferred a solid glaze-- any color -- to the Fleck Nile Blue of this example, the Queen is rare enough that any glaze is desirable. (Plus, the interior is Colonial Buff, a hue I find especially pleasing with Fleck Nile Blue.) Whenever I have come across a Queen in the past, one or more of the points of her crown has been damaged. This one is flawless. Now she joins my Belle Kogan Cowgirl figurine in the Red Wing singles club, awaiting her mate.

This weekend was the semiannual glass show at the Grapevine Convention Center. With a trip to New Orleans coming up (weather willing), Paul urged frugality. I came up with a list of three lines I would allow myself to buy: Heisey Stanhope, Morgantown El Mexicano, and Fostoria Modern Primitive (Inca, Congo, or Karnak). (Yes, I cheated on that last one, but all three shapes were advertised collectively, so I can make a case should Paul bring me to court.) I came across one piece of Stanhope - a round covered candy dish with a red Plascon knob. It was in immaculate condition, but it wasn't the piece of my dreams. The shape was a little dull. I passed on it. With no Modern Primitives in sight, El Mex was my last resort, and the lovely lady at The Glass Chalet had a spectacular Ockner Pitcher in Ice for me. The opaque glass is stunning - a nice complement to my growing collection in both Ice and Seaweed.

Now, one way to clear out your cupboards without paying Etsy fees is to start breaking glass for no apparent reason, which I did not once but twice this weekend. First, I clumsily tipped a Nambe alloy vase into a recent estate sale purchase, a stoppered glass decanter I called my "Jeannie bottle." The darn thing shattered as if Beverly Sills had hit a high E in the kitchen. I still have no idea what the piece was or what it was worth, but I was sorry to see it go.

Then tonight, just after photographing it, I managed to knock a rare Russel Wright "Twist" old fashioned glass off my desk. It happened in slow motion, first tipping over and dousing our Schnauzer Charlie in bourbon. Then, as Charlie ran away, shaking Knob Creek all over the rug, the glass tumbled off the desk and shattered on the floor. If there were a Guinness Book of World Records category for "Most Consecutive Cuss Words Shouted at an Alarming Volume," I would have nailed it. You'd see my picture right there next to Chang and Eng and the peculiar gentleman with the extraordinarily long curly fingernails. Say goodbye to this little gem. The saddest part is, I hadn't yet sipped from the glass. I even lost the bourbon in this fatality.

Comments

[Gripping Beast]

Nice thing about artistic porcelain is you can use them for kitchen purposes. However these things are expensive.

[Stephen]

The RW twist/pinch glass is a new favorite of mine. Just saw some recently listed on ebay, but at $75 a glass I will have to pine for them for awhile.

[Atomicscott]

Your Red Wing Chess Queen vase reminds me of the time I passed up the King AND Queen in the metallic bronze glaze for $200 for the pair. This was before I started collecting pottery, but even so, this pair intrigued me. Oh, the things we let get away!