French Blue Love! And some ebay finds.

Hi everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years!

Once again I'm linking up with my dear friend Laurie for a  A Few Of My Favorite Things Saturday, and Cindy at Show and Tell Friday!
 
Some of you from wayyyyy back might remember a similar picture to this one in my blog header. It featured one of my favorite pieces, a beautiful french blue opaline urn with lid.
I found the urn many years ago and paid under $100 for it. I didn't know anything about opaline glass at the time I just loved the color and form.
Well.... one day recently while searching ebay I came across an identical urn from a seller in Sweden. And I won it for not much more than I paid for my original piece! Yippeee!!! I just love when that happens!
So I'd like to share my very small (almost) collection and a couple of other pretties.

Do you see the small pale blue french opaline half egg watch display? That was another ebay find for cheaps. Inside I have a couple of special treasures.......

Can you see? There's a small timeworn locket and a small brass ring.
I found the locket in the pocket of an old coat I'd purchased at the Goodwill. And the childs ring belonged to my Grandmother.

Here's a closeup of the locket.

And inside are two pictures of someone who must have been very special to her husband?... or children?....She's a wonderful mystery to me.

 It looks like one features her as a young woman and another as she got older? Don't you think?

Here is my Grandmothers childhood ring. When she died she had virtually nothing to her name. But she kept this small ring in a locked strong box along with a picture of her parents so I know it must have been very precious to her, and it's one of my most prized posessions.

And here's my new opaline urn! Just look at those cute little lion paw feeties!! Aren't they cute?!

Santa (aka my hubby) was very kind to me this year and bought me this beautiful (well at least it is to me *winks*) bronze french clock....And I had an AH HA!" moment. The blue of the clock was a pretty close match to the opaline urns and I thought they might make good clock garnitures?
Here's the clock....It doesn't function...It's just a beautiful shell but I don't care!

Of course it has a cutie cherub!

And some swag-o-liciousness!

What do you think? Do they work together?

I've been trying them out in various areas of my home and haven't found quite the right place yet....

(You can click to get the larger view)

I tried them in the livingroom.. but not quite working. I have WAYY to many collections! I know I need to edit. But what to get rid of?? It's so tough when you love EVERYTHING! Hopefully you won't see me on that hoarders show, but I make no promises! *winks*

Here is another sweet french blue and bronze piece (An inkwell maybe?) I just love that color! Can you see the little birdie on top?

I also have a couple of bristol glass vases in a similar blue.

And this lustre found for $28 on ebay.

(Melanie are you listening? *winks*)

I bring Melanie my new blogging friend from The Tiny Tudor into this because she's contemplating her first ebay purchase. And I'm so excited for her! And dying to see her first ebay treasure! Ebay is another one of my favorite things!!

I LOVE when this happens!

I found this (nearly) identical urn below on the web here for $795!

And this very similar urn is on ebay for $1495 or best offer....Do you think they'd accept my offer for $90?...Probably not! I think I did pretty good! But it could also be that the sellers have been smoking some funny stuff (you know what I mean *winks*) It's amazing that there are such large discrepencies in pricing isn't it?!

If you're interested in learning about french opaline glass? Joni at the Cote De Texas  did a wonderful story here. I learned a ton from her!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll come by again soon!     Vanna

French Globes De Mariee

Once again I'm joining my friend Laurie to share a few of my favorite things!

And Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.

I realize this topic has been covered on several other blogs. So why (you might ask) am I covering it yet again?

Well...... when I went in search of beautiful juicy images of the Globes De Mariee (or french bridal domes) for my post I searched the web high and low for collection pictures. And with the exception of Tara Bradford here who's featuring three small lovely ones together, I couldn't find a single "wows me" collection photo.

Surely there must be many peeps out there who have ginormous collections of these but they're not sharin' So I aim to fill that spot in a miniscule way Haha! *winks*

I fell in love with these many years ago when I spotted my first (kinda sad lookin' as you'll see) little dome at an antiques show. It was love at first sight! And only $125 which is really cheap for one of these beauties.

Well alas I brought it home and attempted to clean the glass in warm water and it shattered!! And what's strange is while I was researching this post I found out that this blogger had the same exact thing happen to her!

I'm sure they could hear me cryin' in France when it happened!

But globe/dome top or not I still love it dearly.

OK so here's the edjamacational part *winks*

These globes (1830-1914) helped to tell the story of the married couple. And were added to over the years. They would've been featured prominently in the couples home.

Usually the mother of the bride would go to the watchmakers or jewelers and pick out the different elements for the globe.Each and every small piece helps to tell the story of the couple.

Which would almost always include the bridal headpiece and might also include photos of the couple or family members such as:
 - objects commemorating a death or birth such as a lock of hair

-The bridal bouquet often made of orange wax blossoms which in 1830 marks the advent of artificial flowers (How handy!)
 - Emblems of awards ( honorary military medals  or  other symbolic objects)

Here are some more of the many elements and their meanings.

-The presence of a bird holding a laurel wreath is there to signify that "as the bird makes its nest, the woman builds her family" while a dove expresses the desire for peace in the home.

-Roses = Love
-Ivy or Bindweed reflects attachment of the couple, as the ivy leaf, "I stick or I die. "
 - Chestnut Tree Leaves = Links to Others
- Lime leaves to symbolize fidelity.
- Oak leaves, symbolizing strength and love,
- Vine leaves and grapes, symbols of success, abundance.
- Ears of wheat = symbols of fertility.
(They were often presented in 7's representing the 7 days of the week
during which the husband had to work to feed his family.)
- Four-leaf clover, a symbol of good luck.
- Daisy flowers
(The flower that young lovers pluck repeating the well-known verse: He loves me? he loves me not?......)

(Very important to have odd numbered daisies!)

 - A handshake is a symbol of union.

-The orange blossom is the symbol of virginity.

- Jasmine is a sign of love voluptuous. Which means I'm thinking of you.

There is symbiology in the mirrors as well:
-The large mirror from the center, often at the bottom symbolizes sincerity and faithfulness.
"The mirror does not lie, it only reflects what he sees."
(Often it was the only mirror that was found in the  home.)
-The rectangular mirrors recalled the years that the couple had courted.
-The mirrors in the shape of diamonds or triangles represent the number of children the couple wished to have.
  ...

Finally, in the case of remarriage after a period of widowhood, it was customary to replace the crown of orange blossoms (symbol of virginity) with a set of pearls (a symbol of creative femininity ).

Hmmm that remarriage thing must have been a bear back in the victorian era huh?

Well here's my little collection picture.....

I'm taking liberties because there are only 2.5 actual globes de mariee but the clock is also french *winks*....and has a dome.
Please click the pic for a big ole view!

This is my favorite dome, and in the blue which is a less common color. It sports the original bridal headpiece of wax flowers and the bridal bouquet made of beautiful velvet flowers.

With the lid off.

Hard to see but the mirror has a darling painting of a bird with a flower wreath. BTW that's a 1912 painting of my grandmother in the background. Hmmm that leaf kinda looks like it's stickin' up her nose or somethin' Sorry grandma!!

Wax blossom bridal crown.

Velvet bouquet.

This is my largest dome at 23" tall. It shows a lot of age which I love! Just look at that mirror!

With lid off.

The flowers could use a good cleanin' but after that broken dome mishap? Not happening!

And this poor little thang was my first. See that powder puffy thing at the top?

-Well that means not to bother your wife when she's gettin' dolled up......OK I admit I made that one up! But still words of wisdom *winks*

There are kibbles and bits of the original bridal crown.

And my cheat piece, an antique french clock. I actually thought about putting this dome over my first bridal dome piece but thought you might like seeing the clock?.....Oh and the little chair piece was stapled to the base! Haha!

I'm hoping this will be my next bridal dome...Pretty in pink! It's at a local antique store and I'm sooo tempted to go pick it up now!

This one's available on ebay for $595 or best offer. It sure is purty!

This remade display was sold on etsy, but what a great idea if you find one in really rough shape.

And some homemade ones. I wish I was this creative!

Well thanks for stopping by! I hope you didn't get eye strain but......in case you didn't? I have a trick question for ya?

In which picture (or pictures) do you see a cherub riding a bird? I just noticed them for the first time doing this post! Sheeesh observent NOT! Lol!

If you love these little buggers as much as I do you can find some more edjamacation and yummy images here:

Cashon & Co

Fete et Fleur

La Martine

Fabulously French

Chubby Cherub Knees!!!!

Hellooooo Sweet peeps!! This is my first post in what seems like a bazillion years! but it's actually been about a couple of em.

I've really missed my blogging friends and I have long wanted to participate in my dear friend Laurie's Favorite Things Party cuz I have LOTS of favorite things! *winks* And she's one of em!

Well another one of my mostest favorite things are sweet chubby cherubs! I just LOVE em soooo much!! (As you are about to witness) well ......if you're brave that is lol!

This collection snuck up on me as most of my collections have, and the next thing I know they've taken over my house! But I can't resist em! These ones shown are most of them in my bedroom.....Yes there are more, but I realize I'm pushing the picture boundries as is *winks*

 

Please be warned there are a LOT of pictures here but the best one is the last one! So you might want to start there ....just sayin'

I'm starting with this former base of what was probably a grand center piece bowl display consisting of three late 18th century german porcelain cuties. The bowl is long gone so I stuffed some old ostrich feathers in there. Truth be known it was my feather duster....but don't tell...shhhhhhhhhh!

This little trio is living in this spot temporarily. I need to find them a home that does them some justice but I'm out of space!! I've tried to tell the hubbs that we need a bigger house for more stuffity stuffs but he just won't cooperate *sighs* Difficult man!Lol!

Here's a 19th century spill vase featuring darling children. I love the worn patina.

 This is a closeup on the base of an old clock that I purchased just for the cherub cuteness.

And here is one of my favorite cherub lamps. Also spelter, which sits on my small writing desk. Just look at those cute little dimpled leggies!!

Moving behind the desk you find this cute little guy. He's cavorting with some of his cherub buddies.........

                                   ...... And some old folks *winks* 

                     Standing to the side is this little one. Chubby knees!! Chubby knees!!

                      Next to the bed is another spelter lamp. Do you see those little knees in the background?

    

On the other side of the bed is this sweet little cherub girl flower pot.

With some friends.

Working hard!

This chubby knee'd chap sits on a french gentlemens dresser.

A few sweet angel cherubs hanging out in my chinoiserie cabinet.

And lastly a sweet angel to watch over you. We can all use another one of those can't we? Didn't I tell ya this was the best one?

Are there any other cherub lovers out there? Do you need a 12 step program as badly as I do? Please share.......