Flea Market Finds And A Couple Of Questions For My Friend Debra.

I'd like to share some of my recent and not so recent flea market finds with everyone.

Some of you might know that I'm a craigslist addict! Well I admit to being a bargain shopping addict period *winks* The hunt is so exhilarating! Plus it keeps me off my bum....nuff said.

Craigslist is where I found this garden cherub. He'd been under some trees for some time. $95 which is quite a lot for me, but it was love so home he came.

Do you see the column base he's standing on? I found a matching set of two of these for $30 on....yep you guessed it.....craigslist!

Here comes my expert question for my friend Debra (Don't call her Debbie....Trust me on this one *winks*) from the beautiful blog Acquired Objects . Do NOT click on this link if you're prone to drooling OR if the sight of too much beauty makes you want to throw out everything in your house and start over! (Trust me on this too because that's how I felt *winks*)

 Debra is a fine antique textiles dealer and connoisseur of the exquisite. And by fine I mean FINE! Like sell an arm or leg or first born fine!

 Now if anyone else wants to give this one a shot I'd love to hear from you too! 

I found this set of chairs for $35 at a garage sale of sorts a while back...It was actually more of a junk store sale with stuff in a huge garage.

The lady I purchased them from told me they were Swedish. I'd never seen a set quite like them before. They'd been completely stripped (I could cry!) and had  horrible polyester brown plaid upholstery on the seats. Which I promptly ripped off. I can still see small vestiges of white paint here and there. I felt so sorry for them sitting there all nekkid and unloved. My husband tried to dissuade me from buying them but (as usual) that only made me more determined.

 My neighbor came over to take a look at them for me. She's also an antique lover and knows more about furniture than I do. She thought they looked Swedish also, and thought they might possibly be 18th century? They are completely pegged together. They appear to have been recovered many times. There are lots of nail holes. The carving is all hand done. The back splats are slightly curved to make them more comfortable. Any ideas peeps?

I also found a purse at the Value Village seen here with the chairs.

The large lidded basket was a Goodwill find for $14.99.

Close up on the leg detailing.

Peg detailing.

I thought they might look beautiful stained in gray?

 Here is my dear friend Christine with another gray Swedish chair. What do you think? Would my chairs look good in this same gray? Or perhaps I should paint them white?

I'm sharing this purse (?) because it's an example of how I'm very influenced by my favorite bloggers. Do you ever find yourself buying things for this reason?

 This is my $4.99 piece from the Value Village. It's made of what appears to be old velvet. The tassels and threading are metallic

I thought it looked very 1920's.

Close up,

Well when I spotted this piece it reminded me straight away of a picture I saw on Debra's blog in a post about her amazing textiles HERE Again the drool alert is in effect. AND you might also want to sell some organs...just sayin'

Could this possibly be an occasion where education meets opportunity? (Aka luck!)

This picture below that I stole  borrowed  (Sorry Debra I'll remove it if there's any problem I promise) is one of the divine pieces of antique Italian velvet from around 1600 that Debra owns. Can you say "TEXTILE ENVY?"  Doesn't it look a little tiny bit like mine? *Hands clasped in prayer* It's even a similar shape?

What do you think Debra? Could mine be worth a little finger? Or maybe just a fingernail? *winks*

Another CL find. Asking price $75...taking price $65. It has a squishy down cushion and is very petite. Perfect for the end of a bed or in my case a home gym which I use (Rarely) to put on my running shoes.  The 1960's greeny gold upholstery is actually growing on me!

This sweet little petit point pillow was a $20 find at a local antique mall. It helps to break up all that greeny gold lol!

Well that's my finds for this week. I hope you'll come back next week for some more flea market fun! 

I'm linking  up with the beautiful Cindy at My Romantic Home for:

As well as my dear friend Laurie at Bargain Hunting And Chatting With Laurie for:

And the wonderful Linda at A La Carte for:

And Debra at Common Ground for:

Be sure and drop by and check out all the other found treasures!   Vanna