Mamma Mia! That's a Big Birdcage

Every so often in my trolling for Tiny's, I come across an unbelievable piece that's just gob-stoppingly awesome.  Case in point:  This vintage birdcage that I acquired from the Strange Bird Lady of the Jersey Shore.  Bird Lady recently moved to smaller digs, requiring that she let go of this GINORMOUS castle that housed her finches.

People, this birdcage is nicer than my house.  Its gates and spires are straight out of a fairy tale.  And to give you a sense of its size, here it is next to my 4 foot, 8 inch son:

SHA-ZAM!

Not sure of its age, but it's at least mid-century and made of what appears to be mahogany and wire.  A nice under-drawer pulls out for cleaning if you're inclined to use it for your birds.  Personally, I'd love to keep it just to look at and daydream . . .  but my husband put the kibosh on that idea.

So, the birdcage is now fully cleaned and waiting at Tiny's for you.  Stop by, just so I can see your jaw drop!

Pennsbury Pottery at Tiny's Lambertville

I love Pennsylvania Dutch folk art.  I love pottery.  Therefore, I love Pennsbury Pottery.

Pennsbury Pottery was founded in 1950 by Henry Bellow in Morrisville, Pennsylvania.  The company produced an array of clay tablewares featuring Pennsylvania-Dutch motifs such as birds, hexes, and Amish couples, as well as American folk art emblems like eagles.  The company closed its doors in 1970.

Pennsbury Pottery has been collected for a while now, and its popularity seems on the rise.  Like McCoy pottery, these pieces should be snapped up now! I would love to have my own collection, displayed in a pie safe or country cupboard.

For now, I have to content myself with the pieces on display at Tiny's.

New Art at Tiny's Lambertville!

This just in: a pair of wonderful impasto florals by Arkansas artist Jan Ironside.

The impasto technique involves laying down thick swaths of color, often with a palette knife.  The end result is a painting with depth and texture that you want to reach out and touch! These geraniums and tulips are much more gorgeous in person, and they're so cheerful, they coax me out of my November blahs whenever I look at them.  12x12 on deep canvas panels, priced at 100 each.

Also in is this lovely 12x16 tonalist acrylic by Sarah Jane Studios (larger when you take into account the gilded plein air frame).  Priced at 225. Ignore that diagonal shadow running across the center -- that's just light streaming in from Tiny's window!

My favorite things at Tiny's has to include these two still lifes by Florida artist Han Young.  Han was born in Korea and received extensive fine art training there.  After moving to Florida, he's received numerous regional awards for his meticulous, luminous renderings of fruit, florals, and wildlife. Each of these 16x20 canvases (larger with gilded wood frames) is priced at 350.  I'm awed by the amount of patient layering Han did to create such realistic looking fruit!



Finally, who doesn't love a little impressionism in their life?  This is a nicely-sized 25x30 canvas in a gilded wood plein air frame.  Not sure who the artist is, but he certainly is talented!  Priced at 350.

Tiny's Lambertville Loves Folk Art

Tiny loves folk art, don'tcha know.  Like these incroyable silhouettes of distinguished gentlemen.  The mini one to the left is a genuine 19th Century cutting.  The one in the antique gilded frame is a clever artist's reproduction.

Tiny's loves antique and vintage carved decoys, too.  Goosey here is a vintage model made in Wisconsin.  He's got the glass eyes to boot.

This carved fish isn't a decoy, but it certainly has that folksy charm.

You know what else Tiny's loves? Firkins! Those are antique sugar buckets, to the ill-informed.  Tiny has a whole stack of them, and they look fabu.

Pile these in an antique Windsor chair, and you have a dream come true.



Tiny's Lambertville: Vintage Salterini Style Wrought Iron Table

Tiny's latest addition is this uber-adorable mid-century wrought iron table.  I love the ribbon weave, the center medallion, and the leaf motif on the sides.  In fact, I just love it, period!

I'm not sure of the make of this piece, but the design resembles those of the great mid-century iron furniture producers: Salterini, and Woodard and Sons.  I'm so glad the old Italian craftsmanship of wrought iron made its way to America!

Selling Vintage Furniture in Lambertville, NJ

Selling fabulous vintage finds in Lambertville can be tough work.  When I'm not hunting down treasures or refurbishing them for resale, I have to look outside my shop window at the canal foliage:



Then, if it's warm enough, I just might have to park myself by the canal and get a little dreamy.

Sometime my husband stops by to take a break from Zatuchni & Associates.  He sits beside me with his fishing pole, and we chat about our day while he snags a few bass.  Then we close shop and bring the catch home for dinner.

It's tough work, no doubt about it.  But somebody's got to do it.

Wolf Creek Folk Art Carvings

Ma and Pa have shacked up at Tiny's for the season.



They're right at home here, what with that awesome folk carved rooster and the vintage toy barn Tiny's has for sale.

Ma and Pa are creations of Wolf Creek, a folk art studio based in Eldora, Iowa.  Wolf Creek has been producing delightfully primitive hand-carved figures since 1978.  According to its website, the company remains a small family-owned concern.

Wolf Creek figures are becoming quite collectible among folk art lovers.  I like their unabashed whimsy and country colors.  Check out the detail from their Circus line:

Perhaps Wolf Creek is best known for their intricate ark collections:

Here's my all-time favorite: Lady Liberty, via Vintage Collectibles and Folk Art:

Think Ma and Pa would feel right at home in your house? Stop on by!

Vintage French School Posters

Tiny has been captivated lately by Editions Rossignol: the series of mid-century classroom teaching aids produced in Montmorrillon, France.

There's precious little web information on the Editions Rossignol, and most of it is written in French!  However, a Google search with a Bing translation yielded (roughly) the following:

During the 1950s and 1960s, Rossignol editions were used as teaching aids in an impressive number of primary schools in France.  These large color plates and their modular wood frames marked several generations of teachers and students. They are still used today by some teachers, and some of these boards are assiduously sought by collectors.

Source: http://nalliers86.pagesperso-orange.fr/Rossignol.htm

I kind of, sort of gather that Monsieur Rossignol was an innovative French educator who collaborated with teachers in designing the posters.  However, I'm operating on high school French, people -- when I say "I gather", I mean "I'm totally guessing."  If anyone out there in webby-land has further information, please post.

What's NOT in dispute, however, is that the colorful graphics in these posters are an absolute delight.

Who says didacticism can't look super-hip?

My absolute fave Edition, however, is the one currently framed and for sale at Tiny's:  "The Poppy", or, if you prefer, "Le Coquelicot".

This one's in top-notch shape with no rips, tears, staining or discoloration -- not bad, for 50+ years in a classroom.  It's a Francophile's dream come true!

Antique School Bench and French Tapestry Chair

Tiny's just added this adorable folding cast iron school bench to its inventory, currently priced at 100 (but as my customers know, you can sweeten the price with cash).

This is a rustic piece that would work great in a mudroom or under a sunny window (I can just picture a row of flower pots across the top).

Next, we have an antique French tapestry chair with ornate wood carvings and the original needlework upholstery, priced at 175.

Now, I'll be honest with you.  I am seriously considering keeping this one.  Why?  Three reasons.

1) It's gorgeous.
2) It's gorgeous.
3) It's gorgeous.

And as an added bonus, it's seat springs are still nice and bouncy, meaning that -- unlike a lot of antique chairs -- you can actually SIT in the thing.  I love it.

Mad Men Loves CathrineHolm . . . And So Does Tiny

When I see iconic mid-century Scandinavian design, I go weak in the knees.  In fact, every time I gaze at Tiny's set of CathrineHolm lotus pattern enamelware bowls, I get the vapors.  Someone better buy these, quick, before I decide to keep them for myself.

CathrineHolm doesn't refer to the designer, but the factory in Oslo, Norway that manufactured these bowls in the 50's and 60's.  The designer in question is Grete Prytz Kittelsen, sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Scandinavian Design" (at least according to Wikipedia).  She passed away just this year at the age of 93.

Her spectacularly simple CathrineHolm designs are known to inspire lust in collectors (myself included).  Displayed in a group, they're like eye candy.

Photo courtesy Tandem Antiques and Design.

As a dedicated Mad Men viewer, I was ecstatic to find CathrineHolm this season in the conference room of Sterling Cooper Draper Price.

My favorite show met my favorite design! I almost wet my pants!

Stop by Tiny's to peruse the latest CathrineHolm offerings.  Don Draper eats his martini olives from a CathrineHolm bowl - why not you?

Everyone Needs Some Gemma In Their Life

Since opening Tiny's, I've gotten several comments on the wonderful papier mache head displayed at the top of my etagere.  She's by the renowned artist Gemma Taccogna, and yes, she's signed.

What? You've never heard of Gemma Taccogna? Well let me tell you, in papier mache circles, she's HUGE.

Gemma began selling her papier mache creations in the 1950's to the likes of designers/retailers like Nina Ricci, Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor and Mr. John (who used her large paper heads as hatstands).  I love the mid-century modern vibe you get whenever you look at a Gemma Taccogna face.

In the 60's she moved to Mexico and established a papier mache studio with her husband.  Her whimsmical heads, owls, and cats and assorted creatures number among the very best in mid-century design.  Her heads, in particular, showcase the "porcelain finish" that she perfected in her work -- hard to do with papier mache. 

I just love all the jolly Mexican-inspired colors in her pieces.  Reminds me of sunny California.

When knock-offs of her pieces began to be mass-produced, Gemma closed up shop and moved back to the states.  She continued to create her unmistakably joyful pieces until her death in 2007. 

Gemma has quite the following.  Collectors have included Peggy Guggenheim, the Pulitzers, former President & Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Carole Channing, Mary Tyler Moore, Burt Lancaster, Cliff Robertson, Frank Sinatra, and most recently, Anna Sui.

Why not add yourself to the list?

Much of the info from this post was culled from Evie Elman's site, Spiritual Lasagna.  Evie is at work on a documentary of Gemma which I can't wait to watch.

There's A Mouse In The House!

My friend Katja brought me my very own Tiny's Mascot!  I'm naming him Tiny, of course.  He had fun today hanging out with the Goosey twins.



Speaking of friends, thanks to Aspasia for being my first customer! If a Greek woman is your first customer, that's good luck, right?

And speaking of friends-of-friends, Aspasia's talented friend Michel Buffet has graciously allowed me to showcase a sampling of his work at Tiny's.  Michel takes photographs and digitally "funkifies" them with gorgeous, saturated color.  The end result is printed on canvas and ready to beautify your walls.  I especially like his piece "Red Barn".

You can view more of Michel's work, or request a custom piece, at http://www.scenesfrom.com/.

New stuff coming in next week - stop on by!

Tiny's Grand Opening Approaches . . .

. . . as of August 27, 2010, I'm aiming to open the last week of September or the first week of October.  Assuming I get all the shop renovations done.  As well as all the required paperwork.  And complete painting the furniture and framing the art.  And get the kids back to school.  Also assuming I don't have a full-on nervous breakdown.