Sunday 16 December 2007

Antiques





Regular visitors to my blog will know that I do like a bit of kitsch, but today it is kitsch with a difference, because these baubles are antiques, at least in the sense they are very old. I don't know why I am apologising, they look lovely on the tree and I like them very much. They are Mark's Grandma's decorations and I think they date from the fifties.
She also had many elaborate paper chains (you can see one in the pic) which hung down from every part of her ceiling.
They have obviously been very well looked after as they are made of an extremely delicate glass and are all carefully packed in tissue paper in a suitcase when not in use.
They have all been imaginatively designed. I like the bauble with a little bauble head and scarf on for keeping warm, and also the strawberry bauble. This is slightly reminiscent of the way in the olden days poor kids got 'an apple, an orange and a shiny new penny' for Christmas, if they were lucky, because in those days fruits were a luxury and something like a strawberry would have been quite special, definitely not something you would get out of season.
In the days before mass production baubles from the far East obviously a little care was taken in making them, and one has been hand painted. The little bird looks a bit 'Art Deco' to me, and has a little tail made out of fine filaments.
Not the most flattering photo of Mark (good job he doesn't read the blog); he's actually quite dishy from the front.
These are the sort of heirlooms that people without much money leave to their children and grandchildren and they will be treasured for many years to come.

14 comments:

Bobbie said...

These ornaments look very familiar to me having been a teen/young mother in the '50s. I remember the birds with the brushy tails very well. How nice that you honor Mark's grandmother by re-using the ornaments and showing them off at Christmas. dh doesn't read my blog either, although he is free to do so. I think it is a "man thing".

dianeclancy said...

Hi Beverly,

These are neat! But you said antiques? They look very familiar to me too since I grew up in the 50s. We didn't have those cool birds thought ... like Bobbie did. Very fun!

I look forward to when we have a tree again .. because I got one of my aunts ornaments when she moved into an apartment

~ Diane Clancy
www.dianeclancy.com/blog

laurie said...

i love those old ornaments. we have two or three that were my parents' when they were first married. but only two or three.

Debi said...

These are delicate ornaments and go for quite a pretty penny on eBay.

I bought a set of 12 Bride's Ornaments at a garage sale much likes these. Each ornament was different and had a special meaning. They were a bargain for $5. I sold them on eBay for $80. I hope they made a new bride somewhere happy. I know, for the year I had them, they made me happy. And when I sold them too ;)

What a warm and cozy set of pictures you have here today. It looks like the epitome of Christmas at home to me. May I have some figgy pudding please?

Bev said...

Debi, great to hear they may be antiques in the other sense too. I'm straight off to E-Bay (only joking!)

Lucky Dip Lisa said...

Don't worry Bev, mine dosn't even look at my photo's unless they're of the bike or the kids!
I feel like a part of your christmas somehow they way you share things with us. I have a few old decorations on our tree and they beat the new ones hands down! I am glad you have such a precious keepsake to cherish each christmas. Somethings hold more value than gold. (opps, wasn't even thinking of 2 things just then! lol)

Bev said...

LOL Lisa, we've all got Two Things on the brain at the moment!

Irene said...

They remind me of some of the ornaments we had when I was a young child. I still remember my grandparents putting real candles on the tree and it seemed that everybody had a bird with that plumage. I like the old ornaments best and it is good to see that you can buy handmade ones again now. Not the really kitsch ones, but the very nicely turned out ones. Like they used to make them. If I had a tree, I would buy those. Maybe I will next year, I'll think about it.

lebanesa said...

Lovely cheery Christmassy pics. Mark looks rather cuddly and nice in this photo. We have seen him before, so we know you have a lovely husband. Where is Mother Christmas though? How come you are never in the pictures? We know Jack can take a mean snap - so how about it?

Bev said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Still have boxes of those antique ornaments that we have been putting on our tree every year since 1945...lol...telling my age here.

Bev said...

Diane, none of us are spring chickens. You are very young at heart, and I can't believe you grew up in the fifties. However, fortuntately we all retain our playfulness in art!

Bev said...

Frances, this is a bit like bullying (in fact a lot) but if you do something for the Hold/Value Two Things (it's not too late)I will get Jack to take an up to date picture of the reclusive moi in front of our Xmas tree.

Bev said...

If you've got over your lurgy, of course, I'm not that horrible.