Monday, September 27, 2010

Antiques

We go to England for several reasons (outside of the fact we just plain love the place), to walk, to paint and draw, and maybe best of all to shop for antiques and collectables.  The first Saturday we were in England we discovered that our very favorite place to do our antiquing had had a fire the Sunday before we arrived. It is, or was, The Station Mill in Chipping Norton.  Though only 20% of it burned they figure it will be next year before it reopens.  But never fear we found plenty of other places to shop.
At The Silent Woman (strange name for any kind of a shop) Mac bought me an antique footstool, I collect them, and this little beauty appears to me  to be Arts and Crafts in style which means late 1890's to early 1900's and a small Nymphenburg pin dish, can't get the picture of it to turn out.
Small church Deddington

Main church Deddington
Then it was off to Deddington to their antique center where I bought several plates, a covered soap dish, a dessert trio  and  some vintage linen.  We ate lunch at the Unicorn where Mac had a gammon plate and I had, yes, you guessed it,  a ham baguette, followed by a short walk around town.    After that it was on to Broadway to Fenwick & Fenwick  a rather expensive store where we have bought a couple of things.  Mac fell in love with a small oak settle, but ultimately decided it was too pricey.  I did buy him an 18th century paper maiche patch box ( I'll be doing a blog on his collections another day).
On Sunday we antiqued in Lechlade after our walk, visiting Jubilee Hall (rather expensive), the Ironmongers (packed) and the Lechlade antique center---bought a pretty little jug there, I love the royal blue trim, it's from 1890-1921.
Monday we were off to Hungerford a town just full of antique stores, from very expensive to very reasonable.  I finally broke down and Mac made me buy  a Georgian tilt-top table (1810-1820), no picture yet we're having it shipped home along with some other stuff.  I've wanted a table like this for years and this one was very reasonable so it became Mac's anniversary present to me, can't wait for it to get here.
Hungerford is a pretty little town and we broke the day up with lunch at the John O'Gaunt.
Canal boat on River
Kennet in Hungerford
From Hungerford we drove to Marlborough to their antique center.  Marlborough is another lovely Wiltshire town that we have visited more than a couple of times. At the antique center I bought a balloon back chair (it's being shipped too), a Prattware lid for Mac and some pewter.
Jugs from Moreton in the Marsh
The rest of the week we visited Stowe on the Wold to visit Fox Antiques, bought a beautiful Victorian jug there,  Moreton in the Marsh where I bought a couple of jugs.  They're both Victorian and quite pretty.
Swan
Fish

Also picked up a couple of glass jugs from a store called the Shed just south of Stratford.  The one is really lovely, having an etched fish on each side and a swan on the front.
Thursday after dropping off a load of stuff at Simon Hall, that's who we always ship with, we went to see Karen in Bretforton.  Usually she has loads of Victorian jugs and glassware, but  not this trip.  I did buy a lovely little candle table, a covered dish with a ladle, another ladle and several small plates (royal blue again) and a wooden fishing reel for Mac.
Our last day of shopping we went back to Lechlade and I finally found a child's tea set, I'd been looking every where for one.
So now I'm  waiting to hear when my shipment will be here from England and wondering how I'm going to pay for everything! LOL
It was a lot of fun.


5 comments:

  1. You certainly got around! I really like Marlborough, there's a nice teashop there, for me it's a stop on the way to Avebury and West Kennet. I'm impressed that you ship antiques home, I've often passed up buying things in the US because of size or weight, always assumed that shipping would be too expensive an option.

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  2. We did not get to Avebury or West Kennet this year, we did in '03, but refused to pay the National Trust 10 pounds to park in a cow pasture! We went to the Coach and Horses pub and parked there and walked to Avebury, a very special place.

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  3. Hi glad you enjoyed your visit!
    Did you make it to the Shepton fair?
    If you have not already seen I have written a short post on it.

    Bet you cant wait for your shipment to arrive, it will be like christmas, opening all those packages!

    Clare

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  4. Rowan, the shipping is high, but not horrible, cheaper if it goes by boat.

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  5. I've found shipping any items by UPS or US mail to be really expensive. You did find some lovely things and you've visited beautiful places.

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