AGA
and I like collecting stuff – usually but not necessarily antiques. We are amassing a glory box for when we
return to Melbourne and build or renovate our own house in suitable state.
Our
apartment here in this aged village is not large but it is enough for us. Interestingly though, as we collect things and
it looks as though it will not hold anything more without looking cramped – it
suddenly seems to expand and but everything seems to fit nicely (or perhaps we
just get used to it, who knows!)
We
recently purchased a new old chandelier.
The type is commonly called a ‘sack of pearls’ or ‘Regency style
bag’. Ours is French, of leaded crystal
(of course) and dates from around the 1920s. It
took a little while to reassemble but looks very nice indeed, as you can see.
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| Photograph taken by Kirk Dale |
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| Photograph taken by Kirk Dale |
This
weekend we will give it a nice clean – a whole day job I’m afraid.
It
is taking the place of our other crystal chandelier which we bought new in
Prague. We thought it could probably do
with a good clean but imagine my surprise when instead of crystalline loveliness, I discovered it covered in a
fine coating of opalescent dust! The high ceilings had hidden this from us and we had previously been away for two and half months (or at least this is our excuse).
In its current state it
would not have looked out of place in Miss Haversham’s cobwebby abode!
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| Photograph taken by Kirk Dale |
So
now we have two chandeliers to clean… which would seem to indicate that Saturday is going to be a bothersome sort of day indeed!
Luckily our other chandelier - a late 19th century Flemish style one, is not in need of any cleaning at this time:
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| Photograph taken by Kirk Dale |
Meanwhile
I had also purchased a beautiful 19th century bust of (I believe) Our Lady. Extremely lifelike she arrived in a very
dirty state but has now been cleaned and it is residing in state on top of a
book shelf.
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| Photograph taken by Kirk Dale |
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| Photograph taken by Kirk Dale |
Hello Kirk:
ReplyDeleteWhat absolutely marvellous 'finds'. The chandelier is wonderful and very, very elegant although we do not envy your Saturday spent cleaning it. As for the bust of Our Lady, this is exactly the kind of 'stuff' we find impossible to resist and we should have no difficulty placing her, as clearly you have not. We can imagine the stares as you carried her home - we once had much the same experience with a stuffed fox.
Thank you so much for becoming a Follower of our blog and for including us on your sidebar. It is much appreciated.
Dear Jane and Lance,
ReplyDeleteAnd what is more we are now on the lookout for another, identical chandelier as we like the other one so much!
By the way, thank you for showing me how to 'follow' someone!
Bye for now
Kirk
I like your chandeliers. Unfortunately for me, my ceilings are all too low to allow for such an extravagance!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your nice comment Mark. We love chandeliers too but as you say, ceilings can be the sticking point. Have you thought about one hanging over a dining table? That way you can accommodate the chandelier without it being in anyone's way as they walk about.
DeleteMy dining room is empty at the moment, and the reason for that concerns a project that will be revealed on my blog in the distant future.
Delete