A Vintage Christmas

December 2, 2010 by ark_admin

To Jessica Graham, owner of Mae’s Emporium in Fayetteville, vintage jewelry doesn’t belong stuck away in a box. When not being worn, and especially during the holidays, it should also become a focal point of your decor. Graham, with the help of business partners Lynlee Critz and Emily Digby, even uses it to trim her store, hoping to encourage customers to rethink the role of vintage jewelry within their homes. “Creating visuals is one of the things we like best,” she says. “We change our store window depending on fashion trends and seasons, and we always decorate for Christmas.”

Graham has built her collection over the course of a decade. She gathers pieces based in part on notes she keeps in a “little black book,” for clients who may be looking for a locket with their initials, or brides seeking special earrings for bridesmaid gifts. Otherwise, what she brings back to Mae’s depends on her discerning taste, and the invaluable knowledge she has gathered from experts while buying in California, New York, and the 28 flea markets she frequents across Arkansas.

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Storybook Ending

November 1, 2010 by ark_admin

As the son of a librarian, Jim Rule developed a passion for antique books at an early age. In the nearly 30 years since he began his collection, it naturally evolved to include bookends, which may play a supporting role but have a rich and interesting history all their own. Rule’s Antiques and Fine Books, located at I-40 Antique Center in Maumelle, now features upwards of 60 pairs.

Quite simply, their main function is to hold up books. At the beginning of the 19th century, when books were printed on an industrial scale and the public’s libraries began to grow, so too did their desire for different means of displaying and accenting them. In the United States, factories like The Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company responded, adding bookends to a line of products that already included clocks and sewing machines.

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Gracious Glass

October 3, 2010 by ark_admin

Glass decanters were born out of necessity to decant, or pour, filter and oxygenate wine. Their various shapes also have a purpose, such as those designed with very large bases so as to not tip over while traveling on a ship. But beyond that, says collector Larry Jordan, owner of Little Rock’s Fabulous Finds Antiques, their appearance is largely ornamental. “The fancier the decanters were, the more impressive,” he says. “It was a sign of wealth.”

Jordan, however, doesn’t collect decanters for their monetary value or to hold liquor. “What I’m after,” he says, “is a unique look that no one else has.” He offers a plethora of original ideas for decorating with and using decanters.

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At Your Service

August 30, 2010 by ark_admin

The trick to enjoying your sterling silver serving pieces, says Cindy Staley, co-owner of English Antique Imports in I-40 Antique Center, is to keep it readily accessible. Staley doesn’t hide her sterling away for safekeeping, or to use only for special occasions. And she advises clients not to fret over it either. “What many people don’t realize is that the more you use silver, the less high maintenance it is,” she says.

Kept within easy reach, sterling silver can become a part of your daily routine, and even enhance your everyday life—gravy ladles can be used to serve barbecue sauce, champagne coolers can hold fresh flowers, and toast racks can double as letter holders. “Be creative,” Staley suggests. Since each piece was made with a prescribed function, like biscuit barrels and pastry servers, silver is ideal for easier entertaining. Plus, the act of regularly washing and drying it with a soft cloth will buff away tarnish, caused by sulfur in the air, and lessen the need for tedious polishing.

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The ABCs of Collecting

July 25, 2010 by ark_admin

ABC plates don’t just hold food—they also serve up an education. “They were made to teach children about values and life,” says collector Neil Palmer of North Little Rock’s Crystal Hill Antique Mall. Rimmed with the alphabet and decorated with maxims and inspirational sayings, ABC plates transformed every meal into a learning experience.

First produced in the 19th century in Staffordshire, England, they were later fashioned in the United States, mostly in the Ohio region, and contemporary-looking versions are still in production today. Palmer’s white earthenware collection holds true to the plates’ Staffordshire roots, originating in the late 1800s when prominent potters like A. Shaw & Son and J. & G. Meakin exported their goods around the world.

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History in Pieces

June 29, 2010 by ark_admin

It’s not simply the quilts that North Little Rock collector Jan Smith loves. It’s the stories behind them as well. Hand stitching and unique patterns are a reminder that each is a personal expression of the woman who made it. Dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, each also says something about the time in which it was made. “I can just imagine a woman sitting down and working on one of my quilts after a long day of chores,” Jan says. “They didn’t believe in idle hands back then.”

Before television or radio, quilting bees served as a popular social outlet. Friends and neighbors would gather to compete against one another to finish a quilt or to join forces and complete it together, the purpose being to socialize and have fun while being productive and saving time.

Quilting bees were also an opportunity to exchange decorative quilt blocks, likely scraps from clothing, feed sacks, or any other fabric they could find. After piecing the blocks together in a desired pattern, the next step was to add cotton batting as a filling for warmth between the decorative blocks and a single backing layer. All three layers were then stitched together, which is the actual quilting process.

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Map Quest

May 28, 2010 by ark_admin

A map does more than help you get where you’re going. If you ask Phil Langley, owner of Happenstance, an antique prints and framing shop located in North Little Rock’s Crystal Hill Antiques, it can also reveal a little something about the places you’ve been. Langley has collected antique maps for nearly three decades. While many of Arkansas’ small towns have changed or altogether disappeared over the years, what he likes most about his collection is that it preserves these communities as they once were—providing a fascinating glimpse into the past. “It’s surprising how many customers come in and look for their home towns,” he says. “It touches them to see their old streets.”

This connection between past and present is what first attracted Langley to his maps. He has 40 from Arkansas. Dating back to 1901, one shows Pulaski County near the time the farmhouse he shares with his family was built there. Others are gridded government survey maps.

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A Collection That Measures Up

May 4, 2010 by ark_admin

Charles Duval, who works at Little Rock’s Fabulous Finds Antiques, was looking for something small to collect, when his friends found a cat-shaped tape measure at an antique store. Charles had never seen anything like it before, “as whimsical or unique,” he says, so he bought it. The next week, he bought another one. And he is still collecting them nearly 40 years later. “I’m known for it,” he says with a smile.

Charles owns more than 1,250 antique tape measures. There are cats, dogs, birds, boats, people, hats, cars—“almost any shape you could imagine,” he explains. They’re made from brass, tortoise shell, ivory, sterling silver, celluloid, wood, metal, rubber, and, in the case of one miniature charm variation, even gold. Some also have moveable parts, such as a windmill, clock or the brass, spinning carousel that Charles discovered at an antique show in Kansas City. “It’s my favorite,” he says, noting its rarity. Meant to be used and not simply displayed, interactive varieties in good working order are very unusual today.

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Cheery Chintz

March 31, 2010 by ark_admin

Chintz ware has roots in the 17th century, when English artisans were inspired to hand paint their ceramics with the floral patterns seen on fabric imported from India. But it wasn’t until the late 1920s, when the lithographic transfer method developed and allowed for tighter, more detailed patterns, that today’s collectible chintz ware burst onto the scene. Royal Winton, known as the premier producer of chintz china, launched its first pattern, “Marguerite,” in 1928. And its wide success was followed in the coming decades by more than 60 Royal Winton patterns, as well as a slew of chintz ware-producing companies.

Little Rock collector Jeanne Spencer’s first and most treasured chintz ware is a Royal Winton cup and saucer set purchased at a Dallas antique shop in the mid-1980s. Jeanne, who had first learned of chintz ware during classes in design school, has since amassed an impressive 460 pieces. “My mother surprised me with my first chintz ware, which I had discovered and regretted not buying, as a Christmas gift,” she remembers. After that, Jeanne was hooked, and began visiting antique shops and malls on a quest to expand her collection, which now includes stacking tea pots, toast racks, salt and pepper shakers, dishes, mustard pots and much more.

In the beginning, Jeanne purchased all the chintz, chipped or not, that she could find, with the caveat that it had been made in England. While she eventually gave way to collecting a smattering of pieces from Germany, Czechoslovakia and Japan, she prefers the warm ivory background of the English variety to the cooler white of other types. The contrast of a black backdrop also appeals to Jeanne, though one of her favorites is Lord Nelson Pottery’s “Rose Time” pattern, featuring bright pink and yellow roses on a creamy backdrop. “The word ‘cheery’ is often associated with chintz,” Jeanne notes. “It was intended to be used by common working people to brighten their gray days and bring happiness and joy into their everyday lives.”

Because the value of chintz ware has increased exponentially, Jeanne chooses to display her collection throughout her home, in cabinets and on walls, rather than use it on an everyday basis. She is also very careful to distinguish between the more collectible old chintz ware, produced between the 1920s and 1960s, and the less valuable look-alike versions produced today. “The new is very shiny, whereas the old has a dull finish,” she describes. “The newer prints also lack the detail.”

But certain occasions call for something special. Jeanne has been known to set a formal tea table with chintz teapots tied with satin ribbons, as well as a variety of cake plates and demitasse cups adorned with doilies and nosegays. And this beautiful combination is a reminder of the reason that Jeanne started her collection in the first place. “I saw that several pieces had different patterns but seemed to work together,” she remembers. “What I like most is that the pieces are different but, at the same time, alike.”

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The Vintage Garden

February 26, 2010 by ark_admin

Reggie Marshall, co-owner of the antique store Marshall Clements in Little Rock’s Riverdale neighborhood, became passionate for garden ware when he was a college student in search of affordable ways to spruce up his first apartment. As it turned out, it was a unique means of giving the interior of his space character as well. Marshall later began collecting older styles, and when he opened his store in the early 1980s, he saw a void for outdoor antiques that he wanted to fill. “You couldn’t find it many places back then,” he says. “But there’s a craze for it today, because people are willing to accept the fragility of an antique in order to have something distinctive.”

Rather than searching in local garden centers, Marshall, accompanied by co-owner Jim Clements, now travels to Europe and Asia for outdoor products. Via planes, trains and automobiles, they look high and low, scouring markets throughout France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Hungary, and beyond, for items that meet their criteria. Topping their list of requirements, each purchase must have a distinct appearance, whether in patina, color or scale. It must also be multi-functional. This is evident in the vivid yellow settee and green bistro set they found in France, which “could be placed in a bedroom sitting area,” Marshall says. It’s also seen in their preference for architectural elements, including wrought iron from Hungary, which can be sized to mount on a wall or used to liven up the exterior of a home that has a plain façade.

Inevitably, there are always those objects that Marshall can’t resist snatching up for his own collection. “I like larger things and fewer of them,” he explains. “I also like to play with scale.” That’s what he did recently when he moved into a home with less square footage. To create more living space, he designed a formal backyard with areas divided like rooms, filled it with plenty of antique seating, and then created the illusion of depth with a garden path that narrows towards a large antique statue. “It draws your eye outward,” he explains. To complement the larger elements, he threw in some interesting accessories as a finishing touch. “Always look for things that are flexible,” he advises. “Like cement urns that could be clumped together on a kitchen counter or in a bathroom.”

But if this outdoor antique connoisseur had to give just one piece of advice, it would be to think outside the box, like the time he fell in love with a stone cherub on the face of a crumbling chateau near Lyon, France. Although uncertain where it would go, he couldn’t leave without it—and it’s now happily ensconced in Marshall’s garden. “If I love something enough,” Marshall laughs, “I always find a way to make it work.”

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A Vintage Christmas

Storybook Ending

Gracious Glass

At Your Service

The ABCs of Collecting

History in Pieces

Map Quest

A Collection That Measures Up

Cheery Chintz

The Vintage Garden

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