Stuff from Nuns!

Preface: When a nun dies some of her belongings eventually head to the religious order’s archives. Photographs, personal journals, letters and such are welcomed, but other things have no historical value. That’s where I come in! My friend (who’s an archivist for two orders) gives me a call and I head over to see what they want to get rid of. She lets me take the stuff home where I can do the research at my leisure and come up with fair prices for the order. It is a win-win situation and such a delightful way to acquire things for my Etsy store.

Recently I had the opportunity to connect with my archivist friend again and came away with a small haul of religious icons and pottery. My favorite icon is painted on what looks like part of an old roofing tile! It dates from 1969,Warsaw, Poland. The artist styled it after “The Beautiful Madonna of Kruzlowa.” I think she’s rather sweet and I have her displayed on our mantel.

The nicest icon was made by a Polish company called Metaloplastyka (Metalworks), founded by Dr. Miroslaw Mrozowski in the early 1980s. After a career in chemistry he turned his hand to perfecting electroforming and electroplating and now creates beautiful silverplated icons. This one, likely of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, has lovely cloisonne detailing.

(I’m having a heck of a time trying to find current prices for his work! You’d think it would be easy given all the info I know about the piece from a tag on the back. Haven’t found anything in WorthPoint yet either…drat!)

I’m also going to buy this little mosaic picture frame. It’s just an attractive little item perfect for a photo of a beloved.

Three of the pottery pieces (two vases and a candlestick) appear to be sought-after Rimini Blu Bitossi from Italy but none of them are marked and without any accompanying documentation, I would be remiss in selling these as genuine Bitossi…alas, alas. But they are handsome pieces and I can certainly sell them as Bitossi-inspired!

So I’m busy researching prices and hope to have these in my store soon. But if you are interested in anything, do let me know.

Happy hunting!