Posted by This past weekend I received news that a dear older cousin of mine died. Despite the fact that she was in her 90s, she was still vibrant and interesting and fun to be with. I have known her all my life and shall greatly miss her and our visits. And here’s the kicker…just last week I was thinking I should call her. But I didn’t. (Why oh why didn’t I heed that nudge?!!!)
That same day I found out that someone else I care about has had a virulent return of cancer and my heart broke for her and all she is going through. And I had a nudge to send her some food. This time I heeded the nudge! I didn’t want to send sweets or snacks and ended up buying a number of meals that will arrive in a few days.
Between the two pieces of news I was (and still am) emotionally knackered. I had intended on heading out to another estate sale on Sunday but was in no mood. Then Monday morning dawned and there was no time to be lethargic as I had a coffee date planned with a friend and groceries to get. Afterwards I popped into my neighborhood thrift store for a quick peruse…naturally.
So glad I did! The first item in my basket was a small handmade pot. Nothing stupendous, but a nice thing that I can add to a lot of other small pieces of pottery.
Though I will say I’ve had mixed results selling small lots of pottery. At one point this pottery grouping was in seven buyer’s carts (!), but no one followed through to purchase it. That’s a head scratcher. Other times I’ll get contacted by a potential buyer who just wants one piece of the lot, but I rarely break up lots.
Two seconds later I spotted two very tarnished candlesticks. I flipped one over and saw this on the bottom.
BINGO! They were sterling silver!! I don’t often find sterling silver in the wild like this and I’m guessing the thrift store assumed these were silver plate. But dang these were the most tarnished pieces I have ever seen.
Turns out they were made by Otto Reichardt who worked out of New York City and produced items from 1922 to the 1960s. I believe these are circa 1940. I worked on polishing one with silver wipes and it took me 20 minutes and six wipes to remove just half the tarnish. I will clean up the other one to that level and recommend the future buyer get them professionally cleaned…which is what they really need. They have been neglected for some time.
And I found a wonderful, large Frank Lloyd Wright silk scarf that was produced by the Museum of Modern Art in NY. Other than one small water spot it seems to be in perfect condition. These resell for $30-$40, but I may keep this to wear for a while. 😊
And does anyone fancy a 1970s olive green ceramic vase? This is darn cool.
Total spent on these five items: $21.15
So it was a good morning, but, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t as excited as I normally would have been. Real life has certainly put on damper on that. It’s hard to feel happy when people you love are suffering.
Wishing you happy hunting,
Karen
Hunting for Vintage 