Ups and Downs in a Vintage Biz

May typically starts the summer slowdown in my online stores. And with fewer sales I always wonder if I should slow down my sourcing? Or is this the perfect time to accrue a lot of good “new” stock for the fourth quarter?? Hmmm. Something to ponder.

A Few Finds

Yesterday my neighborhood thrift store had a Memorial Day sale with the doors opening at 8:00 a.m. I was there and found just one thing…this unusual glass paperweight. I kept looking at it in the store trying to figure out what the design was. It’s not classically pretty but so intriguing.

It’s signed on the bottom: “Urrere, 12 -78, for Lisa.”

Now there was a glass studio by the name of “Urrere Perkins” with items made by Danny Perkins. Here is a partial timeline of his career from Artnet.

So could this paperweight be an early piece of his before he officially founded the Urrere Perkins studio? Hmmmm. Either way it’s vintage, handmade and unique. A very atypical glass paperweight for collectors.

This pretty ceramic jar by Kinder-Harris is dated 1989. I normally don’t like ’80s decor items, but I did this one! Prices for Kinder-Harris items are all over the place so I went for somewhere in the middle.

This antique mourning cross was part of my big estate hauls from last fall! Originally I thought it was bog oak as I had acquired several bog oak pieces from this estate, but on closer examination it wasn’t. It’s molded, not carved, and made from gutta percha.

Gutta Percha is a rubber-like gum made of the resin derived from trees in Southeast Asia, mainly Malaysia. Like its synthetic cousin, vulcanite, it is brownish-black in appearance (but tended to hold its black matte color over time better) and is molded rather than carved—so, “sometimes you can detect mold lines, with the eye or a loupe,” Stockhammer observes. It will give off an acrid, rubber smell when rubbed briskly. Highly flexible yet durable, it was first used during the 1840s for jewelry. In the latter 19th century, it was employed as a less expensive substitute for jet in mourning jewelry. – The Spruce Crafts

These old gutta percha pieces can be valuable. Here’s a cross similar in size and design to mine that sold for $425 last year.

I’ve listed mine a bit lower at $275.

I’m Crying Over This One…

I lost out on this great piece. Here’s the story…I stumbled on this eBay listing for a huge “Antique French Tapestry” with an opening bid of $75. While it was antique, it wasn’t a French tapestry but a Scottish woven paisley and I sold a similar piece in this size for $400 last year. In great condition, this one was easily a $400-$500 piece. I placed a modest bid of $101, hoping no one else would find this listing. Someone did and outbid me in the last seconds. %#^$!

Trying to Keep Positive

I know, I know, I know there will be other good scores just around the corner, but I’m kicking myself for not setting a higher max bid on the Scottish paisley.

Still, this weekend there will be a big community wide garage sale day in my city and my eldest daughter and I plan on visiting our fair share of houses. Typically over 100 homes participate so we choose very strategically which we’ll visit. Usually I come away with some darn good scores from this.

Honestly, when I started in this biz I never expected it to be such an emotional roller coaster! So full of ups and downs. Highs and lows. Phew.

Wishing you good hunting,

Karen