The season has come to a close . . . I think.

[Vinca]

What a horrible, horrible day for sales. The weather has finally turned cold and the little old ladies running the church sale I went to in southern Vermont were pretty heartless. The few of us with the gumption to show up had to wait in line outside and we all got frozen tootsies. Sometimes I question my sanity. To make matters worse, when I went to check out and pay, I discovered someone had lifted a nice composition doll out of my bag while I was busy looking at something. It ended up being one of those days when you're lucky if it pays for the gas to get there.

[grasswire]

1. had you already paid for the doll?

What a bummer!

[Vinca]

2. No, but it was the only decent find of the day.

I suppose someone could have "accidently" mistaken my giant L. L. Bean tote bag for merchandise. In any case, it's not like they swiped a piece of Grueby pottery. Earlier in the summer I went to an elderly lady's tag sale and it was discovered someone had taken her vintage jewelry without paying for it. I have an idea who the thief was, but I can't prove it. You have to keep your eyes open.

[demgrrrll]

3. You do have to keep your eye on things. I went to a church sale and

had my stuff under the cashiers table and someone took one of my marquetry pictures and then someone tried to take another one of my pictures and I said those are mine, I put them under the table and the guy said "well they almost weren't yours" in a really snotty voice. NO remorse no nothing, dog eat dog. I mean I wanted to say did you think someone was putting things under the cashiers table for you? The bigger dealers around here accuse people of theft and tell others that they have "seen" certain people stealing to keep down the competition and keep knowledgeable people out of the pre sales. It is really nuts around here.

I found some Zeisel Town and Country this week end. Missed the tea pot and the syrup, too bad, would have been about 300 if I had snagged those two pieces. I bought an old victorian bridal portrait water color, would have been better when the cottagey stuff was selling better but hey it was something.

[sufrommich]

4. Demgrrrl, I found a Zeisel gravy boat and ladle

(Harlequin pattern)in perfect condition in a thrift a while back for $5.99! My hands were shaking as I paid for it.LOL! Sometimes it pays to battle the thrifts and church sales, but it sure seems to pan out successfully less and less around here lately.I did get a Zeisel Schramberg vase a couple of weeks ago for under $5.00, but I think it's because most people are still looking for REALLY old stuff.
I got a huge Michael Andersen/Marianne Stark bowl on ebay for $34.00 yesterday. I sometimes think it's just as easy to look for bargains there as out in the real world.

[grasswire]

5. these discussions with pictures are way more fun!

And useful to those of us who wish to learn more about EVERYTHING.

[sufrommich]

6. Here's the Zeisel gravy boat:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130165916183&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D130165916183%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

and the Michael Andersen bowl:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300166918791&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D300166918791%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

Hope it's OK to post these links

[demgrrrll]

7. Very NIce. I love Zeisel stuff and I agree the thrifters are not looking for

her stuff yet. I need to find some of those cats!!

[sufrommich]

8. I was actually a little disappointed

that the gravy boat did not sell for at least $100.00,it had a matching ladle!lol.I imagined I would get at least three figures. Selling on ebay is always a crap shoot,the right people need to be looking at any given period.
The Michael Andersen bowl I won was sheer dumb luck as the seller had no idea what it was and listed it in a way that not too many looking for it would find it. I stumbled on it and was lucky to get it.
I also buy anything Ben Seibel at the thrifts and sales,some of it I keep and some I'll end up listing. I'll try to post the Zeisel vase (if I can figure out how to post a pic) when I get home tonight. It's Bauhaus era from her early days at Schramberg.

[demgrrrll]

11. Ben Seibel! I bought my sis a whole set of the falling leaves dinnerware

Nice shapes and nice decoration. I missed that comment first go around.

[grasswire]

9. fascinating, thanks

Mid-century modern is where it's at. In some areas, people are still throwing out this kind of thing, as we have noted here.

[sufrommich]

10. Glad you liked it, the funny thing is

I originally started buying mid century to sell, figuring it would be the least likely design style that I would be tempted to hang on to. Little by little, I fell in love. Here's a site filled with beautiful dinnerware from the mid century,if you're interested.
http://modish.net/

Edited to add site address