You know how it goes. Needed a special gift for a friend's birthday. Popped into Vintage Bazaar, Lower Main Road Observatory, just to ask directions to Liesl Trautman's new premises. But being a second hand junkie, once inside I had to have a quick look around.
I've been looking for a good example of one of these since I broke mine three years ago, and this is it. No chips or cracks, and only R120 (less than US$10).
But still with that lovely patina that only decades of use can provide. I also finally found an office chair that is both comfortable and not hideous - well, if you like 70's chrome that is.
Liesl Trautman's shop was closed and we couldn't face the Saturday morning hipster frenzy at the Biscuit Mill where she also sells her exquisite ceramics, so lovely friend got flowers instead.
A little later we stopped in at Smiley's at Home, Plumstead Main Road, searching for drawer handles. Again, didn't find what we came for, but did remember to get more of these glass candlesticks - available in blue and the most delicate pink for only R20 each.
I managed to arrange a sunset that perfectly matched the colours of our new purchases. Rosie was suitably impressed.
Lesson of the day: How to achieve wonderful interior decoration for very little cash? Allow serendipity into your life, and believe that cheap glass can be more beautiful than the finest cut crystal. OK, basically I'm trying to justify poor impulse control, but you get the idea. I did manage not to purchase several thousand Rands worth of chandelier, always a challenge at Smiley's.
If anyone knows about these chrome cozy coffee and tea pots, I'd appreciate comments - you see them regularly in several design variants in vintage shops, but there are no maker's marks anywhere. Some of them are damn near perfect design in my opinion. This coffee pot joins a similar, but shorter, fatter teapot in our kitchen.
nice find! as far as I know the Everhot teapot was patented in England in the forties and was such a success that many rip-offs followed. originally they came with a felt lining inside the metal and a separate metal tea leaf strainer.
ReplyDeletethat particular blue and pink will always remind me of Sleeping Beauty's dress in the Walt Disney version. just lovely.
Thanks Lily - must be one of the rip-offs then - based on that tip my small amount of online research suggests that the Ever-Hot teapots always have an Ever-Hot stamp. It does still have a felt lining though, so it meets my rule of avoiding old stuff that I cannot actually use, no matter how beautiful.
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