Vintage home finds | No. 3
A divine artichoke dish, some (weird) art, the perfect bottle opener
If you got this email twice — whoops! And apologies. I wish I could chalk this up to being new on Substack but I’m afraid that user error will never cease to plague me so I can’t promise it won’t happen again 😇
Here’s the good stuff, pals:
Articulating fish bottle opener — $62
So many funny, interesting, surprising bottle openers exist in the world that there’s NO REASON to have one that’s ugly. I would like to petition the designers who came up with articulating fish bottle openers to start focusing their energy towards ceiling fans and toasters because both of those could do with a dose of stylistic zhushing. More where this came from here, here, and here.
Brass tub trinket dish — $43
I look forward to a time when miniaturized versions of things don’t tickle my fancy, but that hasn’t happened yet so I am still delighted whenever I see a tub trinket dish. Similar option here.
Tiny cute original painting — $32
Affordable! Original! Art!
Artichoke dish — $18
I find this dish beautiful and sculptural beyond it’s $18 price tag. I especially love that the leaf shaping is continued on the underside of the dish.
Vintage papier mache art — $250
I had a whole paragraph waxing on about the merits of this piece, but I scrapped it because in writing it I came to the conclusion that you either see the charm in outsider art or you don’t. And that’s fine! This absolutely has the look of “I could make that myself” but the fact that someone else did decades ago (perhaps as a middle school craft project?!) makes it special to me. Handmade, graphic, a bit of “what am I looking at here?” — that’s a winning combo for me.
Wire basket — $52
Sensational color and shape. I want to prop a handful of magazines in here or hang it on a wall in a bathroom to store rolled up wash cloths and hand towels.
Picasso lithograph — $250
The brown-y reds, the little face, the visual texture that type adds — a home run. This shop has another Picasso lithograph that is equally funky here.
Alessi tea light holders — $64
I love these little Alessi things. They flip open to hold a tea light candle and I would be hard pressed to think of something more superfluous but they really are tabletop jewelry, like little silver party hats.
Alessi scallop bowl — $50
The tea light holders sent me a on small Alessi tear. I also came across a scalloped tray that matches the above bowl.
Alessi crumpled bowl — $84
Last Alessi one! “Vintage Alessi” is a search term you could really go deep on.
Iroquois beaded good luck wall hanging — $78
For me, this photo is doing this object a great disservice. It’s blurry and I really do not vibe with this green and pink combo and yet I KNOW this is a beautiful and special object. I still have to remind myself: do not get thrown off by bad photography! I love the beadwork, the “good luck” sentiment, and ostensibly it’s from 1905?! Incredible.
*As ever, some of these links are affiliate links! Meaning I earn a small commission based on what is purchased through them.