Friday, November 27, 2009

Collection show and tell.....



One of my silly collections began in my mind back when I was a kid.  We were very poor and our cedar tree was decorated with a few trinkets and aluminum garland from the hardware store.  One year  my parents bought a set of glass blown ornaments like the one above and a whole world of fascination  overwhelmed me.  The color, reflection of light, the form, all of it fascinated me.



So as an older adult, I started a collection of glass blown ornaments.  The rule is that they are not to be the very expensive Radko ones, but that they are the less expensive ones, that I find along the way.  I really prefer that they have an old traditional style and nothing modern.  I went to a high end store the other day and all of their ornaments are now pink flamingos and green frogs and motorcycles, not traditional at all. The one above reminds me or our yellow cat.



This ornament actually reminded me of our border collie.  It is darker in color but really does resemble our dog. I also want them to be well painted with skill as some of them are assembly line work that gets to be a poorly crafted work.





This ornament was a close fit for our white poodle.  I bought all three of our pets at one time at a half price sale after Christmas a few years back.



I have a special tree, that I call the antique ornament tree to put these on and the collection grew enough to merit a bigger tree last year.  This one peacock design looked Victorian to me so I sort of thought it to be antique looking. I found two of these in different colors.
The trouble with the market now is that the Chinese have started to make them to replicate glass blown ornaments, but they are really plastic formed instead.  I have seen some in a metal form also but are perfect antique shapes. They use the same type of metallic glass like paint but they are not glass blown.
I don't get fanatic about my collection.  I watch stores that carry new ones each year and will go after Christmas to hit the sales.  I rarely buy it if it doesn't have some style of being hooked to the past history of ornaments.  I was at an antique store this summer and it has apparently become quite a collection trend as the plain ball ornaments with age are selling for high prices now. 
I will probably share some different ornaments as I go along, as I have old mushroom shaped ones and lots of toy shaped ones.  Of all the collections that I have, this one is the one that is fun, as I buy them when I find them, and I don't sweat it if it isn't happening.  i can just look every season for something new that looks old.  Thanks for reading....

8 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

I love your collection. I think the peacock is my favorite one. We have ones from DH's grandmother, ones that were his mothers when she was young, ones from his boyhood, ones his mother gave us every year until she passed away, ones we've made and collected through the years and others from friends and family.

Talking about this has almost decided me to go ahead and get the little tree down from the attic and decorate this year. Notice I said almost. I still don't know if I will or not.

Thanks for sharing your lovely collection of ornaments. Hope you share your decorated tree in all its glory when it is set up.

FlowerLady

Unknown said...

I have a few old ornaments that belonged to my husbands grandmother. I had no idea they were collectibles. I actually hang old tin wind up toys on my tree. Those also came from Jack's grandmother. I hope you show us a picture of your tree! ;D

Linda said...

These are exquisite, Larry. I know what you mean about the feeling you get from them. There's something about these ornaments that speaks to you.

I will have a look around our German Market and see if there are any of this kind of ornament. You wondered if it was warm enough for the carnival/funfair on my blog post - no, it's not, but we just wrap up warm and keep moving!

Darla said...

These are gorgeous...I prefer the more traditonal look too.

Sunny said...

Your ornaments are lovely.
I never realized you had another blog...where have I been? LOL
Sunny :)

Unknown said...

Absolutely beautiful! Those that you've shown were definitely "worth the wait"!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Hi Larry, I am also an avid collector of ornaments..I have a few that are very old..a fish and another basic shape..of an old set. I also like the ones that are like your first photo..the ones from a long time ago that you wished on in the tree. I will be talking about my collection between now and Christmas..I am not sure why I collect them..to connect with times past? Who knows. I do look forward to seeing more of your collection! :)

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

What a pretty collection. I just love these glass ornaments and the more old fashioned ones are my favorites too.