Back into the Selling Swing of Things
Posted: February 6, 2013 Filed under: Ebay Watch | Tags: auction, Cambridge Audio, Ebay, Metronomy, retro, seagull, Steve Lamacq, vintage 1 Comment »You know, I made a promise to myself when I wrote my last post that I would really try to write a blog once a week. Once a week, I thought to myself, that’s more than do-able. It turns out that’s not really the case when you have a very active baby who rarely naps during the daytime…
However, I have managed (with the help of Aidan and his wonderful photography skills) to get some items listed on eBay. They were bought a few weeks ago: perusing chazzers is something that we can still do with a baby in tow.
Caithness Glass Vase
‘JAJ’ Pyrex Cups
Vintage Glasses
Baret Ware Vintage Biscuit Tin
Serpentine Dish Souvenir
The pictures of the Serpentine dish are my favourite. The seagull reminds me of this video by Metronomy:
Aidan and I celebrated our ten year anniversary last Saturday (ten years!!!) and he got me a digital radio to match our Cambridge Audio stack. Unfortunately, it was too late to listen to the BBC 6 Music Greatest 100 rundown on it, but it’s barely been turned off since. Most afternoons, Corliss and I have a dance around the living room to whatever either Radcliffe and Maconie or Steve Lamacq are playing. Great fun! If we’re not dancing, we’re playing, reading, cuddling or just laughing at each other:
Getting her started on the books already!
She manages about three minutes before she starts to whinge – it’s about the length of one of the stories!
Aidan has been continuing with the West German Pottery selling since early January. In fact, these are what he has ending this evening:
West German Pottery ending tonight!
If you click the pictures, it should take you to the eBay listings for the relevant items.
Tonight, we’re having Rachel round as it’s her birthday today. Happy birthday, Rachel! This is the lady in question:
It’s the lady to the left…
I’ve given up all hope of finishing one of her presents for this evening… and the other one hasn’t arrived yet! So, we’d better hope I can get some tea on the table at least!
Until next week*…
*By week, I mean month and most likely the month after that. Shall we say… May time?
Posing the Pottery
Posted: August 28, 2012 Filed under: Ebay Watch, West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, Ceramic glaze, Ebay, keramik, pottery, Scheurich, West German Pottery 1 Comment »Aidan’s been getting more elaborate with his West German Pottery displays over the last two weeks, thinking up more unusual ways to show off the items for sale on his Ebay listings:
West German Pottery ending 29th August
From L-R starting at the top: Hutschenreuther, Italian Bitossi style vase, Jasba N Series ‘Moon’ vase, Scheurich 267 Prisma, U Keramik, Scheurich 231, 1950s Jasba, and Bay Keramik
West German Pottery ending Wednesday 5th September
From top to bottom then L-R: Carstens plant pot, unknown black and red plant pot, unknown ‘drippy’ plant pot, Winterling bamboo porcelain vase, Jopeko vase/plant pot, unknown red and brown plant pot, Scheurich 238-18, Schlossberg 270-15, Schlossberg 259-11, Carstens, Scheurich 284 ‘Balloon’ vase, ES Keramik, Italian Pottery Studio piece.
There are some particularly stunning glazes and designs on the latest batch, showing off once again the scope and diversity of West German pottery. None of these would fit into the so-called ‘Fat Lava’ style, but there are many stunning shapes, colours, forms and glazes to be seen here.
Selling Some Stuff
Posted: August 25, 2012 Filed under: Ebay Watch | Tags: Blanket, dress, Ebay, knitting, retro, selling, vintage Leave a comment »Before anyone asks: no, I’ve not lost my mind and yes, I’m feeling fine… I’ve actually listed some things on eBay. There are quite a few banana boxes of stuff lurking around the garage, attic and most likely my rather large built in cupboard; things that have been bought in the past to purposefully sell, or I’ve decided against keeping for myself for whatever reason. Currently, I’m feeling the pinch of a long summer holiday, paying out for baby clothes and bits and bobs for the house so it seemed like a good time to get some eBay listing done.
Who am I kidding?
There’s no way I would have done it if Aidan hadn’t persuaded me to!
You can have a look at my Ebay items here… About half are listed at the moment, the others will be going on this evening.
There’s a huge mixture of stuff. Some of the dresses have come from Germany, found during our West German pottery buying trips. Others are ones I’ve bought for myself and no longer fit me. I wish I could wear the Marks and Spencers tea dress! I don’t think I’d take that off if it fit me. Alas, I’ve got no hope of getting into a size 8; certainly not at the moment, and I don’t think ever!
Other than the eBay listing, this weekend has been spent cooking food for Aidan whilst he paints like a demon and then knitting like my own demon. I’m making a baby blanket using this pattern from the Purl Bee blog. I can’t really knit that well, so I’m using this as a practice project. So far, it’s taught me how to cast on, actually do the basic knit, change colours/threads, fix a ridiculous mistake (using frogging), that stitches have different orientation and how to be very, very patient when you make a mistake then put an entire row of 140 stitches back on the wrong way round. Once the blanket gets a bit further along, I’ll post some pictures up. It’s not really that impressive looking at the moment. Aidan will probably have decorated the house before the blanket is completed; the baby almost certainly will be here first! I just hope the baby isn’t so big that the blanket won’t fit round after all of that effort…
Weekly Sales: West German Pottery
Posted: August 14, 2012 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, Ceramic glaze, Ebay, fat lava, keramik, pottery, Roth, Scheurich, West German Pottery, West Germany 2 Comments »The latest batch will be ending tomorrow night. I say this every time, but there really are some gems amongst this lot. See if you can spot what they are:
One of my favourites ending tomorrow night is this unusual Roth pot:
Roth 8304
Despite what it says in the listing ( I did it…) it is actually quite a rare form; we’ve not seen one of these before. I used Aidan’s previous listing to help me write it and kept ‘a well collected form’, thinking it was a piece of his sales patter… apparently, it’s quite unknown so a more accurate description might be ‘a well searched for’ form. Oh well… the collectors will know their stuff well enough to appreciate it! The glaze is amazing: vibrant, bold and striking. Roth are a company who produced such a plethora of different forms, glazes and colours. Usually, I’m not such a fan, but I do find this one quite appealing.
Just to show my erratic taste, I also love the colours of the glaze on this Scheurich 238:
Scheurich 238
Look at the turquoise and silver against the pale grey of that Scheurich pot! We’re in the process of doing up our house, and we’ve got a few old decorating books from the 1950s to use as inspiration. In one of them, it advocates using unusual things to inspire your colour schemes, such as flowers or favourite pictures. This pot would be a brilliant colour palette for a room! Or nails! I might have to paint my nails in something resembling this pattern tomorrow. I should explain that I’m a little bit obsessed with nail varnish, so I should have the colours to create this somehow.
One of the most exciting pieces we’ve put up for sale for a long time is this Otto Keramik piece:
Otto Keramik
Now, for quite a while I was adamant that we couldn’t possibly sell this one. The shape! The colours! The ridiculously drippy, metallic red glaze! But, as all obsessive collectors know, eventually you have to make choices about what to keep and what to sell. Sadly, it has been usurped by other pretenders to the West German crown. At least the beauty of Ebay – and the field we are working and collecting within – is that you know that when it does sell it will be going to someone who will love it, cherish it and hopefully give it pride of place in their homes. Otto are a pretty stupendous company, with pieces brimming with originality and individuality and this one is certainly no exception. The founder of the company, Otto Gerharz, was very interested in the technical development of glazes and I think you can see this in the complexities of the glaze here.
So, those are my picks of the pottery bunch – which ones do you rate? Or even, which do you hate? WGP is an exciting field that divides opinion and can spark an extreme reaction one way or another. What does it provoke in you?
Items Ending Wednesday 15th August:
Items ending Wednesday 15th August
Items Ending Wednesday 22nd August:
Items ending Wednesday 22nd August
Just in case you missed the links scattered throughout, you can view the entire collection for sale here.
New pieces of West German Pottery are listed every Sunday evening between 7 and 8pm to end 10 days later.
Pottery for Sale
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized, West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, ceramics, Ebay, fat lava, lora, Scheurich, West German Pottery 2 Comments »There are some stunners amongst the latest batch of West German Pottery for sale on Aidan’s Ebay (if I do say so myself!). Scheurich glazes, even the most simple ones, deserve some appreciation. Last week I looked at the Scheurich Lora glaze; there’s one for sale here which is a particularly striking piece. I also like the bold orange and black of the 401-20.
Even just this small selection of West German pottery shows the variety available: form, colour, glaze; all can vary drastically from one piece to the next, between one factory and another.
If you’re interested in any of the pots you see in the slideshow, have a look at Aidan’s ebay page here.
Related articles
- The Allure of the Scheurich Lora (littleowlski.wordpress.com)
Wallpaper Madness
Posted: July 1, 2012 Filed under: House | Tags: decorating, Dulux, Ebay, holden decor, Rightmove, Sanderson, Vladimir Tretchikoff, Wallpaper, wallpaper direct 3 Comments »Have you ever done up a house? Today, we realised that B&Q had an offer on Dulux paints that was ending this weekend, forcing us to examine our wallpaper choices and make some decisions. Easier said than done. So far, we’ve narrowed it down to these:
Squirrel and Dove by Sanderson
Mobiles by Sanderson
Marcelo by Holden Decor
The ‘Squirrel and Dove’ wallpaper by Sanderson is going to be for my little room at the front of the house. The room’s quite small; just about big enough for a single bed with a wall of built in wardrobes with mirrored doors. I’m probably going to put a table in there and finally do some sewing…
The ‘Mobiles’ by Sanderson is for the living room. The room has a strange little alcove attached to it which we intend to use as a dining area: the current debate is whether to paint inside this alcove the lime green colour or the more sensible boring grey colour. The room has a dado rail that oddly changes heights at different points in the room; in the alcove, it’s about one third of the way up the wall. I quite fancy painting it the lime colour below the rail with the grey above.
The ‘Marcelo’ wallpaper by Holden Decor is quite a newly released one. I love the ’50s style of both this and the ‘Mobiles’ one. However, putting them together I’ve realised that we’re doing for the same colours in two different rooms. Too boring? They’re going to be utilised in completely different ways; perhaps they are too similar though and we should be a bit more adventurous. The ‘Marcelo’ also comes in this colour-way:
‘Marcelo’ by Sanderson in purple
It’s so difficult to decide what we want! Basically, if the choice was just between ten different papers and paints, we’d be fine. As it is, there are hundreds, if not thousands, to choose from. Wallpaper Direct has taken over Rightmove as my online guilty pleasure! Our ideas for the big study at the front of the house have been scuppered too by seeing this room at the Fat Cat blog. The dark grey wall with a scandi sideboard and West German pottery is right up our street, and perfectly doable with our current furniture and furnishings.
Choices, choices, choices!
Other things we still have to do before D-Day in November: sort out plastering and electrics upstairs, fit new light fittings, paint and wallpaper upstairs and down; buy all of the baby furniture; buy all of our furniture (sofa and chairs, dining table and chairs, various shelving options, two double beds…); save ourselves from going insane! Aidan is also very keen to keep up his Germany trips and Ebay selling of West German pottery. We’ve got a double garage full of pots, including hundreds of our own collection pieces that we need to sort through and decide what we’re keeping. Along with our retro mass market art prints of Tretchikoff, Lynch, Shabner, Van Der Syde, Torino and others, the pottery will probably make up the bulk of our accessories.
Oh dear, wish I hadn’t written that last paragraph! I’m going to measure some walls up to get some of this wallpaper ordered this evening… that’ll be one less job to do.
Fish, Wallpaper and Plates
Posted: April 1, 2012 Filed under: Charity Shop Finds, House | Tags: bedroom, charity shops, decorating, Ebay, Sanderson, Wallpaper, YMCA 6 Comments »Is it me or is it getting more and more difficult to find good items in charity shops nowadays?
Yesterday, we went up to the Emmaus charity warehouse in Mossley (near to Staley Vegas…) and we also stopped in at the YMCA in Ashton. The Emmaus did have some interesting bits and bobs in it, mostly in the lovely little room at the back of the upper floor, behind the cafe. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera with me… We did buy a couple of things (and for a pittance):
Metallic Fish Dish - 75p
Retro Paisleigh Tablecloth - 75p
I read many blogs and see that people like Vintage Vixen and Claire are off to jumble sales left, right and centre and snapping up amazing vintage items for less than 50p. I’m starting to think that the North West doesn’t have jumble sales! I’ve only seen one advertised since we moved here seven years ago, and that was too far away for me to get to via public transport. Ah well, should just console myself with hundreds of West German pots in the garage…
The house decorating is moving on. Aidan has spent the last couple of days pulling up carpets, measuring and inspecting floor boards:
Main Bedroom Floor
You can see on this picture where the bathroom remodelling encroaches into the bedroom space. Presumably, many years ago, someone has changed the layout of the upstairs of the house to include a bathroom. We’re guessing that at one point the bathroom was either in a different room, or perhaps was even outside?! We’re quite tempted to go with the old style of painting round the edges and putting a rug down in the middle. I have a feeling though that Aidan will ensure these floorboards are in tip-top condition first – no easy paint job for him.
Some wallpaper samples arrived this week – this is the exciting part for me!
Wallpaper Samples
From left to right: Little Green 50s Line ‘Herbe’; Sanderson ‘Mobiles’ and unknown! I can’t remember the one on the right! All of the samples came from Wallpaper Direct, along with another one that I’ve not shown because I didn’t like it when it got here. I love Wallpaper Direct. At the risk of turning up on some dodgy searches, it’s like porn for home decorators: “Just one more, one more! Yeah, that’s the one!” The website is easy to navigate, and I like the feature that shows you what the wallpaper looks like in different types of rooms. It’s also free to order the first two samples, 75p for each one after that.
Sanderson Mobiles
This is our favourite one so far, possibly for the front living room on one wall. It’s quite a grand room as it is, and we want to retain that feeling in there but with a mid-century style. ‘Mobiles’ by Sanderson seems to be fitting the bill for us so far. However, I chose all of these samples so far: it’s Aidan’s turn to order some this week, so we’ll see what he brings.
We’re off to pick up some plates I won on Ebay later:
Barker Bros Plates
Barker Bros Plates 2
They’re the ‘Fiesta’ design by Barker Bros; we’ve already got one plate in the blue colourway, but now we’ll have dinner and sandwhich plates in the colour design. The seller looks like they might have an exciting house as they’re selling some other interesting bits and bobs, including a lovely West German piece. Wonder if I’ll get a chance to have a nosy around? Do you think they’d mind if I took my camera… (I should probably point out I’m joking!)
Right, I’ve just heard a great big crash-bang-wallop! from upstairs. It appears that Aidan has either fallen out of bed or knocked something over. Before I go, this is his efforts with the stone hearth this week, ready for the fire fitting next week:
Fireplace
Pretty good, eh? Can’t wait to see the finished article, complete with paint added to the plaster and removed from the stone surround. Have a good Sunday everyone - I’m on Easter holidays for the next fortnight so you’ll probably hear much more from me than in recent times.
Related articles
- Our House in 2012 (littleowlski.wordpress.com)
- Your House in 1956 (littleowlski.wordpress.com)
Pottery for Sale
Posted: November 29, 2011 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, christmas, Dumler & Breiden, Ebay, fat lava, jasba, pottery, Roth, Scheurich, west german ceramics, West German Pottery, West Germany 1 Comment »As it’s now the (and I hate saying this) run-up to Christmas, we’re having a big push on Aidan’s Ebay, selling lots of West German Pottery. There are all kinds of pots for sale:
As with all of his Ebay listings, Aidan takes a lot of time to ensure that the pictures are truly representative of the colours, designs and proportions of the pots. Listings always include a detailed description of the items – any tiny blemish is described, and he does have eagle eyes! He spots things that I cannot see, even when he’s pointed them out to me. So you can be sure that if you buy something from us, what you see is most definitely what you get.
Some of my particular favourites from this week and next are these:
Roth Fat Lava Jug
Just look at the glaze on that! It’s an amazing texture; crusty, thick and bursting with colour. ‘Fat Lava’ could not be a more appropriate way to describe it.
Remember ‘nu rave’? No, me neither, but the neon/rave scene will always have a place in popular culture. Why not pay homage to it with this:
Jasba Neon Rave Pottery!
N3221120 Jasba for sale
Those designers really did take their inspiration from anywhere, didn’t they?
If ever there were a ‘man’ vase, this one would be it:
Man Vase
“You Jane, Me Great Big Man Vase…” There’s definitely something very masculine and tribal about it. It looks like it should be dug up out of a pit, storing the brains of some long dead pharaoh or emperor. Maybe that’s just my imaginative interpretation of it!
D&B Psychedelic Punch Bowl
D&B Saturn Punch Bowl for sale
I’ll be honest; I’m not sure how Aidan persuaded me to part with that punch bowl! I love it. Imagine having your mulled wine out of that this Christmas? Would certainly be a talking point amongst your relatives and a fantastic way to initiate them into the West German pottery fold.
"It ended on an oily vase..."
I’ll give a pound to anyone who can get the British Sea Power reference in my caption…
I’m worried that beautiful Scheurich will get overshadowed by its more gaudy cousins. The glaze on this is beautiful: subtle, swirled green covered in a silver, metallic oil. It was difficult to capture truly on pictures, but I think Aidan did a good job of getting it just right.
So, those are my favourites that are up for sale over the next two weeks. If you fancy having a look (and even having a bid), click here.
West German Pottery for sale ending 7th Dec
Kitsch Deer Barometer
Posted: November 25, 2011 Filed under: Charity Shop Finds, Retro items | Tags: Barometer, Charity shop, deer, Ebay, Glossop, kitsch, retro, vintage 4 Comments »I imagine when the designers thought this one up their thought processes went a little like this:
“Hmmm, everyone wants a dead deer’s head hanging from their wall nowadays. But what about the vegetarians? Perhaps they want to share in this experience too! And what about the people who want a barometer on their wall as well? Eureka! I’ve got it! Why not combine the two into a wall ornament which is trendy yet fully functional.”
I give you: the Plastic Deer Barometer.
Retro Plastic Deer Barometer
We found this on Saturday in a charity shop in Glossop. I pointed at it and laughed, then the laughter turned to… hang on, that’s really kitsch, isn’t it? Do you think that would sell on Ebay? Quite possibly…
We’ve compared it to the German barometer we currently have hanging up in the kitchen, and it does appear to be working. It’s completely made of plastic, and I can’t see any manufacturer’s marks on it. It does say ‘Made in GB’ and in tiny letters M.M. Ltd. Wish me luck trying to find the maker from that!
As is always the case with us, something like this just has to be displayed for a while:
It’s replaced the wooden backed print of a girl playing a guitar for the time being. I wonder what any potential buyers will think of it! I’ll be honest, I think it’s growing on me. (Well, not literally growing on me… that would be weird). I think this has the potential to hang around for a while.
Related articles
- Charity Shop Challenge (littleowlski.wordpress.com)
’70s and ’80s Magazines for Sale
Posted: November 24, 2011 Filed under: Vintage Magazines | Tags: 70s, 80s, annabel, Ebay, magazine, pins and needles, she, vintage, vintage magazine, woman's realm Leave a comment »Regular readers will know by now my love for all things of yesteryear. My decade of choice is the 1950s, though I will go to the ’60s and late ’40s at a push. I do have some magazines from the ’70s and ’80s but they never get read, so I’ve made the decision to sell them. If you’re interested, all of the magazines below will be listed on Ebay from this evening for seven days.
There are some quite interesting articles and adverts in them. My favourite advert is a Nivea one: it has a picture of a really old Native American woman and a caption that reads something like, “Looks 80 doesn’t she? Halve that to get nearer her real age.” Apparently using Nivea will stop you looking like a wizened old squaw…
Have a look at the magazines on Ebay here.
I Used To Know What I Wanted To Say…