Dig This Treasure!

Monday night’s episode of Antiques Roadshow opened my eyes to a whole new area of collecting: beaded bags made by the Plateau Indians.  These incredible bags are hand sewn, and beaded with tiny, tiny seed beads.  The designs are colorful, intricate, and obviously amazing.

Antiques Roadshow had visited the Northwest Museum in Spokane to view some of these bags, and each time they showed a new one, I would literally gasp.  I’m not kidding…I discovered later that night that my reaction was so memorable, Zach tweeted about it:

Seriously people, LOOK AT THESE BAGS:  

So it turns out that you can actually buy plateau bags on ebay!  There are quite a few up right now:

Alas, they are mega expensive, so for now, they will remain a “holy grail.”  Some day though, a plateau bag will be mine.  SOME DAY.

-Erin

A few weekends back, I went with Timmy to “The Super Auction” being held in Ann Arbor. The auction was in a giant pole barn on some farmland, and was actually several different auctions all happening at the same time.  Timmy of course went to the sports auction, while I minced around at the others.

I should note that my dad isn’t crazy about us calling him “Timmy” on this blog.  I learned of this recently, but told him that the readers would have a hard time following along if I suddenly started calling him “Tim.”  Anyway, here he is picking up some of his winnings:

There were lots of great items at this auction, and prices seemed to be pretty high as a result.

That box of arrowheads in the photo above sold for over $500!  

I didn’t stick around to see what that casket sold for, but no bones about it–it probably sold for lots. 

One of the auctions taking place was all pottery.  Pottery is actually something I could see myself collecting.  I just don’t know enough about it yet.  

Most of the pottery was Roseville, which Sarah and I have seen at estate sales before.  I can’t say I’m a Roseville fan.  It seems kind of boring. 

I did see two non-Roseville pieces right away that I loved.  I couldn’t make out the signature on the bottom, so I asked someone to look at the auction catalog.  Turns out, these are made by Common Ground Pottery, and more specifically, a man named Eric Olson.

Gorgeous, right?  I liked how these looked kind of Art Nouveau.  Unfortunately, I didn’t buy either of these.  Each vase sold for $275.  This price is actually pretty good, because looking elsewhere, Common Ground stuff usually sells for over $500.

I started an ebay alert for Common Ground pottery on the off chance that someone is selling some cheap.  Otherwise, it will remain a holy grail.  One day, when I am rich, after buying Sasha dolls, I will buy Common Ground pottery.

Here are some other amazing examples I found online:

Ok, and to finish up, here are my dad’s auction treasures in the back seat of his car:

He seriously spent about 5 minutes flipping these around to find the safest travel position for each one.  

-Erin

I never thought I’d have one of these Holy Grail posts, because I’m not greedy and don’t need very expensive things to feel happy in life (unlike Erin), but then I realized I could have a Holy Grail that isn’t necessarily expensive–just something I’m dying to stumble upon. 

ANYWAY, I was at a couple of sales with Adam over the weekend and found this adorable figurine from the 1950s. I am seriously obsessed with her.  

If you look closely, you will see that she has a crack that was mended on her rear end. This is not ok. Even though she was one dollar, I wish she wasn’t damaged. Still, I love her so much. 

After digging around on eBay, I discovered that people do occasionally sell these, and it appears that, unlike the collector pool for fine porcelain, nobody but me wants them! In my search for more by this company (Lego Japan), I found a set that is even more adorable and made by some other company, but someone bought them. LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE: 

I love those two ‘50s nerds talking on the phone. I am seriously so sad that I didn’t discover my love for these things just a few days sooner. Those ones could have been mine!!! 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: I can see why Sarah likes that first figure…its hair looks just like hers.  As for the second set, those are some seriously solemn phone talkers.  I am assuming that both of them are on the phone with Capital One, begging for a increase in their credit limit.

So the New York posts continue…

While walking around the West Village with Zach and our friend Mary, I spotted this little basement shop called “The Porcelain Room”.  It seriously looked like the cutest place on Earth, packed full of tiny porcelain creatures and decor.  

I don’t think I realized my love for porcelain until I went in this store.  I wanted pretty much everything, especially this deer bowl:

I kept imagining what it would be like to have a party and serve something in this adorable dish.  It cost $2,500 though, so I guess I’ll never know.

I did find something a bit more reasonable in price.  It was this cute rabbit made by KPM in Berlin.  He was $310, which is still pretty outrageous for a porcelain anything.  I pulled this photo of him off the KPM website:

So the point here is that I want me some baller porcelain.  It’s something I am going to keep my eye out for at future sales, which I am sure Zach will be thrilled about.

-Erin

So Sarah and I are up in the Traverse City area this week on vacation, and besides eating deep fried Oreos, we are also busy treasure hunting.  We’ve found many blog-worthy things up here, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, I saw a “holy grail” item in person today that I will be thinking about for a long time…

While in Leland, MI we saw this tiny store called Tampico.  It turned out to be my dream come true, which Sarah was certainly thrilled by.  She finally left me at the store to go venture elsewhere because I had basically set up residence.  

The store was mostly Zuni jewelry which I am obsessed with, as well as Mexican old pawn pieces and newer Michigan fossil jewelry.  I was chatting with the owner about Zuni earrings when he mentioned a super rare Zuni fetishes necklace he had in the back.  

I had seen Zuni fetishes before, and was actually looking at some in this store.  I had never seen a fetishes necklace in person though.  Ok, so before we get into that…

Zuni fetishes are little carved animals (out of fossils, mother of pearl, corals, rocks, etc.) that represent guardian animals and important tribal icons.  They are cool and adorable.  The necklace this man had was owned by an important member of the Zuni community, and it was made from fetishes collected for years by her family.  He bought it out of her estate for an undisclosed amount, although I saw a price tag on it that said $980.

I obviously cannot afford this necklace so it will remain a holy grail for now.  However, while in the back of the store looking at this, the owner mentioned some other Zuni jewelry he purchased out of this estate.  He had yet to sort and price it, but agreed to show me anyway.  I instantly fell in love with some handmade sterling and turquoise earrings.  He offered them to me for $70, which is a steal.  I’ve seen smaller and less impressive Zuni earrings for about $125.  

Here they are:

They’re larger size, about 2 inches long each.  And they look very cool on.  After I bought them, I kept telling Sarah that I was “happy as a clam.”  They really made my day!

-Erin

My last “Holy Grail” post was about items I could probably never afford, but today’s entry is a bit different.  I REALLY want a vintage egg scale (hence, “holy grail”), and technically I could afford one.  The thing is though, I prefer to find one of these at a sale.  I’ve NEVER seen one in person and I think the thrill of discovery would be half the fun as owning one.

Egg scales were used on farms to “grade” eggs (since eggs are sold by weight).  You just plop an egg on the little scale and it immediately tells you if the egg is Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large…you get the idea.  All that really matters here is that these scales are no longer in use, and that they are totally adorable:

They are also surprisingly expensive.  Here are some completed listings on ebay:

Those are some pricey little egg scales!  Also, check out the 1% battery life on my iPhone.  I dropped it in the toilet so now it perpetually says 1%, which is sad and disappointing.

Anyway, I really think the day will come that I find one of these in a sale.  If someone out there has a lead on one though, I’d be happy to strike up a deal.  One of these scales would fit in perfectly with my collection:

-Erin

In our “Holy Grail” posts, we’ll be discussing some treasures that we, as of now, only dream of owning. My first desired item is any type of antique “woolie,” typically made by British sailors before WWI. These adorable, folky wool pictures were made by sailors trying to pass their time at sea. Some are crazy intricate and well-made, and others are kind of crummy and hilarious. All, however, are super fascinating and cool.

I first heard of woolies on Antiques Roadshow and instantly started researching them online. It looks like most woolies go for a few thousand dollars each.

I’m hoping that there was a real lazy sailor who made a real small woolie that maybe I can afford. I checked ebay, but so far no luck. If you’ve got one of these in your basement, let me know and we can make a deal.

I like this one because it is extra crazy. Look at that wool smoke. Very impressive.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: I think this variety of post will only be Erin’s jam, because I can’t at the moment think of anything that expensive that I’d find and want to actually keep.