Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Reflections

You can see the reflection of my life as a collector in this beautiful old mirror.

I do not remember where everything we have collected came from, but some pieces have a memorable history.

Let's look at the photo and mirror reflection above.

This is a photo taken in our front foyer (or hall). The lovely mirror is an inheritance piece from my in-laws, and it could have been included in the purchases that my hub's grandfather made in the first years of the 20th century. We still have the invoice, so I will check that out. If that is the case, the mirror is over 100 years old. The mirror was the only piece of inheritance that I personally wanted. Besides being so grand and beautiful, I remember it from my first visit in my in-laws' home. It has always been hung in a hall or hallway.

The rustic two sided bench was a purchase I made when my hub was on a business trip. My small son and I visited a furniture store in Leiden (former home of the Pilgrim Fathers), and we bought a small (but heavy) round wooden coffee table and this bench. For years we have been trying to surmise its original function, but I think it was a bench for a waiting room. We saw some modern ones similar to this in a train station waiting room in The Netherlands last year.

In the reflection, there is a mirror I purchased many years ago from our favorite thrift shop Het Goed in Deventer. (It was my mother-in-law's favorite shop, too.) You never know what you will find there.

You can almost not see the small watercolor painting of a shepherdess with sheep, but that came from the charity shop Het Graalhuis in Zoeterwoude.

Below the thrift shop mirror is a demi-lune table from the family inheritance. It is just "hanging in there" literally on its last leg. The gong and grooming set on top of the table have provenance, and I will write about them at a later date and include a better up close photo.

3 comments:

  1. Je laat mooie dingen zien, prachtig. En de herinneringen maken het extra mooi. Kringloopwinkel Het Goed is er nog steeds, met een aantal "filialen", bv. hier in Zutphen en in Lochem. Lochem is mijn favoriet. groetjes, Gerda

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    1. Oh thanks, Gerda. We will plan to visit the kringloopwinkel in Lochem when we visit Nederland this fall. My husband's family lived in "de Pillink" during WWII, so much of our "mooi" furnishings lived there, too. Maybe I can find some other nice things to add to my collections. Linda

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