Vintage Desecration - Things Altered/Repurposed, and a Vintage Treasure Lost Forever.

[Miss 1929]

But she probably got it from Elsie DeWolfe, who painted her woodwork white in the late 1800s and was very avante-garde!

Also she was the original blue-haired old lady, with poodles dyed to match, in the 20s.

She was also a vegetarian and a yogi, pretty hip for an old dame.

 

[Avalon]

I like "shabby chic" when it's done with bits and scraps of modern things, not priceless treasures. The idea of turning a beautiful piece of vintage furniture (or anything for that matter) into a crackly chintzy mess just hurts. :eusa_doh:

 

[dhermann1]

Shabby Chic is OK, if you have a nice little summer cottage near the water, that has old stuff accumulated over the years, that was ORIGINALLY painted. When that old paint cracks and peels, it can be picturesque and charming. But not when it's artificially put on. Same with "distressed" furniture. It's just pseudo phoney oldness. Yuck.
The thing about painting interior woodwork, is that old interiors were often dismally dark, with dark feudal oak trim, dark wall paper, and low wattage light bulbs. Can't blame people for finding that a bit depressing. What I don't mind seeing is maybe some of the trim painted white, but some left original, to set it off. A compromise.

 

[Avalon]

Shabby Chic is OK <snip> But not when it's artificially put on. Same with "distressed" furniture. It's just pseudo phoney oldness. Yuck.

Aww, sometimes I like the phony oldness. If it's a tea tray or other little bauble.

 

[Feraud]

Don't let the phony oldness get out of hand and we won't have a problem..

 

[Avalon]

Don't let the phony oldness get out of hand and we won't have a problem..

Yes sir! lol Putting away the crackle varnish!

 

[Forgotten Man]

Shabby Chic is OK, if you have a nice little summer cottage near the water, that has old stuff accumulated over the years, that was ORIGINALLY painted. When that old paint cracks and peels, it can be picturesque and charming. But not when it's artificially put on. Same with "distressed" furniture. It's just pseudo phoney oldness. Yuck.

Agreed. That I can handle.

 

[Lauren]

I like shabby chic if done tastefully. I don't like it when they take the old furniture and sand it and paint it and crackle it- but when REAL old furniture looks like that- it's awesome. I love how old furniture that's been painted has so many obvious past lives- I love it when bolts are so painted over they're one piece with the furniture. I like how shabby chic people appreciate old "junk" even if it's somewhat falling apart, rusty, or close to disintegrating. I don't like the new things made to look like old things so much.
I like to go to this sale out in North County- they have it once a month, but I only go a few times a year. It's shabby chic, but most is authentic vintage. Every once in a while they'll have a piece of furniture that makes me shudder, but for the most part it's pretty good. I have no qualms on someone taking 60s and later "victorian" furniture and shabby chicing it. Anything is an improvement on that- in my opinion. lol

 

[Avalon]

I like shabby chic if done tastefully. <snip> I have no qualms on someone taking 60s and later "victorian" furniture and shabby chicing it. Anything is an improvement on that- in my opinion. lol

Exactly! :eusa_clap

 

[Feraud]

I like shabby chic if done tastefully. I don't like it when they take the old furniture and sand it and paint it and crackle it- but when REAL old furniture looks like that- it's awesome. I love how old furniture that's been painted has so many obvious past lives- I love it when bolts are so painted over they're one piece with the furniture. I like how shabby chic people appreciate old "junk" even if it's somewhat falling apart, rusty, or close to disintegrating. I don't like the new things made to look like old things so much.
I like to go to this sale out in North County- they have it once a month, but I only go a few times a year. It's shabby chic, but most is authentic vintage. Every once in a while they'll have a piece of furniture that makes me shudder, but for the most part it's pretty good. I have no qualms on someone taking 60s and later "victorian" furniture and shabby chicing it. Anything is an improvement on that- in my opinion. lol

Very good points Lauren. I guess I should clarify my position and say once they coined the term "shabby chic" as a trend and started selling new, painted over rusted bits of junk and everything oh so floral in K-Mart it was all downhill!

 

[dhermann1]

I was at a flea market in western New york some years ago, where there are some very fine vendors, and a few who purvey total dreck. I saw a guy leaving, yapping happily to his wife. "This has everything I like, it has character . . . . " and yadda yadda yadda. He was lugging an old wooden kitchen chair that someone had cut a large hole (8 inches wide?) in the seat of, painted white, and added all sorts of hunga patchky doodads onto. As tacky as you could ever imagine. Now I don't want to cast any aspersions on the great state of Ohio, but he was obviously from Cleveland. lol

 

[vitanola]

Get me a bucket. I think I'm about to throw up.

I just read in a watch forum which I frequent, that some guy SOLD a solid, 18kt gold antique pocket-watch case...not the watch...the watch-case...

...to have it melted down for scrap.

...Why don't people EVER LEARN!? Once you DO this stuff, you'll NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER get it back!? That's a priceless antique, destroyed forever...He says he still has the movement and the dial of the watch, and hopes to give a 'good home'.

He's going to have a very hard time selling that movement and dial. Nobody wants half a watch!

I think I'm going to be sick...

*Lufflz his pocket watches*

Papa will never hurt you...*strokes*

The last time that gold was high, in 1980, I made friends with a scrapper, who wpuld purchase watches and BASH THE MOVEMENTS OUT with a little hammer. I offered to pay him $15.00 for ever working pocket watch movement, and $5.00 for every non-working movement that I chose, and I further offered to come to his shop and dismantle the watches for him to save him the trouble.

I acquired a couple hundred very good movements in this way, choosing only quality pieces (Illinois Bunn Specials,Ball, Hamilton and Elgin 21 and 23 Jewel movements, American, Waltham, and E. Howard rarities). Owing to my taste at the time, I generally saved only early size 18 and 16 movements, not having gained a proper appreciation for the better work of the 1920's and 1920's.

Over the next few years, it was a simple matter to buy quantities of cheap (seven or nine jewel), broken, size 16 and 18 watches in Coin Silver, German Silver, or (occasionally) gold-filled cases and re-case the good movements. I still carry a lovely early Illinois Bunn Special that I put into a Dueber Alaska Silver case, lo those many years ago.

 

[dhermann1]

Of all materials, gold gets melted down over and over again the most. There is gold in modern ingots that was originally smelted by the Romans and the Egyptians, and looted and melted down over the centuries many times. That is why ancient gold artifacts are the hardest to come by. Damn shame, we humans are such simpletons.

 

[vitanola]

That tie dress is a nightmare.... better hope those were frayed and torn beyond repair!

This reminds me of a time when some fellas at school were asked to build models of a new and "innovative" business establishment. There was this twerp who built a 50's themed cafe with a 78rpm record as a roof. A perfectly good, clean 78 with its label removed and superglued to cardboard walls. I honestly wanted to punch him in the face. Who knows what sweet sounds were engraved on that hapless piece of shellac.

I've been buying 78's by the truckload for thirty years. Out of every thousand records that I purchase, perhaps six or seven are suitable for my collection, another hundred are saleable at a few cents each to folks who want something to play on their Victrola. The rest I give away to local junk dealers, or crush and use on the driveway as binder. No one seems to want many of these, even when they are free.

Post-war 78's are exist in quantities so far greater than any possible demand, at least just now. In another twenty years perhaps, they will begin to be collectible.

 

[vitanola]

Amen brother! Breaking up sets is one of my biggest pet peeves! Vintage/antique furniture dealers do it all the time because it's speeds up the inventory turnover time and it really gets my goat!

How about dealers in chinaware and silver?

I have been looking for a suite of decorated Limoges or Bavarian china in a simple Art Nouveau or Craftsman pattern for some time now. The Arts and Crafts movement coincided with a boom in the home decoration of china. I cannot tell how many sets of home-decorated china that I have seen broken up of late. As these sets were unique, there is no "pattern matching" possible.
Once a set is broken up it simply ceases to exist.

 

[vitanola]

Is it waterfall style with lots of matched veneer?

EEEWWWWW!

Ach, de gustibus non est disputandum.

I should talk.

I actually LIKE American Empire bedroom furniture.

 

[Lauren]

Of all materials, gold gets melted down over and over again the most. There is gold in modern ingots that was originally smelted by the Romans and the Egyptians, and looted and melted down over the centuries many times. That is why ancient gold artifacts are the hardest to come by. Damn shame, we humans are such simpletons.

I found that out the hard way, too. I have my husband's grandmothers ring and the setting is a little high- we thought maybe it was reset later on. We were absolutely scouring for a "orange blossom" style setting from the late 20s to the early 30s and couldn't find ANY except one that had the prongs cut off, so we sent it back. Every jewelry person told us the same- people would remove the stones and melt down the settings. Darn it! I guess they didn't know how popular this style would become.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

I like the cut and fabric of this dress, but would I wear it with all that painting on? Of course not.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I like the cut and fabric of this dress, but would I wear it with all that painting on? Of course not.

I don't like "Lost Soul", but I would wear that if it were a repro. If it's original I wouldn't wear it out of principal.

 

[Miss Sis]

Why someone felt the need to do that to an original piece of vintage, I don't know. They could just as easily repro such a simple style then paint THAT.

I don't like when vintage things are drastically and unreversably altered. I myself have dropped hems, changed buttons etc. I would even, say, shorten sleeves from long to short if the piece had damage that meant it couldn't be worn as is but not just BECAUSE. :rage: