Have you ever misplaced your keys, and you search and search only to come up empty handed, when low and behold, they were in front of you the entire time?

I felt like that yesterday.  Like most, I’m always looking for the next bargain.   I’m always thinking, I should be hitting all the flea markets at 5am, finding out what are the new merchandise days at the thrifts, and scouring the online auction listings at the small houses because stuff slips through the cracks.

Those are the obvious, yet not so obvious places to find great stuff.  I think the hunt for those elusive items is what keeps us so excited about this business. You just never know what you will find, and where.

So yesterday I am out with my friend for lunch when she suggests we head over to this antique mall in town that I had not yet gone to.  I had heard it was nicer than some of the others in town, but it was having trouble filling all the booth space.  When I hear nicer, I immediately think, “overpriced”.

But who am I to turn down a request by a friend to look at antiques?

We walked through the door and immediately there was a display of fine art glass. My kind of stuff, but eek…the price tags were for the year 2050.  Do people really want to sell their wares, or are they just for our viewing pleasure?

There was a great array of fine porcelain and my friend bought a beautiful Victorian rattle for her daughter.

While we were walking around I spotted a modern item in one of the booths that I know is going to haunt me. You know what I mean by haunt…you leave without it, and you think about it, over and over. (Which means I’ll be going back and buying it this weekend)!

I would be perfect for my new book on decorating with antiques.  It’s not antique though.  Which leads me to another pet peeve; antique stores/malls that carry new items.  Why do you do this?  What is it you don’t understand about the word “antique”.  Mind you, vintage is acceptable, but new?

Ok so why am I thinking about this item?  Because it was cool. It was a centerpiece for a large hall table or dining room table. It had a square base with a large round sculpture on top. It was made of wood branches and shaped into a sphere.  Price: $395.00 which means I could possibly get it for $350.00

Secondly, I found the coolest modernism pendant.  A large, round black disk with a single thick silver vertical stripe going up and down the center.   The tag said Miriam Haskell. I don’t think that is who made it, but it was cool. Priced at $200.00

Finally, there was a pair of small white birdcages, probably Victorian era, priced at $45 ea.   I hadn’t talked about my obsession with birdcages just yet, but in my upcoming videos on picking, you’ll see one I recently saw at the Urban Market that caught my attention.  A white two story Victorian era cage, arched top, wooden, with disco balls hanging from the center.  I’m not a big fan of disco, but I have to admit, that would make quite the conversation piece for a room.  I’ve thought about it ever since.

I’m not sure what I would do with those pair I saw at the antique mall either. Perhaps I am thinking about a new collection!

Love at first sight. Have you ever “felt” that way about a potential Steiff addition to your collection?  Well, Steiffgal did recently, when she came across – and ended up buying – this remarkable turn of last century felt Steiff girl doll.  Check out Steiffgal’s latest button-in-ear find and the interesting history and details behind this rare and unusual piece!

Steiffgal saw this darling blue eyed beauty recently listed on eBay and knew right away this doll belonged in her collection. This tiny treasure is 22 cm, made from flesh colored felt, and is five ways jointed. She is firmly stuffed with excelsior.  Her feet are very simple, but her hands have distinctive fingers and thumbs.  Her belly has a seam down the middle which has been carefully sewn up by hand.  The doll’s face has the traditional center seam, peachy cheeks, a happy red mouth, and very detailed ears.  She has very short mohair hair and a tiny (4 mm) Steiff button in her left ear, pictured here on the left.  She sports a cheerful orange flannel dress; a thin cotton slip; a red, white, blue, black, and green apron; and a cream, pink, magenta, and green ribbon trimmed bonnet.

22 cm Steiff felt “child-like” dolls are a really unusual size and very few variations were made; the more typical size for this product line was 28 cm. The smallest felt dolls Steiff made pre-war were 20 cm, but these were character dolls and even rarer than the 22 cm dolls under discussion here.  From 1917 through 1919, Steiff made three models of 22 cm boys and ten models of 22 cm girls.  They were differentiated by their clothing and footwear styles.  Each of these dolls had charming, well constructed matching clothing made from high end materials, including felt, velvet, calicos, wool, and embroidered muslin.  Most of the 22 cm dolls all had hats, which exactly matched the fabric or theme of their outfits.  They were also detailed with stockings and hand-made felt or leather shoes.

This felt girl is a lovely doll but it is very hard to tell which exact catalog model doll she represents. Steiffgal is certain that she is not wearing “officially made” Steiff clothes.  Her outfit is extremely well constructed but it is a bit more “peasant looking” and not nearly as color and pattern coordinated enough as the those that appeared on these dolls as they left the factory over 90 years ago.  This outfit was most likely made for this doll by a talented seamstress using leftover fabrics and materials from another home sewing project.

Besides her great looks and charming personality, one of the things that makes this doll so special is that she has a documented provenance. She comes from the estate Wildred and Oma Mangold, who died 2008 at the age of 90+.  The Mangolds lived in Armstrong, Iowa. Oma was a school teacher.  She married Wildred in 1941 and together they ran the local grocery store in Armstrong for many years. The Mangolds did not have children but were instrumental in establishing the local library where Oma served as president of the board. Wilfred collected clocks and Oma collected dolls. Oma’s collection included many foreign “souvenir” type dolls but also a Lenci, Kathe Kruse, this charming Steiff doll, and other china and bisque dolls.  Steiffgal has decided to name her Oma (which means “Granny” in German) in honor of her original owner.  Coincidentally, Steiffgal also had a Grandmother named Oma.


Readers, as always, you are all dolls for reading this post to the end. Steiffgal hopes that you have found Oma’s story and history as charming as she is.

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let’s talk! Click here to learn more.

Show promoters Tracy Dodge and Steve Lipman of The Yellow Garage Antiques of Mullica Hill, New Jersey announced that the forth annual JUNE FESTIVAL OF ANTIQUES has been scheduled for Saturday, June 12th, 2010. Tracy and Steve have owned and operated a thirty-five dealer antique marketplace for the last 14 years. Three years ago the married couple started The June Festival to help promote their shop. “We have show quality merchandise in our shop all year long. The idea of a show at the fairgrounds, which is only one mile away, seemed like an ideal way to bring people here that may normally only buy at shows” stated Lipman.”It is definitely working. We have gained more national recognition for the shop as an antiques destination and the day of the show is always one of our best. The town is inandated with serious antique buyers from throughout the region.”

This year’s show will feature 55 quality dealers under the cover of three pavilions and about 50 more dealers set-up on the lawn areas of the Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds. The popular event is known for having a great selection of quality antiques ranging from country to formal, large and small. Categories will include country Americana such as samplers, quilts, baskets, folkart, items in original and old painted surfaces, furniture, decoys, redware and stoneware; also fine jewelry, linens and other textiles, ephemera including postcards, formal 18th, 19th, and 20th Century furniture and accesories, lighting, garden accesories, fine glass and ceramics, art pottery, fine art, historical Americana, and much more. In the first three years the show has drawn dealers from all over the East and crowds of fifteen hundred or more.

Headliners for this year’s show include Boggs Boynton of Clarksboro, NJ, Granthum 1762 of Denton, MD, Mark Witus of Gladstone, NJ, Linda Grier of Langhorn, PA, Herman Woolfrey III of West Chester, PA, Sport and Spool of Goldsboro, NC, Country Antiques Two of Mullica Hill, NJ, Ayscough’s Antiques of Chadds Ford, PA, Port Republic Decoys of Port Republic, NJ, and Primarily Primitives of New Hope, PA, to name a few.

The June Festival of Antiques is held once a year at the Gloucester County 4-H fairgrounds which is one mile south of the Historic District of Mullica Hill, NJ on state highway 77. There is ample free parking. Excellent food and drinks from Fat Jack’s BBQ of Washington Twsp. will be available all day during the show hours of 9am-4pm. The show is rain or shine. A portion of the proceeds benefits The Harrison Township Historic Society. Admission is $6 discounted to $5 if an ad or show card is presented.

Information and photos of past shows is available at www.yellowgarageantiques.com or contact The Yellow Garage Antiques at 856-478-0300.

We are delighted to present our Spring Auction which is loaded with some wonderful property from various Fine Estates and Private Collections. The highlights include the largest collection of works by Yaacov Agam to come to market in many years, over eighty lots of contemporary studio and Murano art glass, a good collection of early Chinese blue and white porcelains and other Asian decorations, a very fine group of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary prints and paintings, over one hundred pieces of 14th to 17th Century Southeast Asian ceramics, and of special interest are over 50 finished needlepoint pillows and over 450 painted original canvases, plus tons of needlepoint wool, from an old friend and colleague, Louis J. Gartner Jr. For more information, please see our website: http://www.ruggiero-associates.com/goodstuffsells.html

All in all, a huge sale with lots of “Great Stuff” we hope you will enjoy!

With kind regards,
Bob Ruggiero

Preview: June6th – June10th

Auction: June 12th & 13th  11:00am

Fine Jewelry: June 14th

St. Louis

Themed auction including both figurative and abstract art influenced by blues, jazz and improvisation.

June 24th 2:00pm  New York

The sale includes works executed from the mid-15th century up to the 20th century

Bidding continues until June 9th, 2010

Opening Reception June 5th, 2010  2 – 6pm

Auction June 9th, 2010  2pm

New York

Discovery- June 18th, 10am

Great Estates- June 19th, 12pm

Preview- June 12th – 17th, 12 – 5pm, Doors open June 18th 8am & June 19th 9am

Lambertville, NJ