Why I Oughta...

I've posted quite a few times about the various brass 'critters' that I've bought at garage sales, antique malls, estate sales, etc over the years.  The most recent was t his little Fox letter holder from an Estate Sale in Downers Grove .  This weekend I stopped at a few Estate Sales including one in a giant house in Oak Brook.  Amongst that massive amounts of stuff (and the biggest crowd I've ever seen at an Estate Sale), was this giant brass deer.  Laying down, it was at least 3 feet tall including the antlers. I snapped a photo and sent it to Nat.  But, the timing is the thing for us.  We're this/close to having a new place to live where we'll be reunited with our stuff from storage.  We don't quite know where things can go/live and that's a big part of buying something like this, right?  Picturing where it could go in your house? Alas, this one is being filed away in the [ one that got away ] category.  Hopefully another buyer fell in...

A few weekends back I stopped at a few Estate Sales both in Elmhurst and in Downers Grove including one at this really neat house that was built in the early 1910's for some wealthy family as their 'country house' - at least that's what the folks running the sale said.   Here's the property listing of the house that, unfortunately, I'm thinking someone will buy for the land and tear the place down.  Like a lot of older houses, the layout isn't what works for families today, but the land?  My gawd.  Not just a lot of it.  But lots of mature trees, different elevations.  Really, really great. Inside the house, there were lots of treasures, but just one came home with me:  this brass fox 'letter rack'.  Hard to tell from this angle/photo, but between the fox and the fence is a gap that allows you to stand up/hold mail/cards.  Check out t his Etsy listing that has some photos of a similar piece that show how envelopes stand up in there. ...

I spotted this big, brass Elephant up in Wisconsin at the Flea market in Richmond back in February.  This wasn't at the Lake Geneva Antique Mall, which I've posted about previously, but it was at this weird Flea about 2 blocks off of the main drag in Richmond.   We had the kids in the van and I think we were running somewhere, so I didn't have a lot of time in here as I just ran in there myself to check it out and see if it was worth coming back.  Turns out, there are dozens of booths filled with lots of junk (think: tube socks), but some gems if you could look past all the other stuff.  One of them was this big elephant.  If you look closely, you can see the price tag on him:  $35.  So, I passed, but snapped this photo to show Nat when I got back in the car. I posted a companion 'little' brass elephant on the blog back in the summer of 2016 .  Don't they look like a mother/child pair??? Also, there's a whole host of [Flea Market] posts he...

I've posted about all the various brass critters that we've come across and (most of the time) picked up at garage sales, estate sales and antique malls/stores.  This one, an elephant that is rearing it's trunk up was at the Naperville antique place on Ogden.  Earlier this year, I posted a couple of candle holder brass deer critters here on the blog .  These have always been gifts for my sister-in-law, but at some point, she said that she had *enough* critters, but now that she's moved into her big, beautiful house, I think we're back on in terms of getting her more critters.

There isn't a brass critter that we spot at an antique mall or estate sale that doesn't make me pause.  There's someone in our life that has a small menagerie.  This pair of deer with candlestick holders on their backs didn't meet the imaginary threshold for purchase.  Could have been the price or more likely was the very thing that makes them unique - the candlestick holder - that made us pass.  Oh well.  Hopefully, another owner came along and snatched them up and put them in their proper spot in their home.

We have someone in our lives who has shown an affinity for bronze 'critters' (as I call them) and at some point, I think she is going to be sorry that she did.  Why?  Because...everytime we go to a place that has vintage/antique finds, it is hard to not find a little bronze(ish) animal/critter. This guy (a reindeer?  Moose?) is small, so it has that going for it.  In that...it won't take up a lot of room.  He appears to be wearing a saddle, doesn't he?  What kind of animal wears a saddle besides a horse?  I dunno. But...we'll be sharing this little guy on a special occasion like her birthday later this year. This is a lesson for you all reading this:  be careful about sharing your vintage collection with me.  Once I find out you're into *something* old, I'll be watching for it and you'll be stuck with a growing collection.  If you want it or not.