Swedish Empire Neoclassic Mirror

I purchased a mirror today--to add to my mirror collection... and post purchase, thought I'd do a bit of research on my new treasure.

The mirror is Empire, which can be confused with Biedermeier as they're both very neoclassic. Empire basically started under Napoleon, and influenced styles across Europe and the U.S. in the early 1800's.  I was going to write up an article on the origins of Empire, but thought that this website did a nice job:  Rupert Cavendish --check it out after you read my blog, of course!

Usually when you think (French) Empire, you think of furniture that can sometimes be over the top with all kinds of gilding and ormolu.   Some examples I found on the internet that aren't too far over the top, and ones I like:

This mirror sold for $200 in 2010.  The mirror itself was replaced, hence the bargain price. (where was I? Wow!)
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7042509

This is one at Sothebys,

This one is Italian.  See how varied these are in origin?  Don't you love everything in the picture!
Sothebys.com

Here's one at Christies.

Sold for $454 in 2007
Christies.com

All of the ones above have gilt ormolu on them.  It's a feature in my limited world that always makes me think French or Italian.

Christies had another one I really liked.  The mirror was really plain, a square.  I love the cherub wrestling with the lion.

Lion and Cherub! $1,593 in 2009. Christies.com
OK, so again, they're really expensive.  CHEAP compared to trumeau's though!
You can get nice examples for $200-$600.

Nick Brock at Ist Dibs has a mirror, fabulous.  He attributes it to French Empire.

This fabulous beauty can be yours for $4,850.  The swan is amazing!

There is a trumeau mirror on Ist Dibs that I thought was worth looking at because of the gilt carved cartouche on it.  It is a beautiful basket.

French Empire, circa 1815,  $8,500

I love trumeau mirrors, except you need a giant space and a wagon to haul your wallet for them.   The Empire mirrors I am talking about are not the giant Pier Mirrors, they are about 45"-48" tall, and 20"-22" wide.  The Swedish Empire looks more like the plain American Empire, except it has a carved wood cartouche above the mirror.  It's a mini trumeau mirror, in a natural wood finish.

The antique dealer that sold me my mirror said it was Swedish in origin.  I was baffled, thinking how did he know?   After digging around, there's more than Swedish painted furniture...he's right!

I did a search for Swedish mirrors at live auctioneers,and here is one that is quite lovely.  Quite a bargain at $400.  Notice the simple lines with the very ornate carving over the mirror.

Identified as a Swedish Empire on Live Auctioneers.  Sold for $400 in May 2011.

Bonhams had an interesting mirror.  There was a label on the back that had P.G Bylanders, Spegelfabrik..., Gotheborg.  

In a 2004 catalog, auction estimate $1,500-$2,000.

The style is closer to mine, but it has side pillars more typical of the French Empire.  This one was identified as Northern European.

Sold for $900 in 2005 on LiveAuctioneers

The mirror below on LiveAuctioneers  is very much like the top of mine.  I really like this one!

Sold for $1700 in 2004.  Prices seem to have softened alot since then, but really fabulous mirrors are still high.
What else is new?

A third one, but is much larger: http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/531658

Sold for $525 in 2004

Most of the mirrors are 48" long by 21" wide.  The one above is 77" x 32", but I thought it was interesting in that it didn't have the ormolu, it's wood carving.  I'm suspecting that all these without ormolu may be "northern european"?

The one below has a cornucopia and wheat on it.  http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/9125778

Sold for a bargain price of $250 in 2011

So now you've seen similar styles to what I purchased. My find is below:

(I have to giggle every time I see my reflection in a mirror for a web photo.  I am reminded of the picture of a half dressed woman taking a picture of an item she's listing on ebay.  It was scary!)

The wood carving is of pomegranate branches.  The Romans thought the pomegranate signified marriage and fertility, and brides would wear pomegranate-twig wreaths.  

The wood carving on it:

Now that I have it home, I'm looking at it...and wondering...  is the wood carving upsidedown?

I think that Empire furniture is a good buy right now.  I am amazed at what pieces from the 1810's-1840's goes for.  Sometimes its cheaper than Victorian, and often cheaper than new mirrors.  I'm not so wild about American Empire, I think it tends to be more clunky.  Most of the mirrors above were 48" x 21", a narrow size, but not completely overpowering in a room.

However I do like the cleaner, plain lines that Empire often has.  I was in St. Louis, and fell in love with a mirror at Clark Graves Antiques.  I particularly liked this one:

I was only in St. Louis for a few days, and ran out of time.  I missed this one.

It was my first introduction to Biedermeier.  The 3 mirrors above are Biedermeier.  I'm not sure what the difference between Biedermeier and Empire are--other than the wood color is lighter on Biedermeier.  The mirror I missed out on had oromolu, not carving.  I thought I'd share them here if you are considering this style of mirror.

So what do you think?  Is my carving upside down?   Would you consider owning a piece of Empire? Which was your favorite mirror in the article?   See my article on an Empire Dressing Table, to look at other empire pieces.

I'm obsessed with antique mirrors.   I have a "collection" which I wrote about here, you might enjoy reading.  In the mean time, I'll fuss with where my new mirror will go.  OK, it's not empire, but I'm thinking over a Georgian chest.  Oops, that's sitting in the garage.  That was last weekend's antique fix!


UPDATE:   We turned cartouche "right-side-up"!

Oktoberfest and Nutcrackers

Hello everyone!  I'm Simone's daughter and I am doing a guest post as she is traveling again.  

As you may or may not know, the official Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany kicked off last week and lasts until October 3.  Now, you may be thinking, shouldn't the Oktoberfest occur in October and not September? Well, yes. The official first Oktoberfest began in October 1810 to celebrate the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig I to his new princess.  The Germans enjoyed celebrating the marriage so much they're still celebrating.  However, to take advantage of the nicer September weather, it was moved up to start in September and end in October.  The wedding celebration also coincided with an older celebration of drinking the previous years' beer before it went bad.  Hence, all the beer drinking.

Since I'm not in Germany, to me the Oktoberfest is a wonderful excuse to display my nutcrackers. (Ok, who am I kidding, they're up all year round...)

Personal photo- this is actually a smoker, not a nutcracker, but it said Oktoberfest on it.

Nutcrackers

The traditional wooden nutcracker dressed as soldiers and kings that are everywhere during the holidays did not start appearing until between 1800-1830 in Southern Germany in the Erzgebirge region.  

Personal Photo- a Steinbach nutcracker dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing

Antique wooden nutcrackers from that era are difficult to find as people actually used them to crack nuts instead of to display on shelves. As a result, they would eventually break from use and get thrown into the fire.  All of my nutcrackers are new.  If I ever found an antique wooden one I would buy it right up, broken or not! 

Personal Photo- another Steinbach nutcracker dressed as a wine maker

Nutcrackers used as Christmas decorations didn't begin until the Victorian era when children would receive miniature versions in their stockings.  Then of course, Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" ballet played during Christmas only enhanced their image as a Christmas symbol.

Personal Photo

I leave these nutcrackers up all year long, I just don't display them front and center.  Before Tchaikovsky and the Victorians, nutcrackers were left up all year long, so I am merely following an older tradition!   During the holidays I move them to a more central location and then add my Santa nutcrackers in as well. I'll have to post the Santa nutcrackers later as they are very cute!

Today there are two main German nutcracker makers... Christian Steinbach and Christian Ulbricht.  All of the German nutcrackers are handmade.  During the holidays you can buy nutcrackers at many stores, but they are made in China and are not high quality.  Plus, they just aren't as cute.

There is a nutcracker museum located in Leavenworth, Washington.  Leavenworth is this picturesque little village in Northern Washington located in the Cascade Mountains.  It is called the "Little Germany" because it looks like a little German village nestled in the Alps.

Photo from Wikipedia.  Click on photo for link to official Leavenworth website.

It is a cute little town to visit if you ever find yourself up in the Northwest corner of the U.S.

Hopefully that encourages you to display your nutcrackers at other times other than Christmas. The holiday nutcrackers will be posted in the holidays. I hope you enjoyed the little history lesson too!!
Thanks to my mother for letting me guest post!

Baltimore Antique Show - Ending Summer With Fun

There has been much going on this summer, but I've always wanted to attend the Baltimore Antique Show.  This show was hampered by the hurricane.  People were worried that the show, held in the basement next to the harbor, would flood.    It didn't, but they did have an earthquake during setup.   My California friends paused a moment, and then continued working.  About 20 minutes later, the building was evacuated.   You can tell the east coast doesn't know how to handle earthquakes.  ( #1 Rule:  DO NOT stand on the sidewalk outside brick skyscrapers.  Those bricks can come down and kill you....)

This is the first time I've been to the Baltimore show.   I've been to Miami, Philadelphia and my husband has been to Brimfield, but I tend to stay on the West Coast.    The Left Coast is the best coast--for hiking, weather, etc (or life, as my daughter says)--but go to the Right Coast for antiques!

I intended to take alot of photos, but wound up not thinking about my camera or blogging.    The show opened at 11 AM, and I didn't complete the first "walkaround" until 3 PM.     That's unusual for me, and I can usually blow through a show in 2 hours.

On to what you want to see--pictures.  I don't collect French faience, Quimper, but thought that it has a nice look.  Given that I collect early transferware, it seems like a nice collecting category to pursue.  So I'll think about what it is that would work for me in a collection.  I like to look for unusual items in a collecting category, but ALL of these pieces seem unusual.

A wall of Faience

The next thing I thought was something I could use was the wooden plaque below.   There were a pair of them. They were either European or Mexico.

Part of the Baltimore Show is a book show.  I've never sought out an antique book show, but I was delighted to have stumbled into such a wonderful show.  When we were first married, all I bought at estate sales were books.  Who could afford expensive (ha) antiques every weekend, but a $20 bill would buy me a stack of wonderful old bindings "decorator books by the yard".   I still can't pass up a nice book, however, instead of $2, it's more like $20-$60.

I took the business card of this dealer, I'll add his name when I find it...

Don't you just love all the wonderful bindings?  They are works of art.   Books add interest to a room.  I've got them stacked everywhere.  I am always amazed at how many estate sales didn't have a single book in it.  How sad not to have that dimension in your life.

Wow!  Check out these really old books.  Homer Iliad from 1664 in Greek for $1250?  Really, I can own something that old?

Check out all these wonderful books, many for $200.  Wouldn't you rather own one of these than an I-phone?
(I would, and I don't have an I-phone)

 I'm thinking about all the books that I see in the upscale shops like restoration hardware.  You see books wrapped in plain vellum.  Now I get what they were trying to copy.  I'd rather save my pennies, and buy one of these!

Owning books that are hundreds of years old is like owning art--literally.  This was quite an education

Of course the French Prayer Books with the embroidered tops were something I'd like to prop on the edge of my bookcase!

This was a German table from the 1700's.  Being German, I  think I should consider owning something like this.
Oh wait, I have one like this!

This English Penwork table has my name all over it.  Never go to an antique show without a mini-van....
That's my new motto.  Shipping this to the west coast would probably cost as much as the table.

This was like visiting a museum.  Many fabulous pieces, so over the top to own.  Can you imagine the size of room you'd need to hold this massive desk?  I think this was MS Rau from New Orleans.

My husband really liked this lamp.  It was very cool, you can't really see the molded glass that is a cameo like effect of a head.  I think he liked it because it was for holding the dealer's business cards, not for sale. hee hee.

One fabulous booth loaded with beautiful English antiques.  Close your eyes and point, you'll take something fabulous home!

I wish I'd thought about the blog and taken more photos.  This booth was soo wonderful.  They had many intriguing flags and I didn't even photograph the wonderful ones!

OMG!  You know how much I love needlepoint!   This was WONDERFUL!   I want this!   My husband said I couldn't have it because you can't sit on a piece like this, it would probably tear the needlepoint.  Sigh.  Someday....

The mosaic box was something that even caught my husband's eye.  The dealer wasn't in the booth.  I circled back later--his favorite box was from the 1700's, and was $24,000!   Oops, not going home with it  unless we win the lottery!  See what I mean about feeling like you are in a museum?

Isn't this painting charming?  It was $475.   I thought I would come back for that, but we ran out of time, had a flight to catch, and I forgot where this dealer was.  So a big hint for "possibilities"--write down the row of the dealer.  There must have been 50 rows of dealers.  500-700 booths?

The two pictures above are Antique Legacy, my friends from California.  They are the nicest people and OMG you wouldn't believe the fantastic clock that they sold.  I'll see if I can get a photo for you.

The two silk needlework pictures were a purchase.  However they never made it out west with me.  My daughter in St. Louis has them.   They'll stay there til next spring when I pick them up.

There were a couple of other purchases, but I wanted to share with you some of the fun of seeing the show.  Next year's advice:   Plan on two days to do the show.  Take an empty suitcase of bubble wrap so you can take a suitcase home on the plane with your treasures.

Since I've been home, I've been wandering through listings on Ebay.  I found another wonderful platter in mulberry transferware.  I'm working on a wall of platters in my bedroom.


It's great to get an antique fix without spending all day on an airplane too!

Just in Time For School: Alphabet Sampler

 I've seen posts from all my friends about school starting.  It made me think about my Biedermeier framed needlepoint alphabet sampler. I'm not sure what this item fall into:  My screen collection, or sampler collection.  I think I have about 7 firescreens. 

The world has certainly changed since this wonderful sampler was made!  Young girls would practice the discipline of stitching and have a wonderful accomplishment to show for it.   My nieces are masters with their hands too--texting in shorthand, lol....  I wish they'd have a sampler to show for their summer's work....

I love the pastoral scene underneath the sampler. It is done in needlepoint, with a handpainted face on the shepherd.  It is considered Berlinwork.

Currently, the screen lives in the uncluttered study.  How uncharacteristic of me!

I'm off to Baltimore for some shopping therapy at an antique show, then swinging by St. Louis to visit my daughter.    I am looking forward to it, minus the flight across the country.  Have a great week!