ANTIQUE FINDS FOR ENTERTAINING

I often say that one of the many reasons I enjoy antique collecting is that you never know what you will discover.    A few weeks ago, I picked up this wonderful "CLEMATIS COTTAGE" garden tray from England.   It serves as a tray for my Simon Pearce Heartland wine glasses simonpearce.com.

While visiting my favorite antique center last year, I came across this old aluminum dough rising bowl.   I was attracted to this bowl because of its great shape, nice patina, and handles.  This works perfectly for keeping beverages cold for a small party.  

In the past year, I have purchased three dough rising bowls, and this one is by far my favorite.  It has a good weight to it, nice heavy handles, and the shape has an Asian feel with it's straight edge base.

When shopping for a metal dough bowl, beware that they are often displayed with their covers which detract from their great shape as you can see by the two photos above.

This hotel silver creamer has a wonderful patina along with a few dings, and works perfectly for flowers.

I love the look of old rustic containers filled with flowers.

Just like the tarnished hotel silver jug, I really like the look of this small aged pewter dish which serves as a wine coaster.

Last of all, I wanted to share this photo of a mid century David McCobb wine rack with a butcher block top that I display on the floor in our breakfast room.   The leather straps were quite dry and darkened so I cleaned and conditioned them with mink oil.  This wine rack had obviously been stored in a damp basement or garage to have the iron oxidized as it had.  Below is a photo of a David McCobb wine rack of the same age in very good condition.  Here again, I find that I prefer the worn aged look.  

With all the wonderful antique shows and flea markets in the summer months ahead, it is a great time to stock up on vintage and antique items for entertaining.