Le Bon Ton French Fashion Plate & More

I look out my window and what do I see, icy winter scenes. Snow glistening white everywhere. It is a good day to stay snug inside and do a little blogging. Thanks to my hubby and his 4x4 pickup truck we have still been able to get to town and he has let me off at my favorite 2nd hand store. Here are a few goodies for your enjoyment.

 This really caught me by surprise when I saw it on the shelf. It dates from the 1840's and is truly a wonderful example of a French, hand colorized, etching. A French fashion plate, if you will, of exceptional interest. Le Bon Ton was very famous for its fashion plates and magazines for clothing designers and to find an actual original in such good condition is rare. At $4.99 I couldn't get it into my cart fast enough. Since the date was not printed on the paper, I was able to date the piece from the style of fashion and hair the ladies were wearing. This off the shoulder and, not yet large bell shape, as well as the long curls was indicative of the 1840's. This fashion extended into the 1850's, but the skirt became fuller and the sleeves became larger as well.

 This small but lovely Asian porcelain tile wall hanging, was too sweet to pass up. I call it Asian, simply because I couldn't seem to find any sites on the net that would tell clearly what it was. Some said Japanese, painted in Hong Kong, which made me wonder what on earth?! Hong Kong is not in Japan, but China, so why would the Japanese send a tile there to be painted, when they have their own talented artists. I am not familiar enough with either language to know whether the label at the top is Japanese or Chinese?! Maybe someone out there can let me know in the comments?! I just really liked it on sight and thought $8.00 wasn't too bad of a price for such a beautifully rendered piece of art.

The next thing I found were these sweet crewel work birdies. They are so beautifully done and thankfully Helen Miller, the talented stitcher that made them, labeled here work. I knew by looking they were Gold Finches, a lovely little bird we see often in our area, mostly at bird feeders but sometimes ranging the fields as well. Like little drops of summers golden sunlight they always cheer me up.

 You don't know how delighted I was, upon picking up the Gold Finches from the shelf, I found these equally delightful Ruby Crowned Kinglets, by the same artist, underneath them. She is a very talented stitcher and that she chose to make the two exact pairs of my most favorite type of little birds in the world, was just too wonderful for words. Ruby Crowned Kinglets are a rare sight indeed and she has rendered them so well they look like they could fly right off the cloth. Well they did fly right off the shelf and into my cart. They were only $1.99 each, and I thought them worth far more than that. Being a needlewoman of some ability myself, I can truly appreciate the skill and effort Helen took to make these. For her talent I am truly grateful. These will look delightful on my new studio's wall.

Here at the last is a fun little painting, the artist is unknown except for her first name, Julie. Now if that isn't the cutest little pair of Bob Ross like happy tree's, with a little barn, fence, and pasture, I don't know what is?! It even has some little birds flying up in the sky. In my minds eye the farmer is just getting ready to put the sheep into the pasture, or maybe a few cows. It is definitely getting on to summer, so maybe he wants to get another cutting of hay from the field before he puts the livestock in it?! Lovely little painting, well done Julie, whoever you are. Now to find the right mat and frame.