Oh I do like to be beside the seaside............

..............and that's exactly where I was this weekend!  The sun came out on Saturday and not wanting to miss this rare occurrence and inspired by the photos of my Roldan dolls in the snow, Mark and I decided to head to the beach to take some more more photos of some more dolls!  I have had these dolls for a long time but didn't know what they were or who they were made by.  They look like Roldan dolls but aren't so that was where the trail ended, I put them away and kind of forgot about them.  Then one day I came across a doll that had very similar characteristics as mine and found out that they were made by a company called Larrea in the 1960s.  They are France's answer to the Spanish Roldan or Klumpe doll.  They aren't quite as detailed as the Roldan's but they are noted for their distinctive features such as their tear drop eyes and lips.  I only have a few and as they have often lost their tags and not as well known as the Roldan dolls, they are hard to find.

I thought that they deserved a photoshoot too and they fitted perfectly with the Brighton beach vibe.  So off we went and spent a lovely day in the sunshine taking photos of these funny dolls!  Hope you like the outcome.

These ballet dancers were taken on the bandstand.  I had wanted to contact the Theatre Royal and see if they would let us take photos on the stage but I was told by Mark that not only was it highly unlikely that they'd let us but how unimpressed would they be when we turn up for our 'photoshoot' with a pair of dolls and an iphone!  I got his point and actually prefer the bandstand as a backdrop (well I didn't have much choice did I?!)

Next is one of my favourites and she's a bit saucy.  Her top is normally half open but in the interests of decency I covered her up.  Only the French would come up with a half naked doll!

These photos were taken further along the promenade near the smoke house and fishing museum which I had never been in until Saturday.

We then went down to Hove to the beach huts to take photos of this little cutie

She looks so at home in front of the beach huts and suits her surroundings brilliantly.  The colours really pop and I am so pleased at how these photos turned out.  I had a vision and I think it worked!

Next saw us at my favourite shop Three Angels to take photos of my final Larrea dolls  I had always felt they had a Parisian air about them even before I knew the were made in France so I thought the French style surroundings of the Three Angels cafe would suit them perfectly.

 I love their outfits and the fact that they have cigarettes, so French and so of the time.

 As well as my Larrea dolls, I took some other curiosities along to photograph as well.  I have never seen anything like them.

They look very similar to the Larrea dolls but look closely and you can see that they don't have legs and there is a silver button type thing.  That's because underneath the cloth is a plastic bottle that you would fill with perfume.  They are perfume atomisers!  Again I think they must be French.

For our final photos of the day we thought we'd try and include the iconic West Pier and my next dolls fitted in perfectly with their surroundings.  They are cloth dolls made into the characters from the artist Brownie Downing illustrations.

Her most successful subject was Aboriginal Australia and she delighted both children and adults with her ability to capture the simple, naive beauty and innocence of children and wildlife.  Her illustrations and watercolours are beautiful and you can find prints quite easily.  She also illustrated children's books and porcelain items.  A search on eBay will probably come up with a few but these dolls are very rare.  I found the lighter haired doll at the same time as my perfume atomisers at Detling antiques fair and luckily the dealer was able to tell me who she thought it was based on.  I then did a bit of research and came across the other 2 on eBay.  I think they are wonderful and so full of character.  I love the boomerang and kangeroo especially.

So there you have it, more dolls!  I think they are great display pieces and whilst they aren't everyone's cup of tea, you can't deny how full of character they are and what great photographic models they make!

Vote now for your favourite Vintage Market!

Pretty Nostalgic magazine are running a competition to find Britain's best markets and
The Vintage Bazaar  has been shortlisted for BEST VINTAGE MARKET.  The Vintage Bazaar is a wonderful fair run by Lizzie aka The Washerwoman and Clare aka Daisy Darling so please help them win by clicking on the link below, voting closes midnight tonight.

A word from The Vintage Bazaar

Please help us win!

Tomorrow is the last day of voting for The Vintage Bazaar in the Pretty Nostalgic awards! Thank you so much if you have taken the time to vote already but we'd really like to have one last push tomorrow.....please could you share the link on your blog/FB/twitter pages and ask friends to vote as well? Thanks so much

http://prettynostalgic.co.uk/markets/

The VB HQ xxx

Look what I've found............

..........a whole load of vintage goodies ready for the upcoming fairs.  Its been a while since I did a post like this but I thought you'd like to see some of the new bits and pieces I've found on my travels.  Its always hard over Christmas to find new things as everywhere is slowing down and getting rid of old stock.  I need to start looking forward to spring when all the new fairs start up again and buy accordingly.  My friend Julia from Gazehound Vintage has just started a blog about getting started in the vintage business and one of the chapters is ideas about where to buy your vintage stock.  It is very well written, informative and well worth a read.  It is called Start Up Vintage and is a great starting point for anyone looking to get into the business.

I tend to buy from the same places as they work for me but I feel I may need to diversify this year as it gets harder to find more unusual items.  Having said that though I have been lucky recently and seem to have been in the right place at the right time.  One of my favourite pieces is this cute little flour shifter.

American flour shifter

  

 The flour sifter is American and someone has obviously gone to the trouble of decorating it with the cute ducks.  I didn't even know you could buy actual flour sifters like this one and when I saw it, I had to buy it.  It probably wouldn't be wise to use it but as a decorative piece its lovely. 

Blue bird cup and saucer

 My next find is this oh so pretty and delicate cup and saucer with gorgeous pink flowers and the sweetest bluebirds.  I had seen a full set on someone's Facebook page and fell in love with it.  It took me ages to hunt it down but I persevered and I ALWAYS have my eyes peeled now just in case I come across anymore. Its my new mission to hunt more down as I think it is quite a hard pattern to find.  Having said that though I did come across a cake plate with a similar pattern and although they aren't made by the same people, they compliment each other really nicely and will make quite a statement on my stall.

Some more china now and this oversized cup and saucer really caught my eye.  I'm not sure if its old but I just loved the subject matter and thought it was a great form of social history.

Adams Cup and saucer - The Farmers Arms

They were made by Adams ( a staffordshire maker I think) and they depict the Farmers Arms, the Farmers Prayer and illustrations of farming implements, a really eye catching set.

Old French wheelbarrow

Old German Wheelbarrow

I seem to have a thing for wheelbarrows at the moment and they keep appearing in front of me when I'm not looking.  The top blue one is French and belonged to an old lady from France who had had it since she was a girl.  The green one is German with an iron wheel and that had been in the family for years too.  Its so nice to find things in their original state and knowing that they are fresh to the market.  Both these will make wonderful display pieces for a garden.

Victorian corner shelf unit

Close up of shelf, you can just see the gold leaf on the top left

 I also found this gorgeous Victorian corner shelf unit that needs a good clean.  It would have originally been black with some sort of gold leaf on it but has been painted pink which I actually like much better.  This was going to be coming with me to the fairs BUT we have decided to decorate the kitchen and this is PERFECT for a spare corner so its staying here.  Only thing is, I need some pretty things to put on the shelves like a painted flour shifter or bluebird cup and saucer, just saying ;)

I found this sweet little puzzle and was rather taken with it.  It comes in its original wooden box with the original booklet and ALL the pieces are there.  I know because I did the puzzle and it took me ages which is a bit worrying seeing as these are for children!

Old ammo box

Bullet boxes for a Mauser bolt

This find is really interesting as we couldn't understand what on earth would have been in the boxes.  I liked it because of the colour and I thought the boxes were interesting although they are empty.  Neither Mark or I speak Russian (funnily enough) so Mark asked his Russian friends on Facebook if they could translate.  It turns out that the boxes hold bullets for a Mauser Bolt and are from 1954.  They are actually quite valuable but only with their contents which thankfully were long gone.  A cool find though.

Pose doll

 A cute Japanese 1960s pose doll looking very fancy in her red outfit.

Victorian Valentine card

This is a Victorian Valentine's card.  The detailing is wonderful and I love the honeycomb features.  Its amazing that its lasted all these years.  So much better than today's offerings.

Art Deco french clock

Selection of fabric boxes

Next we have one of my favorites, an Art Deco French mirrored clock.  These are hard to find without chips so I always try and buy them when I can.  Will add a touch of glamour to any boudoir!  I also managed to find some more fabric boxes including one that still had some wax flower pieces. These would have been used in France in the early 1900s as part of a bride's bouquet.  You can still find tiaras made from the wax flowers and they look beautiful.  Simple but very effective.

1930s lampshades

1930s lampshades

I had some of these lampshades a little while back.  They are prototypes of designs for lampshades from the 1930s and are all hand drawn on vellum paper.  When I bought the original ones, I instantly regretted not buying more.  Luckily the lady is a regular at the market and she kindly kept these aside for me next time I saw her.  Really charming pieces.

Old wooden toys

Some sweet old wooden toys.  I can never resist these and these ones in particular caught my eye especially the old car.  Fantastic graphics and great colour.

Old rustic ladders

Old ladders with great patina and manageable size are always great display pieces and can be used in bathrooms for towels or as a decorative piece to showcase your vintage fabric.

And finally an assortment of bits and pieces including a hand painted canalware bucket and some more pretty china.

Well there you have it, I think my spring collection is coming on nicely.  I just need to make sure that they actually leave the house and don't end up getting stashed somewhere!  That's the problem when you buy what you like, you always want to keep it especially the pieces you know you are unlikely to find again.  At least I'll always have my blog :)