Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Rats, Race horses and Rita
Yesterday we spent the day searching some of our favorite second hand charity shops. Today we visited with a favorite dealer in Stockholm where we purchased a few items and drooled over many more that were out of our price range or off limits. I particularly fell in love with a large metal trunk that had the crest of the king atop it. The person who owned the trunk had worked for the palace so the provenance can be proved...the price, however, could not be produced by humble Klaradal. There were other pieces which, even if in our budget, could not be removed from the country because they dated to the 1700's and were original paint. We also saw a weapon from 1600 that was destined for Bukowski's auction house...the Sotheby's of Sweden.
We were joined by Rita, an Italian woman and shop owner who was shopping for silver plate. The background "music" of today was Rita sifting through box after box of silver plate. At one point in the day I opened a chest to check its condition and acclaimed "oh, it's filled with silver!" If I had said "Rita, Come here!" she couldn't have been at my side any faster! Luckily our tastes were not the same so we each found lots of wonderful pieces for our customers!
When we finished with the silver we all left the shop and headed to the owner's warehouse. I had spent many a rainy day there this summer helping to pack my items for shipment. Today it was very cold, and had apparently been visited by rats. Poison baits had been set and as I was asking the owner about an especially lovely British Equestrian Print I realized that he was not reaching for some distance object but was inspecting the rat trap! It was the best of times...it was the worst of times. I bought the print and I hope the rat bought the farm!
Peter and I left the warehouse about an hour after Rita. We drove directly to another favorite shop that features lots of old linens and silver and...You guessed it...there was Rita...our Italian partner for the day!
We treated ourselves to an hour of tourist time and visited the Nobel Museum in Gamlastan. It's a tiny museum (made tinier by renovation that blocked off a good percentage of the place) but had interesting displays including some that were interactive. We then headed off to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Agaton, where we were seated by a candle lit window and enjoyed a wonderful meal where the background music was just that...music! and not bus boys (or Rita) sorting through silver!
We were joined by Rita, an Italian woman and shop owner who was shopping for silver plate. The background "music" of today was Rita sifting through box after box of silver plate. At one point in the day I opened a chest to check its condition and acclaimed "oh, it's filled with silver!" If I had said "Rita, Come here!" she couldn't have been at my side any faster! Luckily our tastes were not the same so we each found lots of wonderful pieces for our customers!
When we finished with the silver we all left the shop and headed to the owner's warehouse. I had spent many a rainy day there this summer helping to pack my items for shipment. Today it was very cold, and had apparently been visited by rats. Poison baits had been set and as I was asking the owner about an especially lovely British Equestrian Print I realized that he was not reaching for some distance object but was inspecting the rat trap! It was the best of times...it was the worst of times. I bought the print and I hope the rat bought the farm!
Peter and I left the warehouse about an hour after Rita. We drove directly to another favorite shop that features lots of old linens and silver and...You guessed it...there was Rita...our Italian partner for the day!
We treated ourselves to an hour of tourist time and visited the Nobel Museum in Gamlastan. It's a tiny museum (made tinier by renovation that blocked off a good percentage of the place) but had interesting displays including some that were interactive. We then headed off to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Agaton, where we were seated by a candle lit window and enjoyed a wonderful meal where the background music was just that...music! and not bus boys (or Rita) sorting through silver!
Labels: Swedish Antiques
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