The rarity of antiques: to love or hate the www?

In 1988, when Alhambra Antiques was founded I don't need to tell you that there was only one way to buy antiques...you scouted them either from estates, auctions, or wholesale dealers, bought them and put them in your shop, where people from your area would come looking for them. As a dealer there were options to participate in group antiques shows, often monthly in many cities. There was of course no such thing as the world wide web. The antiques world was/is a world full of gypsies and interesting characters, people addicted to hunting and buying the rare, unusual, or simply under-appreciated.
A few years ago I got the "majolica bug" and began offering majolica in our shop. I also attended one the conventions of the Majolica Society, in Charleston that year. There are less than 10 majolica dealers who exhibit in the US (two of them being English dealers, two being French). For what the convention called "Majolica Heaven" all of these dealers were gathered into a not-so-attractive ballroom in the hotel where the convention was being held. All of a sudden, majolica seemed so common that you might find it at Walmart. The unique colors all blurred into one mixed shade of turquoise green. This was not Majolica Heaven as far as I was concerned, this was Majolica hell. Instead of making each piece look better, the grouping made each piece look worse.
So there is something that I don't understand about shopping for antiques on the internet. 1) antiquing has long been about the experience, the hunt, etc (my all time favorite blog Tongue in Cheek can attest to this) and 2) if you search for things on sites such as 1stdibs, by grouping just about every nice sunburst mirror (for example) in the country on one neat page, doesn't it cheapen the rarity and individuality of the piece?
Just wondering.

It's Container Week Again!

The container filled with all the goodies we purchased on our June trip to Paris has finally arrived! Unfortunately some of our purchases didn't fit in this shipment and will have to wait until the next one but here are some of the treats we have just unloaded. More to come in the next few days. Just leave me a comment if you are interested in anything or keep checking www.alhambraantiques.com for the new additions.

Herbs and Collections

The truth is that I have a thing for herbs. I already wrote about them in my kitchen, but here I am again, filling our store with herbs in little pots. It's quite a task to keep up with watering them everyday since the pots are so small. I just love them. This time I bought sage, dill, basil, and some tomato plants. Perhaps in another life I will learn to cook one day so I can justify growing these. My father thought I was really insane when I bought all these little pots out of a dusty warehouse in Lyon. He saw them and asked what in the world I wanted them for. "Charm, Dad, Charm". They weren't too much money or he probably would have objected. I love how they look all stacked up on shelves, right there, next to my other crazy "charming" purchase of 28 wooden decoy ducks. In fact, now that we are on the subject of all the hard-to-sell but Olga loves-to-buy items I have in the shop, I'll add this other picture of a very French vignette I put together:

Let's begin on the top shelf. We have two small cages which were used to buy live foul at the market. In the middle of the shelf we have two glass globes covering sea shell topiaries, circa 1870. Then more cages. Lastly, a doll that happen to come in a wicker doll carriage that I brought home for Cecilia. I had the interior relined and then Santa delivered it. Did I mention my daughter's room is entirely decorated with antiques? And yes, she does play with them. In fact, she especially loves old books.
Shelf two: a wax doll made by the Carmelite nuns in Avignon, this was under a glass dome that my father broke. They were religious mementos usually taking for instance part of a bride's dress to make the dress for the baby and then given to her as a gift upon the birth or baptism of her child. The baby rests on grape vines which symbolize the blood of Christ at the altar. So it is in essence a dedication of the child to Jesus Christ. A prayer for God to protect this child. Next up a hand forged iron candlestick, a carved sea shell, old locks, and a nice worn bell (something really useful for your home.) Then I have a real bird cage, meaning this one is for a pet bird, as opposed to the others which were for birds anxiously awaiting their fate. A marble mortar (another practical thing for someone like me who doesn't cook), with an iron pig coming out of it which has a scraper for your shoes on his back.
Shelf three: the second of two blackforest planters, an iron cigale or cicada which is the official "bird" of southern France, a wooden basket filled with collected pieces of Italian giltwood ornaments, a pair of apothecary jars, a mercury candlestick, and last but not least a terracotta gnome that came from a rooftop. Don't you just love his furly beard and pointy hat?

Mercury's Wings

This Carrara marble Mercury was one of my favorite purchases from our last trip. He's already flown away to a new home on La Gorce Island in Miami Beach. The shadows in this photo showoff how well sculpted he was. I should have kept him. Alas, we antique dealers can't keep everything we love, though I would have liked to have had him for more than one day.

Galloping Through the Weekend

Alas, Friday is here and I can relax before "container week" begins. Our shipment should be here either Tuesday or Wednesday. The French love to pack everything in hay which makes a real mess and gives me allergies but it also feels like Christmas when I get to unpack all the treasures we purchased in Europe. I have a thing for toy horses. And old books. This is also from Chantal and Jean Claude's house outside Isle (see previous post of their kitchen.) This photo completely embodies the concepts from one of my favorite books The New Eighteenth Century Style.

A Parisian Antique Shop

Unfortunately, the owner of this quaint little store in the Marais section of Paris recently told us he is going to have to close due the decline of the quartier. It is pricey but I love going there because he is just so good at the mise-en-scene.

Provencal Ambiance

I recently set this up for the current issue of Veranda magazine and it is now our home page picture on our 1stdibs site as well. It is full of all the little things I love to buy when I'm in Provence...fresh lavender, antique linens, religious statues, vintage garden things, bird cages...an escargot.