Hi everyone. We had a couple of great thrift and estate runs the past week or so. I know we’ve said that we’ve been trying to cut down on buying, but it’s difficult to pass up certain things – especially stuff that you’ve been hunting for (LOL please don’t say it- Hoarders).

Thrifting truly is a treasure hunt – I have a mental list of things we’re on the hunt for, both for the shop and for ourselves. Sometimes it takes YEARS to come across things, and other times you’ll come across a treasure just a week after you learn about it. I guess this is part of the allure of thrifting – it’s an endless, unpredictable exciting treasure hunt.

These Rosenthal pieces, designed by Raymond Loewy, are always on my list of things to look for. I was really happy to come across the gravy with spoon – actually, I’m still not 100% sure it’s a gravy, but the only other thing it could be is an open sugar. We also found bread plates and saucers – but no cups. I’m not too worried, because they turn up every so often.

Early this year, I came across an enormous cache of Loewy Rosenthal at a thrift, maybe 60 pieces. I’d thought that I might be able to get it cheaper after it went on sale in a few weeks – but it didn’t even last the day. How do I know? Because I had a change of heart and went back for it later and it was gone. Oops!

We’ve only been dabbling in book buying for a couple months now. It’s still tough to know what to buy, and also the competition needs to learn some manners at estate sales (a personal rant on iphony book buyers at estate sales will be omitted here, but may make an appearance later).

The “Underglaze Decoration” instruction book by Marc Bellaire is something I’ve been trying to thrift for a couple years now. Was happy to come across it discarded in a stack of unrelated magazines. I was seduced by the great looking gold cover on the “Today Is Here” book by Don Blanding – however, I didn’t realize it originally had a dust jacket. But I’m still curious about it regardless because Don Blanding was a well known designer for Vernon Kilns, a California pottery. He specialized in Hawaiian and sea themes – some of his dinnerware is extremely valuable.

I couldn’t believe I came across another piece of Franciscan china from the rare Contours line the other day at a thrift. This one was a smaller pink footed bowl. We’ve been using these pieces as the backdrop for most of our photos – so you’ve probably seen them before. They’re exceedingly rare, because they were produced for only a year or so, and are very fragile. I originally got them to sell, but they’ve been just too useful as set decoration…

These two items are my favorite thrifted pieces from this run. I’d read about Sascha Brastoff’s resin items before, but had never come across them until now. This amber colored, diamond shaped candle holder was sitting on the shelf at an estate sale that I went late to. It’s even signed “Sascha B.” on the bottom – but I guess it didn’t click with the estate organizers. I believe if it was one of his ceramic pieces, it would’ve been gone (or priced much higher).

The modern black ceramic bird is from Jaru Art Products, another California pottery. You may remember the Jaru giraffe we snagged earlier – this bird is from the same company. This one actually had the “price tag” style company sticker that we mentioned that leads many people to overlook Jaru items.

I admit to being a little mystified by this cone shaped creamer. When I first saw it, I got all excited because it sure looked like one of La Gardo Tackett’s designs for Freeman Lederman. Those can be quite valuable (hundreds of dollars), but this one didn’t have any markings on the bottom.

After I got home, I took a better look around – and I haven’t been able to find any exact matches. In addition, it looks a little different than the Freeman Lederman pieces I’ve seen – less elegant. Well, hopefully will find out more about it in a bit. If it’s a newer item – at least it didn’t cost too much at the thrift!

I picked up these vintage card packs at the same estate as the Sascha Brastoff resin piece. The Whitman animal ones are still sealed. The Hallmark double deck is actually a Bridge set – I liked the card back design so I grabbed it even though the condition wasn’t as good.

We think this orange mod lacquer ball thing is a condiment set, but we’re not sure! It was buried deep inside a mess of smelly tupperware. Sometimes you sure have to dig to find goodies… This set is one of the nicest lacquer ware items from Japan that we’ve found. I couldn’t believe it even had the spoon.

I’ve actually been leaving behind Vera Neumann scarves lately, unless they’re striking/unusual, cheap, or in perfect condition. However, I usually pick up any Vera towels or other items I can find. This one features avocados which I thought was pretty cool.

The divided dish is from Rorstrand, and I got all excited at first because I thought it was the “Picknick” line. It turns out this pattern is called “My Garden” – I haven’t been able to find out much about the line. It seems like it might’ve been another one of Marianne Westman‘s designs, but we’re not sure.

Finally, I picked up a whole bunch of little knickknacks – here are a few of them. Buying too many of these little tchotchkes can be dangerous – because it’s sometimes not cost efficient to list all of them up individually. Well, at least they’re small so they don’t take up that much room? (Hoarders, again)

I know the little bird is a Ken Edwards piece, but I’m not sure who made the cups. I thought they looked pretty cool though – will probably try and research them more later. The little Xmas figure is from Denmark by a company called Holline. Will probably list that one during the next holiday season.

OK – this concludes our thrift round up for this week. Hope everyone has a good time treasure hunting at the thrift!

This post is linked up to ATG’s Thrift Share Monday and HLA’s Flea Market Finds.

Did you find something cool at a thrift or flea market lately?
Please leave a comment here if so…