And then we got a rug. ;)

To take a brief respite between two crazy open hours, we fled to Long Island for the night. It's always fun to see my mom's progress on the house (most recent was a beautiful kitchen renovation). For a while, she was flirting with the idea of moving somewhere grander, but it seems like she's committed to staying put. This time, we were greeted by Victorian bamboo side table in the front sitting room (a small piece, but it makes an impact!), and told that an ottoman for the music room/den was on its way.

We had our board interview for our new apartment recently, and it was casually mentioned, in the course of talking about something else, that they have an "80% rug coverage rule" for sound-proofing purposes. Not being much of a rule follower (what are they going to do, send the rug police to our door?), I didn't think much of it, but I could tell it was making Molly a little anxious. On the way to my mom's, we had driven past a rug store with a sale sign in the window (John Khalil Rugs), and we thought it could be fun to check it out.

We headed immediately for the antiques section, and John, was patient and helpful as we poured through rug after rug. We flagged about twenty initial candidates, with the goal of evaluating them again in a second round, narrowing our choices, and then...

Molly and/or mom noticed a sloppy pile of rugs near the center of store, and tugged at the edge of one of them for a better look.  "What are these rugs?" they asked.

"Oh, very special," said John, not missing a beat.

Apparently, these were the rugs that had been flagged for Ralph Lauren to use in their window displays. 

"This is our oldest rug," he said unfolding the rug Molly and Mom had been trying to get a peek at. "Very special."

He unfolded the rug and we were struck with the amazing scene -- mother monkeys swaddling their children, stags, birds, lionesses killing. Throughout the main body of the rug, a swirling of pink vines throughout, a chorus of birds and four anchoring irises at the borders. The colors were rich and inviting -- rosy pink and wine, hints of jade, gold, and cerulean, cream-colored stags jumping against the deep navy background.

"It is all the stages of life," murmured my mom.

"It's beautiful," we all gasped.

"Oh girls," my mom said, "you have to have it for your new apartment!"

And like that, the rug was ours. In a daze, we watched as they rolled it up again, and my mom went to the register with John. When we had recovered movement in our bodies, we threw our arms around my mom and whispered our thanks. As if anything we could say could repay the generosity.

Molly admires our 9 x 12 persian animal rug (circa 1900).

Obsession of the week: Antique etched glassware

It's been slowly building into a full-blown love, my love of etched glassware. The above picture is of one of my first forays, a pair of 1930s etched star pattern brandy glasses. I gave them to Molly to celebrate Christmas and we ended the day sipping some bourbon from them on the sofa.
I fell in love with the glasses and hoped she would like them too. Something about the size (hard to tell from the picture, but they're adorably small) and the stars (that touches on another love of mine, star motifs in Victorian jewelry, but that's another post...), and wonderful texture and visual interest of the etching technique itself.

This week, I've been sifting through Etsy (sadly, one of my favorite downtime activities) and found some lovely etched antique glasses, alcohol-related and otherwise, I would love to add to the collection.

1. 1910s shot glass, advertising Old Continental Whiskey

2. 1920s crystal perfume bottle with botanicals

3. Assorted 1900s crystal glasses in Lily of the Valley pattern

Halloween in Brooklyn

Some images from my walks around Brooklyn.

1. Thirteen pumpkins for good luck on St. Marks Place

2. The Berkeley St. Sphinx guards her pumpkin

3. Echoes of Rocky Horror in Carroll Gardens

4. Bert pumpkin in Brooklyn Heights (with broccoli hair!)

Beautiful botanicals

The beautiful June roses have got me thinking about botanicals. Specifically antique prints. Botanicals have become pretty ubiquitous, I think with good reason. Most people like flowers. And a grouping of botanical prints is pretty and tasteful and pleasing.  Still, I think once you deviate from the pre-packaged fern reproductions form Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware, there is room to paint with a more individualistic, perhaps dramatic hand. And why buy a mass-produced reproduction when there are plenty of antique prints to choose from online? (try Etsy or Ebay for example, for inexpensive prints). I've been really drawn to the combination of pink and mauve and grey recently. Inspite of the little girl connotations of pink, something about this combination elevates it to a very elegant, serene realm. I especially like the botanicals I've been finding with grey backgrounds. Wouldn't this be a lovely grouping?

I love too, the boldness of the tropical flowers. Just look at the amazing plumage and spots of the orchids, the sun-burst architecture of the Passion Flower, and the dark, sensual petals of the Rhodochiton!

I didn't even work particularly hard to find these images; they are all from Antique Print Boutique, an Etsy shop based in Beallsville, MD.

Top row (1 to r):

1. Oncidium Cucullatum Orchid. 1876.  

2.  Passion flower, 1887.

3. Rhododendron, 1876.

Bottom row:

1. Rhodochiton Volubile, 1838.

2. Louise Odier Rose, 1940.