The Winner is...and Sharing My Lastest Second Hand Store Finds

First things first, I want to thank Vickie over at 2bagsfull for hosting this event. My number of followers has tripled. I like to hope that I will always have more followers than entries into my blog and now I have enough to last me, at the rate I post, well over 2 years. Thank you all for deciding to follow me. I hope you will not be disappointed in my output. I responded to many of you by going to your blog over the last couple of weeks. Life is very busy right now that when I have time to myself, it is creating something not reading things on line. Please keep commenting and don't feel like I am slighting you by not responding I enjoy reading everything you have to say.

Now for the second item. Random.org has spoken. There were 108 entries and the winner is ... Lynn Cockrell. I will try to contact you, but if for some reason I can not. please email me at jeanga6@gmail.com. I need an address so that your scissors will no longer be naked! 

Through the Grow Your Blog event, I have made the acquaintance of wonderful people who have blogs all over the world. One particularly I am getting the greatest hoot out of reading is the blog from Second Hand Rose.

I love the idea of photographing things in a second hand store. One has to wonder why someone bought some of this stuff the first time let along buying it a second. I could do the same in France. It is the same trash only different in some ways.

 

Last week I had visitors staying with me who wanted to visit one of the stores. Sometimes it is an expensive visit for me, sometimes not. This was an expensive visit. I always head for the room with the old linens, jewelry and funky clothing. Once again I passed up buying the 2 weasels biting each other's tail that is supposed to be worn as a scarf. No picture, sorry, I forgot. One day, one day, I will buy one, just not that day. There is a different one every visit. I think every French family must have one in their attic. What I did spend my Euros on instead was lace bits and vintage rayon ribbon:

 

A beautiful window curtain (bottom) and bed cover(top):

 

The bed cover has a little damage, but it was too pretty to pass and not buy. I had a hard time opening it since it was so musty smelling. I could see the dust rise from it as it was unfolded.  Even the sales lady had a problem when she unfolded it later. A trip in the washing machine and now it is shades lighter and so much better smelling.

In the front room I found a small Limoges trinket box:

 

Limoges as you might know gets the Limoges stamp from the name of the town it is produced not from a particular manufacturer. Just like Champagne having to come from the Champagne region of France, a Limoges item has to come from Limoges.

 

Here is a link to a website where there is a list many of the manufactures and what the stamp looked like from each company with years the stamps were used. I have been through all of the pages looking for my stamp and it is not there.

 

There is one that is close and it fits to what I would expect. The maker may be Louis Constant, Here is his stamp:

I have no signature on my box, but the Limoges France stamp is identical. If it is Louis Constant, I have no further information on him. He was a Décorateur. I could find no years of when his company operated.
 
My box is not of high quality, by any stretch, and was incredibility dirty.  I suppose it was mass produced in some way, although I have a hard time thinking that this church sold that many of them. I fell for the painting on the lid. It is a drawing of the Notre Dame Church in Melun France. It says so on the side of the box:

I have been to this church and this town. I am sure it was sold just like the metal religious trinkets I buy and use for my many sewing projects by the church by its little shop, normally located in a corner inside the church. Since it is a trinket box, it is going to house my church trinkets and whatever else I might have in trinket form that needs a place to reside.

If anyone finds out further information on this box let me know. I would love to try to date it.  If I were to guess, I would put it around 1950 due to the attic storage it must have gone through (aged dirt on it and lack of ease in dirt removal). One never knows. I have never seen boxes like these sold at any of the churches I have been in since moving here to France.

Thanks again for reading and if you are, following my blog.

This week I am linking with We Call it Junkin'