Spaces: Living room built-in

The built-ins in the formal living room hold my daughter's treasures. She started collecting swung vases from estate sales 20 years ago, and I usually give her one or two every Christmas. She also loves Blenko owls and other glass figurals.

Some of my daughter's favorite things

Horns of Plenty

With Thanksgiving almost upon us, here's a look back at the cornucopia, also known as the horn of plenty, which was a popular mid-century design element. While frequently seen as a vase or candy dish made of ceramic or glass, wire and rattan were also popular materials for larger fruit bowls. It was often found in the jewelry box as well, filled with pearls or multi-colored rhinestones.

Blenko cornucopia
1stdibs.com

Wire horn of plenty
chairish.com

Val St. Lambert cornucopia
ebay.com - antiquarianhome

Wire cornucopia
laurelleaffarm.com

Black ceramic cornucopia
etsy.com - PlaceMichel

Vintage pin
weheartvintage.co

Vintage pin
etsy.com - PennyPaperCompany

For a modern twist on an old favorite, I like this succulent-filled cornucopia I saw today on Making Lemonade.

makinglemonadeblog.com

Yes, more Blenko

We may not have received 200 pieces from our consignor, as we initially expected, but we got enough that it has taken several posts to cover it all. These pieces aren't as large as the ones in my last Blenko post, but they're very nice nonetheless.

#434 bookends

#5431 pointed bowl by Wayne Husted

#597 bowl by Wayne Husted

#6630 decanter by Joel Myers

#971 fish by Winslow Anderson

#5710 pitcher by Wayne Husted

#7127 decanter by John Nickerson

#8433L cowboy hat ice bucket by Don Shepherd

Cowboy hat as ice bucket

#594 corner bowl/hanging planter by Wayne Husted

Blenko ashtray - Anyone know the number?
I don't think it's a #966 freeform, because it's polished inside and out.

Blenkonormous

Yes, that's right. More. Just not quite as much as we had initially anticipated. We thought at first that our consignor was going to bring 100-200 pieces, and we had no idea where we were going to put all of it, much less have time to price it and get it on the website, so it was actually a relief to get a fraction of that.

Trust me, though, what this batch of Blenko lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in size. We're talking a 43-inch floor vase, people. That's as tall as an average seven-year-old child...or the average stand-alone washing machine...or George the Great Dane, Guinness record holder for Tallest Dog Ever. (I know this because I googled 43 inches is the average size of what?) Not all the pieces are that tall, but they are impressively large.

Blenko #7235 43" floor vase by John Nickerson

Blenko #7432 38.75" floor vase by John Nickerson

Blenko #5410 16.75" Bird  by Wayne Husted

Blenko #6521 14.5" decanter by Joel Myers

Blenko #5815 genie bottle lamp
We have 3 of these!

Blenko floor vase

Update (4/21/12): Would you believe that the largest floor decanter is actually 46" tall, instead of 43"? I was at home when I wrote this post, and the decanter was at the store, so I looked up the measurement on another website. When I looked it up today in the original Blenko catalog, I found out that all my research about things 43" tall was for naught. So what is 46" tall...besides this ginormous piece of glass?

Blenko...Where to start?

We have more Blenko art glass than we know what to do with. There's no way I can show it to you all at one time, so I'll just dole it out, a few pieces at a time...again, depending on how much we have left at the end of this busy arts festival weekend. Here are close-ups and IDs of the ones pictured in an earlier post.

Blenko #636 decanter by Wayne Husted

Blenko #6424 vase/candleholder by Joel Myers

6422 bottle by Joel Myers

6533 decanter by Joel Myers (with a married stopper, I think)

Vase by John Nickerson,
but I'm not sure of the number. Help, Blenko collectors!

37 decanter was as close as I could come...
but the neck seems too short.
I'm assuming this is a pre-designer piece.

I love Blenko, but I am by no means an expert. Armed with my Leslie Piña books, I identify pieces as best I can, but I'm always appreciative when real Blenko collectors/experts share information with me. If I'm wrong on any of these, please let me know.

Gearing up for a Blenko bonanza

My SIL just picked up a few new pieces of Blenko, shown on the bottom shelf of the photo below. That's just the tip of the iceberg though. Just in time for the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, which starts next Friday, he's made arrangements to bring in anywhere from 100-200 pieces of Blenko on consignment from a local collector.

Being the extreme Blenko lover that I am, I was over the moon when he told me, so not only am I trying to figure out how we're going to display that much glass, I'm also trying to figure out how much of it I can bring home with me.

Stay tuned for the answers to both...

Mostly Blenko...but where will we put 200 more pieces???

Christmas wish list: Etsy

Last week I featured Christmas hints from eBay aimed directly at those near and dear to me who are willing to dig deeply into their savings accounts or IRAs, cash in some insurance policies and/or take out loans to be sure I have a very merry Christmas. :)

This week, I'm adding some Etsy finds...just in case they considered my last list too short.

Blenko decanter by Joey Myers - $195
etsy.com - anothertimeantiques

Russel Wright Eclipse glasses - $275
etsy.com - pardonmyvintage

Scheurich fat lava floor vase - $425
etsy.com - christophermodern

Large 10 1/2" Pollo vase by Tapio Wirkkala - $800
etsy.com - vetiverhome

Jens Risom sofa - $2950
etsy.com - barkingsandsvintage

Hans Wegner hutch - $3990
etsy.com - dejavulongbeach

Got glass?

We definitely do! Lately it seems that everywhere we look there's a great piece of glass that we just can't pass up. Most of what we have at the store is Blenko, but there are a few other pieces by makers such as Bischoff, L. E. Smith and Rainbow. Here are some of the items we've picked up lately.

Blenko decanter #49

Bischoff decanter #591

Blenko pinch ivy vase #39

Blenko pinch ivy vase #39

Bischoff decanter #373

Blenko optic glass vase #9314S

Black and blue

I have a weakness for smalls, and there are a number of them in the store right now that I wish I could find a place for. Although I usually gravitate to oranges and yellows and greens, all the ones currently grabbing my attention happen to be blue and black. And, with the exception of the Wirkkala piece, they are all quite large. Here are some of the new pieces that are my current favorites.

Bottle picture - 22.5" x 19.5"

Blenko decanter - 22"

Murano vase - 16"

Tapio Wirkkala Kingfisher (also called Ice Diver) - 8"L x 4"H

Murano bird - 9"L x 6"H