Deluge had been forecast over the entire country the day I left the Loire. Lowering skies hung over vines and fields of sunflowers. On the route de Chinon, a straight Napoleonic ribbon of road between Chinon and Loudun, the brocante warehouse I’d visited a couple of years before, was, oh joy, open! A vintage wooden […]
This altar rail and gate was painted a long time ago in a chalky white creamy mushroom. The two runs have been been later fitted with feet and are free standing. They can form two returns or one straight run. Retaining original gate catch. SOLD
Six sturdy French rush seated chairs, later painted greeny grey and waxed. SOLD
I had wanted to visit the abbey at Fontevraud for many years. Five separate monasteries and convents were housed within its walls, receiving the rich and noble alongside the battered, fallen and leprous. It had been decreed that the whole should always be overseen by an Abbess. Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France then Queen […]
Selection of plates, tureens,small dishes and compotes of white Limoges porcelaine. Decorated in delicate pink flower and leaf garlands, with gold leaf. Late nineteenth/early twentieth century. ALL SOLD.
Bedside table, in grey chalk paint with a white trim. Long, slim cabriole legs. Two star cut outs at the sides. Very pretty, very French. SOLD
In a gilt frame, a pastel portrait of an eighteenth century lady with flowers in her hair, holding a flower, with black ribbon choker around her neck. SOLD
Antoinette’s house was in the middle of fields of sunflowers and vines. Down a track, under a walnut tree, through tall metal gates and into a wild garden with barn, apricot tree, hollyhocks and, amongst the flowers and foliage, hidden places with tables and chairs. The tufa stone house was built in the 15th century, […]
A little shabby but nonetheless very lovely French chandelier for rewiring. Six main arms with two minor tiers of droplets, carried on a central metal stem with pressed glass collar. The droplets on the top tier are new replacements. SOLD
With traces of original green paint, but later painted in pale grey and waxed, this large pine writing slope with upstand has plenty of space for storing documents, books and spare pairs of spectacles. SOLD
Mademoiselle Olivier’s tiny leather notebook was embossed with gold leaf scrolls. Mlle. Olivier lived at 7 rue Charles-Emmanuel in Asnieres, just outside Paris, at the turn of the nineteenth century. She always wrote in her notebook in pencil. It carried lists of fabrics and measurements, sometimes little sketches of a bodice or long stockings. She […]
Sometimes life reminds you not to put off for another year the things you always meant to do. Best then that July to add a couple of days onto my trip down to the Vendée to visit some chateaux in the Loire. Better than just the fleeting glimpse when speeding by a tree-lined drive. Arriving […]
One of a variety of medium to large French frontons. Prices from £50 to £120.
Large 18th century/early 19th century fruit wood panelled coffer with candle box. Painted a lovely grey-blue at some point in its history. It has also previously been lined with paper. SOLD. French fronton. One of a selection of medium to large frontons – mostly painted and distressed in blues and greys. Prices vary from around […]
Tall French cupboard in a grey chalk paint and wax finish. Sliding metal catch. Interior has been newly painted pale blue and has four shelves. Replacement feet have been fitted at back. Quite wormy, but fully treated. 98 cm at widest x 191 cm high x 43 cm deep. SOLD.
French potting table with upstand all round. Useful side table. 49 cm deep x 117 cm wide x 67 cm high. Later painted and distressed. SOLD
Pale grey painted pair of French windows with new mirror inserted. SOLD.
I’d not seen the small printed edict tied to the lamp-post when I parked the evening before, and so I learned a new French word – la fourriere – the car pound. The gendarme in the police station gave me the address on the outskirts of the town. I rang, did they have an English […]
Picardie was having the same wettest April on record as we were in the UK. I took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, then drove along the coast road towards Amiens trying to think of lyrical descriptions of being in France, but all I could see were the many shades of grey in the sky […]
Large Provencal 19th century vitrine painted in a warm elephant beige colour, with an aqua wash to the interior sides and back, and two pine shelves. Three of the glazed panels are original glass. The doors are locked by an internal spring catch and a toggle fastener. The vitrine has new feet to just lift […]
19th century pine settle with lift up lid and full length storage beneath the seat. 92 cm high x 193 cm long x 55 cm deep. SOLD.
French seat, converted from a metal bed. Partly folding. Two rear feet are on wheels. New blue and white stripe cushion, foam insert. SOLD.
Graham met me for a lunchtime Formule du Jour at a restaurant on the rue des Rosiers, a small carafe of rosé on the pavement table caught in the sharp January light. We returned to Vernaison market to collect the glasses I’d bought that morning. Monsieur gestured to us to come in, “Entrez, asseyez vous”, […]
Out again early the next day. On weekends many more little shops open up and there are trestle tables set out along the quieter streets. Vernaison is the most popular and busy of the markets. It is something of a shanty town of lanes, kiosks with different roof lines, drain pipes finding a way to […]
