When
Cate was in Washington a year or so ago she bought a lamp made out of Alabaster
and something else indiscernible– and this was shipped to us and arrived
slightly the worse for wear - but functions well enough.
She
does all her shopping in the USA with her sister-in-law (SIL) who designs and
makes jewelry and knows all the design and clothes shops within a 1,000 mile
radius of Vienna, Virginia where she lives.
So
apparently – and I have found this out only recently – at the same time Cate
bought the lamp she also became infatuated with some form of art nouveau
sculpture consisting mainly of birds on a stick (BOAS).
I
have seen a photo of this from a distance. It does not take my fancy but then I
have all the style of a member of Al –Qaeda – and in any event my opinions
count for nothing in this house where I am outranked by Cate and two cats. I am
not sure what the BOAS is intended to do but apparently one also has to buy a
lamp so that its salient features can be highlighted.
She
did not buy the BOAS at the time apparently because it was ear-curlingly
expensive – and was too large to be carried or transported.
However
– she heard recently from SIL that the BOAS had been reduced by 50%. I wonder
why.
Naturally
she snapped it up – bargains like that don’t come along every day - and then
spent the next few weeks wondering about how to get it to Vienna.
As
it happens she was going to the USA so decided that she would just carry it
home.
Well
she has collected it and has discovered that it has grown since she last saw it
and is now the size of a Fiat Punto and is as delicate as a butterfly.
So
it will remain in America – probably wrapped in brown paper in SIL’s basement –
while she thinks of a solution to this dilemma.
I
am not convinced that it is the type of investment that is going to appreciate in
value.
I am glad to see that you, through Cate, have started your collection of fur-niture located in the US so that it wiLL make it ever so slightly easier to eventuaLLy move here. I hadn't realized or noticed your Vienne-Vienna connection before. I checked to see if there was anything common between the Wiens, and discovered that they are within a Fahrenheit degree of their annual average low temperature, 44.1 vs 44.7 degrees F. They probably both have ducks, in one farm or another. Oh, sorry, that was s'pposed to be "one form or another".
ReplyDeleteI feel for Cate, I have been lusting for an Erte for years, it is simply too big for my space. I did have a very delicate antique chocolate table shipped from New Orleans here to Grosse Pointe, I think the crating and shipping cost more than the table. They did deliver it to my front door. All the neighbors watched (discretely)as we had to uncrate it in the front yard and it took quite some time.
ReplyDeleteAh! Shopping for bargains = buying something you probably could do without. I love the idea of ear-curling.
ReplyDeleteI'm the complete opposite as a shopper - I could spend $100 about ten times over so spend nothing :-)
Cate's doing it right: you have to spend money in order to safe money. No way around it.
ReplyDeleteP.S.: Safe money. Yep! ;-)
ReplyDeleteesb: Yes they both have ducks. But the Vienna Austria ducks are more numerous.
ReplyDeletefmcgmccllc: The only way cate is going to get this home is to buy a seat for it on Lufthansa.
Annie: You are a strong woman indeed.
Merisi: And you would be amazed how much she saves.
Damn - and I was really looking forward to the photo of it.
ReplyDeleteIf you got the camel lamps back surely you can get a bird on a stick?
ReplyDeletenzm: cate refuses to give me a photo!
ReplyDeletelenny: Ah - the camel lamps came from Wien.