antiques

More Real Locations in New Jersey…Antiquing Along the Northern Shore

For so long, antiquing along the Jersey Shore has been my well-kept secret, or so I like to believe. Numerous shops, particularly a few large group ones, sell the contents of homes in the most densely populated state in the country, so you name it and it can be found. Being far from New York City has kept them more insulated than Westchester or Connecticut, where you might add hundreds to the prices and certainly Manhattan, where you would need to add an entire digit. More recently a few television shows on HGTV have highlighted some, resulting in greater traffic and its incumbent increased business. In this post, I am going to mention of few more of my favorites, knowing that it will be a double-edged sword. I want exposure for these great people and places, but worry that exposure will cause the supply of items to go down while the prices go up. But I honestly can’t resist singing their praises. So over the last few days I have been making my final visits in anticipation of my departure for Japan on Monday.

I started at the very north end of the “shore” in Red Bank, NJ. Along with numerous individual shops, there are two major antique centers, the Antique Center of Red Bank which has more than 100 dealers and the 40 dealer Monmouth Antique Shoppes across the street. Both are excellent, but for me the latter edges out the former in the way in which the dealers curate their stalls and the outstanding service the salespeople provide. Yesterday was no exception and we had a grand afternoon perusing everything from architectural remnants to fine linens.

Our haul included all the small decorative items below plus a wicker chair and amazing foldable Moroccan carved coffee table.

You can see the top of the table in this photo, with its lovely copper inlay, but it doesn’t begin to do it justice. I have always had a predilection for this style furniture and I hope its current uber-trendiness doesn’t spoil it for me. This one is actually for a project in Brooklyn, but I have a gorgeous brass tray table version as the coffee table in the beach house. Stumbling across these locally yields huge bargains as they really do get pricey as they move up the antiques food chain – just check out 1stdibs and you’ll see.

Directly across Front Street is the larger and better of the two buildings of the Antique Center of Red Bank. While definitely more of a mish-mash than the Monmouth Shoppes, it is a wonderful place to scour. Earlier purchases this summer include the gorgeous dresser I found at half price (plus even more discount for cash) for my bedroom.

I forgot to photograph yesterday’s treasures, but they included a small painted French bench with a kilim covered seat and a wicker plant stand. I had been hoping to check out a fabulous set of framed Vogue covers from around 1915 seen earlier this summer, but they had sold. No surprise there…

Heading south to Allenhurst, a small hamlet just north of Asbury Park, you come to my absolute favorite haunt, Shore Antique Center, run by lovely proprietors Chris and Rose. I haven’t walked out of there all summer without buying something for myself, whether big (think china cabinet) or small (think galvanized RR bucket) or something for someone else.

My girls had scored there too, including this mismatched pair of Maund prints we are calling their sister prints, each just the right color for their bedrooms.

Today was lucky for them too – a vintage straw hat for one daughter (just right for displaying on the hat racks bought the day before) and a hat box for the other (just right for organizing storage). I am sure those who know us personally can guess which one was which! Those items came from a shop within the larger center called “Time Was Antique Clothing” which happens to be the nicest vintage clothing shop I have visited in years. Nineteenth century wedding dresses, 1940s men’s bathing suits and 1970s platform boots all co-mingle in the artful displays.

Also still available at Shore Antiques Center are these fabulous green painted shutters. Try as I might, I can’t come up with a use for them. There are six of them…Somebody please buy them!

Heading 20 minutes further south, having passed the Antique Emporium of Asbury Park which I wrote about here the other day, brings you to Point Pleasant, another town chock full of antique and housewares dealers. My long time haunt Point Pleasant Antique Emporium is just off the main drag of town, although I have made finds like this and this at many of the other stores nearby. I honestly think I have been shopping there for 20 years! Unfortunately, this is the first year I have not had much luck in Point Pleasant, so other than the glass insulator photos taken earlier this summer, I don’t have photos to post. But I recommend it as highly as the others mentioned…

To simplify matters, here is a map showing the relationship of all the locations. With basic 10am-5pm opening times, it is impossible to visit these all in a day, even though the total distance from A to D is just 21 miles. But it would be well worth a long weekend visit…

A.
Monmouth Antique Shoppes
217 West Front Street
Red Bank, NJ 07701
732.842.7377

Antique Center of Red Bank
226 West Front Street
Red Bank NJ 07701
732-842-4336

B.
Shore Antique Center
413 Allen Avenue
Allenhurst, NJ 07711
(732) 531-4466

C.
Antique Emporium of Asbury Park
646 Cookman Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
(732) 774-8230

D.
Point Pleasant Antique Emporium
622 Trenton Avenue (At the corner of Bay Ave. and Trenton Ave.)
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
(732) 892-2222

A little postscript…As I was getting ready to publish this post a neighbor brought by the recent “The Best Of” issue of NJMonthly magazine. Listed for “Best Antiques” are Antique Center of Red Bank, followed by runners-up Point Pleasant Antique Emporium and Antique Emporium of Asbury Park. I guess they are not actually such a well-kept secret after all. The final runner-up was Kanibal Home in Jersey City which I have never heard of. Makes me want to check it out…

Aug 20, 2011 By tokyojinja in Shop Talk Tags: antiques, furniture, Moroccan tables, vintage clothing

I’m Galvanized…By Oversized Metal Buckets and Cans

It all started during a visit to a friend’s place in Lake George. In talking about rebuilding her lake house (more on that later), we looked through photos of her sister’s place on Shelter Island. Leslie Hoffman, my friend’s sister, has built an extraordinary sustainable house there and the photo below caught my particular attention. She is waiting for her deck to age to the color of an antique galvanized coal bucket. Read more about her living laboratory for sustainable principles here or follow her on Facebook.

I couldn’t shake that image of the old galvanized metal bucket – the color and texture had captivated me. Later that same visit I was reminded at Lakeview Antiques in Bolton Landing…

Returning south to New Jersey, my interest was unabated…

Culminating in the most amazing find…

The logo makes me think I have made a great discovery. I don’t know much about Pennsylvania Railroad memorabilia, but I am sure someone else out there does. I’ll report back when I know more.

In the meantime, how should I use it?

To hold shoes near the entryway?

For a huge floral arrangement à la Rebecca Cole?

If not flowers, maybe plants? Or perhaps as a giant ice bucket for cooling summer beverages?

This just in…I am thinking it might look best atop my newest find – this china cabinet. And if I win the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint giveaway over at From the Right Bank, I’ll have just what I need to paint it! Stay tuned for more on this fixer-upper…

Image credits: 1. via Gimme Shelter, 2-6 & 10. me, 7. Martha Stewart Living, 8. Rebecca Cole Designs, 9. Pottery Barn

Jul 20, 2011 By tokyojinja in Gardens, Housewares, Metals Tags: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, antiques, galvanized metal, Gimme Shelter, Pennsylvania Railroad, Rebecca Cole

Shop Talk…Navigating the Stacks at Yamamoto Syoten

Some antique stores always have primo stock while others are of the hit-or-miss variety. Yamamoto Syoten, a neighborhood antiques shop in Yoyogi-Uehara is the latter. A few visits will yield nothing of interest, and then “kapow!” and you want to buy the whole place. I had been hearing about it from local friends for years, but not actually visited until these past weeks, when I went with friends who are leaving Japan this year and want to stock up on memories. The key to visiting such a shop is a discriminating eye to help you sort through the mixture of vintage, truly antique, not actually old and just plain junk. Japan is not the only country that abounds with shops like these – they can be found all over the world -and they make for some of the most fun shopping around.

One thing found in abundance at Yamamoto Syoten is tansu (Japanese chests). Stacked 3 high in some places in the shop and arranged in tight rows, it is difficult to get a good look at them. I was happy there were no aftershocks while we were in there because I worried they would topple over on us. In addition to large mizuya tansu (kitchen cupboards) and iron strap isho tansu (clothing chests), they also have a large selection of smaller decorative burlwood tansu from the 1930-1940s era. Prices are reasonable and condition is good, although perhaps not excellent. In addition they had lots of vintage lighting, wonderful bevel-edged framed mirrors, piles of porcelain hibachi and many other bits and bobs. The tight quarters made photos difficult, but you can get the flavor of the place from these.

Perhaps the best way to show you what can be found is to highlight my friend’s purchases. She came through and plucked the best pieces and that is the way it always works with stores like this. It will take a while for them to recharge, at least on items like the ones below, but remember, every customer has their own eye, so you may see your own jewels there.

Neither of the light fixtures show to advantage sitting around back in her house. The wooden one on the table cast a soft glow when lit, with patterns coming through the fretwork. The larger iron and glass chandelier will be perfect hanging in her breakfast nook back in Atlanta. And the ceramic geisha pillow (used to preserve elaborate coiffures) is a great conversation piece.

My friend also purchased a big mizuya tansu with some nice details, a rustic ladder on which she is planning to display her vintage quilt collection from India and two huge blue-green glass bottles like mine that she will have turned into lamps when she gets home. And of course there is the requisite glass fishing float too. Sometimes I wonder if I have accomplished anything with this blog other than to turn all of the Tokyo expat community fishing float crazy!

She bought two huge senbei (rice cracker) canisters as well which I forgot to photograph, but they looked much like the big rounded ones in this photo. And don’t forget, I got my fabulous and funky green lamp shade there too!

Jun 8, 2011 By tokyojinja in Furniture, Glass, Lacquer, Lighting, Metals, Porcelain and Pottery, Shop Talk Tags: antiques, furniture, glass bottles, japanese antiques, Japanese glass floats, lighting, tansu

Junking in Singapore…Arab Street and the Dinky Di Store

Singapore is such a crossroads of cultures – Chinese, Malay, Indian and elsewhere, former British colony, port city and now a powerhouse Asian financial center – and the neighborhoods and shops reflect that heritage. Russian sailors have pawned goods at the docks and immigrants of all types have made their mark on the cuisine and culture. To get a taste of that diversity we headed out for Arab Street and Little India earlier this week to do some serious market shopping and to visit a friend’s favorite junk store.

Arab Street was about 2 blocks long, a rainbow of color with scores of dealers selling Indian sari and dress fabrics as well as Indonesian batik. I loved the batiks and this photo doesn’t begin to do them justice, but they weren’t exactly what I was looking for..

I had one of the first of many “can’t carry that now” moments upon seeing these kilim footstools and ottomans. They were actually light as a feather and I thought they would be perfect in the back bedroom at the beach house for extra TV watchers. I had been planning on the ubiquitous Moroccan leather poufs seen everywhere right now, but now I’m not so sure.

Imagine my chagrin at opening the April Elle Decor a few days later and seeing them used in Antonello Radi’s 16th-century Umbrian Palazzo. Yet another reason to wish I wasn’t currently a nomadic evacuee!

Sorry about the poor photo quality but give me chops for inventiveness as I have no scanner available. I simply took a photo of the pages!

I was actually on the hunt for some Indian fabrics and cushions. There were only 2 dealers on Arab Street selling block printed cloth and other goods. Browsed the tablecloths and found some actual print blocks for a DIY that I have planned this summer. Didn’t buy the elephants but the small flowers on the right hand side of the picture came away with me.

The selection of pillow covers, tablecloths and place mats was tremendous. I was happily browsing when I got the call from my husband that he was leaving a day early for the airport and taking our wonderful Philippina helper and all her sisters to the airport with him. I had to smile for a moment at the thought of him traveling with a gaggle of women. But his leaving, while making me happy that he would be safe, also represented our last stand in Japan for now. So while many people are often overwhelmed at markets and I never am, all of a sudden I couldn’t focus or even think about which cushions I might like to buy. Everything felt irrelevant. Shortly afterwards another friend called with the news of the US Embassy evacuation notice. I cried.

I have since regretted leaving this behind…

After a restorative and yummy lunch of Muslim-style Indian food we headed to Little India to a friend’s favorite antique store, although calling it an antique store may actually be a stretch. You have to love the name – Dinky Di – as it so perfectly describes it! She warned us in advance that this was truly a junk shop, with almost no room to even turn around and things piled haphazardly everywhere! Just my kinda place…

The interior lived up to its description. But with patience comes rewards, and we slowly but surely picked through what must be a lifetime of accumulation.

I loved the vintage mahjong set, but didn’t think I needed it. On the other hand, this pair of mounted butterflies would look perfect in the back guest room at the beach house…

Currently I have 3 antique hand-colored book plates hanging, but have been stashing some other butterflies to add in there. This is the same room that I wanted the kilim footstools shown earlier for and I have been looking for a dhurrie or Bessarabian kilim for the floor for quite some time.

I am kind of bummed that butterflies have become the trendiest thing lately, as I have loved them for years and helped my sister-in-law acquire a little collection of wonderful prints. But they have been everywhere, from the New York International Gift Fair to Angel Dormer’s apartment in the January 2011 issue of Lonny…

…to the Myra Hoefer designed house in the current issue of House Beautiful, of which I don’t have a photo, so here is a shot of her store instead. If I was back in Tokyo, I’d want to pull out the pages of her apartment in Paris that I have been obsessed with for years. This will have to do for now.

My friend found a tidy little collection of small cloisonné vases, probably from the 1970s. She also scored an amazing leather-cased collapsible telescope for her husband’s anniversary present. You can just see it behind the vases.

Now on to my purchases…Notice a theme to my haul? My ongoing prediliction for aged brass has clearly not abated. These need a little clean-up but I love the lines on the candelabra and the old betel nut holder will be perfect for soaps on the bathroom shelves. The paperweight stopwatch will look lovely on top of a pile of books on the coffee table. And I couldn’t leave the butterflies….

Our stay in Singapore was truly wonderful due to the incredible hospitality of our friends. I cannot thank them enough!

We are now in Thailand, and once again the Mac is dead, so my dream of blogging from the road is fairly curtailed. The kids need the R & R so off to the pool we go.

Before I sign off, I wanted to mention that the design community is kicking off ways to help Japan as well, from Lonny to Design to Help Japan at Elle Decor. Take a look and do what you can!

Mar 22, 2011 By tokyojinja in Earthquake, Expat Life, Metals, Shop Talk, Textiles, Travel Tags: aged brass, antiques, butterflies, Indian block prints, kilims

When the Going Gets Tough, the Weak Get Going…to Singapore and Thailand

So I guess the truth is, I am not tough. Along with much of the rest of the expat community, I am leaving (fleeing?), ostensibly just early spring break, as school is now closed this week as power and train service is unclear. I shrug and tell myself next week was spring break anyway, but still I feel guilty to be going. There has been so much panic mongering (I don’t think I will ever be able to trust CNN again after watching their coverage), and I don’t want to join that train, but nonetheless, I can’t seem to keep myself off it. Unfortunately, my husband is staying behind to work. The constantly difficult piece of my expat life is being so often separated from him, but as soon as I find myself getting lachrymose, I just think of the suffering being endured by so many here in Japan and I get my perspective back. We are so lucky to be headed out to vacation!

I’ll be blogging on the road (the Mac seems to have come back to life after drying out), bringing you art and antiques from Singapore and Thailand. I need something to get my mind off the situation at home! I have also been featured on an Ocean Grove blog called Blogfinger. The writer of the blog, Paul Goldfinger contacted me for more information about our experience here in Japan and wrote an article about us. Check it out here if you are interested.

I just wanted to remind everyone of options for donations towards relief and rebuilding. Here’s a great link with information on multiple agencies working to help.

Thank you all again for your wishes, comments and prayers on our behalf. And to make you smile, here is a photo of the Japanese Self Defense Force rescuing a 4 month old baby!

Mar 15, 2011 By tokyojinja in Earthquake, Expat Life, Textiles Tags: antiques, earthquake, Japan, Japan earthquake

1 2 3 4 5