Sunday, March 20, 2011

Sparkly Little Things

This week I've been working on digging through some of my miniature fittings from my dollhouses (that's a story for next time), but while doing that I've come across some other things that might be useful to those who write a variety of blogs - this stuff today is mostly sparkly and fun, some of it little things and some not so little.  I'm hoping to have some of my miniatures photographed and ready to go for my next post.
Double Lizard Vintage Brooch
Here's a really interesting pin/brooch that belongs to a friend of mine. She had asked me to try and do some research on it's value and it's age. As you can see from the photo, this is one of the most unique designs incorporating lizards that I've ever seen. I've spent some weeks on the net researching, and this is the only one I've ever seen of this design. These two entwined lizards are covered from head to tail in stones - mostly red (which I assume are probably glass or manmade stones) and small pearls. Atop their heads and backs appears to be some type of braided metal (it appears that it might be brass, though I can't say for sure). Overall, the pin is quite large - from the tip of one tail to the tip of other is 7". It is quite finely detailed, and though I feel it is probably a piece of costume jewellery, it's unusual design might make it worth more than the average piece. The underside has no markings anywhere, and because I have not been able to find a similar design, I have been unable to give it any sort of date or manufacturing location either. This design could hail from the 1930s in Europe, or the 1960s is America. It has something of an "art-deco-ish" feel to it, but overall the design itself would be timeless.


Rhinestone Turtle Pin
All we really know about this piece is that my friend inherited it from her sister-in-law when she passed away. The woman was a good bit older than my friend, and had traveled extensively to many places in the world.  I've got a couple of other pieces researched from her - one was from Mexico and another from Peru (both bracelets). This lizard pin...I really don't know. It's an amazing piece though.

Here's a cute little pin in the shape of a turtle covered with green rounded crystals, lighter green faceted crystals and clear crystal rhinestones. This little guy is in beautiful condition - like new, really. It is quite a small pin, but it weighs a ton for it's size - it's very heavy and beautifully made. It hails from somewhere around 1988, so not really that old, and it's markings indicate that it comes from the Swarovsky Crystal line. This piece too came from the woman who used to own the lizard pin above. She apparently had quite an array of unusual pieces.

Double Elephant Brooch
This double elephant pin with rhinestones belongs to my Aunt. She too had amassed quite an array of pins and brooches, though she seldom wore most of them. Some were quite large, like this elephant pin and because it's also heavy, I've never really seen her wear this one. I rather like it - the mother and child elephant has a timeless appeal to most people. It's a pretty pin, and looks very new. There are no markings on this pin either, but I feel that is a more modern brooch and I'm certain I've seen this style recently in some of the shops, though I could be wrong. I'm not an expert on this sort of thing, and I have no idea where or when she acquired this one.

Bee and Ladybug Pin
Two more of my Aunt's pins, though these two are much smaller than the elephants. The bee is lacquered metal with stones in the head and eyes, and the ladybug has a jewel-stone (which I think might be plastic) for it's body, but rhinestones around the open wings and head. This one is quite small, and very light, so there isn't a lot of metal in this one, but it's rather cute and I have seen some of these in some of the vintage shops in different colours.

Orange Medallion Star Pin
This orange medallion-style pin came to my Aunt through one of her friends, and it belonged to that woman's mother, so it is not a new pin, though it looks quite new. Around the edges the filigree design has white lacquer, and the star-points contain rhinestones. It has a very 1960s mod-feel to it and I have seen other pieces (both pins and necklace medallions) with this white lacquer finish that I know have come from the 60s, so I'm guessing it's probably from that era. A couple of years ago, people were not "into" orange - it was just a colour that didn't get worn much, but today orange has become quite popular in both the fashion field, and in home decor.

Along with these cute pins, I've got a couple of handbags: a silver evening bag with sequin decorations, a black satin bag with a front design made entirely of coloured sequins, and a cute black leather bag with silver chains, a rhinestone heart and matching wallet.

Silver Sequined Evening Bag



Black Sequined Handbag

Black Leather Bag with Rhinestone Heart


While I was shooting all these things, I also set out a bunch of old coins my Aunt had in a bag - these ought to be ready for uploading in a week or two, after I finish up the miniatures. Mostly they are a mix of Canadian and US, but there are a few "pence", and even some bus tokens and collectible coins.