Vintage love is in the air!

I'm in the mood for (vintage) love! Check out these beautiful and romantic finds on Etsy:

vintage lingerie / ... DearGolden $60.00	Victorian Valentine... LaMeowVintage $25.00	ANTIQUE VICTORIAN S... RobinsNestMidw... $90.00	Antique Lot of Love... reginasstudio $9.95
1823 Large 3-Page M... bananastrudel $90.00	Vintage Italian Mos... CatsEyeFinds $68.00	1960s lingerie / v... DearGolden $42.00	10K Gold Antique Ar... laurenrosedesi... $329.00
Vintage Amor Framed... JaanasVintage $25.00	1950s burlesque fre... laboheme $50.00	Vintage Victorian S... atticism $14.00	vintage victorian l... FrenchFrouFrou $9.95
Vintage Welsh Love ... BlueAngelJewel... $12.50	1900s Antique beade... KellettKreatio... $79.00	Antique French post... minouc $3.00	Silver Valentine Ar... SundayandSunda... $1495.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Are you planning a vintage Valentine too? If yes, let us know what you are doing in the comments below! :)

Today's Etsy Treasure: Cocteau vases

 

Today's Etsy Treasure is not an antique per se but what I consider as an antique of the future . These two exquisite vases are available for $275.00 on Mascarajones's Etsy shop, here.

This set of vases by Jean Cocteau are incredibly stylish works of art. I am convinced that Cocteau's art is still undervalued and it is worth investing in it before it gets too expensive (which I am sure, will happen soon). Mid-century designs are doing incredibly well at the moment - in particular on Etsy- and these vases have such clean lines that they could fit in any interior.

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) was a French all-round artist, famous for his poems, plays, designs, movies and art. His movie Beauty and the Beast (1946) is probably his most famous work (being French myself, I must say that I have seen it broadcast on French tv many, many times). This movie is a beautiful black and white adaptation of the well-known fairytale. Cocteau used new movie technology of the time to create a fantastic feeling of magic and surrealism. Even when I see it today, I can't help but feel transported by its lyrical quality. 

Beauty and the Beast (1946), Jean Cocteau.

 As an artist, Cocteau was close to the avant-garde movement before and after the WWI and knew  Modigliani, Picasso and Diaghilev, Coco Chanel, writers Proust and Gide, and composers Stravinsky, Satie and Poulenc. Even though he is often classified as a Surrealist, he denied having anything to do with the group of Surrealists including Salvador Dalí and André Breton.

Cocteau was deeply inspired by Greek mythology and many of his artworks include illustrations of famous myths. His theory was that commonplace objects were containers of hidden beauty, which the artist, through his gifts and eye, could bring out.

Profil aux Points. Dot Profile. Jean Cocteau, 1950.

 
Some of Cocteau's works will be exhibited alongside Picasso and Chagall paintings in the Lightbox gallery in Woking this week (read more about it on The Guardian website ). Also, a new museum dedicated to Jean Cocteau only just opened in Menton, France: the Jean Cocteau Museum.

The blind poet believes that he is the emperor of China, Jean Cocteau with birds, 1949.

Don Hong-Oai's photographs of Chinese landscapes

Yes, these are photographs. These amazing pictures of Chinese landscapes were taken by artist Don Hong-Oai who died in June 2004. You can read more about him and see more of his beautiful photographs here.

Happy new year!

I know I am  nearly a week late but I still wanted to wish you all a very happy new year! May it be full of joy, success and great antiques!

As for me, I started the new year with the flu (not great) and with some new books (really great!!)! Here they are:

I found in a charity shop 'Miller's Understanding Antiques' (which is great because it explains many things about furniture and glass- two kinds of antiques I don't have much knowledge about); a guide of the Ashmolean Museum with beautiful plates (that was on sale at the University of Oxford Shop); I ordered the 'Antiques Roadshow Quiz Book' and 'How to deal in Antiques' on Amazon, and finally, I subscribed to the Antiques Trade Gazette a couple of days ago and have already received their Art and Antiques 2012 Diary!

I am shivering with excitement (or it might be the flu...?) - I look forward to read them!

What about you: do you know any good book that you think every antiques lover should read? Please let me know in the comments below ;-)