A day at the Alameda Antiques Fair

Finally managed to go through my photos from a fantastic Sunday at the Alameda Antique Fair of a few weeks ago.I was at once, overwhelmed, and mesmerized.

So many things. Beautiful things, tacky things, half broken things, things that remind me of moments, of the distant past or the not so distant. From every era. High end things and low end things. The sound of an old Victrola and the smell of caramel corn... all filtered through the blue shadows of the morning light as it faded into a bright and sunny day.

So many different things that people collect. Watch faces, old type writer keys, shoes... microscopes, salt and pepper shakers, you name it. I was particularly captivated by the collections of old bottles, with their glass of many colors, reflecting shadows onto one another.

There is always one thing you wish you could take home, no matter how silly. This harliquin lamp was the thing for me. I don't have a place for him, and I don't know what kind of lamp shade wouldn't be just silly, but there was something about him that made me think I could have made him work. Of course, if he had come home with me, he would have ended up with a repaint. He so clearly doesn't want to be wearing white. He wants to be dressed entirely in black, with dark deep red diamonds, and tiny gold buttons for his details. Maybe a paper lantern, papered to look like a globe would work? I don't know. In any case, I walked away. Though, if I saw him again....