Wednesday 2 November 2011

Bird-themed Thrifting

Not for the first time I find myself with an accidental thrifting theme - this time it's birds.


This lovely fat little crystal bird turned out to be made by Hadeland of Norway when I got it home and removed the price label from the bottom.  I'm not normally a big fan of crystal, but this is such an attractive, simple shape.  


I am a big fan of John Clappison's designs, especially his animal mugs, so I was really happy to find this Hornsea chicken family mug.  It must be 40+ years old, but the glaze is still as rich and glossy as new.


This owl vase/pot is a bit of a mystery item, and I paid a bit more than my usual thrifting limit for it.  

Confession time : I was immediately drawn to it, not sure if it was the slightly John Clappison style of the design or the red lava-style glaze.  I carried it around while I browsed the rest of the shop, decided it was too expensive and then hid it behind some books while I went to have a think about it.  Does anyone else ever do that?  

Well, obviously I went back for it, having Googled it on my phone in the meantime and found no trace of it, therefore convincing myself that I was unlikely to ever find another one and would regret not buying it.  It's made by the Tyn Llan pottery in Wales, but that's all I know.  Googling has only brought up images of big chunky pottery mugs with Celtic knotwork designs - no animals.  Any information gratefully received.



7 comments:

  1. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but yes, I have hidden things before to give myself time to think about whether I really want them or not.

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  2. I'll admit it too! Hiding things I mean! Love the bird. I've got a similar looking glass one which is a paperweight and made by Wedgewood. Love the mug. I was very lucky to find two of those Clappison designed mugs at a jumble sale recently.

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  3. Thanks, you two - nice to know it's not just me!
    I should have mentioned that if I'd decided against buying it I would have returned to the shop and put it back on the proper shelf.
    Loo, lovely find, I'm a little bit jealous!

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  4. Beautiful, thank you for sharing. I always love peeling back labels and finding some unexpected information!

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  5. Good to see you back! Clappison in a charity shop - gold-dust; you must have hit some lucky seam wherever you shop ;) And TKMaxx is like that too, the hiding things behind other things - always look at the back of shelves as that's where the best bits can be.

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  6. I have never hid anything but usually I will go back and get it the next day because if it was there it was meant to be mine

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  7. This Owl was made by Trevor and Hazel Leese at Tyn Llan Pottery, Tremadog, North Wales. There are many other designs of pottery they did including a stand up Owl among others.

    Many items come up on eBay. Search under Tyn Llan.

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