The Twists And Turns Of Life -

Twenty five years ago I was teaching high school mathematics.

If someone had told me I would be selling antiques after I retired I would never have believed them. But, as fate would have it we had a new home in a small New England town that needed to be furnished and my sister - a long time resident and antiques dealer - introduced me to a whole new world of antiques. It wasn't long before I was using a large portion of my new found retirement time selling some of my new found treasures on Ebay.

We attended an estate auction at one of the Bellevue Avenue mansions in Newport RI and I purchased a large set of antique Haviland Limoges china. I sold it piece by piece on Ebay and a good part of it to a lady in Texas named Dixie. I promptly learned all I could about this beautiful antique china and sought it out in my antiquing travels. Before long I found myself specializing in antique Haviland china and Holly Lane Antiques was born.

While participating in an Antiques Show in Southern California we met a lady who had a set of Haviland she wanted to sell. We visited her house and found it full of something she referred to as white ironstone - much of it also for sale. It was love at first site! The shapes of these pieces took me back to the Geometry I had been teaching and the floral embossed pieces soon became my favorites. They had been long time collectors and were finding it necessary to downsize. We had been advised at an Antiques Show that we needed to broaden our inventory - that specializing in just Haviland china would not be successful. So we did just that and went back to visit and purchase from her often.

I must admit that visitors to our booth at Antiques Shows often comment on the wide difference of our offerings - from the delicate pastels trimmed in gold of the antique Haviland China to the simplicity of the early English White Ironstone - from the china of the elite to the farmer's china. Add some early Transferware, Vintage Linens, Glass and Silver and that is now Holly Lane Antiques. No longer selling on Ebay, we now have our Ruby Lane Shop and participate in many Antiques Shows.

Last year while searching for something to make as a contribution to a local charity's Christmas boutique I decided to knit some baby hats. I had found something to occupy those long hours sitting at Antiques Shows and traveling to and from them. So I continued knitting baby hats - finding and adapting new patterns - and loving engaging my creative side. The patterns became more complicated to keep up with my newest ideas and the baby hats became more precious and fun.

Holly Lane Hand Knit Baby Hats became a reality on Etsy. I already had an Etsy Shop having tried to sell some of my antiques in its vintage area. With a few changes I became part of its hand made artisan area.

While visiting our daughter in Boston we became aware of the Sowa Open Markets and have been selling these special little hats there in the Sowa Artisan Market on the Sundays when we don't have an Antiques Show scheduled. I just love seeing peoples' reaction to them - I can say that few can walk by our booth without smiling.

Our Ruby Lane Shop is a wonderful place to sell our antiques as is Etsy for our baby hats. However, there is nothing like interaction with the people who also enjoy what you sell. Our Antiques Shows and Sowa provide that for us. We are continually searching for other places to sell our special baby hats and spent last Saturday on the Cape with the Sandwich Artisans. It was a wonderful day and we will return in early October.

So - This is our retirement - If I never would have believed I would be selling antiques - I really never would have believed I would be knitting and selling baby hats.

The Twists and Turns of life!

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Surrounded By White -

Hyacinth & Beaded Handle Soup Tureens - Hyacinth Sauce Tureen


Early this month we attended the White Ironstone China Association annual convention in York Pa. This convention is a wonderful immersion into this early English pottery with so much to see and learn in the company of the nicest people - many even more addicted to early White Ironstone than I am. Is that really possible?

There are many opportunities to purchase wonderful pieces of English White Ironstone from the Tops & Bottoms Sale the first evening - to the Auction with over two hundred items available - to the Sunday Morning Sale. Most of those attending this convention are collectors and as their collections get too large some of their treasures need to be moved aside for new acquisitions. The many special items included in the auction are these pieces.

We came home with a car full of white treasures - many of which will be available for purchase in our internet stores on Ruby Lane and Tias Antique Arts. However, since I favor the pieces with floral embossing many of those will remain in my private collection - at least for a while.


The charming small sauce tureens were plentiful and we came home with ten of these precious treasures. And at the other end of the spectrum we now have two new large soup tureens - one with its matching under plate. I have a customer in California who has a variety of the sauce tureens and serves soup in them to her guests - with each having their own unique shape.


Squash On Vine Shape - Paneled Grape Shape - Victor Shape

I have always been drawn to early White Ironstone pitchers and ewers especially those with the floral shapes such as these -

Forget Me Not Shape and Wheat in the Meadow Shape


Shown here along with Ceres Shape, Leaf & Thumbprint Shape, Budded Vine Shape

My newest fascination is the early tea pots. I just love the form of the Chinese Shape and Fig Shape and the simplicity of the Sevres Shape.


Bath pieces are becoming more and more difficult to find - the brush and razor boxes and soap dishes. We were lucky enough to locate a matched pair in the Hanging Basket Shape. These pieces leave the bath quite often in today's life style. A customer of mine uses them on her buffet table to hold all sorts of small food items.


Wonderful relish dishes were available and leaf shapes seem to be the theme of those I purchased.


Fig Union Shape - Lily Of The Valley Shape - Potomac Shape - Along With Leaf Shapes

These two covered tureens are just exquisite in their shapes -

Fig Shape and Berlin Swirl Shape


Platters in a variety of sizes and plates completed our purchases. So very useful and food looks so appealing on white.


Morning Glory Shape, Baltic Shape, Athens Shape Platters
Ribbed Cookie Plate
Corn & Oats Plates
Fig Shallow Bowl



Please visit our internet stores if you see something you would like to add to your collection - links below.

Better still - Come visit our booth at one of the many Antiques Shows we will be participating in this summer in New England - and see and touch these special pieces of early English White Ironstone.

We have just returned from Brimfield and some of these pieces are no longer available.

Our next show is an exciting experience - Antiques at Elm Bank - June 11 and 12 - on the grounds of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Just imagine white tents full of antiques nestled amongst beautiful gardens! My favorite combination - antiques and flowers - Wonderful!


Holly Lane Antiques is located across from the goddesses

Click on the banner below to visit our internet store where many of the items pictured are available for purchase -


And visit our newest internet store at Ruby Lane
Holly Lane Antiques at Ruby Lane

Become a Fan of Holly Lane Antiques on FaceBook

Holly Lane Antiques Returns To SoWa

Holly Lane Antiques returned to the SoWa Antiques Market earlier this month. We again enjoyed the atmosphere at this market. Simply - everyone is so happy in these surroundings with the combined Antiques Market, Arts and Crafts Market and Farmers Market. On this Sunday there was the addition of many artists booths from New York. We found the visitors to our booth to be a pleasant mix of local Bostonians along with summer tourists who were delighted to have found SoWa.

The wind breaks added to the windows helped greatly to eliminate the breakage we had experienced at previous SoWas. However, the pigeons are still attracted to our white ironstone. It is a wonderful collection for all to be excited about - even pigeons!



The highlight of my day was my conversation with Joyce - a lovely lady who is so lucky to have inherited a large set of antique Haviland Feu de Four china. Few de Four is rare and beautiful Haviland china in which the flowers and colors vary. However, they all have the soft muted tones that result from the manner in which they were made. Transfers were placed on top of the glaze with an additional firing at the foot of the kiln where the temperature was lower. This process itself being quite costly resulted in this china not being produced to the extent other Haviland china was produced. It has become very popular among collectors today and is quite scarce making for a difficult search. Joyce realizes how special her collection is and is loving being able to have it to enjoy. She remembers as a child it was always kept very high and out of reach.

An example of Haviland Feu de Four china


We will return to the SoWa Antiques Market September 13th and look forward to spending the day with new and old friends.




Click on the banner below to visit our internet store where many of the items pictured are available for purchase.



Also visit our new internet store
Holly Lane Antiques at Ruby Lane

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/hollylaneantiques

Another Common Question -

At the Antiques Shows we participate in we are often asked - What are these? They are referring to Drainers.

When Drainers were originally produced in the mid 1800’s they were partnered with a platter. The most beautiful were made by the English potters in their transferware designs. However, they are also found in the undecorated white ironstone.

These Drainers have become highly collectible - both in the charming transferware designs or in the simplicity of white ironstone.

A wall display of a collection of Drainers can be quite stunning - as well as a very special way to enjoy living with wonderful pieces of the past!!


Pictured items are available for purchase at Holly Lane Antiques -
(Click on the banner to visit Holly Lane Antiques Internet Store)

And Now -

Holly Lane Antiques has evolved through the past ten years to what it is today. I rarely sell on Ebay any more - now concentrating my efforts on our internet store at the Antique Arts website. We do continue to participate in a full schedule of Antiques Shows - mostly in the New England area but also in Southern California where we spend a part of the year. Antique Haviland Limoges china remains our specialty and I still wonder at its beauty when I discover a pattern for the first time. Our inventory of Haviland China is numbered at many, many hundreds of pieces and is constantly changing. My passion for early White Ironstone continues and my collection grows continually. And we continue to round out our inventory - as suggested to us so many years ago - to include antique and vintage linens, silver and glass along with collectible china of other makers. Our latest and growing interest has been in English Transferware. We hope you will visit our internet store and perhaps some day be able to visit our booth at an Antique Show.

Pictured items are available for purchase at Holly Lane Antiques -
(Click on the banner to visit Holly Lane Antiques Internet Store)

And Continuing - A New Passion

At one of our Antique Shows a lady stopped by our booth and invited us to her house to see a set of Haviland china she had for sale. We went and found that she and her husband had been antique collectors for many years and were now liquidating their collections. She had a wonderful collection of early white ironstone that she was parting with. All the while I was looking at the Haviland I couldn't help but have my eyes wander over to the white ironstone. We left with the Haviland china but more importantly with several pieces of the white ironstone. I had found a new passion! We returned a couple more times to add to my beginning collection of white ironstone. I have found that I favor the early English white ironstone especially those pieces with embossed floral designs and especially the large ewers / pitchers. Each of the white ironstone pitchers in my collection seems to have its own personality. Buyers come to our booth at the Antique Shows and just stand and look for awhile - sometimes a long while - before choosing the one that suits their personality - as varied as the pitchers.

Pictured items are available for purchase at Holly Lane Antiques -
(Click on the banner to visit Holly Lane Antiques Internet Store)