Malvern Antiques and Collectors Fair

With lockdown easing Lu and I were feeling suitably brave enough to visit the Malvern Antiques and Collectors Fair a couple of weeks ago before we went stir crazy.  We got there at around 9.30am and dutifully paid our £5 entrance fee, despite Lucy only spending £1 on a set of four vintage, gold rimmed tumblers and me nothing, we were not disappointed, it was a glorious day out, with so much to see and talk about.

I was happy to just take pictures (with permission) of all the things I desired but couldn’t afford, like this 19th Century wooden shrine, it was £65 and despite stroking it lovingly it didn’t make it get any cheaper!

I dare not stroke this French marriage dome at just £120! However, I do have a spare dome, I could possibly find a Virgin Mary on eBay and then a few dried flowers ……. hmmmmm

You know I absolutely love a mirror and this one was not only right up my street but also absolutely mahoooooosive, I didn’t dare ask the price, but if I had the right sort (and big enough house) this would definitely find itself behind my bed as a bed board.

This second mirror was not so glamorous, in fact its flipping ugly, but in the right place I could see it work ….. in a bathroom perhaps?

This cruet set was within my budget at £6, but would I use it? Probably not. Would it sit on my shelves, gathering dust. Yes. Could I live without it, again, probably yes.

This table was cute …..

…… as this monstrosity was erm …… different.

I have two – "ones that got away" ……. this really colourful ornament of a church mouse wedding for £5.  I now wish I had taken a picture of the mark on the bottom so  that I could look for similar pieces.  There was also a cat, with two mice by the same artist but without a mark or name it’s going to be a long, hard search.  The mice remind me of Bertie’s favourite stories about Pip and Posy, I am not sure if they are related in any way.  Anyone any the wiser than me?

This second – “one that got away” was a bag of mostly glass leaves, which I was told, when all put together made some sort of a chrysanthemum type ornament.  It was all filthy and the wire fastenings on the leaves etc, well and truly rusted …… and the price £30!  Believe me I thought long and hard, it was the leaves I was really interested in, and after a rough count there were well over 30 of them, so all in all less than £1 each, without counting anything else.  If a fiddle farty idea had sprung into my mind then and there I think I would have had them, but it didn’t, other than painting them ……… so they stayed on the stall.

I believe originally it might have been a fancier version of something above, a vintage Chinese jade ornament …… I don’t think it was jade, but who knows.  Yes, I could have bought it, but it could also  have then languished in a drawer for years after than. 

And finally, this is Lucy’s one that got away, well, the booby ladies sitting on the edge of the glasses to be precise. There were four of them, but the man would only sell the glasses and the cocktail paraphernalia as one lot for £10 which was a lot to pay when only wanting one or two items from it to sit on her cocktail shelf, so we walked away, but I will be looking for something similar on eBay in the future for Christmas/birthdays etc.

So, that was our day, there is a Flea Market at the showground on August Bank Holiday, we’ve been before, the prices tend to be a little cheaper so perhaps there is more of a chance for a few considered purchase being  made, fingers crossed!