I’ve confessed: I’m a chair-a-holic. When Please Be Seated was released in 2015 I ‘fessed up on the blog. And since then, I’ve continued my love affair with chairs – both antique and new! (#WatchThisSpace… there just might be a chair or two in my soon-to-be-released furniture collection with Aidan Gray) I was delighted to discover the second book in the series has been just been released, Please Be Seated – More Historic Chairs and the Tales They Tell. For me, the story behind an antique is just as important as it’s provenance. Who owned it? Was it sold, passed down through generations, cast off and rediscovered in a rubbish heap? That’s what gives antiques and this book so much charm!
Please Be Seated – More Historic Chairs is the 2nd in the Please Be Seated series. Author and Swedish Art Historian Gun Bjerkander Handberg presents the journey of 17 unique chairs and the people who have lived with them and loved them. From the opulent Rococo Society chair and timeless Windsor, each and every chair in this little book has its own fascinating story waiting to be told.
“… Many was the time that the chair creaked under the weight of its owner as he pressed down on the arm to raise himself from his seat, only to sit down again almost Immediately and continue his tireless writing.”
From fabrics to carvings to trims, this beautifully photographed and illustrated book is the perfect addition to any antique lover’s library.
Please Be Seated: The glamorous life of chairs
#MixAntiquesAndModern
My antiques philosophy is it’s all about the mix! Antiques are meant to be enjoyed and used, and antiques blend beautifully in today’s modern homes and lifestyles. I was delighted to discover the book’s chapter on the oh-so-modern and iconic Louis Ghost Chair.
A modern classic: the Louis Ghost Chair
Please Be Seated – More Historic Chairs is available on Amazon, various online booksellers, and via their Facebook page. The author will be sharing more short stories on historic chairs on their blog; follow them onPinterest for more chair tales!
GiveAway Time!
Please Be Seated – More Historic Chairs is the perfect holiday gift – it was featured in The Mayfair Magazine as one of the must-have-Advent-countdown-gifts as a Couture Culture – for someone special who loves chairs, or for yourself! We are delighted that the publisher is giving one signed copy of the book to the winner of our giveaway, and shipping it to them.
To Enter:
#ImAChairaholic: Add a comment to this blog post, or on our Facebook post for this blog, and giveaway and tell us why you too are an antique chair-aholic.
Details:
Must be 18 to enter.
Deadline:
Giveaway runs Nov 1-9, 2017. Winner will be chosen by Toma Clark Haines and announced on Facebook November 10.
In September, The Antiques Diva & Co held our very first giveaway, Tell Me About Your First Time at The Paris Flea Market. One of our 3 runner-ups was Suzette Bannister, who won a copy of DesignHER by Julianne Taylor.
Meet Suzette, 1st RunnerUp: My 1st Time at the Paris Flea Market and her story of her first time at les Puces:
Mais oui! My first time was in September 2011, on a trip to Paris with my daughter. My goal was to explore and see EVERYTHING! I have to admit it was a little overwhelming, and also hard because I knew I couldn’t ship home the large items I wanted so much. I came home with a small plaster bust of the Venus de Milo and some brass hardware that I now use as art in my home. A French enamel plaque I found digging in a dirty box of “found objects” that now hangs above my back door — “Essuyez vos Pieds SVP.” Small treasures that remind me of that day each time I see them. We had a fabulous lunch while there, I don’t remember the name of it but it was like being in a movie, listening to the conversation en francais all around us accompanied by the gestures, of course. I can’t wait to go back! Hopefully with you!
Even Suzette’s name is French! I loved her #TellMeAboutYourFirstTime at the Paris Flea Market story… it IS like being in a French movie! On my travels I too have carried home small treasures that remind me of my experiences, I love Suzette’s found art brassware! Thank you, Suzette, for sharing your story!
Congratulations to our winning entries! And thank you so much to everyone who entered our giveaway!
In September The Antiques Diva & Co held our very first giveaway, Tell Me About Your First Time at The Paris Flea Market. Our Grand Prize Winner My 1st Time at the Paris Flea Market is Bev Martinets, who won a VIP Antiques Diva Day Tour at the Paris Flea Market with one of our Paris Diva Guides including LUNCH at our favorite restaurant in Paul Bert Serpette and a Champagne Toast to finish the tour! Plus, Bev will receive an Antiques Diva tote bag to carry her purchases!
Bev’s story made me smile and made me sad! Here’s Bev’s story:
Meet Bev Martinets
Grand Prize Winner My 1st Time at the Paris Flea Market
Well, I suppose I’m can’t officially enter the contest because I haven’t actually made it to the Paris flea market(s), but I TRIED REALLY HARD!!! I worked for an airline a few years ago, I had a layover in Landstuhl, Germany. It was a risky feat to attempt a trip to Paris and back in the time we actually had, but what the heck, how often is a girl a few hours from Paris. My fellow FA and I happened upon a most charming consignment shop in the town owned by an even more charming lady by the name of Angelica and we told her of our deep desire to get to Paris. She was so kind and helpful, she closed her shop and took us to the train station and explained the “ticket machine” and off we went to Kaiserslautern (“K-town”) to purchase our tickets for the next day. We found some very helpful people at the ticket office, and the next thing we knew, we had booked a very expensive, first class ticket on the high-speed train to Paris for the next morning leaving at 6:00 a.m.
We were up at 3:00 a.m. and on our way to PARIS!!!! We dined in first class, watched in amazement as we flew through the beautiful countryside and were giddy with excitement for our first trip to Paris. We arrived at the Gare de l’Est and were off, spending the day navigating through the City. Through that process, we made 3 lifelong friends, one who became our personal guide in the Metro. We ate crepes, chocolate and drank wine. We ran and strolled through the streets, we laughed, we took photos, we shopped, bought our berets and Swarovski crystal charms….. but never found a single flea market of any kind though we searched, as work beckoned us away.
I’ve always wanted to take one of your tours as I was an antique dealer for a number of years and I’ve actually inquired about your tours in the past. I even applied for a job as one of your guides a number of years ago!! So this is my “hoping” that I could win and then in the future I would be able to #TellMeAboutYourFirstTime story at the #ParisFleaMarket. So fingers crossed!!!
It sounds like Bev’s time in Paris was wonderful and full of adventure, a lasting souvenir! I had to laugh out loud at Bev’s adventure: soooo many tourists search for the Paris Flea Market – le Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen – and don’t find it! In fact, many get off the metró and are sure they are in the wrong spot, so they leave! Bev, you surely deserve an expert Diva Guide to make sure you arrive safely at the flea market, and then to introduce you the fabulous finds and treasures!
The AD&CO team had so much fun reading your stories about your 1st visit to le Marché aux Puces… thank you for sharing your adventures, and the treasures you’ve discovered!
Diva Readers share my passion for the hunt, and the determination to get that special piece back home again! Every piece in our homes tell a story about who we are, and I loved learning more about our Readers!
We’re holding a giveaway to commemorate my first visit to the Paris Flea Market 17 years ago. To enter, visit the blog: Tell Me About Your First Time Giveaway, and share your first visit to the Paris Flea Market in the comments section.
Below, 4 of our Paris Antiques Diva Guide share their first visit to les Puces… today they’re veterans and can expertly navigate the back alleys of Clingancourt and negotiate the best deals on antiques and special finds. But back then…
I can’t remember a time in my life when the Paris Flea Market wasn’t a regular part of my life, I remember going with my mother as a teenager, and with my now-grown children when they were infants. My children grew up at the Paris Flea Market and the vendors at les puce have been family friends for generations. I’ve bought virtually everything at the market… from the perfume bottles I collect to furniture and vintage fashion… I’ve even sold items to dealers.
perfume bottles collected at the Paris Flea Market
Recently we had a client on tour buying in a vintage fashion shop and I realized that they were buying from my husband’s massive Hermes tie collection I’d sold to one of my favorite dealers. My mother’s photo hangs in my favorite restaurant on a back alley at the puce. Becoming a Diva Guide was a natural progression to my life… now I get to share my lifetime pursuit for fine antiques with our clients.
My first time… it is a bit of a blur but for sure it was with my French boyfriend (now husband) on a trip from the US to visit him and Paris 20 years ago. I remember being terribly confused and in awe at the size of the place. We drove and I thought to myself “will our car still be there?” He knew his way around pretty well, otherwise I would have been completely lost. The place is huge and just finding it is a nightmare. Now that I know it better, I feel perfectly safe but am still amazed at the size. Had it not been for my own guide at the time I would have been at a total loss of how to navigate the many markets.
boule d’escalier
I don’t remember if we bought anything or not, but for sure we looked for a boule de rampe d’escalier as my father collects them and the best ones are French. I am guessing that in his quest to woo me, we had a lovely lunch with wine. But that could just be me romanticizing the story in my head :).
My first time… It was back in the late 80’s, I was in Paris for business and pleasure. My then French boyfriend (now husband) and I headed to the market to look for antique textiles as I was working in fashion design. Antique shopping was always a hobby and I was very familiar with NYC, Rhode Island and Maryland. I had no idea of what lay in store for me when I went to Clignancourt.
It was overwhelming! It seemed a giant maze and I had no idea of how to zero in on what I was looking for. I was so intimidated by the language and the idea of bargaining. I was lucky to have Alexandre with me to interpret. At the same time I loved it, the stalls, the food. I had seen an article by Ruth Riechel recommending Le Paul Bert, it is still one of my go to places 25 years later.
My first time at the market was 8 years ago, I’d heard all about it from the antiques dealer I was working for in London. It was very Parisian, I went with my French boyfriend of the time on a scooter and at first I was confused as to where he’d taken me as all I could see were knock off designer sunglasses and trainers!
vintage fashion at the Paris fleamarket
We then met up with some friends and just wandered around in wonder – we looked at the vintage clothes in Dauphine ( I bought a couple of vintage dresses that I still wear) and the postcards and botanical etchings; we weaved through the alleys of Vernaison, picking through the more typical flea market fare.
Other than that it’s a blur but it gave me a taste and I started going back at least once every 2 months and was always amazed by the turnover and now it’s a completely different place!
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FIRST TIME AT THE PARIS FLEA MARKET GIVEAWAY – Details
HOW TO ENTER:
To enter The Antiques Diva & Co Tell Me About Your First Time at the Paris Flea Market giveaway: leave a comment on the giveaway blog and #TellMeAboutYourFirstTime at the #ParisFleaMarket
open to Diva readers over age 18
THERE ARE 5 CHANCES TO WIN!
What the Winners Receive:
1 Grand Prize Winner: VIP Paris Flea Market Tour
The Grand Prize winner receives a Gift Certificate for a VIP Antiques Diva Day Tour at the Paris Flea Market with one of our Parisian Diva Guides including LUNCH at our favorite restaurant in Paul Bert Serpette and a Champagne Toast to finish the tour. You’ll also receive an Antiques Diva tote bag to carry your purchases!
1 First Place Winner will win a Paris Flea Market Candlestick by Aidan Gray
European candlestick inspired by Aidan Gray’s antique buying tours in France with AD&CO: The candlestick is hand-carved and hand-finished, with a removable rusted metal drip plate and a heavily distressed finish.
3 1st Prizes: DesignHER
Not coming to Paris anytime soon… don’t worry… we’ve got three 1st prizes! Regular readers and social media fans might remember I was recently featured in a fabulous new book on women entrepreneurs who are changing the world of interior design – DesignHER, featuring a chapter on me, Toma Clark Haines The Antiques Diva, and autographed by me and design darling and DesignHER author Julianne Taylor.
Winners of the Paris Flea Market First Time Story giveaway will be judged by Julianne Taylor of Taylor Burke!
Prizes Awarded October 25, 2016
Gift Certificate Redeemable until December 2018 and transferrable.
DesignHER books to be delivered to winners via parcel post in November 2016.
We all remember our first time. For me, I was 25 and I had just moved to Paris. It happened on a Sunday morning in September. I had eaten a croissant for breakfast with a big bowl of café au lait at Les Deux Magots. The weather had a nip in the air and though summer barely seemed behind me I was already wearing a sweater and scarf. I took the métro all by myself to the end of line 4, the Porte de Clignancourt. Exiting the station I was afraid. It was a part of Paris I’d never visited before. I wished I wasn’t alone. I wished I had a friend to guide me through the market. I put on my sunglasses and pushed my way through the crowds working my way under the peripherique to the Rue de Rosiers.
And for the first time in my life I visited the Paris Flea Market.
And it changed my life. I’d always loved antiques. I grew up with a mother who decorated using antiques, vintage and just plain second-hand finds to decorate our home and I had an appreciation for all things unique and old. I didn’t want my house to look like the neighbors. I wanted my home to reflect me. My unique taste, showing pieces from my travels, telling stories of far away places without the need for words to be spoken. Just as I wanted to live a life less ordinary, I wanted my home to be less ordinary. I was going to the Paris Flea Market to buy a souvenir… not a t-shirt, or even a trinket… but a but a souvenir in the true sense of the French word… a memory.
I wanted to bring a piece of Paris home and put her on my mantel.
Arriving the Paris Flea Market I was greeted by an entire world beyond my comprehension. Lessons in the Louis leaped out of the alleyways… was that a Louis 15 or 16th armchair? How do I tell the difference? An Antiques Dealer told me, “It’s all about the LEGS” and forevermore I was a leg girl, seeking the turn of the ankle to tell my Rococo from the neoclassical. Vintage jewelry longed to come home with me. Postcards, passementerie, pillows, paintings and all sorts of Parisian chic clamored for my attention.
I bought a simple Empire era teapot.
I was living in a temporary apartment in St Germain des Pres at the time and each night before bed I would brew myself a pot of caramel tea and sit on the sofa practicing my verb conjugations. Je Suis, Tu es, Vous etes… 7 years later when I started my company The Antiques Diva & Co that teapot wound its way into my original logo – the profile of a woman’s head looking at a teapot – my first purchase at the Paris Flea Market.
I’ve long since broken that teapot, but the excitement of that first purchase never left me and I’ve filled apartment after apartment with purchases from les Puce. A seasoned shopper at the Puce de Paris, my company is now the exclusive official guide of the Paris Flea Market Paul Bert Serpette. I sometimes feel I’ve lived a lifetime since that day at the end of my first week living in Europe nearly 17 years ago… but I still remember my first time.
Do you remember yours? When was your first time at The Paris Flea Market? What did you buy? What did you think? How did you feel? What did you eat? Did you wish you had a Diva Guide to take you by the hand or were you lucky enough to experience your first time on the arm of The Antiques Diva & Co?
How To Enter:
To enter The Antiques Diva & Co Tell Me About Your First Time at the Paris Flea Market giveaway: leave a comment on this blog and #TellMeAboutYourFirstTime at the #ParisFleaMarket
open to Diva readers over age 18
There are 5 Chances to Win!
UPDATE September 28: Derrick Ricketts of Aidan Gray Home was so excited when he heard about our #ParisFleaMarket GiveAway that he donated an additional prize!
What the Winners Receive:
One Grand Prize Winner: VIP Paris Flea Market Tour
The Antiques Diva and Paris Diva Guides
The Grand Prize winner receives a Gift Certificate for a VIP Antiques Diva Day Tour at the Paris Flea Market with one of our Parisian Diva Guides including LUNCH at our favorite restaurant in Paul Bert Serpette and a Champagne Toast to finish the tour. You’ll also receive an Antiques Diva tote bag to carry your purchases!
One First Place Winner will win a Paris Flea Market Candlestick by Aidan Gray
European candlestick inspired by Aidan Gray’s antique buying tours in France with AD&CO: The candlestick is hand-carved and hand-finished, with a removable rusted metal drip plate and a heavily distressed finish.
Three 1st RunnerUp Prize Winners: DesignHER by Julianne Taylor
Toma Clark Haines with DesignHER author Julianne Taylor
Not coming to Paris anytime soon… don’t worry… we’ve got three 1st prizes! Regular readers and social media fans might remember I was recently featured in a fabulous new book on women entrepreneurs who are changing the world of interior design – DesignHER, featuring a chapter on me, Toma Clark Haines The Antiques Diva, and autographed by me and design darling and DesignHER author Julianne Taylor.
Winners of the Paris Flea Market First Time Story giveaway will be judged by Julianne Taylor of Taylor Burke!
Prizes Awarded October 25, 2016
Gift Certificate Redeemable until December 2018 and transferrable.
DesignHER books to be delivered to winners via parcel post in November 2016.
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