Sunday, October 30, 2016

A Whatnot in the Parlor

Hello everyone, in my last post I told you I would show you my antique Victorian Whatnot Shelf in a different post later. Well later is now, and here it is, in a much clearer photo!



It took me a while to figure out what to put on the What-not shelf, sometimes called an etegere. Although etegeres usually are much more grander and fancier with a mirror and marble shelf on the bottom.


This one is made of rosewood and probably dates to the 1850's or 60's is my guess. Could be later, any thoughts?

Starting at the top of the whatnot is a beautiful fretwork piece and nice finials. I moved the lamp over a bit so you could see it all but the lamp is normally in the center of the shelf with a Staffordshire dog on either side (see above photo)


Moving on down to the second shelf is a small collection of Victorian velvet photo frames. The lady in the center red frame is my 2nd great Grandma Viola May. On the far right are my kids when they were small. :)



On the third shelf I have my pink bristol glass vases, hummingbird dome, small Staffordshire Pug and the sweet boy and girl pair.


Aren't they just darling? I think they are Staffordshire as well. 



On the fourth shelf I have a pair of "Old Paris" fan vases, an iron lady who sits upon my mantle clock, which is at the clock shop so for the time being sits here, and in front of her is an ink well with mother of pearl pen.


For the final and fifth shelf, I have my bisque boy and girl pair, an 1893 shell art piece and a pair of hand held face screens, or maybe just fans?


They are pretty neat, on the one side is a flower pattern...



and on the other side is kind of like a persian scene maybe, one with an elephant and the other with a camel. Sort of a paper mache and handpainted design on a thin piece of wood.



And lastly, this whatnot even has a hidden drawer! I haven't decided what will go in there yet though.



So there it is, I hope you enjoyed seeing it and thank you so much for your visit! Have a blessed week!

I am joining the following parties with this post, please come and catch some inspiration!

AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy
LET'S TALK VINTAGE with Jillian
SHARE YOUR CUP with Jann
HOME AND GARDEN THURSDAY with Kathy
VINTAGE CHARM with Cecilia, Sharon and the gals
SIMPLE AND SWEET FRIDAYS with Jody

17 comments:

  1. That looks so lovely Gina and perfect for your Victorian home!

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  2. Such a beautiful piece of furniture! I bet you enjoyed decorating it!

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  3. Wow!
    I have a whatnot - 1860s to 1880s - but nowhere near as fancy!
    Beautiful.

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  4. Hi Gina. Oh, that's a perfect shelving unit for your treasures. Love it and how you have displayed everything. Oh! Meant to ask you, do you have contact with Richard? I haven't seen any posts by him in a long time. Do you know who I mean? He had an old house in the south, full of antiques. Just wondering....Susan

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  5. How gorgeous. My favorite is the frame with you Ggrandmother. The hidden drawer is just wonderful.

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  6. Ooo, I LOVE it, Gina! And the hand screens/fans have to be my favorite item you have on this lovely piece of furniture. . .

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  7. You find the perfect pieces for your Victorian home. This is such a pretty piece of furniture. It gives you lots of room to display and the drawer on the bottom is a bonus. I love the little lamp on the top shelf. Prisms are my favorite!

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  8. Dear Gina...thank you for stopping by! I tried to get onto your blog last week, and I couldn't for some reason? Your items are lovely and you have such a very lovely way of putting things together. I love your blog.

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  9. That is a beautiful shelve with unique edge carvings. What great space to display you lovelies. I love the lamp with the hanging prisms. Love the screens too!

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  10. Gina it's just wonderful the way you have it display with all your authentic Victorian items in your authentic Victorian
    just beautiful

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  11. Mom had a shelf like that and we loved moving all of the trinkets as she called them around and play with them. Fits your home perfectly.
    betsy

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  12. Gina, your what-not is such a beautiful piece! What a lovely way to display your Victorian collection.

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  13. Gina, I LOVE your what-not and the charming collections you've arranged! Thank you for sharing @Vintage Charm--pinned!
    I don't receive your comments by email, but noticed you asked about the tiny cornucopias on my table. Would you believe I found them at a thrift store?! I kept half and sold the others ;)

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  14. Gina, what a beautiful piece! You have so many lovelies on it. I enjoyed seeing and learning about each piece! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  15. I would date that as solidly 1865-75 - it's the very end of the rococo revival transitioning into renaissance revival (see how the curves on the side supports have little peaks? I believe those are called "knee shields" when on a table and you see them all the time on parlor tables from that era). Yours is a very nice one - they are kind of hard to find for sale, I've found. I see them all the time at shops, but they are usually "display only" (I'm looking for just the right one for my own mid-19th century parlor myself, but it needs to be true rococo revival to match the turtle-top center table and balloon back side chairs - for now, I'm making do with a black walnut 1880's affair which is plain enough to be 1850's appropriate, but I'm a total perfectionist. ;) ). Anyways, your place is lovely!

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