Monday, November 25, 2013

Weekend Finds: Victorian Chalk Portrait

Good morning!

I'm trying to shake dreams from my hair this morning-- getting up in time to get to work by 7:30 is for the birds! I'm only working Monday and Tuesday of this week, but ye gods, I'm about half a person at this too, too early hour of the morning. Once upon a time, I had to be in place, in my classroom, ready to greet the dawn at 6:30, but I must have been made of tougher stuff then. An 8:30 report time has made me lazy. At any rate, I hit the flea market not once but twice this weekend, and while I have some clothes to show you later in the week, take a gander at my biggest and best find, this 1880's mother-and-child-portrait in a crazy gold frame:

Is the hauntedness rubbing off on me by holding it? I hope not.
I was walking through the main sheds on Saturday when I was drawn to a purple belted coat with a large fur collar, hanging against a chainlink fence, which I'm still kind of kicking myself about passing up. By the time I'd raised a convincing interior monologue outlining exactly why I didn't need another coat, how I was being good about conserving closet space, etc, etc, I caught a glimpse of this portrait out of the corner of my eye, and sallied forth to peep the price tag as an act of sheer consolation. Antique store setting, this thing would be aroooound $125. Good estate sale setting, maybe $50. The price tag on this picture at the flea market? $25. And she took twenty for it! The combination of eerie subject and bargain basement price was too good to pass up. I spent the next twenty minutes hauling this thing under my arm through another three or four booths, like a young painter with his portfolio, before the howling weekend winds finally sent me home.

That eerie little hand!

The mother is wearing a top knot and a high collared blouse and jacket, the elfin blond child an enormous collar-ruff. From the styling, I'm guessing this picture is from the late 1800's, maybe 1880-1890? What wigs me out about either is how the picture is a drawing based-on-a-photograph. I spent a good chunk of this morning, bleary-eyed though I may be, trying to figure out what this type of portrait is called. The closest I was able to get was possibly "chalk portrait" or "pastel portrait" as a search term to give me the kinds of things I was looking for. We talked about hand tinted photographs on Friday...these are along the same lines. In this medium, photographs are enhanced with either chalk or pastel to give the picture that strange, almost three dimensional effect of portraiture versus flat photography. And you thought it was just the ghosts making the eyes travel with you as you look at the subjects! 

I've been working on a "creepy kooky" gallery wall for my office, which so far includes the following pictures:


You may recognize

  • Smiley the skeleton marionette, from this post.
  • The curly-hair baby portrait, from this post.
  • The creepy carved mask from this post.
  • The Hemingway marlin catcher photograph, from this post.
  • The flapper mourning photo, from this post.
  • And a black fifties' hat and 1900's kitten lithograph from no post, I can't document everything I ever buy, apparently, though it is my wish!
WHAT BETTER TO ADD TO THE WALL THAN THIS CHALK PORTRAIT? I couldn't have selected more felicitous find if I'd dreamed it up myself. I think it will hang to the right of these other pieces, though I still need to get some picture wire to replace the broken twine on the back of the current frame. I'll have to take a less blurry, more comprehensive photo of the office when I get done with this wall. Here's hoping it looks more "magician's toyshop" and less "TGIFriday's" in its completion.

So! Do you have any particularly creepy decor in your house? Any hundred-plus-year old relative paintings that do follow you around the room with their 1880's eyes? What did you find at the flea market this weekend? If you went to the one in Nashville, was it not fuh-ree-zing both Saturday and especially Sunday? I'll show you the clothes I got from the Antiques shed as soon as I get a moment to photograph them. Gotta get some coffee brewing, then it's time to get to work! Have a great Monday, and I'll see you back here tomorrow. Til then!

15 comments:

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  2. Ohhh love that picture! I went Sunday briefly to the flea market for a little bit of Christmas gift shopping. It was sooo cold when I went a lot of people had started to pack up way early to get away from it. I think my eye balls were a little too cold to spot any great Christmas gifts. Maybe after the holidays we can finally get together!

    xo,
    Em

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    1. Me, too, on flea market coldness-- I finally had to cry uncle to the frozen-ness! And we should AB.SO.LUTLELY. hang out post holidays, girl!! :D

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    1. Thanks!! I was telling Eartha on Facebook that I pulled it out of the back of my closet-- there are so many treasures back there I need to dig out for the cold weather!

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  4. i didn't get to go to the flea this weekend and was so bummed! even though i heard it was freezing. i sent travis but he came home empty handed. i think my favorite part of the portrait is that teeny little hand! so creepy and good!
    some people find our little hallway full of kitschy jesus creepy, and the vintage taxidermy of course.

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    1. Re: flea: It was just too cold Sunday! Sat wasn't so bad, but still pretty breezy. I love your the pictures I've seen of your taxidermy and kitschy saviour...but again, I'm the one who just bought the creepy hand picture, so I am no good judge! hahaha

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  5. We went on Sunday and had a great time--freezing but if it's sunny, I'm there and having fun. We got some good stuff including a $20 Enid Collins box bag.

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    1. ENID! Excellent, another for your stellar collection!!

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  6. Ok. I love this and am glad you are not placing this somewhere where you sleep. Growing up, when I would spend the night at my granny's in NC, there was a picture of my grandaddy who was in WW1 (yes WWI...he was way old and died before I was born and my dad was the youngest of 8...so you gte the idea). In the photo (which was crazy old and already creepy) he was posed very stoicly with 2 random blonde twin boys on his lap. IDENTICAL ARIAN TWINS! It was so village of the damned that I couldn't handle sleeping it that room anymore.

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    1. HAHA, I love this. You wake up and the portrait is like, in bed with you. I would probably have to hang a sheet over it-- blonde twins took it to the next level!

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  7. Love your found art collection! Lurve! :D Aaand I too would not place anything with eye staring straight into my soul where I sleep.

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    1. Thanks, Van! And I agree, you wouldn't want to wake up in the middle of the night to catch an unawares glimpse of these stoic Victorians!

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  8. Oh goodness...that's fascinating and terrifying at the same time. The little hand and those eyes...gives me a bit of a shiver!
    Great find...I think! : )

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