Fruits of Our Labor

This week I’d like to share another of my obsessions collections, stone fruit.  It is actually made of marble, then hand painted in Italy.  A few years ago I was reading a magazine article about a woman who collected it. It was gorgeous! She had a huge wire garden planter filled with it on her dining room table. My heart skipped a beat and I was in love!

 These were my first two pieces found on a trip to South Carolina. My other pieces were acquired on eBay.

 

I’ve made many mistakes over the years, (it’s sometimes hard to tell the old from the new) but I think I’ve managed to put together a pretty good collection.

 

I mainly display mine in the kitchen, but lately I’ve noticed them in vignettes in bookcases and on coffee tables. If you are interested you can learn more here. Some people collect only one specific fruit or like me, they want them all.  I’m missing some of the rarer pieces so … the hunt continues!

But my true love is this fabulous Czechoslovakian fruit basket lamp. This unusual lamp design was created in Czech glass houses between 1918-1938.

 

A metal frame holds strings of clear glass beads to form a basket.

 The top was wired with individual glass fruits or flowers.

 A light bulb was positioned at the base of the basket causing the fruit to glow when lit. They are usually displayed in the living room or bedroom. These were rediscovered in the 1990’s by collectors and are highly sought after. 

Here are some other “fruity” finds like this Currier and Ives print entitled “Fruits of the Season”.

I display it up high on the kitchen cabinets with more stone fruit. 

 Also up high is this oil painting on canvas of fruit.

(I just love paintings in the kitchen.)

This molded glass lamp shade is also a fun way to “shed some light” on any situation (or dark corner!) 

This little plaque is also a favorite. It is a reverse painting of fruit on glass.

I hope you’ve enjoyed “the fruits of my labor” and might decide to start a fruit collection of your own. Check out Marcy over at AntiqueChase, she’s a fruitie, too!

Love,

Patti

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