(Untitled)

[psymonetta]

Comments

[derspatchel]

Inscrutable!

[psymonetta]

Somewhat, yes. But, that makes her good fodder for made-up lifetimes and adventures.

[cake_o_rama]

stunning. You always find the bestest stuff!

[psymonetta]

Everyone in the store kept commenting on her as I carried her up to the check stand. They also kept eyeing me to see if I would put her down. It's weird. I find a lot of lovely collectible portraits and photos at charity thrift stores and everyone remarks on them and acts as though they want them only after I pick them up and put them in my basket. It's as if they had never considered purchasing a likeness of someone that is not in their family...and somehow, me feeling free to do it plants some sort of seed, or makes them feel like they have permission.

[alleged_artist]

Working at an antiques shop, I know this act only too well. The fun part for me can be watching people go through the justification process... but in shopping for vintage, one has to understand that it's All In The Hunt, and a high level of impulse must be demonstrated. Wasting time with "do I really need this?" and other internal moral battles won't get anyone anywhere.

[psymonetta]

What I've done is narrow it down to things I always will buy without a second thought:

Iroquois China of the Russell Wright or Ben Siebel variety
Red Wing Pottery Concord line, in the Magnolia pattern
Jadite
Vintage/antique Portraits and urban photographs
Vintage designer clothing in my size, or home-sewn vintage skirts and dresses
Barkcloth Drapes

[loveanddarkness]

Fabulousness. I wish I knew something about her.

[psymonetta]

I do too. The only thing I know about her is that her name is Mary Etta, Peggy Reasoner drew her portrait on November 23, 1943, and somebody had the portrait framed at Michelson's on G street in Washington (DC, I'm assuming).

[adityanath]

Wow! My father knew her when we lived in Baltimore in the '60s. I'm afraid I can't tell you more than that she stayed at our house once in Woodlawn, Maryland, and was probably involved in religion in some way. I would have been somewhere between 5 and 11 years old at the time...

[psymonetta]

Well, that, is interesting. I assumed that she was from Baltimore. I was also guessing that she attended Bryn Mawr college...

This is all speculation on my part, of course.

[allegraslade]

Wow, so fantastic! Is it just me, or does she vaguely look like Bebe Neuwirth?

[psymonetta]

You are one of many who has noted the resemblance.

[pomegranite]

My mother has a friend who, over time, has collected old painted portraits of people from junk shops and passed them off as her own ancestors.

[psymonetta]

I nearly have enough to do exactly that. I even have some old glass emulsion portraits.

[pomegranite]

I love the idea.