We have all been watching "Escape to the Chateau" with Dick and Angel
and wondering where you can find a little piece of France. It could be shabby chic,
something grand and palatial or even just some vintage cookware or small antiques.
It's worth checking you local antiques shop for fun French finds. The British Empire
was far flung and that has left us with a truly international selection of antiques and vintage.
When exchange rates were good, many dealers crossed the Channel, not on a booze cruise,
but in search of some vintage chic. Things that are common place in France can turn a good profit in the UK for their uniqueness over here.
French Candlestick. Don't forget your five a day.
These include glassware (considering the amount of plonk that's consumed), vintage lighting, metal wares such as candlesticks in ormolu or as the French sometimes call it 'dore', street signs, porcelain and cookware. garden furniture, after all it certainly has the climate for it. As a predominantly Catholic country, expect to find all sorts of ecclesiastical or churchy things such as crosses, candlesticks and religious figures. These tend to be a shade more flamboyant that the British offerings. Henry VIII saw to that.
Furniture in a style of it's own,'commode' no, not the place for grandfather's pot, it means a useful or commodious piece of furniture, usually a side table or low cupboard with drawers. 'Chiffonier' a tall chest of drawers or bureau. 'Armoire' wardrobe to you and me, but rather more curvaceous and graceful than the usual offering at Ikea. Although, if you are tempted
by an Armoire, make sure you brought the van not the mini before you hand over the Euros.
Assuming your retail therapy isn't hindered by a global pandemic, you could try the famous Portobello Road market in London, Les Puces in Paris ( translates as 'the fleas') is somewhere I've been itching to return to...
Photo: copyright kingschina.
Kingschina.co.uk has a wonderful selection of French Armorial Chateau Porcelain, so that's the place if you want something not only decorative, but with an authentic link
to the families who lived in these beautiful buildings. Anything that combines wine, history and great food sounds good to me. Nothing compares to owning a little piece of a building's history, then seeing it in person. Many are open to the public or are now hotels. Used as a status symbol of taste and lineage, porcelain was sought by the gentleman. An Englishman's home is his castle err..Chateau as they used to say.
Picture: Baron Giraud de Forez, Chateau Minjoud porcelain plates.
https://www.kingschina.co.uk/french-armorial-porcelain
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