Never Sell and Tell

Can you spot it? The item I'm going to tell you about. Look a little closer. No, maybe take a step back. It's there. It's the Stanford White design picture frame probably made by Le Brocq. Yup. Lying on top of a bunch of banana boxes.

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This is the behind the scenes shot of an everyday shopping trip for an art dealer. Oh, and my kids were in the car too. You see, we had taken a trip down the shore for the weekend and of course I had to squeeze in some antique shopping. After going through a few stores, I came across an out of the way shop that didn't get much traffic because the owner of said shop was notoriously cranky. Well, I thought, time to put my years of waitressing skills to work and kill them with kindness. It worked and I was let in to shop. After putting together a pile of odds and ends, the owner asked if I wanted to look in the warehouse. Um yes please. And it was there that I saw it. Tucked up in the rafters of the roof. A gorgeous and huge Stanford White design antique frame. I grabbed a ladder and climbed right up into the roof to haul it down. It had been refinished at some point, but it still retained its gorgeous basket weave and eared corner design. The molding width was crazy wide. It was a thing of beauty. You know why I love frames so much? It's because they are at once beautiful and useful. They are architectural and artistic. They are furniture and art. I couldn't pay for it fast enough. After a quick rearrange of the day's pickin' I headed back to the hotel with a huge smile. You know, I've been back to that same shop a bunch more times hoping that lightning strikes twice but it hasn't happened. Yet. Where is the shop, you ask? I never sell and tell. ;-) hkv