Majolica at Goodwill, And A Dozen Darling Demitasse

This weekend, the Goodwill store turned into the Greatwill store.

Thanks to my daughter Anne for taking all of the pictures for today's blog post.

On Sunday, we went to an estate sale not too far away. It was the end of the sale -- everything discounted at the last hour.

Anne spotted these:

Demitasse cups.


We are showing 3 of them, but there are 12 in all; four in each of three colors.

We love their little feet.
Where might a demitasse cup go if it could walk away?

We also love the little signs of use . . . like the worn spot in the gilt under the handle,
right where a finger goes when someone is sipping from the cup.


Demitasse means half cup in French.
Demitasse cups are usually used for strong black coffee -- Arabic or espresso, or similar blend.

Anne's taking the cups back to her apartment. Someday I plan to serve my grandkids what my mother used to serve us in demitasse cups when we were children -- cafe au lait. It was her Norwegian way of breaking us in early to coffee. It worked.

Or, since my grandchildren will inevitably have over-protective and hovering mothers,
I might have to serve them tea. Decaffeinated. While they are wearing helmets and seat belts.

By the way, the charming little demitasse cups cost $20 for all 12 of them.
Cheaper by the dozen?

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On Saturday, Annie and I hit up a Goodwill Store. It was fertile ground. I showed you the silverplated fan vase already; Annie filled it with roses from our sprawling old bush behind the house, and paired it with the demitasse cups in her table setting, above.


We found several neat things at Goodwill, but the thing
that just may be my biggest bargain ever is this:


What is it, you ask?


I asked the same thing, when I saw it on the bottom shelf of the green items case at GW.


At first, we figured we'd buy it and wrap it up for our Christmas grab bag;
it seemed bizarre enough to be a hotly contested prize.

But it kept talking to me. "I'm the real deal," it said.

So, I did some research on the internet, and found it on eBay. An identical centerpiece bowl. It is being offered by a gallery in New York for a Buy It Now of $319.99 with an opening bid of $259.99.

Who'd a thunk it?

If you want to look at the eBay listing, just search for "Large Majolica Centerpiece
Bowl Shell & Frogs Italy" and you will find it.

It measures about 10-inches from stem to stern, and is more than 7-inches tall.

It's one of those things that you can't decide if you love it,
or if you just want to giggle when you look at it.

The glaze and finish are beautiful.

We can't find any flaws, except a tiny spot of missing glaze in an inconspicuous place.

The frogs are . . . interesting.

So strange as it seems, you can spend $6.99 at a Goodwill Industries Store and walk out with a very heavy piece of Majolica that turns out to be worth way, way more than any sane person would spend for two frogs holding up a big sea shell.

Oops. I mean, of course it is worth $300.
Who would not want such lovely frogs holding up a sea shell?

Pssst. . . pssst. . . anybody wanna buy a majolica bowl? --- Cass

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