Vintage Miriam Haskell Filigrees, Stampings and More at Bumbershoot Supplies

We are very excited to have recently purchased a large lot of vintage Miriam Haskell stampings, filigree and other metal components. We will be adding this stock to Bumbershoot Supplies and Bumbershoot Supplies on Etsy over the coming days.

This blog post is a sneak preview of some of the fabulous vintage metals to come.

We have filigrees…

Stampings…

Charms and more.

Some items are in raw brass. 

Others are finished with that plated finish that Haskell made famous, Russian gold plate. To learn more about Russian gold plate, see my blog post here.

There are even a few items in silver.

 If you have been reading this blog or the Bumbershoot Designs and Supplies newsletters, you know authenticity and provenance of our supplies is important to us. How do we know this is Miriam Haskell stock?  Decades ago our supplier, who had a friend who worked at Miriam Haskell, was invited to purchase stock at the Miriam Haskell Company’s warehouse.  Fast forward to the present, and now our supplier was ready to pass it on.  So it’s a pretty short and direct journey from the Miriam Haskell warehouse to you! I hope you will enjoy watching as these new vintage treasures arrive at Bumbershoot Supplies. 

Look What I Found. Wired Flower Necklace from 1940's Occupied Germany

Aren't these lovely?

I recently purchased 2 unfinished vintage beaded and wired necklaces made in the 1940's in Germany.

They consist of flower motifs, made from flower and leaf beads and brass wire, joined with melon shaped beads linked rosary chain style...everything in that chalk white that was so classic at that time.

The challenge in using this necklace, or in using parts of it, like the flower clusters, is the uneven patina of the wire. So I've been doing a bit of experimenting in both directions - cleaning the wire to restore it to the original golden brass, and also going the other way and deepening the patina of the wire to make it uniformly dark.  I took apart one of the 2 necklaces in order to do these experiments.  I'll talk about what I did in an upcoming blog post, but you can see the results in the first photo, restored on the left, original in the middle, and patina'd on the right.

I can locate and date these necklaces with some precision due to the tags that were attached. Germany was occupied by the Allies from 1945 until 1949, and these necklaces were made in the US Zone of Allied-occupied Germany during that time.

Vintage with a clear provenance - it doesn't get any better.

New at Bumbershoot Supplies and Holiday Shipping Schedule

HOLIDAY SHIPPING SCHEDULE:

Bumbershoot Supplies and Bumbershoot Designs are open every day through the holiday season, and shipping almost every day.

Thurs Nov 25, 2010	No shipping, US Thanksgiving Holiday
Fri Nov 26 and Sat Nov 27, 2010	Yes, we are shipping
Dec 1-23, 2010	Shipping every day, Monday through Saturday, including Dec 23, 2010
Dec 24, 25, 26, 2010	No shipping
Mon, Dec 27, 2010	Regular shipping schedule resumes.

Our standard shipping policy will apply during the holiday season:  If payment is received by 10am Pacific time, items ship the same day.  Otherwise it is the next business day.  We email a shipping confirmation with tracking number (US destinations) or scanned customs form number (international destinations) for every purchase on the day your package ships.  If you want a faster shipping option than first class mail, please contact Sharon for a quote.

Since Nov 1, we have added 28 new items and restocked 14 at Bumbershoot Supplies.  Here are some of our new items...

We have just received the third shipment of settings for our vintage cabochons and rhinestones and they are now in stock in the settings, bezels, chain section of Bumbershoot Supplies.  We continue to expand our growing collection of vintage rhinestones to fit our settings… We’ve added some truly spectacular and uncommon vintage glass pearls, all from Japan. Did you know that the Niki Company, from which the Miriam Haskell Company purchased many glass pearls in the 1950’s and 1960’s, strung their handmade beads on wire, dipped them 7 times, and then polished them by tumbling them, on the wires, in sawdust? I learned this in Cathy Gordon’s book, Miriam Haskell Jewelry. And guess what? The 2 vintage Japanese teardrop pearls shown below came to me strung on the original wires… Here’s just a few other vintage treasures that I couldn’t resist and I hope you will enjoy too… As we approach the Christmas holidays, there are some holiday themed items at Bumbershoot Supplies that you may be interested in.  You can locate all of the items below, and more, by searching Bumbershoot Supplies with the key word “Christmas”, or just click on this link…. And finally, these are some of the vintage buttons we are delighted to be able to restock.  Why mention the restocked items?  Vintage items are limited by definition since they aren’t being made any more.  Therefore, we are always excited to be able to restock our items, especially items as special as these buttons…

I invite you to come on over to Bumbershoot Supplies and have a look at all these new vintage treasures. 

Until next time, wishing you a great weekend!

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. 38 New Vintage Beads, Cabochons, Rhinestones, and More Since October 15

Since October 1, we have added 38 new items and restocked 5 at Bumbershoot Supplies. Here are some of our new items...

We are still awaiting our pronged and glue in settings and bezels for our vintage cabochons and rhinestones. They are at the plater now, being antiqued and sealed, so it won't be long. In anticipation, we've added some more lovely vintage glass rhinestones to go into the pronged settings. The crystal ones in the center are from 1940's occupied Germany, and I was so taken with these stones that I immediately made a pair of earrings using our antiqued brass settings. I've included a photo of my earrings in the listing... We have some new vintage glass cabochons in all shapes and sizes.  If you like the beauty and usefulness of the tiny glass cabochons (they are so wonderful for jewelry and mixed media layering and collage), the green baguettes are very petite and are also available in ruby red.  Plus we've found some of the loveliest tiny white glass pearl cabochons (not shown), these gorgeous aqua leaves, and the incredible salmon matrix cabs shown to the right.  Even if matrix glass is not your thing, these glass cabs came with an incredible history and story that you may find interesting.  We are able to date these to between 1936 to 1941.  Intrigued? The history of these cabochons is written into the listing, I invite you to visit Bumbershoot Supplies to learn more about these cabochons... More really lovely vintage glass beads have been added to our collection, including these wonderful large garnet ruby nailheads, very old Czech.  I think these could be used as cabochons too.  The light coming through these beads is incredible.  We have been able to restock the wonderful vintage Japanese coral swirl beads, but only in a limited amount.  And I find there is just something so vintage about the color montana sapphire.  It's really pretty in the beads on the right, mixed with crystal glass, giving the beads a sense of movement, kind of like the stormy fall skies we are starting to see... Finally, a few more items that I hope you find interesting and inspiring.  I was sold these vintage ivory piano keys as "woodwind reeds".  When I opened the package I knew exactly what they were since we are fortunate enough to own Jim's mom's vintage Steinway.  These antique piano keys would make wonderful pendants and found objects for incorporating into jewelry and mixed media designs.  I have both heads and tails, just the heads are shown below.  These can only be shipped within the US, due to customs laws. The buttons, however, can be shipped anywhere :) These were a surprise I didn't know I had.  I was looking for more of our vintage glass mirrored heart buttons, opened up a box and found these beauties from 1940's occupied Germany.  They had been sent by mistake several months ago.  I usually don't open all the button boxes right away when we receive them. I like to prolong the thrill of being the first person to open boxes that were last sealed in the 1940's. What a wonderful surprise! These are available loose in lots of 2, or as full cards.

I invite you to come on over to Bumbershoot Supplies and have a look at all these new vintage treasures. 

Until next time, wishing you a great weekend!

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. 55 Gorgeous Vintage Beads, Vintage Rhinestones, Vintage Cabochons, Settings, and More!

Since September 15, we have added 55 new items and restocked 3 at Bumbershoot Supplies! So much vintage goodness! 

I hope you will find an item or two that inspire you.

We are supplementing our vintage settings with a special selection of antiqued brass glue in and prong settings for vintage rhinestones and vintage cabochons, I've shown just a few below, see the settings, bezels, chain section of Bumbershoot Supplies for more.  We are awaiting additional settings, both glue in and prong, which are being manufactured and antiqued for us.  These are in production currently and I look forward to adding them to Bumbershoot Supplies later in October.  In addition, we will continue to stock as many quality vintage settings as we can find... Of course, we have some glorious vintage rhinestones to go into the pronged settings... And some new vintage glass cabochons also... Some really lovely vintage glass beads have made their way onto the virtual shelves of Bumbershoot Supplies recently, including these big glorious vintage glass teardrops, and two lovely selections from vintage Japan, tiny silver mercury beads, and these gorgeous vintage hand beaded balls... There are many more delightful vintage additions at Bumbershoot Supplies, including ribbons, charms, vintage silvery lucite beads, and some lovely Swarovski crystal cabochons, here's just a few more of our new additions.  The pearl buttons are vintage Japan, available in 2 sizes, the sequins are 1930's vintage French, and the flower resin cabs are really delicate and lovely (settings to fit these wee cabochons are being made for us as I write this)...

I invite you to come on over to Bumbershoot Supplies and have a look at all these new vintage treasures. 

Until next time, wishing you a great weekend!