Featured Do you use antiques for their original purpose?

Discussion in 'Antique Discussion' started by rhiwfield, Jan 1, 2018.

  1. rhiwfield

    rhiwfield Well-Known Member

    Is it just me that gets a lot of satisfaction when I find that I can use an antique for the same purpose for which it was designed?

    Latest example was this brass match holder, which instead of going in the scrap brass box, now sits on the mantel above the log burner :)

    upload_2018-1-1_16-5-56.jpeg
     
    kyratango, Coral, kristiaan and 14 others like this.
  2. clutteredcloset49

    clutteredcloset49 Well-Known Member

    I use quite a bit. What fun is having it if you don't use it.
    I put a cut glass water carafe on the table with meals.
     
    kyratango, lloyd249, SBSVC and 7 others like this.
  3. buyingtime777

    buyingtime777 Well-Known Member

    I love using my antiques! Often that is what convinces me to buy a piece is if I can use it!
     
    judy, lloyd249, KingofThings and 6 others like this.
  4. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    I wish I could use more of mine , more often !
     
    judy, rhiwfield, lloyd249 and 4 others like this.
  5. 916Bulldogs123

    916Bulldogs123 Well-Known Member

    There are some that really only have one use. But a yummy one.

    Dominion.jpg
     
    kyratango, judy, kristiaan and 12 others like this.
  6. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    A working piece, at least in the furniture world is a piece that has a chance to survive, if it ain't working, it ain't gonna hang around long.
    I have a late 17th century american chest of drawers, it holds my socks just as well today as it did someone else's 300 years ago.
     
    Ghopper1924, kyratango, judy and 10 others like this.
  7. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Moderator Moderator

    I rescued this 7 foot bureau bookcase from a house clearance.
    Its in my study,I use it daily and the contents change weekly.

    20170814_182045.jpg


    20170814_182127.jpg

    20170814_205140.jpg
     
  8. lloyd249

    lloyd249 it's not hoarding if it's valuable

    i try not to, because if it breaks, there is no ,or hard to find , expensive parts available to fix or repair it/them .
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2018
  9. Aquitaine

    Aquitaine Is What It IS! But NEVER BORED!

    It all depends.....If I can use it...absolutely!!!! Bureaus - clothing, Sea chests - whatever inside & great coffee tables!, Wash tub - full of wood by fireplace!, dishes & pitchers - dinner with company!...suppose could keep going if I thought long enough!!!!! Love them all and love to use them!!!!
     
    kyratango, judy, rhiwfield and 5 others like this.
  10. lloyd249

    lloyd249 it's not hoarding if it's valuable

    but i use my vintage stuff all the time
     
  11. CheersDears

    CheersDears Well-Known Member

    We're like Aquitaine and use as much as possible. This oldie (fish bowl?) became the bloke's sock receptacle, and apart from appliances I don't think there's too much new in the house. P1080145.jpg
     
    Ghopper1924, kyratango, judy and 11 others like this.
  12. KingofThings

    KingofThings 'Illiteracy is a terrible thing to waist' - MHH

    I have NEVER seen one like that!
     
  13. clutteredcloset49

    clutteredcloset49 Well-Known Member

    @CheersDears
    That is a spectacular looking jardiniere! ! !
     
  14. CheersDears

    CheersDears Well-Known Member

    It is very large -- nearly 13 inches high and more than 15 inches across the opening. Alas it is two broken halves glued back together, but we don't know much about it. I always assumed it's for keeping koi? Maybe I should start a new "please tell" post. It holds a lot of socks :)
     
  15. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    I'm still using the living room set my grandparents moved into their house in 1927. It wasn't new then and it's Mission/arts and crafts style so it could have been 10 years old when they bought it. It's been reupholstered since but it works fine. The oil lanterns we use when the power goes out are all 100 years old or close to it. Work like a charm.
     
  16. Shangas

    Shangas Underage Antiques Collector and Historian

    I tell time with my antique pocketwatches.

    I have an Edwardian carriage-clock ticking on my desk.

    I shave with my Victorian straight-razors.

    I grind things up with my brass mortars and pestles.

    I use my antique candleholders for mood-lighting.

    I write with my antique fountain and dip pens.

    I keep string in my Victorian brass string-caddy.

    I keep peppermints in my Victorian glass apothecary's jar with the 'Breath Fresheners' glass label on the front of it.

    I keep my silver Victorian beaker on my desk as my drinking-cup (I only put water in it, though).

    I carry my Victorian pocket telescope in my bag when I go out (terrible eyesight, I have...!!)

    I eat with my vintage sterling silver chopsticks.

    I sew things and make things with my 80+-year-old Singer hand-cranked sewing machine.

    The list goes on, and on, and on, and on...It'd probably never end, if I thought about it long enough.

    I use almost all my antiques. I don't believe in buying these things, only for them to just sit and gather dust. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought them, and would've saved myself the money.
     
  17. 916Bulldogs123

    916Bulldogs123 Well-Known Member

    It's a Dominion, aluminum with porcelain lid and bakelite handles.
     
    KingofThings likes this.
  18. rhiwfield

    rhiwfield Well-Known Member

    I'm still not sure what it is.

    For cooking something? Waffles?
     
    KingofThings likes this.
  19. lloyd249

    lloyd249 it's not hoarding if it's valuable

    i had an antique/vintage crystal ball (pole) lamp with small and large crystals , it was beautiful ,until my kids were fooling around and fell into it , very badly chipping one of the irreplaceable large balls. ended up reusing the crystal balls for other things .
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2018
    kyratango and KingofThings like this.
  20. 916Bulldogs123

    916Bulldogs123 Well-Known Member

     
    KingofThings and rhiwfield like this.
Draft saved Draft deleted
Similar Threads: antiques original
Forum Title Date
Antique Discussion Antiques that never sell. Sep 5, 2024
Antique Discussion Found some antiques in cellar Jun 20, 2024
Antique Discussion I have tickets for the Antiques Roadshow Jun 15, 2024
Antique Discussion Antiques you sold that you now regret selling. Apr 28, 2024
Antique Discussion Antiques Roadshow Tickets Apr 23, 2024

Share This Page