I love this time of year when yard sales, car boot sales, and collectibles sales happen every weekend. I especially love this 'down' collecting market, where odds and sods show up in strange places, and offer 'fringe' collectors like me a change to buy items we otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. Case in point. This weekend, at a collectible toy show, one of the vendors had a sad, heavily worn little car teapot with no lid sitting amongst his metal cars. Price $5.
For $5 a fringe collector can always use an interesting plant pot or watering can, especially one with this much history. My $5 bought me an iconic 1937 original Sadler Art Deco racing car teapot, license plate OKT42 - special straining spout, correct designer initial, stamps, registration number and full "chrome" bumpers. My teapot has no lid, and has a few imperfections plus a lot of wear. Someone obviously used it daily for drinking very hot cups of Earl Grey Tea. Evidence is in the heavily crazed glaze from hot water, the amount of 'chrome' glaze missing from the front where the pot dripped and was wiped, and the rush of distinctive bergamot scent that came out of the pot as I was cleaning it. I may reproduce a lid for it and continue its use. Or I can (horrors) use it for a watering can for houseplants, or as a milk jug or a gravy boat. It was certainly a find at $5, especially for someone who likes objects that have been loved and used, not stored on a shelf .
If you love the lure of the 'find', look for items that are out of place at a sale, or look in places like thrift shops or auctions in towns where a lot of retirees live, where odd bits show up and need to be moved out quickly. Here are some more ways to collect great pieces on a budget:
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