More rusticity. More vintage. What else is there? My old time favourite – garden patina, an art deco concrete statue.
The weathering evidence in this little concrete statue, a design not hard to find, is its rough & shabby greyish patina, a testament to a life outside.
A barefoot girl wearing a ribbon head-band sits on a draped block or seat, right leg crossed over left knee supporting her open book. The child has chubby hands on the book, holding it to read.
Weathered, worn & chipped. Mellowed with age. Grey, drab concrete.
I have this one sitting in an old wooden shelving unit in the hallway.
But, then, you never know where these old pieces will end up in our house. Sometimes in, sometime outside. Part of their attraction is that I can use them inside or out.
Embellished with shabby rosary beads & chain.
I can’t tell if there was an inscription on the book pages likely in French if there was.
I assume this statue called Child Reading in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is the original design from which the garden statue was copied.
French (Paris) about 1795: After Charles-Gabriel Sauvage Lemire (1742–1827), Made by Dihl et Guérhard Manufactory (France, working 1781-1828)
Such a versatile little piece that gets used inside and out.
So, where did I find the little piece? Out hunting & gathering as usual, I found it at one of my all time most trustworthy spots for miscellaneous goodness, Magnolia at Oakbank – Vintage. This cute little store, where eclectic vintage ruled (now on-line) was on the Onkaparinga Road at Oakbank between Woodside & Balhannah. You couldn’t possibly go to the store if you were in a rush. Oh no. You had to have time to look, to peek through the layers of colour, shape & texture, to rummage through the stash of treasures, the colourful assortment of antiques, vintage & collectibles. I first mentioned Magonolia at Oakbank here.