Grandpère and I are both collectors. Our enthusiasm for our collections wax and wane, but we still have all the items we bought over the years. Can you say pack rats? Pictured below is my collection of art umbrellas. I purchased my first, Monet's "Waterlilies", at a museum shop and bought all but one of the rest on
ebay for less than I paid in the shop. Whenever an umbrella showed up on
ebay, I bid on it, until I had 14. The prices then began to rise, and I decided I had enough. The umbrellas I see in the museum shops now are collapsible, and I prefer the style with the long handle.
Click on the pictures for the larger view.
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| Renoir - "The Umbrellas", Van Gogh - "Starry Night", Degas - "Ballet Dancers" |
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| Da Vinci - "Mona Lisa", Monet - "Women in the Garden", Van Gogh - "Irises" |
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| Monet - "Waterlilies", Monet - "Poppy Field at Vetheuil", Renoir - "Flowers in a Vase" |
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| F L Wright - Stained glass, Botticelli - "Primavera", Botticelli - "Birth of Venus" |
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| Raphael Angels ("Sistine Madonna"), Monet - "Les Bateaux Rouges", black umbrella |
I included the black umbrella, which belonged to my mother, because I admire the elegance of the the shape when the umbrella is open and the graceful gold-colored handle.
My collections are stored in three umbrella stands, which I purchased for reasonable prices on ebay.
The names of the paintings represented on the umbrellas may not be exact, but I tried my best to identify them correctly.
Have you ever bought one that you already have? That's what happens with me and books!
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely. Do you use them?
I like your afghans, too!
ReplyDeletesusan s., no I never bought a duplicate umbrella, though I've done it with books.
ReplyDeleteI have a nasty habit of losing umbrellas, but I've used them on rare occasions, when I'm dressed up, and the weather is wet. They're quite sturdy and serviceable. I usually buy cheap umbrellas, because I know they will be gone before long.
You are NOT a pack rat. If you were, you'd have goat trails between your chairs. Those umbrellies are gorgeous. They may take up more room, but how do they differ from collecting swatch watches?
ReplyDeleteCaminante, thank you. You haven't heard about my other collections, nor about Tom's. We began collecting years ago when the things we have sold for much less. I would not start any of the collections today, even if I was younger.
ReplyDeletesusan s., about the throws, I saw them in a catalog years ago, and I fell in love with them. They go through the washer and dryer beautifully.
Joel would love it if my chair collection would fold up and be stored so easily.
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful Grandmere --I would not call you a packrat either --just a collector of fine umbrellas.
Do you have to 'comb out' the fringes on the throws?
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with others. You are not a packrat.
margaret, thank you. The umbrellas are beautiful. I enjoyed looking at the pictures this morning. It's not often that I open the umbrellas.
ReplyDeletesusan s., as long as I put a non-cling dryer sheet in with the throws, the fringe comes out untangled.
Your umbrellas are beautiful, what a nice idea to collect umbrellas instead of things that crash and break and have to be dusted! My favorite is the elegant black one, slender and graceful and useful too!
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
nij
Nij, thanks. Disclosure: I collected and still have things that crash and break, too. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe black umbrella is a beauty. I doubt that it was expensive. It's just that the designer knew what he/she was doing.