August 08, 2008

Nice rack!

(Har, har. :-)


My mom’s Uncle John apparently loved to collect antiques (which we, the recipients of his “hand-me-downs,” are quite happy about), particularly from Holland (he was half Dutch). I’ve heard so many Uncle John stories, that I can’t help but think we’d get along famously – he’d come with me to The Red Bank Antiques Center and would probably be the kind of person who could give you a quick history lesson about the pieces that caught his eye.

This plate rack was one of Uncle John’s “fabulous finds” (I have to think if we were alive, he would totally have a blog, and he would post his “fabulous finds” all the time!). It came from his friend Reinhardt (whom I have to mention by name, since it too is fabulous), who I believe brought it back from Holland. It is super, super old – I’ve been told pre-1800? – and it is quite beautiful.

Take a look at the detail in the carving:

Now, here’s where I need your help: What should I do with it?

One of the rails is slightly warped but I don’t want to mess with it so warped it will stay. When I was still a single gal, it hung in my apartment with framed prints perched on the rails which not only looked kind of cool, it covered the “imperfection” a bit, sort of like this:

I think I’ll be hanging this in a spare bedroom, since there isn’t wall space large enough in the kitchen (and our dining room has been sacrificed to the gods of billiard). It will probably go on this empty wall, and since the wall’s a bit large and blank I’ll probably need more art (or something) for the wall so it doesn’t get lost:

My mom told me that my grandma used it for plates, warp and all, so that’s still an option. I’d love some plain, white mismatched dishes and this would give me the excuse to start collecting them!

Any thoughts about what I can do with this fancy thing?

21 comments:

heidi said...

my first thought was to put some fancy shoes on it!

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

Oh...Ms. Faboolosity that is fabulous! Or purses, even. Nice!

Liz Harrell said...

I love the idea of white plates in it myself.

Ms. Tee said...

The white plates idea is perfect. The more mismatched, the better!

Nicole said...

I love your "rack" I love the idea of putting plates in it. Our darn, now you'll have to go shopping.

rivergardenstudio said...

I love the idea of hanging your plate rack on the wall and using it for art, or how about linens? thanks for coming by my blog for the house tour! roxanne

Lauren said...

I was thinking along the lines of vintage tea towels or lace.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I have something similar in our study and it holds some framed antique maps and a framed Europeon coin sets.

I think white plates would look great too.

You are lucky to ahve such fine hand me downs.

Anonymous said...

I think plates should be proudly displayed on that beautiful treasure.
What are the colors in that room? I do think when you decide the color they should all be of like colors. Not the same pattern, just like colors. Best wishes with your project. When you have finished please post it again.

Hugs, Jeanne

Free Art Printables said...

I think you should use it for a magazin rack and hang the magazines over it through the middle..it would hide the warping and serve a purpose! Jen R

Rue said...

Good morning Laura :)

I love it!! Plates or pictures would be cute. I like your idea of purses. You could display vintage ones. It's too early on a Saturday for me to think of anything original LOL

Oh and I'm jelly, Rich is PB ;)
rue

Jen - Balancing Beauty and Bedlam said...

Oh, I don't know about your plates, but mine would look fabulous in it. hee hee
I love your Statue of Liberty collection. How fun and unique

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

Thank you everyone!! These are amazing ideas. So, roll call:

Shoes
Purses
White plates (or plates in general)
Art
Photos
Linens
Vintage tea towels
Lace
Framed maps
Coin Sets
Magazines

OK, wow -- I'm impressed by your creativity! The great thing about all of these suggestions is that I could literally do all of them and just swap out every couple of months...most are things I already have, and/or minimal investment. The "rotating display" is frankly something I never thought of until now! I love this blog thing...so much inspiration!

Thank you all for stopping by. :-)

cherry said...

Well plates were my first thought...but I love your pictures as well. Do you have any old books with beautiful illustrations? That would be a great way to display them. Thanks so much for coming over and visiting me. cherry

Anonymous said...

hi Laura, first I thought plates, white, but then I saw someone's idea for magazines, I think that would look good, especially if you could get a colour theme running through them, I've got a huge stash here that I could do it with!

lucky you to have an uncle like that

Anonymous said...

Laura, I came back to thank you for your sweet comment on my wedding photo. I am late in responding because we are in Raleigh delivering our grands back home. We will be home today. Ahhhh peace and quiet with just my sweet dh. We have had company for a month. Lots of fun but quiet sounds real good.

Take care, Jeanne

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

Loved the post title. You crack me up, Laura.

What a cool piece. I think you should always have something new and different in it to surprise people. "What will Laura have in the rack this time? Shoes? Plates? Photos?" :-)

-Julia

Marie Louise said...

Hmmm...You could hang linens or a quilt but that would cover the wonderful carving. I think a plate display is a great idea although I know you're probably trying to come up with some absolutely clever, unexpected use. Sorry I'm no help!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi Laura

My rack is a single plate rack about four feet long with a short bar in front. My son sent us framed antique atlas maps that he bought on E-Bay for our birthday's one year that are about 8x10 and 12 x 18 incehes. My husband's was of southern Italy where he was born, and mine was one of Brooklyn from over a hundred years ago. My neighborhood was just swamplands at the time! The framed coins are from Italy before they switched to EUROS.

Someday I'll try to take a photo of it and blog about it. :-)

Christina said...

The plate rack is beautiful. I love the pictures in it. Plates would be beautiful too, of course.
Thanks for visiting our blog.

please sir said...

What about hanging fabric from it? Either cool looking upholstery fabric or some neat quilt? Not sure if that would work. You could also think about painting it, even subtle like white. Then you could easily mix it with other things on the wall without being overbearing in contrast. Good luck!