Friday, 28 August 2015

Antiquing In France: A Visit to the Annual Antiques Fair at Chateau de Kerduel





August isn't the best month for visiting France on an antiques hunt, whilst there are many vide greniers and brocantes held, the weather, like the in UK, can be very nasty! 



It rained every day and I mean - really rained. One highlight though was a visit to the annual Foire aux Antiquités at the Chateau de Kerduel.




Not only is it a fantastic fair, with something for every budget, the location itself is stunning. The chateau, located in Pleumeur-Bodou in Brittany, dates back to the 12th century. Built by the Champagny family, it is surrounded with beautiful park lands and a large pond. 





According to myth, the chateau was visited by King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Today, it is a popular visitor destination and home to the annual fair. There were dealers from every spectrum of the trade and some beautiful and bizarre sights. With stalls both inside and out there were thankfully places to escape from the rain while we shopped. And yes - we bought some very lovely things as well! 
































Who Are We? 

Dazzle Vintage Furniture is an online boutique which specialises in selling authentic French armoires, antique mirrors and decorative accessories. We personally source all our items in France, scouring flea markets, fairs and antiques shops in Brittany and Provence.  




Posted by at Friday, August 28, 2015 0 comments

Wednesday, 8 July 2015

Antiquing In France: Shopping For French Vintage in Brittany


We shop all over France for our website but one of my most favourite places is Brittany. Often overlooked by tourists, this part of France is lovely, with many beautiful unspoilt towns and some amazing beaches.


Dazzle is based in Devon and we are lucky enough to have a regular ferry service to Roscoff in Brittany, making it the ideal location for a bit of vintage and antique shopping.


Leaving Plymouth on the night ferry


One of the great joys of vintage shopping in France is discovering a place packed full with quirky and unusual pieces. This shop was stacked with weird and wonderful curios including taxidermy, chalkware and a collection of beautifully colourful oil lamps.









Vintage and antique French linens are hugely popular in the UK, but it was hard to know where to start searching faced with this pile!



There's lots of fabulous antique taxidermy in France, sadly these 2 chaps were out of my price range. 






Here at Dazzle our great love is French armoires. These antique cupboards are brimming with beautiful details and often are incredibly well made. Thankfully Brittany has lots that still retain their original shelves and fitted interiors.



We were spoilt for choice on this trip, with many gorgeous and unique items. Not all of them made it back to the UK with us, but maybe next time!
Who Are We? 


Dazzle Vintage Furniture is an online boutique which specialises in selling authentic French armoires and decorative accessories. We personally source all our items in France and aim to inspire buyers to chose original French armoires over mass produced new. 




Posted by at Wednesday, July 08, 2015 2 comments

Monday, 22 June 2015

Storage Heaven - Why I love My French Armoire





It was during a holiday to Provence with my partner John in 2011 that I first encountered a real French armoire. It may not sound like a life changing event for most people, but for me it most certainly was. Love at first sight is an understatement and a seed of an idea began to grow......

At that time I was working as antiques dealer specialising in selling very large, very heavy and very cumbersome Victorian and Edwardian compactums. Whilst beautiful, they were back-breakingly hard to manoueve and difficult to store.  

On holiday in Arles we happened upon an a rustic, run down antiques shop run by a wonderfully eccentric man. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs, suggesting perhaps that sales were on the slow side! But what we found there was a succession of stunningly beautiful armoires, all with their original fitted interiors. 

Like many people, up until that day my vision of a French armoire was a painted white wardrobe with mirror doors and a big curly top (authentic armoires in this style are called Rocaille). Sadly the market in reproduction furniture is so strong in the UK that these rather lack lustre pieces have come to represent what everyone understands an armoire to be. Not so! A real French armoire is a cupboard with shelves and sometimes internal drawers. They are, to coin a phrase I often use in my marketing - storage heaven! They also 'knockdown', which means they come apart completely, making them easy to store and transport. 

That day in Provence I decided I was going to find a way to get these beautiful, original and authentic French armoires back to the UK. Dazzle Vintage Furniture, as it now is, was born. 

Every good dealer should understand their wares, and for me it's not just marketing speak. I can advocate the wonder of owning an antique French armoire. Mine is my most favourite piece of furniture and for many reasons. It is a wonderfully rustic 19th century marriage armoire, dating from 1868. An inscription across the cornice names the couple it was originally gifted to and there is something magical in knowing those names. 

French armoires were (and still are) crucial items in a French home, as such they were often made for couples as a wedding gift. Known as 'marriage armoires', these pieces are amazing not just because of the sheer amount of 'stuff' they hold (or in my case - hide), they also have a story to tell, of previous lives and loves, like a door quietly opening into the dark of history, offering us a little peak. I sometimes wonder who will be the guardian of my armoire in 200 years time, but for now I'm enjoying owning it myself.


Armoires are a bit like the TARDIS - they seem unexpectedly big on the inside!



My marriage armoire has an inscription dating it to 1868. 

Who Are We? 

Dazzle Vintage Furniture is an online boutique which specialises in selling authentic French armoires and decorative accessories. We personally source all our items in France and aim to inspire buyers to chose original French armoires over mass produced new. 
Posted by at Monday, June 22, 2015 0 comments

Monday, 2 March 2015

Decorative and Practical - The Wonderful World of French Coffee Grinders

Original hand made French coffee grinders are stunning, they also make the best coffee you'll ever taste. Renowned for grinding the beans finer than any modern appliance can, the taste is worth the small amount of elbow grease you have to apply. 

There are several known makers and all are highly collectible. Probably the best known maker is Peugeout Freres. Known today for a very different item - cars, the famous firm started from small beginnings when the Peugeot brothers started making coffee grinders at their French Valentigney workshop. 

Other well known makers include Grulet and Japy Freres.



A Beautiful example of the most commonly seen Peugeout freres coffee grinder



A rare Peugeout freres grinder with a brass top


Most grinders retain the original makers stamp making it easy to establish their provenance. However, even if the original text is missing it's often possible to identify the maker by the shape of the stamp. 




The Peugeout freres makers stamp shows a lion within a brass oval.




The Grulet makers stamp is highly distinctive, in the shape of a diamond and featuring a sphinx . 




Japy Freres is a slightly plainer stamp but some of their grinders are more elaborate



French antique coffee grinders come in many colours and sizes, making them hugely collectible. They look terrific on a kitchen dresser or work top, adding a touch of French rustic chic. 

Coffee connoisseurs agree that nothing beats the taste of coffee ground by hand, something to do with the slowness of the breaking of the beans releases more flavour. The proof is in the cup, and Dazzle can confirm that the taste is spectacular!








We have a number of authentic French coffee grinders for sale. To view the current items visit Dazzle's Antique Mirrors & Decorative sale page. 


TWITTER: @DazzleVintage




Posted by at Monday, March 02, 2015 0 comments
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