Sunday, April 19, 2015

Collection #265: Dog Figurines


When I was a little girl, in the late 1950s, early '60s, I began to collect poodles of one kind or another. Poodles were all the rage, and they represented sophistication! Paris! Coolness and aloofness! I had all the kinds of poodles that a little girl might have, stuffed poodles, poodle knicknacks, poodle themed notebooks, etc. There was an adorable cafe in Pasadena where my Mom often took me for an after-shopping snack. It was called the French Villa, and it was chock-full of poodle themed 'stuff'. I drooled over all of the poodle toys and figurines every time we went there.
(Postcard from Cardcow.com)

My favorite poodle collectible, was a black 'spaghetti' poodle figurine, sitting in a gray fancy chair. Of course, I had never heard the term 'spaghetti' art figure, but I could easily imagine how they were made: covered with minute strands of clay, then glazed and fired. That figurine is long gone now, but occasionally I look for its twin online, thinking if the price is right, I'll buy it. I did find it once, on an auction site, but it was already sold, and I've been unable to find the exact same one again.



I have recently acquired a little collection of dog figurines here at our apartment in New Jersey. For those of you who haven't followed this blog, I kept a daily Monday-through-Friday blog for a year, featuring one of my collections every week day from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012.  On weekends, I featured other peoples' collections. It was fun, but shortly after the year ended, in September of 2012, we moved to New Jersey. All of my precious collections were either sold or put into storage. We now live in a small apartment, and in the 2 1/2 years that we've been here, I've managed to squirrel away a few little collections. It's hard to stop wanting to share them, so I've decided to reactivate this blog a little more often, to just tell you about a few of my things. I hope you'll stop by again!



This cute little French Bulldog caught my eye at an antique mall. He's a little banged up, but I love him!

This is my most precious dog figure. He belonged to my Mom, and when she passed away recently at age 102, I acquired it. She bought it when she had her first "real" job back in the early 1930s, and treasured it always. I plan on taking good care of him!

Not a dog, but this Siamese beauty also belonged to my Mom. She bought her in the mid-50s when we moved to South Pasadena, and went modern. Don't you love her?