Have you ever think about buying a Vintage French Bottle Drying Rack?

Also called a “Hérisson” (Hedgehogs) or a “If” in French. It was used to dry all beer and wine bottles upside down on the spikes.

But lately, it became a great vintage decoration item. You can find some big ones with more than 200 hooks, or smaller ones with just 12-16 hooks.

When you want to choose one, it depends of what you want to do with it and where you want to put it. Do you want it functional or purely decorative?

Functional, it can hold mugs, cups and of course bottles. Great if you have stunning pieces to show or if you have drunk some very old bottles of wine!

And if you’re a gardener, it can hold and dry your plant pots and everything you need to make your gardening, such as tools, string, gloves… Of course, if you find a galvanized one, you can leave it outside.

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Those fantastic classic vintage decorations Sunburst Mirrors were also called “Witch Mirrors”. In fact, people thought they had magic powers! They first appear in the middle ages, and are also called convex mirrors. We can see some in many old paintings, like the one from Quentin Metsys (1465-1530) “Le peseur d’or et sa femme” “The golden weigher and his wife” which is exposed at Le Louvre museum.

Place in front of a window, it spreads the light all over the room inside houses. We could find a lot of those in the Flemish houses and since then, it staid a tradition in North Europe, a classic vintage decoration. It also has the nickname of banker’s mirror because it was helping the bankers, the silversmiths or the usurers, to have a look at the all room at one glance. Sort of early video surveillance, our CCTV monitoring! We also could find some in the Bourgeois’ home: a little distrusting towards their domestics, or by simple precaution, they were having a few in their interior. This special glass, circular and convex with a frame always made of gilt carved wood, has in its centre a top, crowned by an important crest. This quirky mirror also represents an item of power: only the wealthy customers were able to afford such an expensive item!

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Those galvanized steel buckets are just fantastic vintage decoration.

Jugs, coal scuttles, pots, pans, clothes boilers, tubs, waste bins, watering cans, feeding and water troughs, weathervanes, railings and stakes: from the late 19^th century the invention of sheet steel and galvanization gave rise to a whole range of items for cooking, cleaning the home, the garden, looking after livestock and agricultural production.

It was several decades before this process, which had been invented on the other side of the Atlantic, was industrialized in France. A young zinc worker from france’s Morvan region, Xavier Pauchard, the son and grandson of an itinerant roofer and zinc worker, developed an interest in 1907. In order to perfect his knowledge and to develop new uses, he ordered a generously illustrated book on the subject from the United Sates. Setting up on an abandoned plot of land far from prying eyes, Xavier Pauchard carried out experiments in the bottom of old pots. Neither the harsh climate nor successive failures, nor even the onset of poisoning, could stop him: he went on to master galvanized steel. Whether used for everyday items or for outdoor furniture, galvanization owes its pedigree to Pauchard’s tenacity.

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Another great vintage decoration that can fit in your kitchen and add this kitchenalia style you’re looking for.

And for the purist you will probably be able to use them! Some coffee grinders are still in good condition for their age.

Very popular item, you can find a lot of different coffee grinders since the arrival of coffee in 1669 in Europe.  Even if there is no quoted value for them, since 1989, the collectors called in French: “Mylokaphephile” (called before the “Molafabophile”) have created a non-profit organization to create a site with all the coffee grinders models, and to exchange as much information as possible, to exchange information and pictures about all those vintage coffee grinders, it is called the:  AICMC (Association Internationale des Collectionneurs de Moulins à Café).

The coffee grinder was created in the 13^th century in Turkey; they were at first using to crush all spices. At that time the coffee grinder was very rare, also the coffee. It’s in the 15^th century that the distribution of coffee grinders and the craft manufacturing take their development, and during the 19^th century, that the manufacturing in series appears.

Since, the foundries from the East region of France are manufacturing some good quality spare parts to get some strong grinders and commercialised in series by Peugeot and Goldenberg or Mutzig-Framont.

In 1889, “Peugeot Freres” is the leader on the market and commercialised 350 000 coffee grinders. Among the famous brands such as Peugeot Freres you can find Japy, Grulet, Gourdin-Lefevre, Goldenberg, Zassenhauss, Mutzig-Framont, Coulaux, Birambeaux… The brands present so many different coffee grinders; they can be of table, of wall, of “dinette”, of counter, of journey, electric, each brand is offering a range in every category. Their prices depend on their size and of course their rarity. You can try to find those made by cabinetmakers from the 18^th century, made from different wooden essences with sometimes some inlaid ivory works, just fantastic!

The bigger ones, of counter are very desired by collectors and of course very rare to find in good condition. You can fix them on the table, they exist in 6 different sizes and they can weight until 25 kg, some with cranks and others with steering wheels.

The new materials will mark the 20^th century, with bakelite and aluminum. Those can look really great in your kitchen as well!

You can also find some models in earthenware with flowery decoration, and some with atypical scenes from different regions, to add a country style. And if you prefer a 60′s – 70′s style there are some with geometric patterns or with words which can be wonderful too!

By 1930, the electrification led the crank to disappear, despite a resistance of the manual coffee grinders until the 50’s.

I’m sure you can find one to fit in you interior, those items are perfect vintage decoration. You will love them!

Have a look at all the kitchenalia we have in stock today!

After hanging on your wall your grandma’s moulds, keep going with the kitchenalia style by using different wire objects as the famous vintage egg wire basket!

Skillfully shape, the wire is the ally of the cooker, it takes care of the grills and the salads, it drips the frying fish, it presents the bread and the fruits, it is sometimes an egg-cup, a bottles-carrier or a table mat. It is also known for other applications which extends in many domains.

Cheap and strong, the wire complies with all desires. In the 17^th century it was used for everything, most for repair. Then, in the 20^th century this wire exceeded the utility and became a wide range of domestic objects in a country style. Like eggs basket, bottles carrier, gloves carrier, the wire object is protean. You can find so many different objects: wastebaskets, egg-basket, colander, bread-basket, fruits-basket… a lot of items to give a vintage decoration style to your interior.

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You will create a great kitchenalia style in your kitchen by using those old moulds.

Sparkling copper, rustic in terra-cota or modest in cast iron, the baking tins are just asking to be used again! They can also decorate so well your kitchen’ walls or even your shelves.

They became more democratic during the 20^th century. The sophisticated pastries baked until now especially for the wealthy elite, invites itself to the middle-class table, thanks to the discovery of the beet sugar.

The sweet dishes, served on a service trolley at the beginning of each meal had to be as nice as good.

The brassworkers had to excel themselves to realize some perfect baking tins adapted to the various specialities of cooking.

Many of them present some spectacular decorations:  straight or trunks grooves, swags, and floors for tiered cakes… Those luxurious tinned copper moulds request a lot of maintenance and remain the privilege of the bourgeois’ houses and restaurants. They are still nowadays very popular. The most modest households are looking for the white iron ones, more practical for use and cheaper, but sensible to rust, also light and easy to manufacture. The cast iron baking tins are simpler than their copper’ equivalent: tart mould, panettone mould, charlotte mould, brioche mould, cannele mould… and many other cook tops for small pastries like: the “Madeleine”, the “financier”, the “langue de chat”… Nevertheless, this material, still used nowadays, is going to be less and less used during the 50’s, replaced by the aluminium material which was easier to work with and totally insensible to oxidation.

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