Last week, I made the two hour trek from Houston to Round Top for their semi-annual antique show. I only did Marburger and Big Red Barn, and all the French, Swedish, and Belgian trends to make my home look like the cover of Veranda magazine were there. The other smaller venues looked to have the typical country primitives from Texas and Mexico for balance.
While architectural antiques were light in attendance this year, one of the more memorable pieces was this fragment in the Found for the Home booth. The rest of the show only had a small variety of European-style doors and shutters, and for the prices, I'll assume they were based on weight... in ounces. (The best places for European-style doors and shutters in this region, in terms of price, quality, and selection, are The Bank and Ricca's in New Orleans, or even The Galveston Historical Foundation, where shutters start at $45 a piece.)
On the drive home, my thoughts kept going back to this copper piece and the next day I contacted Ruth Davis and Aaron Rambo, at Found for the Home, to get me more pictures and information. To my surprise, Aaron was told by another dealer that the piece is from the Woolworth Building in New York City, which completed a restoration a few years back.
This is exciting because the Woolworth Building is one of the oldest—and one of the most famous—skyscrapers in New York City. More than 95 years after its construction, it is still one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States as well as one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City. The building is a National Historic Landmark, having been listed in 1966. Upon completion in 1913, the structure ushered in the Cathedral of Commerce era for skyscrapers, where buildings became the corporate identity for businesses.
Found for the Home has a store in Houston, where all of their finds are beautifully displayed like museum acquisitions. They are also on 1stDibs, where the following pieces come from.
Mounted Iron Grate
Pair of Hay Feeders
from the Found for the Home website
19th Century Giltwood Fragment
from the Found for the Home website
Heavily Carved Stool
Mounted architectural columns
Capital and Column
Pair of Garden Urns
Carved stone finials
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I didn't purchase any architectural antiques this trip, but I did find this European axis deer mount at a roadside tent on the way home, which added the finishing touches to my Burmese water buffalo bell collection!
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