August 1, 2014
Ever wonder about the phrase “dog days of summer?” Even though it’s been blessedly cool this week, it is that time of year. Turns out the phrase comes from the association of this time of year with Sirius, which is known as the Dog Star because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). The dog days were popularly believed to be an evil time, but our neighbor Great Country Farms has focused on fun by scheduling a Dog Days Peach Festival for August 9th & 10th at which canines are not only welcome, but get free admission! Besides u-pick peaches (of course!), they’ll have a doggie agility course, doggie Olympics and the 1st 100 dogs get doggie goodie bags. You’re welcome to bring your dogs into the store if you’d care to visit on your way to or from the event. We only have a few rules, like no eating the furniture!
There are several recent acquisitions worthy of mention this month including a couple Sheraton stands, a walnut Eastlake table, a marble-topped commode and two caramel glass slag lamps. Sheraton is a late 18th century neoclassical English furniture style popular from about 1785 until about 1820. The term recognizes English furniture designer Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) whose books, “The Cabinet Maker’s & Upholsterer’s Drawing Book” (1791) of furniture patterns; “The Cabinet Dictionary” (1803), a compendium of instructions on the techniques of cabinet and chair making; and “The Cabinet Maker, Upholsterer and General Artist’s Encyclopaedia” (1805), exemplify this style. Many of the designs are based on classical architecture, knowledge of which was an essential part of a designer’s technical education at the time. Sheraton stands can have one drawer or two. We have one on each side of the bed and use them as nightstands. It’s hard to imagine what we’d do without them!
Slag glass, also known as marble glass, is a type of opaque, streaked pressed glass thatoriginated in late-19th-century England, where glass manufacturers are thought to have added slag from iron-smelting works to molten glass. This created a range of effects, from tortoiseshell to marbling. U.S. manufacturers soon produced their own versions of slag glass, which when used for lampshades allowed the light source in a lamp to fill a room with a soft ivory glow. We also have a caramel slag glass lamp in our bedroom. Nothing like loving what we sell, huh?
There are no special hours to report this month, so we’ll look forward to seeing you during our regular hours of 10-6 Tuesday through Saturday and noon-5 on Sunday. You may even see Sean around the first few weeks of August . . .
Lynne & Bob McCann