Home › Daily Prompt › #FOWC › WINDOWS ON MY WORLD – Marilyn Armstrong

WINDOWS ON MY WORLD – Marilyn Armstrong

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FOWC with Fandango — Windows On My World

My big windows on the world all need cleaning. the ones in the back are easy because you can stand on the deck and just wash them, but the ones in front of the house are two stories up. The ground in front of them is soft and muddy from the constant rain and someone stole our two-story ladder. Eventually, they will become sunglasses … or I’ll have to hire someone to clean them. Not this year, though. Or next. Too many other things need doing.

I am in the middle of a mental muddle.

I have a big collection (not, fortunately, as big as it used to be!) of antique Asian art and hundreds of dolls from the 1930s through 1970s, all in pretty good shape. Some are still rather new, tags and all.

No one wants the pottery, which is heartbreaking. To me, these are pieces of the past. I hold one of these pieces and I can see the world in which they were born. I wonder how many hundreds — thousands? — of people have held them and in how many homes they were things of beauty. But unless I can find homes for them, these irreplaceable pieces will disappear from the world forever.

When you get to my age and the age of my friends, no one is collecting. Everyone is trying to find homes for things because we are suddenly sharply aware that we aren’t going to live forever and those pieces of porcelain aren’t going to live forever on the mantel or the shelves or cabinets. The idea of all of these things going to some big dumpster makes me a little bit sick.

Seriously: if you know someone who wants them, free, no strings, please let me know. I’ve run out of local places with room for them and my friends are my age and don’t want more of anything.

Does is really matter if the world has one more Han pot or Tang horse? I don’t know.

What about all the dolls of youth. Toys represent the world in which we live more than anything except maybe books. They show how we viewed children, especially girls and their roles in the world. I would love to know they will survive!

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Categories: #FOWC, #Photography, Daily Prompt, Dolls, Fandango's One Word Challenge, Marilyn Armstrong

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28 replies

  1. evilsquirrel13
    11/12/2019 • 09:37

    Every time you photograph the shelf with the tall figurines on it, I always look for Lil. She seems to be showing her age lately, it looks like… five years now. I’m happy that you even still have her, because I sometimes wonder how many of those cards I drew and sent out had long ago been pitched by their new owners…

    Like

  2. DailyMusings
    11/12/2019 • 05:53

    There are so many things that hold special meaning to us, but for others, who cares? It bothers me, that there is no appreciation for the things I hold dear, but they hold my memories I suppose. No one wants old furniture, they call it “brown furniture” ignoring the beautiful craftsmanship. Ah, the world today.

    Like

  3. BeckyB
    11/12/2019 • 03:24

    Good luck with finding a home . . . the modern generation are so odd they seem to want nothing with history. Around us everyone is doing up their homes, and the insides all look exactly the same – white and no ornaments of any type. They all seem to want to live in modern hotels. I find it most strange. I so hope you find a home for all of yours

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Eagle-Eyed Editor
    11/11/2019 • 21:39

    I wonder if a local museum could use them? It seems like the auction house is a good idea too.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marilyn Armstrong
      11/11/2019 • 22:57

      We do not have a local museum. The only one is Boston’s Museum of Art and these are not museum grade. They are collectors grade. Good enough for a collector, but not perfect enough for a museum. And they are not valuable enough for an auction house. They only want “imperial grade” pieces and almost NO private party owns them.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. usfman
    11/11/2019 • 20:43

    If it was me, I’d keep one or two in the best of each object category and donate the rest.
    Why waste time haggling over price?

    Liked by 1 person

  6. loisajay
    11/11/2019 • 19:53

    I sold dolls I had been collecting to a woman who owns a doll shop. At this point, I just want them out of the house. No one wants to give you any decent money for anything. I felt like if I said, “I will pay you to take this stuff” I’d get a better price. Good luck, Marilyn.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. slmret
    11/11/2019 • 17:50

    You might invite an auction house representative to come and look at your collections — they might want to include them in an auction either together or individual pieces, and may buy them outright or let the auctions take care of that. When my mother died, she had a painting that none of us wanted, by a painter who was still alive. The auction house estimated it would sell for $15K — it actually sold for $45 K. There were some fees that were deducted, but we received a check for about 2/3 of that sale amount.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. swo8
    11/11/2019 • 16:04

    All lovely, Marilyn.
    We’re having a snow storm and it looking awful outside.
    Leslie

    Liked by 1 person