We decided to attend an antique auction in Ceres on Saturday
morning. We had to get up at 06:30 and it just seemed very unwise in winter.
The warm bed drew me back like a magnet but shaving and showering woke me up
into the adventure of the day.
Warmly dressed and sitting down for breakfast to enjoy a
steaming cup of Java OP Malabar tea, toast and homemade marmalade was a very
good start to a road trip with a mission.
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| A Cold Departure |
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| Misty Landscape |
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| Wall of the Auction House |
We arrived at the auction with the venue filled with fellow
bidders and potential competitors for the pieces that caught our interest. The
venue for the auction was a hall with a bowed roof and it was freezing with
condensation dripping like icicles onto the people and furniture on the floor.
I was sure that I might have come for furniture but was
going away with pneumonia; I was expecting to see icicles stuck to the
furniture. No place should be that cold
unless there is a lot of meat carcasses hanging around, something
I was going to resemble if I did not get out of there fast.
With my camera frozen to my hands I headed for the bakkie to
put the piece of cold discomfort away. At the coffee stand I asked for a
Whisky,’ double or single’ the owner asked. Realising he was just joking
because he thought that I was only joking, I wanted to say please don’t tease
me. I replaced the cold camera with a hot cup of coffee and I felt my whole
being thawing.
My adventurous spirit returned with the caffeine induced
comfort. I realised I hadn’t seen Keith
lately and fearing that he might have succumbed to frostbite near the stinkwood
and yellowwood linen press I headed that way. I gave a sigh of relief spotting
him near a stinkwood and yellowwood ‘jonkvrou kas’ glowing with the heat of
excitement while inspecting the ‘swavelstert voeë’ of the drawers with a look that
was verging on the inappropriate. No one should look at antique furniture like
that.
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| Auction Bric-a-Brac |
Keith was in high spirits and I needed spirits of some kind
to get heat into my body. We discussed
the items we would consider depending on the bidding pace and agreed on the
maximum price we would pay. Keith was armed with pen and catalogue and me with
the auction paddle with our number on it.
Walking past farmers in shorts and t-shirts my teeth
chattering I felt embarrassed but considered grabbing the 'Jakkals karos' and
wrapping myself in it. The auction started and I took up position making sure
that I can see Keith’s face when we started bidding. I lost all feeling in my toes and considered
star jumps to get the blood circulating again. I did a few quick arm movements
to warm up a bit but bought a few ceramics in the process.
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| The Salon Lamp on the right and the 'Jakals karos' at the back |
I panicked, froze in more ways than one and was thankful
that it was not a big piece of furniture.
I decided to keep my hands in my pockets and put the paddle
in my mouth but soon realised that I am going to chew through it with my
chattering teeth, back to the paddle in my hand doing quick arm movements
behind my back with the paddle out of sight.
The Salon Lamp was next but although our bid was the highest
it did not reach the reserve price, with no further interest on the floor the
auctioneer decided to withdraw the item.
Our next item was a tall stinkwood and yellowwood Linen
cupboard with three internal shelves and two drawers. We allowed the bidding to
climb and when it slowed we entered our bid, soon it was higher than our
maximum price. I looked at Keith who was nodding go when I was nodding stop
while waving the paddle. Maybe Keith was just shivering but no, he was
confidently nodding go so I went on and the bid was closed on us. I held up my
paddle defiantly shivering away, people looked at me disapprovingly thinking I
was doing a victory dance.
The adrenalin of the buy rushed through me and I got control
back over my body then panic rushed through me when I realised that the
cupboard was too big for the bakkie, how were we going to get it home?
I lost Keith in the crowd moving from item to item, trying
to get his attention by waving the paddle I nearly bought a ten-seater
yellowwood dining room table. New buyers entered the auction, they must have
been delayed by the thick mist, and the prices for the other Cape pieces got
outrageous. Thanks to the cold and the mist we got a beautiful piece of
furniture for a very good price.
After we paid for the cupboard and the ceramics we
investigated ways to get the cupboard home. We decided on top of the canopy of
the bakkie was going to be the only way. Keith asked two of the employees
working for the auctioneer to help us get it on top of the canopy but we were
quickly informed that it will fit inside the canopied bakkie because the whole
cupboard takes apart like a big puzzle.
Watching the cupboard being dismantled we realised that it
is just logical for a 19th century piece of furniture of this size
to ‘fold-up’ to be able to be
transported by wagon. Closing the canopy door Keith had the expression of a
proud father who’s kid just scored a goal on his face, so proud of the
cupboards ability to come apart like that to make our lives easier.
With the cupboard safely tucked inside the bakkie we could
head home. When we reached Worcester I was warm again.
At home we offloaded the cupboard, cleaned it and assembled
it in one of the bedrooms. Philip phoned from Paris while all this was happening
and it was as if he was part of the whole adventure. We received news from
Paris while introducing the new piece of furniture to the house.
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| The Linen Cupboard |
It is a formidable
piece of furniture and a proud addition to our collection. We toasted the new
acquisition with a long overdue peat Whisky.
A fine addition...
ReplyDeleteThank you Pat, I think the house agrees with you.
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