Mon cabinet de Curiosité

I saw this cabinet   for the first time about four years ago when we were re- building our home. Not sure where it would fit in as we really  had collected enough beautiful cabinets, armoires and special pieces over the years. I passed it on as a "once saw this lovely cabinet" and shelved the idea.

A antique dealer friend of mine once told me that you can always make space for something you really love. The thing is though, I do love each and every piece we have sourced , the stories that came with them, the memories, the growth and change in style in  what we like and prefer as years go by...how can I let go of a much loved piece for yet another.

A year after I first saw it, I came across the image I had of the cabinet again. Acting on impulse ~ I contacted the dealer to hear if by any chance it was still available - it was and we started making plans to have it packed up and crated to send to us.

It meant moving wall sconces by a few centimetres on the wall where it had to go, but  in the end it fitted perfectly,- as if planned that way from start, and the credenza we moved to allow for this newcomer, fitted better in another space.

I had  no idea what I would store in it....just that I adored it's lines, intricate carved and hand inlaid woodwork.

The first "find" to go inside  was a set of old leather bound books, delicate pages with handwritten notes...

then some more books...old papers,18th century  French deeds, a little bundle of moss branches collected by Dd on a walk 

dried seeds, a handmade stone duck with a funny head, framed papillon, cut out cards, three stones from a Greek island, a bleached-from-the-sun tortoise shell

a old wooden bird from a broken cuckoo clock..precious little Jeanne De Arc bisque figurine that broke in hand luggage but got glued together again ..a French fabric measuring tape, old printing blocks 

a chippy iron Fleur De lis

ordinary objects elevated to be seen, 

anything  under/behind/on glass seems more important.

every time I open the door to find a place for yet another little trésor, I say to myself, when this one is placed, there really is no more space...until next time 

old French pharmacy box with handmade clay marbles..a little lace flower...

It is my cabinet of curiosities...truly curious little objects added over time, not planned at all, it just found it's way to the rest. Impossible to recreate exactly, and every time I add to my overfull cabinet, it is as if the space was just waiting for that item, however small it is.

In a hallway, we pass by it every day.

Some times the sun fall a certain way to highlight a object inside for a few brief moments...

"The curio cabinets originated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Rooms and cabinets  where collected objects  were a multitude of rare or strange objects representing the three kingdoms: animal, vegetable, and mineral, in addition to human achievement."

 google images

 google images

google images

I am fascinated by stories, origin and history..so it is inevitable that I would collect... 

Colette

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Images in this post by Henrique Wilding photography or where watermarked, by myself.