This rather unassuming box reveals a wonderful secret ... !
Open it up and you enter a fantastically kitsch world!!
Plush red velvet lining, and a ballerina that revolves around as it plays a little tune.
Despite its slightly comical look its actually made by a world famous company, who are leaders in the field of musical and mechanical boxes.
The Swiss firm Reuge started out in the tiny village of Sainte-Croix in Switzerland in 1865. Founded by Charles Reuge, the company grew and grew and became THE place to get your innovative musical boxes.
Our little box dates to the 1950s, when presumably Reuge were in their Kitsch period!!
The tiny ballerina twirls around to the tune of Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin', from the Broadway play and later the film, Oklahoma, first coming out in 1943.
They were made as jewellery boxes, and there is no reason why this gem can't carry on playing, as you keep your precious pieces in there on your dressing table!
So if you fancy this, come along to my next fair at LOU LOU'S BOURNEMOUTH VINTAGE FAIR on Sunday 17th February at Bournemouth's Pavilion Theatre, and see it for yourself!
Pleased to announce the redesign of my main website www.mattartpix.com is now complete!!!
Have been working on it over the past month, to replace my rickety old one, and have completely revamped the whole look and feel.
It now has 10 different sections, showing all aspects of the Matt ArtPix Empire.
The design is now much cleaner and whiter, and I've held back my instincts to go mad on it, making easy-to-look-at galleries featuring my artworks, vintage items and designs!
Here is a step-by-step guide to what's on there now:
The ABOUT page is a brief introduction to me and what I do ...
The NEWS page has a list of markets and fairs you can find me at, plus news of the latest stock.
On the ARTWORK page you will see a gallery with some of my Digital Artworks and collages.
Including this one, entitled 'In the Soup'!
Next up is the ITEMS page, which shows you a selection of some of the amazing Vintage & Retro Items I sell at the markets and fairs.
Each picture has an explanation of what it is, with this gorgeous Art Deco Gray's Pottery Trio being just one of the items.
The FOOTIE page has all my popular Retro Football designs, which I sell as cards, fridge magnets and framed pictures.
Liverpool is just one of the many teams I've done.
PHOTOS showcases a selection of my own photographs, I'm certainly not a professional but I do love taking photos!
This is an example of one of my pics, the Barkers building in London, and as with the other galleries, all the pics have a title and explanation.
The RETRO page is all about my many retro-themed designs. I've started with all the Dazzling Decades series, and will add other designs later.
Below is one of my Dazzling Decades, the 'Fighting 40s' .
Now for the WORK page, although I very much do my own thing now, I'm still available for work and commissions!!
And here I've showcased a few examples of recent work, including book covers, posters and design layouts.
And finally the CONTACT page, giving details of how to get in touch with me.
I'll be adding things to the galleries, and updating the News page, so do have a look from time-to-time and keep in touch with what I'm doing!!
You may have noticed I've also changed this Blog's banner at the top of the page, to tie-in with the new look.
So the ArtPix Revamp is well under way!!
I rescued this rather forlorn looking doll's house last year and have given it a new lease of life!
Handmade in the 1930s, it was already a unique and beautifully crafted object, it just needed a bit of TLC!
And as it had
the look of a pre-War house, I chose the colours to match a classic 30s
Metroland house. A pale yellow, with dark green trimmings and a nice
cheerful bright red front door.
The toymakers Tri-ang often used the same colour scheme for their doll's houses around this time.
I also added the 'mock Tudor' effect on the gables, that is so familiar on these types of houses.
Put brick effect paper on the chimney and tiles for the roof.
And I also made some windows, with matching green frames ...
I went a bit crazier with the colours inside though!
A bright pink bedroom ...
A fabulous 1970s orange for the lounge.
I picked that to match the groovy 70s curtains that were already there!
And a nice blue upstairs, that also matched the existing curtains and carpet ...
There were amazing discoveries as well!
Just like when renovating a real house, original features can suddenly appear.
As I hacked away at the old woodchip wallpaper stuck on the walls, hidden wooden fireplaces were revealed, which was a nice surprise!!
I then put a bit of vinyl flooring down for the hallway, which I painted in a mustard yellow ...
The house was great fun to do, all it needs now is a new home!
This is a one-off, as it was handmade, and now with my own colour scheme, it will be unique thing to own.
It will probably be too big for some vintage fairs I'm doing, so it may only appear at outdoor and salvage fairs, but if you want it, let me know!!!
Just put some new bits into my unit down at The Customs House in West Bay, Dorset!!
Here is a sneak preview of some of the things ...
A gorgeous railway poster printed onto canvas.
It features a Great Western Railway poster from 1927, for the town of Marlborough in Wiltshire.
Which seemed to be a handy stop-off point for the North Wessex Downs, and the nearby Savernake Forest. It was painted by the artist W.E. Leadley (1902-73).
Some classic 1970s Mr Men books, the simple, but brilliantly drawn cartoon books by Roger Hargreaves.
A great 1960s jigsaw puzzle, called a 'Jig-Map'.
I have several of these in my unit and they are great fun to do, as they form the shape of the country or continent.
This one is for South America, and like the others, has great illustrations on it.
They are surprisingly difficult to do as well, although I'm not an experienced jigsaw puzzler!!
As is often the case with vintage jigsaws, there is unfortunately one piece missing, which is a shame. BUT, you do get the Place-Name Quiz all complete, including with the original envelope and all the name tags in the cardboard holder, which is extremely rare!
You had to place the names of the cities around the map, slotting them into place, you even get the answer sheet as well!
This is a brilliant retro mini table-football game!
Its so small it can just be placed on a table, instead of the big ones that have their own legs.
It probably dates to either the 1970s or 80s, so is a classic retro game, and loads of fun too!
A Bournemouth home shirt from their iconic 2015/16 season ...
This was the club's first season in the Premier League, in fact the first in the highest division in their entire history.
And they more than held their own, in one week in December they amazingly beat reigning champions Chelsea 1-0 away, then the following week beat Manchester United 2-1 at home!!
They finished up in 16th place, and have since become an established and respected Premier League club, a remarkable achievement.
And the shirt is great too!!
A really stylish and well-made top, with that classic retro-looking club badge of theirs.
More football stuff here, four fantastic books on Manchester United.
All you ever wanted to know about the famous Red Devils, with an encyclopedia, an illustrated history, a player by player guide and a brilliant book that has four DVDs of classic historic matches!
So run on down to The Customs House in West Bay and don't miss out of these and many more goodies!!
I love old vintage cameras, they are often design classics, and you just wonder how many holidays they've been taken on and how many photographs they've taken!
I've got several in the ArtPix Storeroom for sale, and this one below is a great example ...
This is a Coronet Twelve-20, that was made in Birmingham in 1950.
It actually looks much older, with its classic Brownie box camera shape, and Art Deco styling.
This is the 'Colour-Filter Model', which perhaps would have made it quite modern for the post-war era.
I love the little colour filter feature on the side of the camera!
It also has its original case, which is always a nice extra to have as well.
I'm certainly not a professional photographer, so I don't actually use these vintage cameras, I just appreciate their design and age, but I sell to people who intend to use them, which is fantastic.
They would be able to take photographs of a unique quality that no digital camera or Photoshop could recreate.
They are often bought by students, using them for projects, or people who have a passion for cameras, and I love the idea that they will have a continued life, taking great photos.
You'll have your chance to get your hands on this or some of the other vintage cameras at my next two vintage fairs ...
LOU LOU'S BOURNEMOUTH VINTAGE FAIR
Sunday 17th February
VINTAGE SOMERSET – WELLS
Saturday 2nd March
See you there!!
