Story by Karen Parr-Moody
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – As of Jan. 20 the popular Sango store, Miss Lucille’s Marketplace, began opening on Mondays. This now puts it in operation every day of the week, increasing the likelihood – already strong – that shoppers will find unusual treasures there.
Miss Lucille’s is a massive marketplace at 2231-A Madison Street. It includes booths filled to overflowing with antiques, vintage items, hand-painted furniture, handmade children’s clothes and chic objects of décor. Locals are atwitter with talk of their finds – and I am one of them.
I’ve been collecting antiques for 20 years and have been writing about them professionally for four. I love to hit a massive treasure trove of antique and vintage items like Miss Lucille’s. Most recently I found an English pink lustreware teapot for $48. It now joins a 3-tiered English pink lustreware dessert stand I bought years ago at GasLamp Antiques in Nashville.
English pink lustreware was popular in 19th-century England and its iridescence and pink tones continue to make it sought by collectors. It is a type of ceramic or porcelain that has been given a metallic glaze and is easy to identify. When you examine it closely, you will see an iridescent, metallic sheen that is produced by a combination of metallic oxides and a glaze finish. This process dates back to 10th century Egypt.
In recent years, another genre that has become popular among collectors is Mid-Century Modern furniture, with its sleek lines and honey colored woods. I personally think that furniture from the slightly earlier Art Deco era of the 1920s to 1940s blends extremely well with Mid-Century Modern furniture. And while I was at Miss Lucille’s recently, I found several Art Deco pieces.
Three such pieces are from the Art Deco category coined “Waterfall.” Waterfall furniture was inexpensive to buy when it debuted during the 1930s; many newlyweds purchased entire sets, including a dresser, vanity, bed and trunk. The furniture is called Waterfall due to its rolled front edges, which is an easy detail to identify.
Waterfall furniture originally came in a brown stain and typically had some degree of inlaid marquetry work around the handles, which were often made of Bakelite. In modern times, the stain on these vintage pieces has sometimes gotten a bit shabby, so many collectors refinish Waterfall furniture in whimsical paint colors. Currently at Miss Lucille’s someone has refinished a vanity in pink and white. It is missing its original mirror, which would have been round, but includes the original Bakelite handles and is priced at $159.
I found two other Waterfall pieces at Miss Lucille’s. One is a vanity, priced at $149, that has been repainted in a pale blue and white color scheme that would be perfect for a child’s room (my husband refinished a Waterfall dresser in gray and white for our daughter’s nursery.) The other is a Waterfall dresser in great condition, with its original stain and a mirror, for $289.
Miss Lucille’s Marketplace is open Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 931-896-1700 or visit the website at www.misslucillesmarketplace.com.
When I was at Miss Lucille’s recently, this was just one of three Waterfall pieces from the Art Deco era of the 1920s to 1940s. Its paint has been refinished but it retains the original Bakelite handles.
This Art Deco Waterfall vanity has been repainted in colors that would work well in a child’s room or baby’s nursery.
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.