Aside from cleaning the carpets and painting the walls, I didn't do any decorating when we moved into our current house. The reason is that we weren't going to live here for long, so I didn't see much point in putting in the effort on a temporary situation. But, as so often is the case, our temporary situation has stretched on long enough that it's starting to feel permanent. Frustrated, I went to Mr. Bleu and asked for a timeline. "If we're going to live here forever, I'm ok with that, just let me do some remodeling and decorating. If not, please tell me when we'll be out of here." Personally, I'd like for us to be out of this house in a year, tops. If that doesn't happen, I'm going to bite the bullet and start gutting this house. Either way, I'm ready to start living in a house that reflects my tastes instead of just being a place to sleep and store my stuff. I want a home that is deliberately decorated, interesting and inviting, which is why I've been casually searching for pieces to furnish my someday home. Rugs, chairs, couches, and yes, this curiosity cabinet.
If you, like most of my own family, are not familiar with the term, Curiosity cabinets first emerged in the 16th century. At that time they were exclusive to the wealthiest class and were entire rooms rather than the single pieces of furniture that we think of today, devoted to housing and displaying an aristocrat's collections of art, relics, natural history, taxidermized animals, etc. These curiosity cabinets or "wonder rooms" were a place for visitors to explore and served as the precursors to our modern day museums.
If you read further and decide you'd like to create your own curiosity cabinet, the best place to begin is with the most interesting things you own. Display them first and proudly and then build your collection around them. I've seen cabinets filled with single item collections like porcelain dolls, but the most interesting cabinets by far are the ones with an eclectic sampling of items, which is why I'm working to combine botanical prints with porcelain and I'd like to add a few more oddities as well, but it's still growing.
Curiosity cabinets have always fascinated me and even from my childhood years. My maternal grandmother, being a woman of comparative means in this poor area, had a curiosity cabinet filled with corals, carved ivory, figurines, and all manner of exotic things from her years traveling abroad. I spent hours looking at it, never allowed to touch, of course, and I knew that I would one day curate my own little wonder-hutch filled with oddities and ephemera. A couple of months ago, I had some dress-savings set aside, when I spied this cute little cabinet at a yard sale. As much as I'd like to say it was a steal, I am fairly certain that even with today's inflation rates, I overpaid. But, I knew it was the perfect piece to begin my own curiosity cabinet for my someday-house.
The cabinet itself is flimsy, thin wood, but antique never the less and likely handmade. It has three sections on top and two on the bottom and even though the shelves are bowed, they seem capable of holding all my heavy dishes. What drew me to this piece were the fruit shaped handles and large ornate fruit top piece, which I will have to show you another time as it is currently not attached since it nearly touches the ceiling when it is. After installing it in the house, I spent a week looking at it and debating what sorts of things I would like to fill it.
In its current state, it is not nearly as interesting as I'd like it to be, this is either because I don't really have that many odd things, or more likely because all my odd things have been scattered around in storage during so many years of moving houses. A few vintage porcelain ladies, and dogs. Some books, some Blythes, some buttons. And a meager hodge-podge of antique Fire King Jadeite pieces. That's pretty much it at the moment, although I would like to note that the lady featured directly above is an interesting piece. She used to be a lamp topper and the shade was her dress. I might return her to that purpose one day when I have a house built and decorated properly.
So many years of moving every 6 months to 3 years usually meant that anything prized, like all my Fire King dishes, have been packed away for a decade or more to keep them safe. Now it is all about remembering what they are and where they are. I feel certain that this collection will continue to grow as I sort through boxes both here in my shed, in closets and under beds and at my parents' house in the same places. I at least have a few sea shells and other bibs and bobs to add. Plus an extensive collection of vintage costume jewelry which deserves to be displayed.
While my family was anything but happy to see another piece of furniture squeezing in to our already cramped little cabin, I'm very pleased with what I have begun even though at the moment it's not a very "curious" collection. For now it's rather like a mildly unusual china cabinet, but I'll keep working on it until it is a curiosity cabinet worthy of the name.
Alas, interesting collections take time to curate, so I will keep my eyes peeled for curiosities to add to my cabinet now that I see what I'm working with. Hopefully in a few months or years, I'll post the progress of my little curiosity cabinet and it will be much more curious.
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