Our Hopeful Home: Thrill of the Hunt #31

Welcome, friends, to another fun-filled Thrill of the Hunt post where I share my latest thrifty (and usually) vintage finds with you.

My hope is that by sharing my thrifty finds I can motivate and inspire you to explore your own local thrift stores, estate sales, flea markets and barn sales, and discover your own fabulous finds for yourself. So let's get started.

After last week's vintage ironstone extravaganza, I thought I'd start out today's Thrill of the Hunt with yet another vintage ironstone find. My cost: $4.99. That was quite a lot for me to spend on any one item, but I knew it was probably worth much more, which helped justify the purchase. Plus I knew that it would be going up on our dining room ironstone gallery wall at some point in the future.

There is no question that this platter is vintage ironstone. The crazing gives its age away. I love its unusual shape.

white ironstone platter in plate holder display

You can really see the crazing, or fine cracks that leave dark marks, in this photo.

vintage ironstone platter with wheat pattern

It also has a wheat pattern that's hard to see, as well as photograph,

probably due to so many years of use.

Thos Hughes & Son Ltd makers mark vintage ironstone

The makers mark says "Thos. Hughes & Son Ltd Made in England." It also says "Unicorn Works Longport". After much research I'm still stumped as to the age of this piece. I can not find a Thos. Hughes & Son Ltd. mark that has two flying dragons on it. I've found platters with the wheat pattern on it, but the animals in the mark are usually a lion and a horse or unicorn. Any ideas? All educated guesses welcome!

Next up are these two vintage books I picked up at Goodwill for $1.29 each. Their blue covers are what drew my attention. Little did I know that what was inside would draw my attention as well.

Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society books

"Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society" sounds so la-de-da, doesn't it? Aristotle was a great philosopher, the greatest I think. And it all sounds quite interesting to me. Jurisprudence, or the philosophy of law, was my favorite class in law school. I even got the highest grade in the class for it. So I think I'm actually going to have to give this book at least a cursory glance to see what it's about.

I found this edition, put it in the cart, then walked to another part of the book section and found the other one! I thought it was destiny so I had to pick up the second one as well. It only seemed right. The second book's title says it's from 1954-1955 and was copyrighted in 1955.

I searched but could not find any other books from the series.

As you can see, they're already acting as the perfect props in my photo shoots!

Last but not least I'd like to share this wicker wrapped demijohn that I picked up at Goodwill for $4.99. That's pretty pricey for me, however, the first time I saw it I refrained from buying it. After thinking about it for a week I went back to the store and lo and behold there it was still waiting for me!

galvanized bucket vintage demijohn bottle

I did a bit of research on wicker wrapped demijohns but did not find any definitive source that could tell me whether or not it's vintage. It seems a bit too pristine to me to be vintage. Either way, I love it and will use it in my everyday decor. I think it oozes French country/farmhouse.