Remembering Patti Bateman

REMEMBERING PATTI BATEMAN


COUNTRY ANTIQUES AT FLAWED AND FABULOUS



This Large handmade copper jam pan with handles, is really substantial. It is quite heavy and constructed of a thick gauge copper,the outside has a lovely aged verdigris. My dear old friend Patti Bateman, a well known dealer from Beaumont St Newcastle told me once that it was a good old piece if It was constructed with these join lines (see in the bottom)
She had a wealth of knowledge and the most wicked sense of humour. We became good friends while I was at Swan Murray and Hains antique centre in East Maitland as she was also a stall holder there. She was in her 70's then, and becoming quite frail. I used to pick her up and we would go to the auctions together or op shopping. She had a great love of good linen and a keen eye for quality needlework.

She used to make me laugh at viewings, because she would want me to look at something , but motion towards something else completely, needless to say I did n't always follow because what she was saying,didn't relate to what she was pointing at. This caused me endless amusement. She said the reason she did that was because other people would watch what she was looking at and then she would have competition on the items.

Patti had a shop on Beaumont st in Newcastle when the Earthquake came. The buildings along that street were substantially damaged in the earthquake and she had to close down .
That was a couple of years before I met her. Patti didn't buy a lot of stuff in her later years, she had piles and piles of stock in suitcase stored on her daughter Neta's property, at Dunn's Creek.
Whenever she needed to stock up, she would just raid another case.
I think all dealers are horders and Patti kept a keen interest in Antiques until she was bedridden in a nursing home. She deteriorated very rapidly following a fall and suffered from demetia, but Neta said that on good days she would still take patti out for a coffee and a bit of Op shopping!

She was a special friend and I miss her. Her son Piers is an artist of repute in Melbourne. Daughter Neta was involved with horses and her other son Eddy, was a handy fellow who was making slab furniture when I last spoke to him. Patti loved art and loved to travel a passion that her children share in different ways. I have enjoyed so much remembering the fun we had together I think I will retitle this page for patti.

More lovely Country Antiques for Sale

MORE LOVELY COUNTRY ANTIQUES FOR SALE!

Elm stool in original polish $155.00

Small Oak keg with brass tap $200.00

Large European stipple finished trunk

with domed top original finish and

handles small metal plaque to top $495.00

Old stuff for sale

OLD STUFF

FOR SALE

Cedar Grandmother's chair as found condition, the braid has a small section loose at the back but otherwise all intact, I like the muted tones of the upholstery but no biggy if you would prefer to recover it. Bought recently at a local auction it is priced at $850.00

Large Chemist Jars from the Maitland
Hospital
bought these at a local auction years ago,
they have been in my collection. 280mm
tall in perfect order. $125.00 each.

















This cute little occassional table is chip
carved to the top and legs and in original
polish. 690 x470 it has a clover leaf
shaped top and undershelf. It is very
well priced at only $185.00

This trench art vase is made from a brass
1942 40mm Swedish Bofours Navel

Gun Shell 5/clip

It has applied handles and Australian
coins from 1943 threepence, shilling and
florin affixed for decoration

It is priced at $95.00

Out in the workshop

OUT IN THE WORKSHOP

I am struggling getting the photos to go where I want them, but this the desk. The lightshade was an accident, and I don't know how to remove it. Oh well it is nice anyway. I put the glass handles on today, hope you like the desk, the repair over the right drawer still sticks out but otherwise I'm pretty happy with the colour, I had a few dealers in last night and they were admiring the polish and that made me happy. I am going do do some how to posts soon. The Victorian milk glass lightshade above is 250.00

I was late opening today because I've been working on a little desk in my workshop. It's a funny little piece made of mixed timbers, redwood legs and pine top and skirts. It really was in shed condition. It has had a lot more joinery than I'd like, but I still think it's a cutie. I was worried about the colour though, Redwood is a deep colour and very grainy like oregon, the pine is quite fine although I don't know enough to tell you what kind of pine it is.

Like many lovely Victorian pine pieces it was disrespected, luckily it still had old finish, and had escaped a nice fresh coat of paint, but the drawers were gone, it must have been standing in a moist environment, like straight on an earth floor, because the bottoms of the feet had been moisture affected.
The bottoms of the legs have been returned and repaired, the drawers replaced. The top has been jointed and pulled down as straight as possible without touching the surface.The vice holes....yes the vice had been on it, have been plugged. This is not one for the fainted hearted, seriously flawed but fabulous. It has a pretty form though, nice Victorian turned legs. Not for everyone, but for those of us who don't mind things a bit rustic and well worn it is appealing.