Wednesday, July 23, 2008

marché aux puces

I've lived in this area for about 12 years now, and until recently, I'd never heard of the Lachute flea market (marché aux puces in French). A few weeks ago, two people on two separate occasions, told me about it, and since then I keep hearing about it. So I decided I would go with my friend Tina, an art school buddy who lives in Ottawa. We don't see each other very often but when we met up a few weeks ago and I realized what a flea market fan she was, I knew we had to go! It was about a 90-minute drive for her and a 60-minute drive for me. The flea market was huge! There was a great fiddler playing in the snack bar area and even a few people dancing to his music. There was a guy selling amazing sausages (which we sampled later). There was another guy demonstrating his "magic sponge". There was everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to the usual made-in-china stuff to antiques to just junk. We spent most of our time at the "just junk" stands. Tons of fun going through bins of old rusty things! I couldn't resist taking a photo of all these shiny scissors! And here is what we bought:

This is Tina rummaging for old brass rings. I think she plans to make earrings out of them. And check out the impressive tool collection that she is amassing! She bought the giant drill bits just for their wonderful shape, the hacksaw to use, and the gyprock saws for their handles.

And here are my treasures! A collection of rusty doorknob plates (I plan to make some mini-assemblages with them eventually), a collection of tiny lightbulbs (not sure why I am attracted to these but I will find a use for them), copper seal rings (probably will incorporate these into some jewellery pieces) and a beautiful (antique?) object used for weaving. I was told it was over 100 years old, but who knows... I will rely on blog-readers to tell me its proper name. I got all these treasures for a grand total of $12.00. Hope to visit again...

8 comments:

Wayfaring Wanderer said...

Now that sounds like my kinda place! What neat finds you picked up........I love to rummage :o)

ArtPropelled said...

My kinda place too! I kick myself for all the wonderful things I overlooked before this crazy hunger for old metal began.

jo horswill said...

I love all your 'finds' Kate...is the lovely wooden piece a 'shuttle'?
It's been too many years since my weaving days!
'Old' stuff has a sense of history about it, not to mention pride in craftmanship and time worn patina that you just can't find in 'new' stuff.
I like the idea of giving something 'old' a new life...it makes absolute sense to me.
Will look forward to seeing what you do with it all one day.

Ursula Achten said...

yes Kate, like Jo said, it's a shuttle, but the middle part seems missing.
What I like about old flea-market founds often is not only the stuff I get, but also the story that is told around it. So funny!

kate said...

ww...not surprised to hear that this is your kinda place!

robyn...love the metal scrap and wooden treasures on your blog. And love your work! Thanks for visiting and I hope you return!

jo and uschi...thanks for identifying my wooden object. Yes, I think it's a shuttle and uschi, there was another shuttle with that missing part still intact but it wasn't as old or as nice as the one I chose. I agree with you both, it's the story (or the imagined story) and the sense of history that make these objects so compelling. Thanks for your comments!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi Kate, the missing center for your old shuttle, lovely by the way, is replaceable and can even be made of paper.. It is called a bobbin in any of its many forms.. I hope to weave again some day but for now I make jewelry for a living.

I LOVE flea markets!!!!

they have a fabulous huge one in Sussex, New Brunswick during the third week of August that is plugged full of stuff and people!! can't wait!

kate said...

gwen...thanks for the additional information. Maybe some August I'll make it to the flea market in Sussex, NB! Love your jewellery by the way.

Shayla said...

These photos inspired me to go rumaging at the neighborhood recyling shop (turned out to be scrap metal).
Good to know about the Sussex Flea market (glad I scanned the comments). I've just been to the one in Moncton and it wasn't very good.