The Improper Bostonian Articles
December 7-20, 2005
July 12-August 1, 2006
A Living Room Full of Fine Consignments
The Consignment Gallery, at 363 Highland Ave. in Somerville (617-629-4900), sells furniture, jewelry, china, rugs and more. The consignor nets 60 percent when an item is sold.
Coming into this vast (but orderly) consignment shop is almost like coming into a large, well-furnished house - possibly owned by a duchess. You are struck by the healthy, plump chairs, delicious slipper chairs and substantial sofas with curly wooden edges that seem to have been upholstered yesterday. The prevailing era stretches
from circa the 1920s to the 1970s. The word "estate", as in sales thereof, is evoked in solid, good-looking dining room tables usually with chairs that match, twinkling with a set of fine china, maybe a box of silver and delicate or decorative glassware. Hammersley and Limoges might be in attendance. Recently an attractive mahogany tall chest with six drawers, larger at the bottom climbing up to smaller at the top, sported fancy metal drawer pulls, and cost a mere $585. Thanks to the acquisition of rug-plunder from an Iranian warehouse, there's also plenty underfoot, as well as all sorts of shiny silver dishes for food- or bibelot- holding, or for engraving-on as a wedding present. One shopper buys little silver salt spoons to attach to holiday jam jars, upping the glamour considerably, for not much. Lots of pretty jewelry burbles forth: silver and gold and fat watch fobs. Prettiness appears both in big things - chandeliers and stained glass - and in tiny delicate hankies for $2.
ANTIQUES STORE
Consignment Galleries
363 Highland Ave, Somerville 617-629-4900
For anyone with a "You break it you buy it" phobia of antiques shops, this Somerville gem is refreshingly uncluttered and navigable - two words that don't usually apply to antiques stores. But while your elbows won't knock those delicate teacups, your knees might knock as you peruse the artfully arranged array. Its move from Cambridge three years ago means better parking, a larger space and a cozier vibe. The outgoing staff is happy to tell the stories behind such previous merchandise as Persian rugs, old Scottish cherry chests or a sterling tea set from the 1920s. Stop by for a nostalgic afternoon and go home with discovered treasure.