Daffodils Bring News of EBTH – Everything But the House

By Linda Lee

The flower of the month is the daffodil, which, since it is the first to bloom in the spring, carries the promise of rebirth. (Let’s grant there are lots of little things, like snow drops, that bloom earlier, but you wouldn’t see them from, say, horseback.) Daffodils are rich in history, and in word origin. Romans carried them to England, where the Welsh (stout foes of the Roman invaders) adopted them as their symbol.

In Victorian times, giving daffodils symbolized warmth and friendship, and their typical yellow color is indeed cheerful. But daffodils (or narcissus, or jonquil, their name in Spanish), can come in a range of colors, from palest peach and pink, to gold, even touched with red. The name “daffodil” is traced back to “asphodel,” the flower that bloomed in the fields of Greek legend where people went after death. They weren’t the Elysian fields. It wasn’t Hades. It was a perfectly nice place in between, a sort of middle class place.

The daffodil on the plate seen here is a very delicate one, hand-painted in the Limoges factory in France in the Art Nouveau period, 1890 – 1910. The rim is gold toned, and there is an artisan’s medallion on the front, as well as the Limoges maker’s mark on the back.

This particular six-inch plate, with light wear for being more than 100 years old, was sold on a web site Flower Power with Jill feels you should know about.

Antiques dealers rely on pickers, people who go to estate sales, even yard sales and flea markets, to Brimfield and Mount Dora, and bring back items they know a dealer wants, whether it is Gio Ponte furniture, painted signs, a collection of keys to the city, art by newly discovered female painters or a particular Lladro figurine. For more than 20 years there have been online sites like eBay and 1stDibs, even Etsy, where people can buy a range of items from all over the world.

EBTH is a little different. It stands for Everything But the House, and it is an estate sale clearing house. We think there are great things to be found there, and that’s where we found this plate, which sold for $45. Everything is authenticated, cataloged, photographed, cleaned and auctioned for people who are clearing out an attic or selling a house. Bidding starts at $1. We spotted some great fashions and furniture. And we are passing them along to you. We have no horse in this race. We just like them. Everything But the House, whether you are buying, or just selling a few things.