Napco

It is not only better temperatures, blossoms and baby animals that make me happy about springtime but also the fact that the open-air-flea-market-season has started too. Flea markets and thrift stores are, as every collector knows, perfect hunting grounds. There happens to be thrift / consignment store in the small town where I live. I do have an account there, so I can bring in things for them to sell. The reality is that I bring more things home from that store than I bring to it. Of course, I am always on the lookout for hippos but never saw one. Until a few days ago. Casually walking by the window, and there it was.... a hippo. The sticker on it was a bit damaged, but I could read: Napcoware. Internet gave me the rest of the information. It is a vintage crystal hippo from Napcoware, made in Taiwan. Another first. A first hippo from the local thrift store, price USD 3. A very successful hunt indeed! 

De Rosa Collection

Not often do I meet people from Uruguay. I have the privilege of knowing two, both extremely nice and both... totally unaware of the beautiful artwork a fellow countryman is producing and selling all over the world. Of course, I am only interested in the hippos of the De Rosa Collection, but I have to admit, I love all the other animals he makes, very much too. 

A few years ago, I found the small brown baby hippo on E-bay. At that time, I did not know it was part of a set. One of my collector friends sent me the link to the brown mother for sale on E-bay also, which I had to snatch up too (yes Becky, your fault :-)). Then my dear friend Sheila gave me a mini hippo for Christmas (see post: De Rosa) ... and then I needed an excuse to get the blue set, which I had seen on the website of the company (derosacollections), and already fallen in love with, for a while. After I ordered the set, I told everybody it was a gift from my cats... Happy birthday to me! I blame the company... their beautiful products make you do crazy things. My photographs can give you an idea about the level of craftsmanship... but they can't really convey how nice it is to hold them. They are rather heavy and have a really nice feel to them. No, I am not holding my hippos in my hands all the time, but it certainly does contribute to their popularity. They are all immensely popular :-).

 

Priceless

Hearing parents ooh and aah to their children, when presented with a few scribbles and smudges on a piece of paper, would make me slightly doubt their sanity and definitely their artistic taste. Of course, becoming a parent changed all that, and I too believe my children are gifted artists and they always produce nothing less than masterpieces. So when they decorated a wooden hippo, made by their grandfather (a real family project), and put it under the Christmas tree, it was the most beautiful gift they could have given me. For those of you (not related and not biased), liking this masterpiece, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is, this piece will never be for sale, so it can only be enjoyed when you visit me or on this blog. The good news is that your artistic taste is excellent :-).

Splat

It took a little debating with myself, whether to call this post: Patrick Mavros, after the Zimbabwean designer and silversmith, or Splat. Splat is the official name of this silver hippo necklace. I found Splat to be better fitting but also more fun so, Splat it is! Patrick Mavros' work is being sold in stores located in Harare - Zimbabwe, Terre Rouge - Mauritius and Nairobi - Kenya. His flagship store can be found in London - UK. More information can be found on his wonderfully designed website: www.patrickmavros.com. Of course, it goes without saying, I love his Hippo Collection most, but every piece is absolutely beautiful. Dear Alex, thank you so much for spoiling me with another perfect birthday gift. I love you infinity, I win!