Flea market finds

A table at the Puce des Vanves is laden with miscellaneous porcelain and curiosities. Note the gold brocade shoes with curled toe pieces, straight out of The Arabian Nights! Susan of Soozphotoz took this photo Sunday morning with her zoom lens, as taking pictures is taboo. Apparently, the stall holders are concerned about Japanese tourists taking pictures of items, then having reproductions made cheaply in Japan.

Old printers' letters purchased at the Antiquities Brocante at Place de Bastille and the flea market at Puces des Vanves. Fifteen "Bs" currently reside atop an old French mercantile cabinet with 18 drawers, mounted above my desk. I also found some letter "Ts" and old rubber stamps featuring initials in script. The letters purchased at Bastille were nearly ten times the price of those at the open-air Puces des Vanves - at the latter, there's no overhead for dealers.

This slim journal from the 1880s contains handwritten poetry and sonnets.

A modern bandbox covered with a reproduction of old paper, three metres of ribbon, a plaster angel, the aforementioned journal and two prayer missals were purchased at Puce des Vanves. The Messe de Mariage (marriage mass) pictured is brown leather, adorned with a silver ornament and lined in green silk moire. The Missel Romain from 1897 also is covered with brown leather and lined in Florentine paper. What do you look for at flea markets?