In the latest issue of the Crazed Collector
Collector Profile – Arlene Brenner, San Jose California
By Char Jorgenson
An “Eclectic Collector”….I’ve always wondered who would come to mind to fit that description, and I think I’ve found that person in our featured collector. This vivacious lady is drawn to whimsical items and has amassed an unusual assortment of eccentric and collectible objects.
Arlene Brenner has a lovely home in a desirable, older section of our city. Before I even arrived, she had “warned” me that she had a very small collection of chintz, but that she had some other “interesting collections,” and she was absolutely right! The main collecting focus is her early- to mid-20th century English china teacups, predominantly Shelley, Aynsley, and Paragon. She also has an extensive collection of Crown Staffordshire “Thousand Flowers” chintz china…a pattern I had never encountered before.
Her earliest recollection of falling in love with pretty teacups in the china shops are from family vacations to Victoria, B.C. In the early ‘70s, she and her sisters made a first-time trip to England where she bought a Crown Staffordshire chintz china tea set in the “Thousand Flowers” pattern at Fortnum & Mason. She wanted more for her set, but was young and couldn’t afford some of the other pieces that were available. When she entered the working world, she’d occasionally have tea parties for her co-workers and friends, but had so far only found one teacup over the years to add to her set. That lucky find was from a flea market. Then eBay was born! Over the last 9 years, she has added tea cups, numerous serving pieces, and specialty pieces including rare lamps and sets of knives with matching “Thousand Flowers” handles – all bought on eBay. Arlene has also put together a fabulous collection of flower- and butterfly-handled teacups, produced during the Art Deco period of the 1930s. She has fond memories of her mom drinking several cups of tea a day in her favorite yellow floral teacup accented with gold…and many of her mom’s teacups now have pride of place in Arlene’s collection. Another of her interesting teacups is a teacup used to tell fortunes. Evidently, the tea leaf reader would examine which icon your tea leaves stuck to, and from that would indicate your future path.
Her best bargain for her teacup collection is a butterfly-handled teacup found at a yard sale for $4.00 that normally sells for nearly $60.00. So patience for going to yard sales and having to pass by old baby furniture, half-finished craft projects and old crockpots is sometimes rewarded with a stellar vintage find!
In addition to a lovely assortment of china, Arlene has a collection of napkin ladies, also called “napkin dolls.” These are ceramic figurines from the 1950s that have slots near the bottom of the figure for folded paper napkins. When all the napkins are in place, they form the skirt.
However, I would say by far Arlene’s most impressive collection is her collection of vintage buttons. Suffice to say she saved the best for last! After serving a delicious afternoon tea on her “Thousand Flowers” china, she led me to her collection of buttons and what buttons they were! I won’t reveal all the details of the collection as Arlene has contributed a fantastic article on her collection with all the facts around how she started collecting and what sort of pieces she seeks. I’m sure there will be new collections started after you see the photos and hear the stories
Arlene smiled when I asked her about the most unusual item in her collection, and she led me to her back garden to show me a huge, blue teapot sitting on her patio!
Formerly part of a parade float, Arlene spied it in the garage area behind a tea parlor in a small California town and asked the owners what it was. They said it was in a local parade (the shop owners had made it) and that they would be willing to sell it for $25. Having seen one on eBay that went for $10,000, Arlene grabbed it. She smiles as she qualifies that particular teapot was the one with the Cheshire cat popping out of it that was featured for years in Disneyland’s Electric Light Parade, but this one appealed to her love of all things associated with tea. She didn’t know what she was going to do with this floral, larger than life, papier-mâché teapot that was big enough to crawl into, she just knew she had to have it. Right now it is in her backyard and needs some repair, but she hopes to turn it into a table, add bar stools, and serve tea on it!
As Arlene led me through her lovely home, it was evident there were many quirky things that struck her fancy and were added to her “collections”. Another larger-than-life item to go along with her teapot is a huge metal watering can from a florists shop. Arlene uses it to store her gardening tools.
Other interesting items picked up from various flea markets, antique shops, and garage sales include a vellum-covered book from the 1500s with linen pages, a tiny doll-sized hot water bottle, interesting ceramic floral place card holders with cherub faces, and a life-sized mannequin dressed in various costumes depending on the season, perched on a comfortable chair in the formal living room.
Arlene does have a great deal of the highly coveted Shelley “Countryside” chintz pattern. After her mom passed away, the family was going through some of her mom’s kitchen items, and Arlene found an old chintz teapot, sugar, and creamer that she never knew her mom had. She got very excited about it and everyone readily agreed she should have it because no one was interested in it. Arlene thought it was Royal Winton “Sweet Pea” but she wasn’t sure of the name so she turned the teapot over to look and was horrified when the lid fell out and broke. Her boyfriend came to the rescue and did a fine job of piecing it back together.
Arlene comes from a collecting family…they too have some unusual collections! Arlene remembers growing up with her two sisters and brother in a home with a wet bar in the basement that her dad had decorated with at least 500 unique liquor decanters and bar memorabilia. A few of these items came from her grandfather’s bar in operation in San Francisco in the 1920s and 1930s. Her sister, Bari collects shopping bags from around the world, and has over 500 in her collection. Sounds like a “Truly Crazed Collector” article in the making for sure! Another sister, Marilyn, collects Starbucks coffee cards, and her brother, Daryl also collects various antiques.
Arlene is also a proponent of “seizing the moment”, and not just sitting and wishing for something wonderful to happen. This clever lady had always wished to attend a big Hollywood awards ceremony. But rather than just wish and wonder how she could do it, she took the bull by the proverbial horns, did some extensive research, and found that a limited number of “regular” people could attend. She made a connection and found herself at this year’s Emmy awards show, hobnobbing in lovely designer gown and shoes with all the stars of your favorite nighttime shows! We hope she will share her unforgettable experiences with our readers in a future issue of the newsletter.