After a bite of breakfast at the Vondeltuin this morning, we spent most of the day in the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, also known as the Spiegelkwartier, which would mean Mirror Quarter if anyone actually referred to it in English.
This street is home to the city’s most exclusive antique dealers. Exclusive is, of course, synonymous with expensive, since it is the price tag that excludes most people from purchasing them and allows the happy few to feel exquisitely privileged.
We were actually looking for a chest of drawers or something similar for our hallway, but ended up being enraptured by a couple of Dutch grandfather clocks we found in two of the shops. I didn’t think I would ever want one of these things, but after admiring the intricate engravings, the wood carving, the hand-painting and the overall beauty of the two we saw today, I’ve undergone a rapid change of mind.
I’m not saying we’re going to buy one, mind you. We need to consider where we would even put such a thing; the options are limited, given that our downstairs area is so open. We could put one in the hallway, but it would not get the attention it deserves in that location. It really needs to go in the living room, and the only logical place there is to the left of the fireplace. The sitting room would be an even better place, but the only location it could go in there is where we plan to put a long sideboard, so that wouldn’t really work.
We have to consider the price, too. These things are anything but cheap, especially when you’re looking at clocks from circa 1750 and in excellent condition. It has to be a total love affair to justify the kind of money they’re looking for.
Oh, and our suspicion about mice in the house was an accurate one: I’ve just seen one of the little buggers. I almost caught him, too, until we jumped through a gap in the panel under the dish-washer and made good his escape.