Artsy Esther...of the Heirloom.

On the first floor back before you get to the big brick archway that takes you through to the back section of the Heirloom Cupboard, was a spot that was pure class. In this section was beautiful pottery and jewelry, and vintage furs like what you saw Hollywood starlets wear in the movies. This was Esther Litton's spot.
When I said pottery, I wasn't talking about pottery like I had in my spot, your usual McCoy, Brush, Conley, or California pieces. Esther had Rookwood, Weller and Wedgwood, Royal Bayreuth, and Roseville. You know, the kind that was put in glass cabinets for fear someone might break it.
Esther's jewelry was the same. She had very little costume jewelry. She had the real deal... gold brooches and real ivory cameo pins, rings with sapphires, and rubies, emeralds and diamonds. Also designer pieces by Eisenberg, Trifari, Coro, Haskell and Cartier just to name a few. She had Bakelite galore. Her specialty was Art Deco. She knew her stuff. She had to, what she was dealing in was expensive and you could loose a lot of money if you didn't know the real from the fake. Esther wore jewelry with a flair. She could sell a piece by wearing it.
Esther was the first "artsy" person I had ever met. She was from California, and worked around Hollywood. In exactly what capacity I am not sure. Her husband was a writer. They knew famous people.
Esther was probably in her mid sixties, she had sleek shiny dark hair, cut in a pageboy with bangs. She had her reader glasses on a beaded chain, expensive vintage amethyst beads. hanging like a necklace around her neck. She was the type that if she would have smoked, she would have used a cigarette holder like in the movies of the 30's. She wore expensive designer clothes that flowed when she walked and she usually wore a shawl of rich dark colors that was lavishly embellished with bead work and fringe. Not many woman can wear a shawl as well as she did. When it got in her way she would knot the ends of it together and twist it to the side, off one shoulder. It made her look like a model right out of Vogue.
How Esther ended up in Medina in a little antique shop I never knew. I do know that she owned a big Painted Victorian Lady on South Court Street and her husband had it redone inside to her specifications. It was fabulous. Some time after that, her husband passed away. This glamorous lady was a widow.
One day I was working with her and we were talking about Hollywood. One thing led to another and soon we were talking about favorite movies. She was saying she saw a movie that just delighted her and she, for the life of her, could not remember the name of it. It had Ruth Gordon in it and she was in love with a young guy. I said, "Oh no!! That was one of my favorite movies... it was Harold and Maude!" We went over the details of the movie and roared over the absurd parts. We both said in unison, " I'll just throw my wedding ring in this lake so I will always know were it is!! We were rolling. I brought her my copy of the movie... (a VHS tape back then) and gave it to her to keep. I mean how often do you find a woman like this, that you shared such a silly bond with! We were good friends after that.

Esther and I got our first cell phones together. 'We were both clueless as to what we were getting, but we knew we had to have one. That was in 1994.

One time all of us dealers were working on our spots together. Some gals started complaining about their husbands. Esther said, " Ladies, you know what bothers you the most about your husband, what gets on your absolute last nerve?" Everyone shook their heads emphatically! "Well," she said, " That is exactly what you will miss the most about him, when he dies. We were all silent for a long time. All complaining stopped.

I fell in love with a ring Esther had in her case. It was a gold ring with a square gold flat piece on top, with a diamond set right in the middle. It was different, kind of deco style, and expensive. Well, Esther knew I wanted it. She told me it was a ring from the 20's and the diamond was a rose cut. They don't cut diamonds that way anymore. I could tell it was different. The light reflected differently when it hit it. Well... Esther gave me a deal I couldn't refuse! I wore the ring for years. My daughter loved the ring also. So about the time Heather got married, I let her have the ring. My son-in-law, (who happens to be a jeweler) took my rose cut diamond out of the square setting and created a new setting for it after he melted down my wedding band. Then he put another diamond in the old square ring for Heather.

I was at a garage sale once and almost kicked over a tall vase sitting on the concrete floor. I picked it up and after looking at it I bought it for a dollar. It was different, made out of a clay that was kind of a reddish brown swirl with cream. It was not glazed and It was about 12 inches tall.
Years later, Esther was telling me about the unique pottery she collected. It was called Niloak Pottery made in Arkansas. Boy, that sounded familiar... I exclaimed ," Hey, I have a piece of that pottery! I know exactly what you are talking about!"
I brought it to the shop for her to see. She promptly offered me $150.00 for it. I said, " No! I can't have you pay me that much!!" She said," Shirley, yes you can...I'm not an idiot... it is worth $350.00! Take the money!" I did.

Esther is one of the ladies from the Heirloom Cupboard that I have not seen in years. I wonder if she went back to her glamorous life in California. I miss her.