Sunday MH and I drove to Round Top, Texas for Texas Antiques Week. I had a list of the Shows I wanted to visit and the vendor booths I wanted to see. Knowing that I had only one day and hundreds of antique booths from which to choose, I made a list of "must see" vendors. First on my list was Lone Ranger Antiques at The Old Henry Farm Antique Show.
Antique Swedish clock face signage on Lone Ranger Antiques tent - even the signage was beautiful!
As we turned into the Show we immediately saw a huge white tent with row after row of painted Swedish furniture and beautiful Mora clocks. The outside top of the tent as well as the bordering wood rail fence were decorated with large Swedish National flags. Much to my delight, tall Swedish clocks dotted the front outside area of the tent. These milk-painted white, french bleu and grey clocks seemed to be standing outside teasing you to come into the tent and see more. It worked!
As I entered the tent I immediately spotted Jeffree Turney, founder and owner of Lone Ranger Antiques. I'm always pleased when I find a designer or antique dealer whose aesthetic inspires me- I'm ecstatic when I actually meet that person and find them to be enjoyable as well! Such is the case with Jeffree Turney. I was immediately charmed by Jeffree's somewhat self-deprecating sense of humour and openly welcoming personality. What struck me immediately was that he was approachable. Even though his antiques are highly sought after, blogged about endlessly (I guess that includes this blog post!) and appear in highly respected magazines such as "Veranda," he doesn't take himself too seriously. The Lone Ranger charmed me and made MH and me laugh.
Jeffree Turney "The Lone Ranger" and me in his tent at Texas Antiques Week. (Vanity made me cut off the bottom part of this picture.)
Jeffree visited with MH and me sharing stories about himself, his business and the Swedish antiques that he obviously loves. Jeffree started Lone Ranger Antiques in 1986 and currently spends several months a year in Sweden, attending auctions and searching out unique 18th and 19th century Swedish country antiques. These antique finds are either left in their original finish (if still in good condition) or the finish is stripped and the piece painted. You can check out The Lone Ranger's beautiful selection of Swedish furniture and clocks at http://lonerangerantiques.com. The Lone Ranger lives in Florida and has a work shop there as well, but he has no retail store and sells his beautiful antiques on his on-line web store or at the Spring and Fall antique shows in Round Top, Texas and Brimfield, Massachusetts.
I took pictures of some of the beautiful antiques Jeffree has to offer this year at Round Top. Imagine what a calming yet perhaps unexpected impact one or two of these pieces would add to a room.
Painted Swedish chair, chest and table.
Painted Swedish Secretary.
I drooled over this beautiful, pale bleu Swedish clock (sometimes referred to under the broad name of "Mora" clock. Check out The Lone Ranger's website for more information on the types of tall clocks he offers.)
For what furniture pieces has The Lone Ranger received the most requests recently? The answer is demi-lune tables, specifically pairs of demi-lunes! These beautiful yet multi-functional tables can be used individually or a as pair to symmetrically balance a room or even placed together to form a circular table for a home entry hall, etc.
"Um, that's right, Kemosabe", demi-lunes can be used in multiple ways!
Large, painted cabinets with glass fronted hutches.
An amazing selection of Swedish wall clocks!
After romancing several pieces of furniture and an hour of deliberation, I selected one piece from The Lone Ranger's tent. It was a tough choice, there were so many pieces I could picture in MFFC. Here's Jeffree and his sidekick (O.k. I can't help but use the Lone Ranger references!) helping MH load the piece into our car. They did a great job finding a way to get it to fit into the car, getting it out once we got home was much more difficult but well worth it!
Happy with my new found treasure safely stowed in our car and me redecorating my great room in my mind, MH and I headed out to explore more of the hundreds of beautiful antique booths just waiting to be discovered in Round Top. The Lone Ranger Antique tent was a perfect start to a perfect day.
So Jeffree, this new Lone Ranger fan thanks you for your hospitality and generous spirit. Keep doing what you do so well, keep bringing beautifully painted Swedish antiques to "the States" and ride that milk-painted pony for as long as you can!
"Hi-yo, Silver, away!"
Mitty
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