As for where we are, who we are, and what we do---
Whenever possible, we'd like to save you the ever-higher shipping costs, So we encourage IN PERSON PICK UP. We're just outside Mystic, Connecticut and downtown in Sarasota, Florida. This June & July, we're in Sarasota, Florida and up in New England later this summer . We do frequent a few other areas-- coastal Maine, Cape Cod, and Washington,DC. (We have a LOT of inventory in multiple locations.)
Working with antiquarians, designers, artisans, and non-profit organizations to preserve and promote fine arts & traditional crafts, we've worked in the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas for many years.
From our first shop in a Nantucket sea-captain's house to an NGO store in Ankara, Turkey, to a museum boutique in Sucre, Bolivia-- we've plied our trade and also helped others perfect theirs. We've been designers, marketing consultants, and social advocates for artisans around the world.
First and foremost, we love fabrics and fibers. We deal in anything that is well-crafted and unusual: vintage Hermes scarves, Guatemalan brocades, African and American baskets, quilts, documentary prints, antique Central Asian ikats, Turkish kilims.... our list is endless and ever-changing.
We also have a several pieces of apparel, including vintage & designer items that include Pucci, Hermes & Chanel... museum-quality Ottoman Turkish garments, Kashmiri & European shawls, Tunisian wedding vests...
And we have another side: We're cooks-- as well as culinary historians and photographers. We adore vintage kitchen props and use them to illustrate our food photography, both online and in our blogs and a 400-page culinary history, ALMOST ITALIAN.
( All this should now explain the name of our Etsy shop," PROPZ .")
So in the culinary realm, you may see us listing anything from an 18th-century silver coffee-tasting spoon to a 1940's dish towel. We've just published our lavishly illustrated eBook-- ALMOST ITALIAN: A Cookbook & History of Italian Food in America-- and for that undertaking, we acquired a lot of wonderful vintage tabletop wares and mid-century textiles.
Because our cupboards and closets are overflowing, we do sell some of those wonderful "props." along with vintage furnishings, nautical antiques, paintings, and garden accessories. See them here on Etsy--and visit us in Sarasota, FL or Mystic, CT where we have warehouses filled with one-of-a-kind treasures.
If there's anything in particular you'd like us to find, do please contact us via Etsy.-- Most of our inventory is not even listed!
Find us on Twitter-- @PROPZonEtsy ( but not so often... we'd rather shop & sell than waste our loves tweeting!)
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