Cardedeu antiques fair

This weekend we hopped on a train to go to the antiques fair being held at Cardedeu, a little town outside of Barcelona. I had never been there and quickly fell in love with the quiet city center, the church and the beautiful views of the snowy Montseny in the distance, it’s already become a contender to my future dream place to move to: quiet and surrounded by fields but still only a 40-minute train ride from Barcelona.

The offer of vintage design and furniture in Spain is not that great, I suppose it’s because during most of the 20th century the country was busier with a Civil War, miserable postwar years and then decades of terror under a fascist regime. Most people had little money and worst things to worry about than buying nice stuff, not to mention designers and most educated and creative types had to flee for more liberal shores. That’s why local antiques fairs and markets aren’t generally that exciting, however this time I was determined to try and find some small pieces of furniture that we’re still lacking at home, like a proper coffee table (instead of the stupid IKEA Lack table we have now), a wall clock or a desk lamp.
The market wasn’t that big, but the atmosphere was nice and it had a huge selection of collectibles and small trinkets, pottery and glass, tea sets, cameras and ancient unidentified rusty metal ware. I also almost brought home a banjolele and a mandolin, even though I can’t play any of them.

Cardigan & tights: COS | Skirt: vintage | Shoes: Shoe Embassy | Bag: Iriarte Iriarte

Sadly for me I couldn’t find any tables or clocks that I liked, but I found quite a few lamps that I wanted, in the end I settled on this burgundy and chrome desk lamp from the spanish company Fase.

The company designed and produced a number of wonderful lamps in Madrid over the 60s and 70s, some of which have appeared recently in series like Mad Men and have apparently become sought after in the US and Europe, while in Spain they don’t seem to be that recognised yet, some claim it’s because they remain a symbol of the regime offices that people want to forget. To be honest until recently I knew very little of the history of Fase lamps or that they were so appreciated, but after taking this sturdy beauty home I have become an absolute fan of the brand.