Magnifique Filles

A couple of years ago MONT (man of number 10) and I headed overseas for a very nice holiday. We had a few days in London and we headed to Portobello Road to have a look at the market there.

SYMPHONIE

During our wanderings we walked past plenty of antique stalls as well as clothing and food etc...but we stopped dead in our tracks at one stall, when we saw these two gorgeous girls.

MELODIE

There's a little plaque on each one stating they are by the sculptor Ruffony. Apparently he was an Italian who worked in Paris. He died in 1925, but I'm not sure when these were actually made.

They are extremely heavy though, so it was a bit of a worry getting them home and still be under our allowable luggage weight. I had also added to our booty with a few purchases during our travels....no surprises there.

We purchased an extra case, a small one, so we could carry it onto the plane.

We'd been told by the vendor that the base of the statues were Bakelite, so we didn't bother declaring them when we got to Tullamarine airport. WRONG! They are wood and were picked up by the X-Ray machine, so they had to be extricated from the many, many layers of bubble wrap and (dirty) clothing so the Customs Officer could check them out.

In the end, everything was fine... no active, living bugs in them. They now have pride of place in our loungeroom and MONT says he gets a real buzz walking by them every day and remembering where we were when we bought them.

They are lovely girls. Thank you Ruffony.