What's the best thing you've ever found in the trash?

Sozobe-My dressing table is right above my big bin.I have to be on the lookout when i either drop(im all fingers and thumbs) them or they slide off the top or Il lose them forever!

When I was 21, I found a curtis mathis tv on the road side. One of those BIG floor models. Worked, clean.. so I took it home. I found out a few weeks later by one of the neighbors that it was actually worth a big chunk of money!
( 800 or so ) well, to ME at the time, that was a big chunk of money. I put it in the local paper for sale and got 725 for it!
That was the biggest find I ever had.

Well, Gus, I didn't find it in the trash, but I have a portable Singer sewing machine that comes in a beautiful walnut carrying case. It's in my garage, and I do believe that it was the very first electric table top version. I wouldn't sell it, though. It looks something like the picture that you posted.

BBB's found Alexander Benois painting
You've probably heard of people finding valuable things in "dumps". Well, it's true. This is the amazing story of how I came to possess a painting by a famous artist. It is a small (8" x 12") watercolor painted in 1917 of a Russian church courtyard. It is in perfect condition. It also has a handwritten Christmas greeting to a friend below it, which makes it even more valuable. I wish I knew to whom the greeting was written---and would love to know who took it to the dump in the first place without realizing its historical and monetary value.

My then husband could never take a load of our junk to the dump without bringing something home that he found there. This time, I pleaded that he come home empty handed because he usually found nothing I wanted to keep. This time, he found a small watercolor in a cheap "dime-store" frame. He brought the frame home because he though I could use it for some of my paintings that were stored around the house. Well, the frame was junk, but I was attracted to the watercolor. I studied it and then put it away. Eventually, I became interested enough that I went to the library to try to learn more about Alexander Benois. The librarian couldn't find much except that he was a Russian painter who also painted in France.

I matted and reframed the painting, and loaned it to my Aunt to hang in her home because she liked it. The only condition of the loan was that I could retrieve the painting when I wanted it and that it had to be hung in a place not exposed to the sun for fear of fading. Years later, after my Uncle's death, we decided that I should retrieve the painting and I brought it home. I then began to search seriously for more information about Alexander Benois. When I got my computer and got on the Internet, I struck historic gold. It turned out that Benois was one of Russia's foremost painters of the 20th century. My painting was done in Russia, where there is a Benois Wing of the Russian Museum in Moscow.

Born Alexandre Nikolaevich Benois in 1870 (and died in 1960 in Paris) Benois was not only a famous artist, he was an art historian and writer, stage, set and costume designer and librettist. Perhaps Benois is best known in the western world for his partnership with Marc Chagall working for Diaghilev designing the stage sets and costumes for the Ballet Russe in Paris. But that is only one small part of Benois' long art career.

If you want to learn more about Alexander Benois, just enter his name in "keyword" and you will find a lot of information. I also found a newly published book "Theater of Reason / Theater of Desire, the Art of Alexander Benois and Leon Bakst" which has wonderful color photos of much of his work and details of his life and career.

So, friends, one never knows what gem one might find in a dump if one is careful and curious.

BBB

This is my painting:

http://hometown.aol.com/butrflynet/Bumblebee3.html

Some sample Benois stage set paintings I found on the Internet:

http://art.qwe.as/pictures/viewer$174

http://art.qwe.as/pictures/viewer$175

http://art.qwe.as/pictures/viewer$176


This is my favorite Alexander Benois painting:

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:X0NcG9Has3QJ:www.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/benois.html+Alexander+Benois+paintings&hl=en&start=2&ie=UTF-8

A broader selection of his paintings:
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:kY0SwHq1fj8J:wwar.com/masters/b/benois.html+Alexander+Benois+paintings&hl=en&start=5&ie=UTF-8

This is the Russian Museum that contains the Benois Wing established by Alexander Benois:

http://www.bestmexicanhotels.com/hotels/russia/stpeter/info/spbinforusmuseum.htm

How wonderful, Bumblebee! It is a glorious watercolor..

I once found two old, really old, Penn fishing reels. These things were all gunked up and the brASS WAS ALL nasty ans so I got to work on them and cleaned them up and oiled them. Too bad all the gearing was stripped and they wouldnt work for ****. I never find anythging neat unless I exhume the bodies.

Hey Gus, if Im not mistaken, that heavy duty motor AND FOOT ON YOUR FOUND SEWING MACHINE LOOKS JUST LIKE A SAILMAKERS Serger. The motor is made to really pound through the reefings and grommet stays on sails without hurting the dacron. Maybe the machine toss was a business decision. Its easier to buy a custom fit sail from India or China than to make one here. You live neAR A BODY OF WATER OF SOME SIZE?

Farmer, if your right about the type of machine, can you sew leather with those?

I dont know. The sailmakers can shoot through canvas and heavy duck, but I dont know about leather. What the hell, get a leather needle at Taandy's and give it a shot Gus. Capybara leather can be quite stunning.
Bumblebee-I really liked your watercolor. You can see from the sky that this guy was quite a master of the artform. Look at those grays in the clouds and the light play on the building. DAMN FINE