HIDDEN TREASURES AT LACHUTE MARKET

Sep 13

2 min read

Updated: Sep 14

Tuesday has become one of my favourite days of the week.

It is the day I regularly visit Lachute Market, wandering through the tables and stalls looking for unusual objects, forgotten memorabilia and those unexpected little treasures that might one day find their way into a piece of Saville & Brett Assemblage Art.

There is rarely a shopping list.

That would rather defeat the purpose.

Part of the pleasure is simply looking — allowing an object to catch my attention without necessarily knowing why.

YOU NEVER QUITE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR Creating Assemblage Art has changed the way I look at old objects.

A battered toy, an old photograph, a piece of advertising, a kitchen utensil or something whose original purpose is almost forgotten can suddenly suggest an idea.

Sometimes an object immediately becomes the starting point — the anchor — for a new piece of Assemblage Art.

At other times it comes home with me and waits.

Weeks, months or even years later, it can suddenly become exactly the object a new Assemblage needs.

That is part of the fascination. PEOPLE BEHIND THE TREASURES

Over time, the people behind the tables become part of the experience too.

One of my favourite vendors at Lachute is the gentleman pictured here. I have bought many things from him over the years, but one of my earliest purchases remains particularly memorable — an old Burlington Flyer model train.

The story of how he found it is almost as appealing to me as the train itself.

He had been at an estate sale where people had searched through the contents of the house looking for things of value. After the sale, he continued looking around and eventually made his way into the attic.

There, overlooked because apparently nobody had thought it worthwhile putting into the auction, was the Burlington Flyer.

A forgotten toy, sitting in an attic waiting to be discovered.

Eventually it found its way to his table at Lachute — and from there, to me.

From a dusty old model train in a cardboard box, to a shining Vintage Burlington Flyer in a shadow box, surrounded by images of how it looked in its former glory.

OBJECTS HAVE STORIES That little train represents something I find increasingly important about Assemblage Art.

Old objects rarely arrive completely empty.

They have been owned, used, played with, travelled with or simply kept. Sometimes their history is known. More often it has disappeared with the people who once owned them.

But something remains.

Perhaps that is why markets like Lachute have become such an important part of my Assemblage Art.

I may go looking for objects.

But very often, I come home with stories.