Jessica Herman

You'll be hard-pressed to find the shabbiness that typifies the everyday flea market on the ninth floor of Marshall Field's when the Chicago department store hosts its fifth annual Marché--that's French for deal or market--this weekend.

"We use flea market in the context that there are a lot of things with personality, some sort of idiosyncrasies," says Karen Bohnhoff, one of the buyers. The stock of international goods comes from European markets scoured during the buyers' three seasonal trips: the L'isle Sur la Sorgue in Southern France in the summer; the Paris flea markets, Amsterdam, London's Portobello Road, Camden Passage and Alfie's in the fall; and Newark, England in the spring.

"We'd start at daybreak. It's pretty down and dirty, kind of dark and generally cold... the merchandise is incredibly beautiful but often not in that state when we buy it," Bohnhoff romances. "You have to get in there and kind of dig for it."

A few years retired from a twenty-five-year Field's career, Bohnhoff escorted the store's executives on a European jaunt to check out the markets. Since then, she and two buyers compile risk-free "friendly finds, interesting pieces that are understandable to most people," into a kind of watered-down flea market. Field's organizes some 20,000 tagged and cleaned items that sell for $3 to $10,000, ranging from boudoir and vintage apparel to bed and dining rooms.

Lighter fare includes Victorian hand-tinted postcards and French vintage books, and pricier finds could be Napoleon III furniture. Bohnhoff gushes over two of her favorites: wrought-iron fences that come from balconies of apartment buildings or English gardens that sold last year for $175-$300 now go for under $50. If you don't use them for their traditional purpose, she suggests trying them as pot hangers or trellises. They're also selling costume jewelry from London's Butler and Wilson, a Mick Jagger and Allie McGraw favorite of the seventies.

This sort of thing is breeding ground for building a collection. But it does differ from traditional flea markets in at least one additional regard--don't even think about bargaining.

Marché de Marshall Field's takes place July 16-18 at 111 North State.

(2004-07-13)

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