ElaineFlinn.com

FIRST,
A FEW TRADE SECRETS…

Did you know Efferdent is great for clearing up cloudy hard water deposits on glass items - especially decanters?

How about shoe polish (Kiwi) instead of furniture polish? Some aerosol
products have alcohol in them, and that ruins a finish (check label on
can). Even good old paste wax does a great job.

Do you have a similar, easy, remedy you’d like to share? Please post it in the comments with a heading of: ‘Art & Antiques’.

AND NOW…SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW…

First thing (naturally) is: What the heck is an antique?

It’s gotta be 100 years old, so Grandma’s chest of drawers she bought
in the 1930’s won’t make the grade. For many antique collectors, the period
when furniture was manufactured by machine, starting around 1825-1840,
was the end of the true antique period. After this time, which follows
William IV and moves into the Victorian period, most furniture was machine
made. Then the issue becomes the 100 year mark.

Keep in mind, this does not include many pieces of 20th Century manufacture
that realize high prices at auction. For example, Tiffany, George Jensen,
Mies van der Rohe, and other modernists.

Next, you should know about ‘Period’ and ‘in the style of’:

As important, you need to know what the different styles look like.
Too many times I’ve been at auctions, estate sales and yes, garage sales
and flea markets, and found furniture styles labeled wrong. At an estate
sale not long ago, I was looking over a pair of chairs for a friend.
I knew they were Eastlake parlor chairs, but the sales tag described
them as Victorian library chairs!

Here’s an era that confuses many:
What’s the difference between Art Deco and Art
Nouveau,or Arts & Crafts? Suppose you’re into French
furniture, now you’ve got another litany of styles; Renaissance, Louis
XII to XVI, Regence, Directoire, Empire, Restoration, Louis Phillippe,
2nd Empire, and 3rd Republic! Same with Continental. You have German
Rococo, Biedermeier and Baroque. The Dutch, the Italians and the Spanish
have their own lists. I haven’t even mentioned the British periods. Yikes!
They go on forever. And don’t get me started on American furniture -
now there’s a can of worms. There’s American Chippendale (English too),
American Colonial, American Federal-Early & Later, American Victorian,
Queen Anne, American Empire, Shaker and Belter…well, you get the picture.

Another thing to keep in mind - if you’re thinking about buying an antique
piece of furniture, and it has been ‘refinished’ or ‘restored’ - the
value just hit the floor. Once the original finish (patina) has been
removed, so has its value. The same holds true with with cracks, chips
and repairs to china, porcelain and pottery. Correct restoration however,
of the original beauty, is acceptable to the British, Continental and
Asian markets. On the other hand, if you love it, and the price is right,
go for it! I have pieces in my home that have a tiny chip here, a repair
there, or a crack down the middle. It’s the beauty, the talent of the
artisan, and the history of the piece that grabs my heart, not the price
or the pedigree.

Love Pottery? Porcelain? Stoneware?

Pick up a ‘marks’ book so you will be able to recognize the maker’s
mark for authentication. Here’s a good reason: Chelsea porcelain, made
in England between 1744 and 1769, used four different factory marks.
First they used a triangle, then a raised anchor, next a red anchor,
and finally a gold anchor. Confusing? Yes, but vital to know if you’re
a serious collector and want to avoid Caveat Emptor. Nearly all the factories
(all over the world) had their own distinctive marks, and impressed their
products for identification.

You’re probably bored out of your skull by now, and I don’t want you
to be discouraged. Collecting antiques is a labor of love and a heck
of a lot of fun. It takes some work, a lot of sleuthing, and a lot of
homework. But once bitten by the bug, it’s hard to shake. So, whatever
your passion, learn about it!