Antiques: Desirable Ownership

 

 

What is an antique? According to Wikipedia, it is an old collectable item. It is  desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society. It is common practice to define "antique" as applying to objects at least 100 years old.  

The Hunt is on . . .  Antiquing is the act of shopping, identifying, negotiating, or bargaining for antiques. People buy items for personal use, gifts, or profit. Sources for antiquing include garage sales and yard sales, estate sales, resort towns, antique districts and international auction houses.

 

Be it hobby or a business, those who wish to start their own collection of prized antiques should first learn about the many different facets of antique collecting. Here are some tips that may be helpful.

1.) The most common feature of antiques is that they are remnants of the past. Their age may provide collectors with a good idea of their worth. The first thing as a general rule of thumb is to take their age into consideration.

2.) The time period on antique items is to target pieces that have been made on or before the 1830's. The reason for the year is that after the 1830's, most items were being mass-produced and therefore may have a selection of items that can be considered as prized antiques. This is not to say that items after that period aren't valuable. It is just that they may have different criteria for judging their value than earlier pieces.

3.) Focus on a certain type of antique to collect and then gather information as well as additional knowledge on how such pieces are being judged for their value. For example, if you are fond of collecting antique vases, then you should only concentrate on collecting vases first before proceeding to other items. This will help make the beginner focus first on gaining knowledge about antique vases and how they are valued.
 
4.) Another tip is to seek the help of other experienced collectors especially when they come upon new items to add to their antique collection. Ask for input as well as suggestions as to how best to go about a new collection. Expert collectors may provide you with tips that they may want to share and impart some wisdom that you may not be able to get from books or any other source. Such expert advice could prove valuable as you begin to amass a sizable collection of antiques.

5.) Most importantly, whatever you collect, make sure you take every step in take great care of your treasurers. There is a plethora of websites that give excellent advice and have conservations and display products to sell. Part of enjoying antiques is preserving them. Don’t forget that!

Our Family Museum is filled with collectibles. When an antique is considered so after 100 years of age, our things have about another half-century to go. But for what they are worth, their sentimentality is priceless. Our children’s museum is filled with their treasures which are precious to them for the worth they hold in memories of childhoods and young adult years. As like our collections, theirs will become more valuable with time. However, our family has a proud heritage and our Grandparents Museum is filled with antiques, not necessarily as defined as antique, but none-the-less, very dear to us. These two pictures are of my parents possessions, and they are priceless to me. And there is more on the Grandparents museum to come.

As this post is an introduction to antiques, here is a brief list of categories I will cover.

Americana (America’s Culture); Art (collectors & artisans);                        Books (book-worms & bibliophiles); China & Porcelain (fragile & delicate);   Coins (numismatics & collectors); Collectibles (nostalgic & cherished);         Dolls (one of America’s favorites); Guns (proud collecting);                     Jewelry (period & styles); Knifes (mankind accomplishment);                  Military (prideful deeds); Miscellany (unusual collectibles);                       Models (ageless collectors); Other Stuff (creature collections);                Political Buttons (hobbyists & scholars); Railroad (engineering collections); Sports (cards & autographs); Stamps (collectors & philatelist);                    Toys (sentimentality collectors); Watches & Instruments (mechanical art).

Tuesday’s Post: Collectibles