Where To Collect Antiques
Collecting antiques or collectables is limited to two factors, the amount of disposable income you have and indeed the amount of space you have to house your collection. Having predetermined these essential factors it then comes down to personal choice as to what to collect. You may start in many areas such as antique silver or collectable teddy bears or you may solely stick to one area like stamps or coin collecting. Indeed, many collectors of antiques stick to a even more rigid collecting regime such as only collecting 20th century ceramics from a particular company or designer such as Moorcroft or Clarice Cliff.
Once you have your collecting niche or niches decided the next thing to ponder is how are you going to increase your collection? Lets look at the traditional place to buy antiques and that is the bricks and mortar auction house. Firstly, you need to find your local auction houses, a quick search in the yellow pages or online should identify your local auctioneers. Most auction houses aim to hold around one auction a month, usually they have a viewing period of around a week before the auction sale takes place. They will also publish a sale guide listing all the lots that will be up for sale in the auction. It is a very good idea to go to auction house prior to the sale and view the items in the flesh. Just looking in the auction guide will not allow you to appreciate the item and it may not have accurately listed any flaws. Once you have been to a viewing day you can then mark the items of interest in your auction guide. The auction guide will also give you a auction estimate of what they think the item will sell for. It is a good idea to write next to this, the highest amount you are prepared to pay and stick to this. On the day of the auction make sure you get there on time as they always start promptly and they won’t wait for you if you are running late. Now, the most important part is to keep to your budget as auction fever can often have you paying far more than you originally intended. Make sure you bid clearly so the auctioneer can spot your bid, and hopefully you will be the winning bidder on some or all of your wish list. Don’t forget once you have bought the item you will have to pay the auctioneers commission, this can be anything from 10-15% of the final sales figure.
Another place to buy antiques or collectables is from antique shops or fairs. By buying in a antiques shop you are often paying a retail price for the item. However, a good antiques dealer will be knowledgeable about the piece and should give you good advice. Fairs are very much like antiques shops but on a larger scale. Prices do tend to be a little cheaper than a antiques shop as there is a lot more competition for your cash on the day. Antique shops and fairs are often a good starting point for a novice collector as you can get useful advice and take your time over your purchase rather than the often nerve racking, fast paced auctions. One thing to remember to do is ask for a discount, dealers expect this and will not be offended. When the dealer gives the price a good rule of thumb is to offer him around 60% of that price and they will usually meet around the middle, thus giving you a 20-25% discount, leaving you some spare pennies for your next piece.
Finally, the place to pick up bargain antiques and collectables is car boot and table top sales. It is important to note that most sellers at car boot sales are there to clear unwanted items from their house and not to sell antiques, therefore you will get little to no advice about the item and no refunds are given if it turns out it is not what you thought it was. You will have to sift through, DVD’s, clothes, power tools and toys to find the antiques but don’t give up as they are out there. If you spot a antique or collectable ask the seller for a price and again haggle and come to an agreed amount. Car boots are now attracting more and more dealers who know what they have got and what it is worth. Therefore it is often worth avoiding these sellers initially and try and find the one off seller who is clearing granny’s loft. You can pick up absolute bargains at car boots, giving you a low cost way of starting your collection. A lot of people will sell there less desirable antiques they have picked up from car boots to fund new purchases from auctions and antiques shops.
Collecting antiques and collectables is fun and gets you out and about hunting for that bargain or getting your hands on that special piece for your collection. Where and however you decide to start your collection, remember this piece of advice, only pay what you can afford to pay, buy what you like and buy quality.
How To Identify Antique Silver
When buying English Silver there are handy clues to the who, where and when the piece was made. The clues come in the form of hallmarks, these hallmarks are easy to look up online or in specialist books. Most genuine silver pieces will have 4 or 5 of these impressed hallmarks, they are often small and a magnify glass or loupe is often required to accurately read them.
Once you have identified that the piece contains hallmarks you then need to find out who, where and when the piece was made. The first mark is often the
Lion Passant (lion with a raised leg, walking left); this is the indicator that your item is English Sterling Silver. It is otherwise known as the Sterling Mark. Next your will often see the place it was made, for example a Leopard is used for London, a anchor is used for Birmingham and a castle with shield is Newcastle. You can learn more information about the city marks from online resources or good antique silver publications.
So far you can ascertain that your piece is silver and you will have worked out where the piece has been made. Next, it is handy to know when the piece was made. For this you need the hallmark with the date letter. Each date in history is given a letter, again good silver books will give you the full listing. Obviously they would have quickly ran out of letters to use over the years so they used upper and lowercase, different fonts and backgrounds such as shields. You can look up your date letter then you can be certain when it was made, which can make a huge difference to value.
On pieces made between 1784 and 1890 you will often see the duty mark. This mark shows that the piece has been presented to the assay office for taxing. Finally, most maker would put their mark on the piece to display who was the manufacturer of the fine piece. This can make a huge difference to the value for the piece, finding a piece by a certain maker can lead to the jackpot!
Through studying these 4 or 5 marks you have now found out that the piece is English Silver, which City it was made, when it was made and by who, which is quite handy when working out the value of the piece.
Please look out for future articles on where to buy and sell antique silver.
How to care for antique paintings and prints
Finding the correct place to hang a antique painting or print is crucial to keeping it in a good condition. Your antique painting or print will certainly benefit from the proper display, storage and care.
Ensure that your painting or picture is securely hung in a place that is neither damp, in bright light or above a source of heat such as a fire or radiator. Make sure that you allow a slight gap between the antique painting and the wall. This ensures that air can circulate around the painting or print.
Only use metal picture wire and brass picture hooks, the size and number required obviously depends on the size and weight of the painting or print. Always screw the eyehooks into the frame itself, never screw them into the stretchers or backboard.
Cleaning a antique painting or print can be tricky and deep, intense cleaning should only be carried out by a professional. The only cleaning that should be carried out is a light dusting with a soft dry cloth or feather duster.
Lighting is also a important consideration when hanging a antique painting or print. Bright lighting can fade the pigment in painting and prints and this is especially so in watercolours and prints. Therefore, it is very important that you painting is not displayed in direct sunlight and that any light that you put on the picture is low watt and voltage. Never be tempted to photocopy a painting or print as the bright light can cause severe damage.
If you need to store your painting it is best to remove all picture hooks. Store the paintings in a cool, dark, clean and dry place. Stand the picture on wooden blocks to keep them off the floor, place acid free boards in between each painting or print. Cover the paintings with a clean sheet, never use plastic sheeting as this can encourage mould to grow. If the artwork is unframed, wrap the prints in acid free tissue paper and place inside a acid free folder or box. Do not be tempted to simply store them in a plastic wallet as these can cause the paper to discolour.
How to identify a 1st Edition Book
Antiques books can be very collectable and as such can be very valuable. However, the most valuable and indeed collectable antique books are 1st editions. Collecting 1st editions can be a minefield and you could end up spending your cash on a almost worthless edition if you are not careful. The following information will give you a general rule of thumb which should help you determine whether or not your book is a 1st edition.
The first thing to think about when appraising a book is the date. Generally speaking if the book is indeed a 1st edition you should only see one date. There is sometimes a copyright date and a first published date but these are normally no more than a year apart. The only other date you may see in a 1st edition would be a date the book was published in another country, this is not normally problematic.
Publishers can often be very helpful by stating 2nd edition, 3rd edition or reprinted …… Occasionally however, publishers will often reprint antique books using the original plates and as such these are no longer 1st editions. If a book has no printed date at all, then it is more than likely to be a later edition. A good resource would be the worlds reference libraries, these will supply you with a publication date and they often specify whether or not the book was originally dated.
The above information is a general rule of thumb for antique books. However, as with most things there are always exceptions to these rules. There has even been cases of 1st edition dust jackets being put on later edition books. I always adopt the mantra of buying books I am interested in, at a fair price which I think are 1st editions. The best places I have found for 1st editions is car boot sales, junk shops and second hand book stores. I have picked up 1st edition books for 10p and sold them for several hundred pounds. If you know what you are looking for antique books can be very financially rewarding.
Antique and Collectable Teddy Bears
Probably the most highly collectable antique bears are the German manufactured Steiff bears.
Margarete Steiff began work as a seamstress and often had off cuts of felt left over at the end of the day. She used these off cuts to make small novelty elephant pin cushions for children. These soon became more popular than the clothes she made by day. The Steiff firm grew quickly and in 1903 the Steiff bears were born. Margarete took a stall at the Leipzig fair to launch it new range of jointed bears based on the drawings of her nephew Richard. The bears received mixed reviews at the fair but a American businessman made a order of 3000 bears, this canny American new that after president Roosevalt refused to shoot a bear cub, the businessman new that American children would fall in love with the “teddy bear”
Stuff toy collectors the world over are all searching for that rare antique collectable bear. Steiff bears can be worth thousands and thousands of pounds and in fact a bear sold at Christies for over £100,000 in 1994. Even later bears can be very valuable and are always very sort after.
A master stroke by Steiff was to introduce the button in the ear of each bear. This stopped rival companies from copying their designs and made Steiff bears instantly recognisable. At the beginning of the 20thC, to prevent its popular designs being copied, Steiff devised its famous button in ear label. Buttons produced prior to 1905 are embossed with an elephant holding aloft his ‘S’-shaped trunk, whilst later ones read “Steiff” in a variety of styles. Materials and shape help to date bears as well as the style of his button. Bears produced prior to the 1930s, such as the teddy clown, Petsy bear and teddy baby (see right), can be identified by their humped backs, long arms and large feet. After WWI glass eyes replaced boot button eyes, and following WWII, artificial and wool Plush was used because mohair became difficult to source. During the 1950s, many early designs were reintroduced with slight design modifications such as a larger heads, a less pronounced hump and shorter limbs. Replicas and Limited Edition runs of original bears have also been produced in recent years and should not be confused with originals.
Steiff collectors tend to look for older examples, usually in good condition as this has a strong bearing on future value. White and cinnamon colouring are rare and a bear with an especially attractive face tends to command a premium. Other antique teddy bears
can be valuable but it could be argued that Steiff is one of the ultimate collectors piece.
