A Newbie's Guide to Antique Shopping

I've recently developed a passion for antiques, there is something fascinating about touching and holding pieces that carry the history and sometimes visible stories of people past lives, pieces that have now moved on to continue their journey through history on the shelves and isles of market around the world, waiting to be discovered by you or I. I can remember as a child going to the antique mall or the flea market with my grandmother and walking by all that old stuff that is what I thought of it, too young, I suppose, to have an appreciation of the wealth set about me in every direction. If only I had paid a little bit more attention to her as she went through whatever selection process she used to help her choose the pieces she took home, I would now have a better understanding of antiques as I find myself shopping more and more for the next piece to fit into my home.

I first started collecting pieces based on what looked interesting to me, and most of all what looked old, not having an understanding of what made a piece valuable in the market place, nor a concept of what features or attributes made an antique more valuable than a similar item. A few years ago I started educating myself by going to the library and reading some books on antiques and taking notes and , of course in the market place itself, and carrying the notes with me whenever I was in the mood for a trip to the old antique mall. I remember one book in particular that was very enlightening, It was written by author Frank farmer Loomis IV, in his book Antiquing 101 - A Crash course in Everything Antique, he gives an example on how the value of an antique in subjective, in his example he tells of a velvet picture of Elvis, although handmade, is not a top notch piece of art, but after a recent trend in the antique world handmade Elvis painting have become a popular new category.

Well, what I took from that that helped me when browsing, was that with a little investigating and knowledge the antique world opened up a little and was no longer a stodgy old day with my grandmother that I remember as a child. When you are in the marketplace here are a few things you should know, first gather all the information available to you on the piece. by picking it up, look at it carefully, then put it down and look at it again, I mean put it down step back and really look at it again. A lot of antiques can literally look old, this doesn't equate value. Don't judge a book by its cover, age and craftsmanship does not mean quality.

You can teach yourself to identify the wear and tear and truly see the piece. Some tools you may want to have with you when you go out to the market are a magnifying glass to enlarge the smaller details in the glass and ceramic pieces, a flashlight to help you see the pieces a little better, some of the markets I've been in are surprisingly dark, and a camera can be very useful, this allows you to reference the piece later, and if allowed some water to clean the piece off if needed, Many archeologist, especially Egyptologist, taste the pieces of pottery that they find, the actually lick them, apparently authentic artifacts taste like salt, it has proven to be one of the more reliable ways of authenticating if a piece. When shopping you should familiarize yourself with the terminology, it can be very important. Genuine or Period are terms used to confirm that the piece is original and has been authenticated.

An Imitation is a copy of an antique not meant to defraud, but only as a reproduction. A Fake, of course, is just that and was meant deliberately to deceive you, now Marriage and Divorce are also common terms, Marriage is when two pieces are brought together, but with no intention to fool the buyer, and Divorce is when an item has been altered like cutting a table down to size to fit a smaller room, also not meant to defraud. The different design styles also have terms that may be useful to know, some that are commonly used reflect the era and place of influence of the designs, Baroque, Rocco, Early or Late Neo Classical periods are just a few. Be sure to set a price that you are willing to adhere to and you can always negotiate the price, and if the merchant won't budge make a habit of walking away, you may be surprised to hear him call you back with a better offer. Whatever your passion, be it furniture, ceramics or photographs try and enjoy your experience for what it is, a walk though history.