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Tag Archives: Antique Furniture

Guest Post: Top 10 Antique Trends of 2012

29 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Guest Posts, Shopping, The Home

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2012, ancient Rome, Antique Furniture, Antique toys, Antique Trends, Art Deco, auction, Bottles, Carnival glass, childhood, Christian Davies, christiandaviesantiques, cigar bands, Coca-Cola, Collectibles, decor, dolls, Franz porcelain, French Neoclassical, Glassware, gum wrappers, interior designer, jewelry, Lamps, Ming Dynasty, Occupied Japan, Porcelain, Pyroglaze, Qing Dynasty, Roccoco-style, Space Age

Furniture
Antique furniture is usually a mainstay of the antiques trade. This year, décor has found its inspiration in French Neoclassical designs, with sweeping curves and voluptuous legs – only toned down a little more than usual. Despite the more understated look that buyers went for, gold scrolling and embellishments were still a feature. Space Age furniture was also popular and would make a striking statement juxtaposed with older pieces. Indeed, a number of interior designers have experimented in this way in 2012.

Guest Post: Top 10 Antique Trends of 2012

Glassware
This year, Carnival glass has been snapped up in the auction rooms. With a vast array of stunning patterns, the glassware’s iridescence has proven very popular. Ironically, given its popularity this year, Carnival glass gets its name from being offered as prizes at carnival games when the style became less popular. Due to its striking look, it’s usually a good idea to team it with simpler pieces or against a plain backdrop.

Guest Post: Top 10 Antique Trends of 2012

Porcelain
Also known as china, the highly-prized ceramic includes some of the most sought-after items ever created, such as bowls and vases made in the time of the Qing and Ming Dynasties. More recently, Franz porcelain and porcelain dolls have sold very well. For a whimsical look, try arranging some French porcelain house numbers across your mantelpiece or in a frame.

Coca-Cola
Collectible items from this popular drink manufacturer aren’t set to disappear any time soon. With a collectors’ club set up in the mid-70s, the brand has appeared on a huge variety of goods. Particularly popular Coca Cola items in 2012 include trays and advertisements – the bigger, the better. Rare pieces include cigar bands and gum wrappers. Owners of Coca Cola pieces report that the brightly colored items bring an instant cheer into a room.

Jewelry
Big, chunky and colorful has inspired collectors this year, as has nature-inspired jewelry. For an unusual but up-to-the-minute look, try draping long and colorful beads from tall vases, mount brooches onto box frames or use oversized pins as curtain tiebacks.

Guest Post: Top 10 Antique Trends of 2012

Occupied Japan
A huge variety of items made during the Occupied Japan (OJ) period, 1945 to 1952, has sold well this year. So that Japan could recover after WW2, it was required to mark half of its exports with ‘occupied Japan’. The most OJ items popular today are vases and porcelain items. If you think you have an OJ antique, look after it – this trend is set to stay for a little while yet.

Lamps
This year, the trend in lamps has become bolder and bigger. With a particular nod towards 1930s Art Deco bronze, lamps this year need to offer a ‘wow’ factor. If you’re lucky enough to find a lamp in a muted orange shade, try pairing it with eggshell blues and nutmegs.

Bottles
Bottle collecting is usually a popular hobby in the States and 2012 was no exception. From household containers to bitter bottles and decorative offerings, collectors have been keen this year. If you’re checking bottles to buy, remember that the ‘ABM’ mark means the bottle was made on an automated machine in 1903 or later. Pyroglaze, if you come across the ‘Pyro’ marking, means the bottle was made after 1935. Bottles first became popular in ancient Rome and China too – unsurprisingly being used to store liquids, most of the time.

Toys
Antique toys represent some of the most fascinating insights into bygone childhood pastimes. Dolls and board games are particularly popular this year, as are teddy bears. If you have children – or even if you don’t – you could use anything from tin toys to puppets to inject some playfulness into a room.

Guest Post: Top 10 Antique Trends of 2012

Dolls
Dolls represent some of the world’s most ancient playthings and have been used from before the history books began, when dolls were likely to be made from wood and clay. From Barbie to Eskimo dolls, 2012 has seen a wide variety of the popular toy pass by the auctioneer’s gavel. Doll clothes and accessories too have been very popular this year.

With 2012 almost wrapped up, it’ll be interesting to see what next year’s trends bring. Some are likely to stay firm favorites with collectors for years to come – which will they be? I put my money on pieces of antique furniture. They’re functional, stunning and change the very dynamic of a room. Antiques are always being reworked to represent some nod to the present day, such as the current trend to paint Roccoco-style furniture or upholster with more modern fabrics.

{Christian Davies is head of a self-named and family-run antiques firm based in the North West of England. He has over 25 years of experience in the antiques trade and has a particular passion for furniture from the Arts and Crafts period. For more information, visit www.christiandaviesantiques.co.uk.}

How to Buy Antique Furniture and Other Collectables

19 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Guest Posts, Shopping, William Robinson

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Antique Furniture, Antique Shows, Antiques, charity shops, Clarice Cliff, classified ads, estate sales, flea markets, Loveday Antiques, Royal Worcester, Shopping Online, table top sales, William Robinson

If one of your favorite things to do on the weekend is browse antique shops than you will find this post helpful. You might feel like it’s time to buy some of those things you’ve had your eye on for months, maybe a new cabinet or dining table. The thing is, do you know enough to part with a large sum of money? Whatever you are looking for in an antique you must do your research first:

There are a few tell-tale signs that what you’re looking at is a true piece of antique furniture. Keep an eye out for the following:

• Square nails: this can indicate age but be replicated
• Ornamentation applied by hand: signs of hand crafted workmanship rather than machine manufacture
• Specific styles, such as Art Deco, Victorian
• High-quality items: these cost more and are more likely to have been kept well
• Older wood should show variations in colors
• Joints within draws should be hand-made and unique angles: identical joints show a machine manufacture
• Evidence of wear/use: sometimes it’s simple sun bleaching while other times it’s how it has been used
• Very old wood shrinks slightly: look for odd measurements/uneven surfaces

How to Buy Antique Furniture and Other Collectables

Educate Yourself
If you’re really interested in learning about antique furniture, then reading up on your preferred style or era is a very important part of becoming a collector. Visit museums and antique dealers to get a feel for what’s out there. Ask questions and learn about specific pieces, time periods or art movements that you’re particularly interested in. If you can find someone with a collection of the similar piece you are interested in and look closely at them and even feel them to see how they should feel in your hands.

A great tip for anyone looking to buy genuine antiques is not just to know how it should look but how it should feel too, sometimes people try to replicate older pieces to con people into thinking they are genuine, even in the Victorian ages they replicated 16 century furniture, but you can tell from the feel as well as the look.

Sometimes doing your research on the symbols and markings applied to genuine pieces of pottery, jewelry or ornaments can help you decipher what is higher quality and what is not. It just depends on what area of antiques you’re interested in as to whether this would serve you during you’re searches. Pottery is a great example where knowing your Clarice Cliff from your Royal Worcester would be very helpful.

How to Buy Antique Furniture and Other Collectables

However, items such as furniture may be unmarked but this would not necessarily mean that this does or doesn’t have age or value. Sometimes great furniture manufacturers would be known by their style alone. Some printed a logo on the furniture and other would have branded the furniture with a symbol or sign that tied it to them as the maker. Furniture would be an expensive place to start with collecting antiques. For a novice, starting on something less likely to impact your pocket would be wiser.

Shopping for Antiques
The best and cheapest places to find antiques for less include table top sales and flea markets, estate sales, charity shops and classified ads. Sometimes the seller doesn’t even know that they have a true antique on their hands. If possible, take along a friend who knows a thing or two about antiques. They’ll be able to steer you toward what’s worth it and what’s not worth a penny.

Antique Shows
The next stop you should make is at a real deal antiques show. Keep in mind that the sellers at these shows know what they have and how much money their antiques are worth. While you may not find any huge savings at trade shows or antique malls, you can find pretty great items. Plus, if you’re looking for something specific, the antiques dealers should be able to point you in the right direction.

How to Buy Antique Furniture and Other Collectables

Shopping Online
When it comes to buying antiques online, it’s always difficult to know the condition of what you’re buying. If possible, try to visit the antique dealer in person to see the item before you pay. If you want to shop for antiques online, go ahead, it’s a great way to find tons of items you wouldn’t otherwise come across. However, search antique dealers within driving distance so you can look at everything in person before buying.

The most important tip for shopping for antiques is to buy something you actually like. No matter how valuable something is, if you can’t stand to look at it, it shouldn’t be sitting in your living room. Antique furniture comes with its own set of warnings. Always measure the space properly so the item fits well. It would be heartbreaking to find a piece and not be able to get it into your home.

How to Buy Antique Furniture and Other Collectables

There are many different reasons to own antiques. The most basic reason is many antiques are beautiful to look at. Others like owning something valuable from another era. No matter what your reason for wanting to invest in antiques, knowing how to shop is the key to spending your money wisely.

Written by William Robinson

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