Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Antiques Dealers, Shops, Malls, Shows, Ontario, Canada, Toronto, Ottawa
Antiques Dealers, Shops, Malls, Shows, Ontario, Canada, Toronto, Ottawa:
"What's an antique?
Strictly speaking, anything over 100 years old. Period. It doesn't mean that it's rare or valuable, just old. A collectible is anything, anything at all, regardless of age that's not being made anymore or something made in limited quantities, either by accident or design. (In other words, both limited edition figures and McDonald's give-aways are both in the collectible category). Simple? Oh yes, absolutely. Alas the world is not. This means that while Art Nouveau, and Art Deco and so on, are wonderful, and expensive, and beautiful, they are still not antiques. Not strictly, and not yet, anyway.
So what makes certain treasures valuable? Only one thing. Rarity. Age has little to do with it, although condition, design and provenance have a great deal to do with it. Provenance is the (usually documented) history of ownership: great-gran's silver candlesticks may be worth a bundle, but if they were given to her by Jesse James, who pinched them from the White House where they made from the silver melted down from General Lee's sword, and you've got the letters, the smelter's invoice, the newspaper accounts and the wanted poster... well, you get the idea.
For the sake of discussion everything is collectible; whatever you can think of, somebody, somewhere is probably collecting it. If not now, then soon."
"What's an antique?
Strictly speaking, anything over 100 years old. Period. It doesn't mean that it's rare or valuable, just old. A collectible is anything, anything at all, regardless of age that's not being made anymore or something made in limited quantities, either by accident or design. (In other words, both limited edition figures and McDonald's give-aways are both in the collectible category). Simple? Oh yes, absolutely. Alas the world is not. This means that while Art Nouveau, and Art Deco and so on, are wonderful, and expensive, and beautiful, they are still not antiques. Not strictly, and not yet, anyway.
So what makes certain treasures valuable? Only one thing. Rarity. Age has little to do with it, although condition, design and provenance have a great deal to do with it. Provenance is the (usually documented) history of ownership: great-gran's silver candlesticks may be worth a bundle, but if they were given to her by Jesse James, who pinched them from the White House where they made from the silver melted down from General Lee's sword, and you've got the letters, the smelter's invoice, the newspaper accounts and the wanted poster... well, you get the idea.
For the sake of discussion everything is collectible; whatever you can think of, somebody, somewhere is probably collecting it. If not now, then soon."
