Hi all,
I've started a antiques column which I hope to syndicate at some point.
I've two papers interested in running the column and one already running
it weekly. The column deals with general ramblings about the things and
characters I run into in the business. The column will also cover
"what's it worth" examples and historic bits about various antique
items. If anyone is interested I could post the column here to read and
save a hyper link or just link it to a web page.
Mike Wilcox
--
Antique & Collectible Appraisals Online
Antique News, Appraisal Tutorials and More
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Mike Wilcox Wrote...
>Hi all,
>I've started a antiques column which I hope to syndicate at some point.
.............
> If anyone is interested I could post the column here to read and
>save a hyper link or just link it to a web page.
>
>Mike Wilcox
Hi Mike,
Congratulations on the column! Posting it to the group just might start some
discussion around here! Bring it on!
Lauren
DBallas464 wrote:
>
> Mike Wilcox Wrote...
> >Hi all,
> >I've started a antiques column which I hope to syndicate at some point.
> .............
> > If anyone is interested I could post the column here to read and
> >save a hyper link or just link it to a web page.
> >
> >Mike Wilcox
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> Congratulations on the column! Posting it to the group just might start some
> discussion around here! Bring it on!
>
> Lauren
Here's the first column, I'll post each new one weekly.
Wilcox & Hall on Your Antiques
We are often asked about Mission style furniture, people see a
piece of Mission furniture by
Stickley, Limbert or Roycroft on one of the many 'Roadshow' type
television shows and wonder
what makes them so valuable and their own nameless pieces worth
one tenth the price. The
answer is a combination of the usual "These pieces by famous
makers are hand made, limited
production and very good quality", which is not entirely true.
While pieces by the well
known companies are of good quality, they were in most cases
neither rare or made entirely by
hand. What sells these pieces is the fact that the companies that
produced them are well
documented, providing a provenance to the maker. The Auction
market likes nothing
better than a iron clad provenance to fame.
The sad fact is that there are many mission style pieces out
there built by local cabinet makers,
students and craftsmen working from plans in Gustave Stickley's
Craftsman Magazine* that
duplicate his production pieces, but will never be deemed "as
good" or as valuable.
Stickley's Craftman magazine was not the only source of Mission
designs, during the heyday
of Mission furniture plans were available from a wide range of
sources, even the text books for
industrial arts classes in grade school contained measured
drawings for case
pieces such as desks, bookcases and desks in this style. Of the
text books in our collection from
that period all show pieces that were to be are constructed using
all the same techniques as the
big name pieces, such as through tenons, quarter-sawn veneers on
the flat sawn surfaces and fumed finishes.
These pieces are often every bit as well made, in some cases
better than " The Originals",
but they are orphans without names, at least for now.
The good news in all this is that with the huge rise in price of
pieces by the Stickleys, Limberts
and Roycrofts of this world will bring the principal of "a rising
tide lifts all boats" into play. Meaning
these lesser known quality pieces will gain in value as well and
start to gain the respect they
deserve. Which is as it should be, after all, in some cases the
only real difference between a
Stickley piece and the one made by the industrial arts student in
1912 is the name tag.
* The Craftsman magazine first appeared in 1901 and ran until
1916
Copyright- all rights reserved-Wilcox & Hall
Online 2003
--
Mike Wilcox
--
Antique & Collectible Appraisals Online
Antique News, Appraisal Tutorials and More
Join our new Affiliate program
http://www.antique-appraise.com