Antiques - An Introduction
If you look up the word antique in the dictionary you will find
the following definition:
"antique (noun), pronounced an.tique. 1 : a relic or object of
ancient times; 2 a : a work of art, piece of furniture, or
decorative object made at an earlier period and according to
various customs laws at least 100 years ago;"
Okay, so now we technically know what an antique is.
But are all antiques worth anything?
That's where the answer is a little harder to come up with than
a mere definition.
Just what DOES make an antique worth something?
The simple answer to that is us.
As with anything else in life and in the market place how much
something is worth depends on how much a person is willing to
pay for it. Taking an extreme example, if you go back 100 years
from the writing of this article, it would be safe to say that a
person would be more willing to pay a large sum of money for
John William Godward's "Flabellifera" painting of 1905 than for
a wooden fence taken from the front of someone's house in that
same year. They're both 100 years old, and technically both
antiques, but since wooden fences are probably a dime a dozen,
even from that year, it is doubtful that the wooden fence would
demand much of a price. Not to say there aren't some people who
would pay something for a 100 year old fence.
So what are some of the more in demand antiques of the day and
how much are people willing to pay for them?
Well, how about wrapping your brain around some of these prices.
A pair of Victorian birds eye maple music chests from 1875 carry
a price tag of about $21,000.
A Regency rosewood sofa table with brass inlay goes for about
$14,000.
A fine quality Queen Anne period walnut bureau circa 1705 goes
for around $14,500.
A 1795 George III oak longcase clock with eight day striking
movement by Stanford, Yarmouth sells for in the vicinity of
$6,100.
Getting away from furniture and moving to the art world, a
Victorian style old English oil painting from around 1870 goes
for about $500.
A James Stark Victorian English landscape painting from 1842
goes for a whopping $5,995, and that doesn't include shipping
charges.
Interested in a good antique watch? An 8 Days Railroad Pocket
Watch from 1890 goes for about $300.
An 1897 Imperial Russian Military Pocket Watch has a price tag
of about $500.
An Imperial Russian Family Pavel Watch Circa 1897 will get about
$600 from an interested buyer.
A New Columbus 16 jewel pocket watch made in 1880 sells for
about $300.
A turn of the 20th century Hamilton 17 jewel pocket watch will
end up in someone's hands for about $350.
And we haven't even scratched the surface of antiques. What is
listed above is relatively cheap. The expensive stuff goes back
hundreds of years and goes for amounts that would stagger the
imagination. We'll go over some of the more expensive antiques
including items from the 17th and 18th century in a future
article.