The Antique Victorian Furniture Blog

I’m not sure that “Economy slows antique sales” is the best headline for this article from The MetroWest Daily News, out of Framingham, MA. But that’s what you’ll see when you go to read it.

One hundred dealers showed up from around New England and New York for the Holliston Antique Show, sponsored by the Citizen Scholarship Foundation of Holliston. There were 400 people waiting to pay $6 at the door when the show opened for its first day on Saturday, despite weather conditions that kept some away. In the end the scholarship foundation was able to add $10,000 to $12,000 to its endowment.

Of the three dealers mentioned in the article, two were positive and one negative.

Phyllis and Sam Petnov of Millford, MA remarked that it wasn’t like the good old days, when they could make $10,000 to $20,000 at the show. “Those days are gone. It reflects the economy. It’s universal.”

Alan Seymour, on the other hand, owner of Franklin Street Antiques in Natick, MA, said he did well at the show, after setting various price points for broader appeal. He wants to remind people that antiques are a good investment.

And Tom Nagy of Hampton, CT, who sells 18th and 19th century accessories, also said it was a good show for him. His sales included an 18th century Sheraton server and a Victorian mirror.

Why put a negative headline over that? I prefer mine.

Here’s the article.

And here is my growing collection of posts about the current economy and its effects on antique Victorian furniture and on antiques in general: Feb. 17, Feb. 7, Dec. 9, Dec. 8, Nov. 27, Oct. 25.

Technorati Tags: 18th Century, Antique, Antiques, Dealers, Economy, Furniture, Investment, Mirror, sheraton, show, Victorian

I chanced on an entertaining and informative article by Fred Taylor in Auction Central News. It traces the human interest in animals and our use of animal imagery in art and ultimately in furniture.

You may not know this, but Egyptian furniture from as far back as 3,000 years ago has been found with legs that end in lion paws. The design of Egyptian beds was unchanged for 2,000 years. The beds typically had the legs of animals, from bulls to gazelles to cats. The Assyrians, Greeks and Romans likewise carved animal imagery into their furniture.

The practice largely disappeared, Fred tells us, until Thomas Chippendale in the 18th century, with his mix of French Rococo and Orientalia, brought it back. Thereafter, and throughout the 19th century, as Fred puts it, “the barn door was open.”

Fred treats us to a gallery, or shall I say menagerie, of photos of 18th and 19th century pieces, with a number of shots of antique Victorian furniture. Keep your eye out for the sideboard that celebrates the elements of the Victorian table.

You can read Fred’s article here.

Technorati Tags: 18th Century, 19th Century, Animal, Antique, Antiques, Chippendale, Furniture, History, Imagery, Rococo, Sideboard, Victorian