A leap year about to be upon us next week. February 29th gives us an extra day to wear our favorite vintage clothes!
New items now available from Some Like it Vintage. Have a great weekend everyone!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
How to Identify Vintage Finds
Many times people make decisions regarding family hand-me-downs and vintage items that they regret later. We see a lot of examples of this on the Antiques Roadshow. Think about how often people find valuable things in dumpsters, at garage sales, and are given very valuable items as payment for a favor or service. The person who threw the item out or gave it away must be kicking himself somewhere, don't you think? Expensive mistakes can be avoided by just doing a little research, and I'd like to share what I do with an item I'm unfamiliar with in this post.
I purchased this collection of French porcelain at an auction a few years ago. I knew it was high quality because all of the details were hand painted rather than a transfer design, there was additional relief decoration, gold painted edges, and triple signed bottoms on some of the pieces. Sometimes I buy first, research later. I packed up my finds and put them in my basement and sort of forgot about them for a while.
I happened to see a plate just like my example being appraised on the Antiques Roadshow last season. I remembered the appraiser calling it "French export porcelain", but didn't write down any details, trusting my memory (which was a mistake). So I went to Google Images and searched with the words "French export porcelain". Lo and behold, a couple pieces similar to mine popped up, and I discovered it was made by Samson, a French company.
Next, I looked at the mark on the bottom and found a good on-line resource for pottery marks, identifying my marks a second time as Samson. Samson was even written about on Wikipedia, I discovered. It was a French company that made ceramics in Paris beginning in the 1830's. Their initial intention was to reproduce examples of museum pieces and expensive ceramics in private collections, so they were adept at producing ceramic wares in a variety of styles.
Samson produced ceramics ranging from Italian majolica to French Palissy to Chinese famille rose. Samson's wares were hard-paste porcelain with a glossy glaze, signed with their own markings. They were not intended to deceive, but eventually unscrupulous dealers found ways to remove the markings and pass off Samson's wares as the more valuable originals.
The Samson company continued production until the late 1960's and their items are quite collectible now because of their beauty and interesting history.
The internet is so handy for researching antiques, but I find old fashioned price guides to be very helpful too. I have a little library that I refer to frequently, and anyone who is in the antique biz or a serious collector should have a good basic antique price guide and a couple specific guides in areas of interest. I have several for Roseville, Weller, and Majolica pottery, Dolls and Teddy Bears, Glass, Enamel Ware, Yellow Ware, Costume Jewelry, Advertising, and Vintage Toys. These guides will have prices for items and have all sorts of information about reproductions to watch for and other tidbits. Most antique malls sell price guides, or you can buy them at bookstores.
A couple of my well-worn collector price guides:
I often check eBay for a quick and easy indication of what things are selling for. EBay is like a constantly updated price guide. I go to "completed listings" and do a search for the item in question. Then I factor in the cost of shipping along with the final price at the end of the auction. This gives you an idea of what people are willing to pay right now for the item. Price guides that were written 15 years ago before the economic downturn tend to be unrealistically high when it comes to the values of most things.
If you happen to have a painting or sculpture in hand, the first thing you need to do is check for an artist signature. Sometimes the frame of a painting will conceal a signature, or sometimes there will be information on the back indicating who painted the art work. Unfortunately, there are many unsigned paintings in the world too. If you do find a signature, you need to drop everything and check to see if the artist is "listed".
Unfortunately, this painting has no signature. If I painted it, I would have signed it, wouldn't you?
A "listed" artist is someone who has a body of work substantial enough to be recognized in one of the major art reference books. The industry standard is Davenport's. Now there are on-line sites too, and these might be worth checking. Try ArtPrice, ArtFact, and ArtNet. If you find the artist who created your piece, consider the artist "listed", and you can now be more confident about putting a value on your piece, because the the reference book or site will indicate what the artist's works have been selling for.
Whatever you do, don't throw anything out or give anything to charity until you have an idea of its value, and make sure Grandma doesn't do it either!
Written by Mitzi Curi
Mitzi's Miscellany
I purchased this collection of French porcelain at an auction a few years ago. I knew it was high quality because all of the details were hand painted rather than a transfer design, there was additional relief decoration, gold painted edges, and triple signed bottoms on some of the pieces. Sometimes I buy first, research later. I packed up my finds and put them in my basement and sort of forgot about them for a while.
I happened to see a plate just like my example being appraised on the Antiques Roadshow last season. I remembered the appraiser calling it "French export porcelain", but didn't write down any details, trusting my memory (which was a mistake). So I went to Google Images and searched with the words "French export porcelain". Lo and behold, a couple pieces similar to mine popped up, and I discovered it was made by Samson, a French company.
Next, I looked at the mark on the bottom and found a good on-line resource for pottery marks, identifying my marks a second time as Samson. Samson was even written about on Wikipedia, I discovered. It was a French company that made ceramics in Paris beginning in the 1830's. Their initial intention was to reproduce examples of museum pieces and expensive ceramics in private collections, so they were adept at producing ceramic wares in a variety of styles.
Samson produced ceramics ranging from Italian majolica to French Palissy to Chinese famille rose. Samson's wares were hard-paste porcelain with a glossy glaze, signed with their own markings. They were not intended to deceive, but eventually unscrupulous dealers found ways to remove the markings and pass off Samson's wares as the more valuable originals.
The Samson company continued production until the late 1960's and their items are quite collectible now because of their beauty and interesting history.
The internet is so handy for researching antiques, but I find old fashioned price guides to be very helpful too. I have a little library that I refer to frequently, and anyone who is in the antique biz or a serious collector should have a good basic antique price guide and a couple specific guides in areas of interest. I have several for Roseville, Weller, and Majolica pottery, Dolls and Teddy Bears, Glass, Enamel Ware, Yellow Ware, Costume Jewelry, Advertising, and Vintage Toys. These guides will have prices for items and have all sorts of information about reproductions to watch for and other tidbits. Most antique malls sell price guides, or you can buy them at bookstores.
A couple of my well-worn collector price guides:
I often check eBay for a quick and easy indication of what things are selling for. EBay is like a constantly updated price guide. I go to "completed listings" and do a search for the item in question. Then I factor in the cost of shipping along with the final price at the end of the auction. This gives you an idea of what people are willing to pay right now for the item. Price guides that were written 15 years ago before the economic downturn tend to be unrealistically high when it comes to the values of most things.
If you happen to have a painting or sculpture in hand, the first thing you need to do is check for an artist signature. Sometimes the frame of a painting will conceal a signature, or sometimes there will be information on the back indicating who painted the art work. Unfortunately, there are many unsigned paintings in the world too. If you do find a signature, you need to drop everything and check to see if the artist is "listed".
Unfortunately, this painting has no signature. If I painted it, I would have signed it, wouldn't you?
A "listed" artist is someone who has a body of work substantial enough to be recognized in one of the major art reference books. The industry standard is Davenport's. Now there are on-line sites too, and these might be worth checking. Try ArtPrice, ArtFact, and ArtNet. If you find the artist who created your piece, consider the artist "listed", and you can now be more confident about putting a value on your piece, because the the reference book or site will indicate what the artist's works have been selling for.
Whatever you do, don't throw anything out or give anything to charity until you have an idea of its value, and make sure Grandma doesn't do it either!
Written by Mitzi Curi
Mitzi's Miscellany
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Brighten up with Flowers
Want some color in your life? Spark up a dull day, a quiet hat or jacket lapel with fabric flowers. They can be attached to a headband or wisp of netting to make a quick Fascinator. They can be added to a hat with a quick pin or sewn into place when you need something permanent. Fabric flowers come in a variety of colors and shades from vivid rainbow hues to soft pastels so look around - there's plenty to chose from.
Check on Etsy for vintage flowers or handcrafted flowers or if you'd like to make your own there are tutorials on everything from hand dying to how to construct a fabric flower.
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TWILIGHT - Two shabby chic fabric vintage millinery flower sets in contrasting colors.
*The 8" long strand of four cream colored fabric flowers is wired to a green stem. Each flower has fluttery petals surrounding a yellow center.
* The vivid blue fabric rose is a pin with one big blossom and a rosebud on a long stem. The rose has velvet petals mixed in with the fabric petals. The rose is about 5" wide.
* The blossoms will brighten up any jacket, top or hat or can be worn as a pin.
*The 8" long strand of four cream colored fabric flowers is wired to a green stem. Each flower has fluttery petals surrounding a yellow center.
* The vivid blue fabric rose is a pin with one big blossom and a rosebud on a long stem. The rose has velvet petals mixed in with the fabric petals. The rose is about 5" wide.
* The blossoms will brighten up any jacket, top or hat or can be worn as a pin.
Hey Viv Discovered on Etsy - Unique vintage supplies and findings.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Vintage Signs : Retro Decor
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| S is for Sign, Shabby, and all that's Spectacular. This from A Vintage Obsession on Etsy. |
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| From UrbanCottageGoods on Etsy. |
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| Imagine, a Melmac Sign in Oak! From Benchmark Custom Signs! |
Imagine my surprise when I found Phil over at Benchmark Custom Signs on Etsy who makes real oak handmade signs but styled with a retro look. Much of his styling and carving comes from retro fonts and old world designs. What I like most about this, is that you are able to get a custom sign for your business today, antique shop, home based business, or family's business but make it look so retro and old!
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| Excellent job by Phil over at Benchmark Custom Signs on Etsy. |
My husband started his bbq business in 1982 and loved this sign he received for his 30th year anniversary! It looks a bit vintage yet distinguished as if it was made for him back in the day!. I like the fact you can have an older, industrial or mid century modern look but know that it's handmade with love and not mass produced.
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| From ArtyMaps on Etsy. |
Old street signs are just fab, I wish I had a club basement because I'd have them everywhere. In the meantime I'll dream that someday I can assemble our company name in giant porcelain letters from the past, of different sizes , shapes, and styles on the wall. So many colors, so little time. Suffice to say, porcelain signs are very expensive these days and getting very hard to find.
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| They scrapped this porcelain baby off my corner, read the sordid tale later here. I'm still heartbroken. |
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| Wood danger sign from InvisibleGallery on Etsy |
Guest Post by Ira Mency.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
New Items From Some Like it Vintage.com!
I am having soooo much fun going through my pre 1930s collection that I recently acquired.
Dating back to the 1880s, it is a pleasure to examine the hand sewing, the quality of the silks and appreciating the enormous amount of time it took to make these garments. In a strange and good way, it makes me slow down too. It forces me to be grateful of time and not rush through life - to live life in the moment.
As Elisabeth Kubler-Ross said: "There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden, or even your bathtub."
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Jobs Tears - The Intriguing Story of Natural Beads
I recently purchased loose beads at an estate sale and found one of the dusty bags contained multi color beads that looked familiar. I knew I'd seen them used in jewelry and on ethnic pieces and now that I had to sell them I thought I'd better find out what they are. Searching online and on etsy I found out that what I had was a bag of Job's Tears Beads.
It turns out that these natural beads are produced by a tall, roadside grass (Coix lacryma-jobi) that grows wild or is cultivated for food or for the beads. The "actual beadlike structure resembling a seed is not a seed at all. It is a very hard, hollow structure (called an involucre) containing a minute fertile female flower and two sterile flowers." They are picked, dried and then used as is (they already have a hole in them) or dyed. http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plapr99.htm
Many people feel these beads look like tears and some people call them Mary's Tears or Christ's Tears. The common name Job's Tears refers to Job of the Old Testament who endured great suffering.
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* Purchased at an estate sale - 12 oz bag of Mixed Color Jobs Tears Beads
* Bag includes grey, dark red, turquoise blue, and light blue Job Tears or Job's Tears Beads which are the seeds produced by a tall, roadside grass (Coix lacryma-jobi) . Some of the beads are on string, some are loose. I purchased these at an estate sale but do not know their actual age.
Quantity: 12 oz bag (hundreds of beads)
* Bag includes grey, dark red, turquoise blue, and light blue Job Tears or Job's Tears Beads which are the seeds produced by a tall, roadside grass (Coix lacryma-jobi) . Some of the beads are on string, some are loose. I purchased these at an estate sale but do not know their actual age.
Quantity: 12 oz bag (hundreds of beads)
Hey Viv Discovered on Etsy - Unique adornments and vintage embellishments
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