Central Kentucky Antiques and Collectibles

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

One mark of a well-heeled home is often that first thing you see on the entryway floor – a beautiful Persian rug. Since Persian rugs are such a valuable piece of art, it pays to ensure you are investing in the genuine article, rather than one of the many imitations that can be found in most showrooms.

Oriental Rug? Persian Rug? What’s the Difference?

An Oriental rug is one that has been hand-woven in cities, towns, and villages across Asia. Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, and the areas near the Mediterranean Sea are all well-known for their beautiful Oriental Rugs. The Persian Rug, however, comes only from Iran, and is considered to be the finest of any rug in the world.

How to Spot a Good Quality Rug

Learning to spot a good quality Persian rug takes time and patience. When shopping, learn to study several rugs before you make a decision, and keep these tips in mind when you begin your search:

• True Persian rugs are made in Iran. Very fine reproductions can be made in other places with traditional methods, but they are not true Persian rugs.
• How does the rug move? If it folds like a blanket, it’s probably handmade, and that’s what you want to see.
• Check the knots at the sides of the rug. They should blend seamlessly with the design. An abrupt change in color indicates a machine-made rug.
• Look at the corners. Handmade rugs will not be perfect; their corners might not be entirely even, and the knots might have small imperfections.
• Measure the number of knots in one square inch of a synthetic rug, and then compare the number of knots to that in a Persian rug. The Persian rug will have twice as many knots, if not more. This attention to detail is what makes Persian rugs so special.
• The colors of the Persian rug should not fade dramatically, nor should they bleed. You can test for this by pressing a damp, white washcloth to the rug. If color leaches away, it is not a true Persian rug.

Ensuring a Sound Investment

To learn even more about your Persian rug, ask for the purchase history of the rug—though there might be some exceptions, most reputable and established dealers will have this in writing. Also ask for information about the pattern, and take the time to verify what the dealer says.

The pattern of a Persian rug is named after the city, town, tribe, or village where it was created. Bokhara, Kashan, and Turkeman patterns are rare and becoming more so as time goes on, so you can expect to find them priced in the upper ranges. However, they are also the most frequent targets of reproduction, so be doubly-sure what you are purchasing is the genuine article.

A good Persian rug is not only a beautiful, functional work of art, but a wise investment as well. As with anything worth your hard-earned money, learn about what you’re purchasing, take your time and invest wisely!

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

Antiques price guides have always been an important tool for antique dealers and collectors alike.

With the internet taking front and center stage in offering the most current information, antiques price guides can now offer up-to-the-minute information to help you identify and value your treasure. But how do you make the most of price guides to help you price or value your antique?

1. Use the correct antiques price guide

Make sure the antiques price guide you are using is appropriate for your piece. While general price guides for antiques are helpful in identifying some items, many areas of collecting offer specific price guides, such as:

• Hummel price guides;
• Depression glass price guides;
• Quilt pattern identification and price guides;
• Primitive antique price guides; and
• Antique silver price guides.

Identify the type of antique, such as glassware, porcelain, furniture or collectible; and use the most specific antiques price guide you can find.

2. View pictures carefully

It can be difficult for the novice or beginner collector to find the correct terms to even start them on their way to searching on the internet. Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words, they can help not only in valuing your antique, but in finding the right terminology to help you describe it.

Antiques price guides offer hundreds of photographs, so they can be a good starting point for your search. Google images is another starting point in identifying antiques and is the best bet when you’re not quite sure what it is that you have.

3. Compare apples to apples

While that antiques price guide may say that a Limoges punch bowl is worth $3,500, it doesn’t necessarily mean that YOUR Limoges punch bowl is worth that much.

Factors that can affect values in antiques price guides include condition, size, maker, decoration and rarity. All those items together make up the value of an antique, and it can mean your cracked Limoges bowl decorated by an amateur artist may be only worth $50.

Using antiques price guides is just one step in determining the value of your antique. While the guides may tell you that your grandmother’s handmade quilt is worth only $25, its value to you and your family’s history – priceless.

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

Looking for a gorgeous collectible that’s still affordable and stunning when displayed? Antique transferware is just the ticket for collectors who love to mix antiques and décor. In fact, antique transferware collections can often be found displayed in homes featured in interior design magazines. It’s the variety, colors and looks that make transferware “oh-so popular” for casual and serious collectors alike.

Antique transferware is a group made up of dishes that were decorated by the process of transfer of the decoration rather than being hand painted. These dishes became popular in 18th Century England as a new middle class began to emerge from the ranks of Englishmen. With this middle class came the need for dishes that were less expensive than the hand painted masterpieces that were made for the aristocracy.

Transferware enabled dishes to be decorated in an early form of mass production. The pattern of the dish is etched into a copper plate, which is then transferred to a paper, and from the paper the decoration is transferred onto the piece itself. The transfer process is normally found on pottery or earthenware, but ironstone, china and porcelain were also used in the transfer decorating process.

Since antique transferware covers such a broad spectrum, collectors generally specialize in more specific areas. The most popular transferware collections are normally made up of Staffordshire transferware – Staffordshire is a region of England. Staffordshire transferware is normally broken down into two broad collecting areas:

Blue and White Transferware

Decorated in the manner of the early, hand painted Chinese porcelain dishes, blue and white transferware has remained popular over two centuries later. Late 18th Century and early 19th Century English plates, particularly those depicting European views and scenes of everyday life are extremely popular and affordable for transferware collections. Blue and white transferware dishes can still be found for under $50, while larger serving pieces can run as much as $1,000 for finer or rare pieces.

Mulberry, Sepia or Pink Transferware

While blue and white transferware remains popular, other colors of English transfer dishes are favorites for collectors. Dishes decorated in transfer colors of black, deep brown and red are also popular for collections. The colors are normally termed mulberry, sepia and pink in transferware, and like their blue and white counterparts, affordable examples can still be found. They tend to be a little more expensive than blue and white dishes, but can still be found for under $60, and the rare examples can run in to the thousands of dollars.

The patterns and colors of antique transferware are too numerous to detail, but suffice it to say, there’s a piece of transferware to suit any taste or décor. If you plan on building a collection of antique transferware, try to focus on a particular color, pattern or maker and buy pieces with strong, crisp details with no condition issues.

Loch Lea Antiques in Paris, KY is a great place to find quality antiques like transferware in central Kentucky.

Copyright – Kimberly Clay

When you are intending to buy antiques and collectibles at flea markets, garage sales, yard sales or estate sales, first take some time to walk around the market. Check out what is for sale and make a note of anything that interests you. Write it down; don’t trust it to memory.

If you see something you want being sold by more than one vendor, compare prices and try to haggle each down to a lower price. Get the lowest price you can, then give the more expensive vendor one last chance to beat the competition. It often works. But if you intend to haggle, then time it right.

Never try to beat somebody’s price down too early. Nobody will reduce their prices early in the day or shortly after the flea market opens. The best time for bargaining is shortly before closing. OK, this means that you might lose your item to somebody else, but if you need it really badly, then just buy it. Offer a lower price, but make sure you get it if you must have it. Otherwise, you can get the best prices just before closing.

Many sellers will reduce their price rather than not sell an item. It’s a fine line between leaving it too late and paying more than you need to, and experienced flea market and yard sales buyers know just where that line is. Don’t forget that flea market vendors expect to bargain, and so price their items higher than they expect to sell. Never purchase without some form of bargaining, but leave the real haggling until just before closing.

Even if you are the consummate bargain hunter, don’t waste time and energy haggling just for the sake of it. If you see something you want at a dollar or two, don’t waste time by haggling over a few cents – just pay the two dollars and buy it. While you are trying to save 20 cents, somebody else could spot that 1804 silver dollar that you can see from the corner of your eye but nobody else has noticed. . .

If you intend buying more than one item and you can find them from the same vendor, try bargaining for a better price. You can often get a better deal if you are purchasing multiple items as opposed to when you’re purchasing just one.

Yard sales are often easier places from which to get bargains than when buying antiques at flea markets, because yard sales are most often comprised of old clutter that the owner doesn’t want. Conversely, flea markets are often professionals selling to make a living.

If you think ahead, you can make some prior preparations to get yourself the best bargain. Don’t go shopping in your best clothes or trendiest designs. People that appear well-to-do at flea markets generally end up paying more: wear a fleece coat and you end up getting fleeced. You can dress neatly, but dress down (little or no jewelry, ladies), and then you won’t be expected to be able to pay a lot. Don’t show a check book or large bills. Pay in small denomination bills and coin, because if vendors see $50s and $100s, the prices may suddenly shoot up.

It also helps to have the amount that you are offering a seller in your hand when you make the offer – hold it out to them, or place it on the table. It is difficult to refuse an offer when the cash is there for the taking.

Make sure that your first offer is less than you are prepared to pay, but not too little. Just as you won’t pay the asking price, the seller likely won’t accept your first offer, but if you offer too little they might be offended or lose interest in you. Eventually you will agree on a price somewhere between your first offer and the asking price.

Once you have made an offer keep your mouth shut. The person that talks first and most in a bargaining situation generally loses out. Make your offer then wait: the seller might accept it, or might not. They might insist on the asking price, but throw in something extra; either free or at a highly discounted price. You will come across that frequently when buying antiques and collectibles at flea markets and garage sales.

If you see something you like, and intend to make an offer, then pick it up and carry it with you. That way nobody can purchase it or make an offer before you do. If you see or hear somebody else making an offer for an item you like, then pick it up before they do. Possession is nine tenths… and all that.

People frequently find themselves purchasing something too big for them to carry home or get into their car. If that’s the case pay for the item, and see that a ‘Sold’ tag goes on it. Then come to an arrangement with the vendor. The seller must have been able to transport it to the flea market or sale, so make them an offer to deliver it to you. If it’s a yard or estate sale, you can arrange to have it picked up later.

Don’t be afraid to walk away if you can’t reach an agreement. You are not obliged to accept a price offer. It might drop later in the day. Think of what you would do as a seller: would you really accept a lower price than you want for the items you’re selling when the flea market has just opened? Of course not! If you intend to haggle for everything, leave the item until later in the day, and then check on it again before leaving the market.

Finally, be polite. Negotiation and bargaining is not arguing. Don’t be rude if a vendor chooses not to accept your offer, because vendors at flea markets often pass information about rude buyers around, and you might find that nobody wants to deal with you. There is no need to be rude. Flea markets are fun ways of buying and selling and are not meant to involve serious, cut-throat activity. Have fun buying antiques and collectibles, especially at flea markets, where you just might find some great bargains.

Copyright 2009 – Kimberly Clay

There are a number of approaches to take when choosing antiques and collectibles for home décor, and also a number of reasons for doing so. Some choose antiques as investments, attending auctions and salerooms where some good bargains can be found, whereas for others they are simply a way of furnishing and decorating their home, or just a part of it.

Those who collect seriously, either as an investment or simply for the joy of owning lovely things, tend to purchase either privately or from galleries and auctions, although there are more opportunities for people simply wishing to decorate their homes either with old things, or to a theme. Among these are eBay and other online auction sites, flea markets, estate sales and garage sales, and also specialist online and offline stores.

Themed rooms have always been popular, and antiques and collectibles are ideal for this type of décor. It doesn’t take much imagination to visualize the impact of entering a room decorated in blues and gold, the doorway protected by a statue of the jackal headed god Anubis, and Egyptian-style scrolled tables displaying your collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts and memorabilia. These, of course, would be reproductions, but it can make a tremendous impact on guests when they see it for the first time.

The problem with such ancient themes is that the genuine antiques, or antiquities as ancient Egyptian artifacts are correctly referred to, are generally unobtainable, or if they are available then the prices are prohibitively high. It’s much simpler to get nearer to home, both geographically and historically, and early 20th century art deco or late 19th century American themes are very popular and can have no less of an impact.

Here, you can find the genuine articles at relatively low prices. You don’t have to look far to find authentic Shaker furniture, genuine Tiffany lamps or small arms and swords used during the Civil War. Weapons, uniforms, buttons and so on are all easily found from antique and memorabilia stores, and you shouldn’t find it difficult to decorate a room with an early American theme, or focused on the Civil War.

It is relatively easy to get your hands on genuine American antiques and collectibles. Most towns and cities have stores offering articles on such themes, and there are many online specialist stores, not to mention eBay, where you can get just about any kind of collectible you need to help you design a room to the theme of your choice.

If these ideas don’t appeal to you, how about ancient Greece or Rome? Imagine your dinner parties being held in a Roman villa and your guests dressed in togas? Your entire home needn’t be decorated in that way, of course, just one room and perhaps an entrance hall. It doesn’t take a lot. One or two pedestals with faux Roman busts (or even the real thing?), settees and sofas to lounge on, and some wall and floor decorations. Dinner served on large platters and eaten with the fingers in the genuine Roman style.

Many people are not keen on themes because they feel tied down to a too specific type of décor or period in history. You might prefer to specialize, not in a civilization but in a type of article. Some love figurines, while others prefer furniture or antique jewelry. You can specialize in a style, a material, such as wood or tubular furniture, or even in a specific designer or cabinet maker.

Irrespective of your reason for choosing antiques and collectibles for home décor, there is a wider range available now than ever before. Antiques that once were the domain only of the rich, are now available to everybody. As people are becoming aware of the value of old things, they are becoming more readily available, and an upsurge in antique stores and auctions has helped to bring prices down.

The more established antiques industry, however, will always be highly priced, and while you might not be able to afford a genuine Sheraton writing desk with its beautifully tapered legs looking almost too slender and slight to hold any weight at all, you can certainly afford to get your hands on a traditional Shaker table and chair, or even one of the many life-like reproductions.

Some reproductions are priced not far off that of the genuine article, particularly in relation to furniture, but that apart, there is a plethora of genuine antiques and collectibles to be had at very reasonable prices if you know where to look and are determined to find them.

Purchasing antiques and collectibles for home décor presents specific problems not associated with normal antique collecting. They have to be durable because they are not being hidden away or stored, and also likely functional. If you target a theme or genre, whether in terms of a period in history, designer, material or functionality and intended use, you will have a direction that will not only make collecting more easy, but also enable you to more easily focus on becoming an expert in your chosen field.

As you explore your home decor ideas and options, visit the many antiques and collectibles shops and dealers in Central Kentucky. For a listing of those closest to you, who specialize in your preferred genre of antiques and collectibles, or to view several of the region’s merchant websites, visit our Shop Antiques and Collectibles page.