Never Under Estimate The Value Of Provenance

THE VALUE ENHANCEMENT OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES WITH PROVENANCE

THE STORY BEHIND THE QUILT, THE CUPBOARD, THE FOLK ART RUG

     IN OUR OWN FUNCTIONING AND INTERPLAY WITH SELLERS AND DEALERS, IN THE ANTIQUE TRADE, ENTIRELY BY OUR CHOICE, WE VALUE PROVENANCE AS MUCH AS WE DO THE ANTIQUE ITSELF. PROVENANCE IS A GREATLY DIMINISHING REALITY. IT IS, I SUPPOSE, THE RESULT OF OUR HARRIED LIFESTYLES, EVEN WITHIN THE PROFESSION, THAT WE PAY MUCH LESS ATTENTION TO POINTS OF ORIGIN. I'M OLD SCHOOL IN MY THINKING ABOUT THIS, AND WHENEVER WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, AND THE OCCASION WITH EXECUTORS OF AN ESTATE, WE BEG AS MUCH FAMILY HISTORY AS POSSIBLE. WHAT MANY ANTIQUE ENTHUSIASTS DON'T REALIZE, IS THAT THE VALUE OF A PARTICULAR, FORMERLY COVETED PIECE, CAN INCREASE SUBSTANTIALLY IF THE PROVENANCE, (HISTORY OF THE ARTICLE AND ITS PREVIOUS OWNERS) IS KNOWN AND DOCUMENTED. WHILE THIS DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN A DOUBLING OF VALUATION, JUST KNOWING THAT A QUILT, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS FROM A GRAVENHURST, OR MUSKOKA FARMSTEAD, WILL MOST DEFINITELY ADD MORE THAN TEN TO TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT IN MARKET VALUE…..AS A RULE IF CONDITION IS ACCEPTABLE. I CAN ALWAYS SELL A VINTAGE COLLECTABLE OR ANTIQUE IF THERE IS A STORY ATTACHED. NOT A MADE-UP STORY, BUT THE PIECE'S ACTAUL HISTORY AS FAR AS CAN BE DETERMINED. THIS TAKES A GREAT DEAL OF PATIENCE AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL, BUT IT MEANS SO MUCH MORE TO THE EVENTUAL BUYERS TO HAVE THIS ATTACHMENT OF KNOWN PROVENANCE. HERE'S AN EXAMPLE.

     A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, I PURCHASED A BUCK SAW FROM A LOCAL FARM. THE STORY OF THE HAND-MADE SAW, WAS THAT IT HAD BEEN CRAFTED ON THE FARM, BY A SWEDISH MAN, DURING THE DEPRESSION YEARS, WHO HAD ACCEPTED FOOD AND LODGINGS AT THE PROPERTY, IN RETURN FOR CUTTING UP TREES IN THE WOODLOT. HE REFUSED TO USE ANY OF THE SAWS AVAILABLE AT THE FARM, AND COPIED A DESIGN HE HAD BEEN HAPPY WITH PREVIOUSLY IN OTHER WOOD CAMPS. IT WAS A REALLY NICE SAW, AND I DID ACTUALLY USE IT FOR A YEAR OR SO, BEFORE OFFERING IT FOR SALE. THE FARM OWNER, AND FAMILY OVER THE YEARS, HAD KEPT IT TO REMIND THEMSELVES OF THEIR HAPPY ASSOCIATION WITH THIS SWEDISH TRAVELLER, WHO STOPPED FOR A WINTER IN GRAVENHURST. WITH THE STORY, AND A FAIR PRICE TAG, THE SAW LASTED ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES AT A YARD SALE WE HOSTED AT THE HOME OF OLD FAMILY FRIEND, FRED SCHULZ, WHO HAD SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING, CHARACTER-FILLED "SATURDAY MORNING" SALES IN THE WHOLE REGION. THE POINT IS, AND THERE WAS NO EMBELLISHMENT OF THE DETAILS, THE SAW WAS NEAT ON ITS OWN…..BUT FAR MORE SIGNIFICANT WITH ITS HISTORY DETAILED AS SUCH. THE SAME GOES FOR JUST ABOUT ANYTHING OF VINTAGE, BUT THESE DAYS, IT IS MOST OFTEN FORGOTTEN BY DEALERS AND PICKERS WHO RUN FROM SALE TO SALE, WITHOUT TAKING THE TIME TO STOP AND CHAT WITH SALE HOSTS ABOUT THE PROVENANCE OF THEIR ITEMS FOR SALE. NOT EVERY PIECE HAS A STORY OR NEEDS ONE TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT VALUE. SOME WILL FLY A LOT BETTER WITH AN ACCOMPANYING STORY. IT MAKES SENSE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT. THEN WHEN YOU FINISH WITH THE ITEM, HAVING ENJOYED IT OVER TIME, YOU GET TO PASS ON THE SAME STORY, WHILE ADDING ON YOUR OWN YEARS OF ASSOCIATION. SO WHAT IF IT MAKES A LENGTHY EDITORIAL ON THE PRICE TAG, WHEN YOU FINALLY PUT IT UP FOR SALE. THIS MAKES ANTIQUE COLLECTING AND HUNTING SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING, THAN JUST THE STRICT PROTOCOL OF "BUY, SELL AND MOVE-ON TO THE NEXT ITEM."

   I'VE KNOWN AND WATCHED ANTIQUE DEALERS, RACING THROUGH ESTATE AND YARD SALES, CHURCH FUNDRAISING SALES AND FLEA MARKETS, GRABBING UP ITEMS AS IF THERE'S A WILDFIRE COMING FROM BEHIND. IN THEIR MISSION TO BUY EVERYTHING OF VALUE IN THE LEAST AMOUNT OF TIME, THEY FORGET THAT ITEMS THAT HAVE PROVENANCE, ENTIRELY RELEVANT TO THE VALUATION, CAN BE OBTAINED BY ASKING A FEW PERTINENT QUESTIONS. EVEN AT CHURCH FUNDRAISING SALES, IF I FIND SOMETHING LIKE A PAINTING OR QUILT FOR EXAMPLE, EITHER SUZANNE OR I WILL ASK AROUND TO FIND OUT WHERE THE ITEM MAY HAVE COME FROM, OR WHO CRAFTED OR PAINTED THE PIECES. YOU'D BE SURPRISED, HONESTLY, TO KNOW HOW MANY TIMES WE CAN PUT A STORY WITH SUCH A PIECE, SIMPLY BY ASKING A FEW QUESTIONS OF THE RIGHT PEOPLE. MOST PEOPLE WHO DONATE TO THESE FUNDRAISING SALES ARE PROUD AS PUNCH TO ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT THEY HAVE BROUGHT WITH THEM TO HELP FUNDRAISE. WE'VE LEFT THESE SALES WITH NOTES ATTACHED TO LOTS OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES, AND TO MY KNOWLEDGE, IT HAS NEVER BEEN MUCH OF AN IMPOSITION. OF COURSE, THE DIFFERENCE WITH SUZANNE AND I, IS THAT WE DON'T RUN FROM SALE TO SALE THE WAY SOME OF OUR CONTEMPORARIES DO. WE DAWDLE AND IT HAS BEEN AT TIMES, A STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE TO POKE AROUND SLOWLY. WE GET TO TALK WITH SALE HOSTS, AND THIS INEVITABLY LEADS TO MAKING IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS. I'VE BEEN HAULED INTO MANY BACKROOMS, AT SALES, TO LOOK AT ITEMS THE SPONSORS WERE AFRAID TO PUT OUT, BECAUSE IT WAS THOUGHT THEY WERE TOO VALUABLE FOR A FLEA MARKET. SO THE GOOD NEWS FOR THEM, IS THEY GOT A COUPLE OF ANTIQUE DEALERS TO OFFER SOME FREE ADVICE, AND AN APPRAISAL, AND WE GOT A CHANCE TO BID ON PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN INVENTORY. IT'S THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE ANALOGY IN REAL LIFE. BESIDES, WE ENJOY ANTIQUE HUNTING TOO MUCH TO MAKE IT A RACE TO THE FINISH LINE. WE DON'T HAVE A FINISH LINE UNLESS IT'S OUR EVENTUAL RETIREMENT……OR DEMISE, WHICH EVER COMES FIRST. I FIGURE I'LL CHECK-OUT OF THIS MORTAL COIL WITH A GREAT FIND IN MY SWEATY PALM…..BE JOYFUL, A LITTLE ECSTATIC, FOR A GENTLE AND PROUD MOMENT, AND THEN PASS INTO ETERNITY WITH A SMILE ON MY COLLECTOR'S FACE. MY WIFE FEELS (CAUSE I'M A CAD)  THAT ON THE WAY OUT,  IF I HAVE A LAST CHANCE, I'LL MANAGE TO PINCH AT LEAST ONE BUM BEFORE THE FINAL COUNT-OUT. GEEZ, WHAT IF THEY REVIVE ME? WHAT KIND OF APOLOGY WOULD THIS BE? HEARTFELT MOST DEFINITELY, FROM THE BEYOND, BACK TO LIFE. "OOPS, SORRY LADY, I THOUGHT I WAS A GONNER! GUESS NOT!"

     AS AN EXAMPLE OF PROVENANCE, I'LL USE THIS LARGE MEDALTA CROCK, WITH LID, WE USE AS A CATCH-ALL IN OUR LIVINGROOM, HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW. IT'S A NICE PIECE, MONSTROUSLY HEAVY, AND IT DOES HAVE A DECENT VALUE BECAUSE ANYTHING STAMPED "MEDALTA" POTTERIES, OF CANADA, IS COLLECTABLE. IT'S SERVING US WELL AT PRESENT, BUT IF I WAS TO BRING IT INTO THE SHOP, IT WOULD HAVE A PRICE ATTACHED OF ABOUT FORTY DOLLARS. IT COULD BE AS HIGH AS SIXTY IN SOME SHOPS THAT OFFER MORE CANADIAN POTTERY THAN WE DO. NOW IF THAT CROCKERY POT, WITH LID, HAD BEEN OWNED BY CANADIAN ARTIST TOM THOMSON, OR AUTOMOBILE LEGEND, HENRY FORD, AND THERE WAS PAPER-WORK TO THAT FACT, WELL BY GOLLY, THE ASKING PRICE WOULD BE DOUBLED AT LEAST. IF THERE WAS A TRACE OF PAINT IN THE BOTTOM, FROM THOMSON'S BRUSHES, OR IN THE CASE OF FORD, SOME AUTOMOTIVE PARTS WERE STILL INSIDE, THE SKY IS THE LIMIT. THE DEAL HERE IS TO AUTHENTICATE THIS PROVENANCE.

     WE HAVE PURCHASED MANY ITEMS WITH PROVENANCE THAT CAN BE PROVEN WITH PHOTOGRAPHS. WE HAD DRUMS THAT WERE ONCE IN A FAMOUS TORONTO NIGHTCLUB, THAT WE FOUND IN A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE CLUB INTERIOR IN THE 1970'S. WE PURCHASED ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE VESTMENT ROBES FROM A LOCAL ANGLICAN CHURCH, DATING BACK INTO THE 1950'S, AND THIS IS EXACTLY HOW WE SOLD THEM. THEY DIDN'T LAST LONG. THEY WERE NICE BUT A LITTLE STRANGE TO WEAR AROUND THE HOUSE. TODAY WE PURCHASED A TIMPANI (DRUM) FROM A FRIEND IN BRACEBRIDGE, THAT ONCE BELONGED TO THE CHINESE EMBASSY IN TORONTO, THAT HAD BEEN SOLD-OFF SOMETIME IN THE 1960'S. IT WAS MADE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, AND THERE IS A WOOD COVERING FOR THE SKIN TOP, WITH IDENTIFICATION STENCILED IN CHINESE. THE FACT THAT IT WAS USED IN CEREMONIAL PROTOCOL, AND ENTERTAINMENT FOR MANY DIGNITARIES WHO ATTENDED EVENTS AT THE EMBASSY, THE PROVENANCE IS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT TO THE VALUATION, ADDING POTENTIALLY FIFTY TO A HUNDRED PERCENT TO THE INSURABLE VALUE……WHICH WILL BE AROUND A THOUSAND DOLLARS. IF WE CAN FIND A PICTURE BY RESEARCHING THE HISTORY OF THE EMBASSY, AND LOCATE JUST ONE, WITH AN IMAGE OF KNOWN CELEBRITIES IN FRONT OF THE TIMPANI, THIS WILL ALSO ADD MARGINALLY TO ITS VALUATION. ELVIS PLAYING THEM? WOW!

IT'S A PLEASURE TO BE ABLE TO PASS ALONG AN ANTIQUE OR COLLECTABLE, WITH A STORY ATTACHED

     One of my first major purchases, as a fledgling antique dealer, was from the kind and astute proprietor of "School House Antiques," south of Gravenhurst, in the hamlet formerly known as "Malta," back in the late 1970's. I was in my "chair phase," and had a real penchant for finding odd and very elegant chairs in need of restoration. It was at a time when I had working thumbs. Hockey was hard on my hands and knees. It was at a time when I was looking for famous Windsor and Hitchcock chairs, with decorated backs, and on this visit to the charming old shop, in the former Malta schoolhouse, I found this incredible little side chair, with a gilt finish, and a painted scene on the back medallion. The note on the chair indicated that it had once been part of the White House furnishings, dating well back into the 1800's. For whatever reason, the chair and possibly others, were removed from the government building, sold or given away, and this one wound up in a hamlet antique shop, in the District of Muskoka. This seems such an impossibility, until you look at the millions of Americans who have come through our region, and resided in thousands of cottages on our regional lakes since the 1870's, and it becomes so much more potential that items like this could have been transported north……and eventually sold here as part of a cottage or estate sale. I've seen many strange situations like this, and wondered the same thing…..as to how on earth the subject piece, possibly a religious icon from Europe, wound up in a local thrift shop for a couple of bucks. It doesn't happen all the time but it does happen, and I've been the purchaser. In the case of the chair, it was priced at one hundred dollars, and as a young, green, resource challenged antique dealer, the price seemed way too much to invest. What if it was a fraud? What if the story was handed down inaccurately, and it was really a chair from a "white house," in Washington, but not the big "White House?" I really couldn't afford to lose a hundred bucks. But I took a chance that this very well informed lady, who had such a neat and unique shop, as antique business go, wouldn't dare misrepresent a single thing in her business. She told me the story verbally, before I left the shop, and indicated that it had been purchased from an American family, cottaging in Muskoka, who were selling the property and everything inside. A number of dealers attended, and she got the chair and some other furnishings. I had the chair in our shop, on Manitoba Street, in Bracebridge, for eight days before it sold, at double the purchase price. I have a photograph of the chair somewhere in my archives, that I will show you one day soon. It was a neat piece and yes, one of the many antiques I wish I could have kept…..but alas, it is the dealer's curse, to have a great job, in a cherished profession, but the cycle of business demands the free flow of inventory. Collectors can collect. Dealers must sell.

     Suzanne and I sold a really neat table-top, electric butter churn, three years ago, during an online auction on ebay. We bought it off a very old family-run Gravenhurst farm, and sold it to a couple of young "back to the land," homesteaders in Wisconsin, and we were proud to have been able to present the provenance to the new owners. I love being the conduit on these sales, keeping the history of the pieces alive. We've done the exact same to about twelve heritage quilts, all with paperwork that went with them, as to who in Muskoka had made them as far back as the 1930's. Farm items with provenance have included clocks, cobalt blue and Depression era green glass oil lamps, a beautiful student lamp, all original, and even farm implements used on the first log farmstead on this same Muskoka acreage. Our buyers seem to like the fact, there is a modicum of heritage linked to even the smallest pieces. If we can give our customers this information, without compromising the seller's personal information, it all just adds to the attractiveness of the subject piece or pieces. There are times when we are asked to conceal the identity of the sellers, and there are occasions when I will agree……but not many. I will do just about anything to convince the sellers to open up about the antiques they're selling, and the kicker to changing their minds, is an offer of more money to let us present the pedigree…..whether it is a weather-vane, pioneer bedspread, a bit of farm folk-art, or just about anything else. In ninety-nine percent of the cases, provenance will be a selling feature on whatever is being offered and sold. I recently sold a folk art painting, done on an old board, of a border checkpoint, in Romania, circa 1946, and on the back, in Romanian, were the names of the soldiers in the painting. I didn't know this until I ran into someone of Romanian heritage, who was able to explain the faded notes pencilled on the back……made by the artist, but covered over with a paper backing for decades. It made a big difference for the value of the piece, that I hadn't been able to prove was Romanian. This was just the suggestion on the accompanying note, when I bought the painting. When I exposed the back, I knew there was important information available……but it needed to be translated. The painting sold to a collector because of the factual provenance…..not just on my hunch it was from Romania.

     I will have a lot more examples of how provenance increases the value of antiques and collectables in upcoming blogs. If you've got a barber's chair……did Elvis or one of the Beatles get their hair cut while sitting in it? Then who did get their hair cut in that vintage chair? A former Prime Minister? A great Bard, like E.J. (Ned) Pratt, or Charles G.D. Roberts? If it's a Muskoka barber's chair, we've had those folks in our neighborhood, including Tom Thomson, who passed through Gravenhurst many times by rail, on his way to Algonquin Park. He even stayed over night, it is said, at the former Dominion Hotel in Bracebridge, the building where the current Dairy Bar restaurant operates. So the only real challenge, if you want to get more money for an already valuable piece of barber memorabilia, is to……research back to figure out the clientele…..by any means of research available to you. If there's still a strand of Tom Thomson's precious hair in the crevice of the leather seat, by golly, what a tremendously valuable and historic barber's chair it will be. This is the role of provenance, that is not to be misunderstood, or dismissed as being irrelevant to the inherent value of antiques and collectables……and the touch of infamous former owners…..or patrons, who happened to sit on the subject chair, or stuff gum under the snack bar stool. If you find it was a stool that Stephen Leacock sat on, down at his favorite snack-bar, well sir, literary provenance is valuable as well. I'll give you some more examples in future blogs, that may get you making copious notes about pieces you own at present……and want the history to continue to the next generation, as inheritance to family members. Don't assume it is known history. Make the effort to write this provenance down, and let your family members and executor, know where the information is kept on specific heirloom pieces.

     Suzanne has pulled up a rocker close to the hearth, and thrown another log atop, as a March storm seems to be unclenching over South Muskoka…..with some blowing snow. I heard the tea kettle just now, and the crackling of a new chunk of wood, and I'm going to sign off for now…..as it's getting cool here in my office as the temperature has been dropping outside, since we got home two hours ago. If you have to go out and about, drive carefully. Thanks for joining me for this little story-telling session, about the nuances of an historic profession, that keeps on getting stranger by the week. See you again soon!