THE BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED ANTIQUES WE COME UPON ON OUR TRAVELS
LEFT BREATHLESS AFTER A GOOD FIND
ONE ASPECT OF THE ANTIQUE TRADE, THAT I'VE NEGLECTED TO WRITE ABOUT TO THIS POINT, IS REALLY A FUNDAMENTAL, FOUNDATION QUANTITY AND QUALITY; TO THE WAY MANY OF US FOUND SANCTUARY, AS INDUSTRY FOUNDLINGS, IN THIS HISTORIC AND TRADITIONAL LINE OF WORK. IT IS THE DIVIDE ACTUALLY, BETWEEN THE ANTIQUE COLLECTOR / ADMIRER, AND THE PROFESSIONAL WHO NEEDS TO TURN A PROFIT. WHEN WE THINK BACK TO HOW WE GOT STARTED IN THIS LINE OF WORK, MOST FROM MY VINTAGE, WERE ATTRACTED BY COMPARISONS TO OTHER LESS EXCITING PROFESSIONS. OVERWHELMINGLY SO. AS IF WE WERE OLD SOULS IN NEW BODIES, WE LIKED WHAT CAME BEFORE OUR PHYSICAL SELVES, MORE THAN WHAT WAS THE TREND OF THE DAY. WE LIKED THE POSSESSIONS AND KEEPSAKES THAT WE SAW IN OUR GRANDPARENTS' HOMES, AND FOUND WHAT OUR PARENTS KEPT AS HOUSEHOLD FURNISHINGS AND DECORATION, RATHER BORING AND UNINTERESTING.
MY PARENTS, THROUGH MY YOUNG LIFE, WERE OF A CONTEMPORARY MINDSET, WHEN IT CAME TO WHAT SHOULD BE IN THE HOUSE. I CAN LOOK BACK AT PICTURES, AND SEE THAT NOTHING IN THEIR FIRST APARTMENT, SMACKED OF EITHER YESTERDAY'S MEMORABILIA OR DEMONSTRATED, EVEN WITH ONE RANDOM PIECE, ANY PARTICULAR ANTIQUE VALUE. THERE WAS ONE PAINTING THEN, DONE BY WILLIAM KRANLEY, WHO MY MOTHER HAD WORKED FOR, AT THE ONTARIO COLLEGE OF ART ONE SUMMER. OR AT LEAST THIS IS THE STORY SHE TOLD ME. THAT PAINTING OF AN AUTUMN SCENE, HANGS ABOUVE MY DESK, IN THIS PORTAL AT BIRCH HOLLOW.
PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE COLLECTED ALBUMS OF FAMILY LIFE AND TIMES, THROUGH THE DECADES, UP TO AND INCLUDING THIS NEW CENTURY, CLEARLY SHOW THAT MY PARENTS, WHO LIVED WELL INTO THEIR EIGHTIES, WERE FOLLOWERS OF THE TIMES. WHEN THOSE TIMES ELAPSED, AND THE TREND CHANGED, MY MOTHER LED THE CHARGE TO BUY NEW. THIS IS A WOMAN, WHO ONE DAY, THREW OUT TWO BEAUTIFUL PRESS BACK CHAIRS WE OWNED, AND A CHINA CUPBOARD SHE HAD PURCHASED SECOND HAND, FROM A MOVING SALE IN THE EARLY 1970'S. SHE GAVE THAT AWAY TO A FAMILY FRIEND. I LOVED THOSE PIECES. I USED THOSE TWO CHAIRS IN MY BEDROOM, FOR MY HOCKEY GAME, UNTIL ONE DAY, SHE JUST DECIDED TO UNLOAD THE OLD, AND BRING IN THE NEW. I WAS HORRIFIED. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD BE TRAUMATIZED, COMING HOME FROM A STAY ELSEWHERE (UNIVERSITY FOR ME), AND FIND THAT THE ANTIQUES WERE CAST-OFF WITHOUT ANY CONSULTATION, OR CONSIDERATION, FOR YOUR INTERESTS IN KEEPING THEM FOR THE FUTURE.
SO MY PARENTS WERE MORE INTERESTED IN THE IMPROVEMENTS OF THE DAY. THEY LIVED THROUGH THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR, AND SUBSISTED ON A MODEST ECONOMY; BOTH WORKING FOR MOST OF THEIR LIVES TO MAINTAIN A MODEST EXISTENCE. THEY LOVED THEIR WINTER TRIPS TO FLORIDA, WHERE THEY RENTED A SMALL EFFICIENCY CABIN, IN DAYTONA BEACH. OTHER THAN BUYING NEW STUFF FOR THEIR TINY BRACEBRIDGE APARTMENT, THIS WAS THEIR GREAT EXTRAVAGANCE. BUT HONESTLY, THEY THOUGHT I WAS MAD….A REAL NUTTER, TO BE INTERESTED IN ANTIQUES. I CAN ONLY EXPLAIN MY PARENTS DISLIKE FOR OLD THINGS, SUCH AS ANTIQUE FURNISHINGS, AS BEING PERCEIVED TO BE OBSTACLES TO BEING IN STEP WITH EVERYONE ELSE. EXCEPT ME OF COURSE, AND MY ANTIQUE CRONIES. IN THE EARLY 1970'S, MY FATHER HAD LONG HAIR. FOR A MANAGER OF A LUMBER COMPANY, IT WAS A LITTLE WEIRD. MY MOTHER WORE SHORT SKIRTS AND HAD DYED BLOND HAIR. THEY EMBRACED CONTEMPORARY TIMES, WHILE I WAS MUCH HAPPIER GOING BACK IN TIME, AND SURROUNDING MYSELF WITH REMNANTS OF THE PAST INSTEAD.
One of my keenest interests, was in the quality craftsmanship of a bygone era. When I would come upon a one hundred and fifty year old cupboard, and see the saw marks on the side, and the exceptional way it had been constructed, I was enthralled to have it in my collection. I once had this early craftsmanship explained to me, by a new age furniture maker, who was following the traditional way of cabinetry, as practiced in small workshops around the world for centuries.
He explained to me how the early craftsman understood, like a fine violin maker, the true nature of the wood being used. He showed me how the cabinet doors, on a handcrafted cupboard, of about two hundred years of age, worked as precisely, in opening and closing, as they would have, on the day it was first carted from the workshop. It was the case, where these pioneer woodworkers, understood the conditions of the day, and the inconsistencies of the building's these furniture pieces would be housed. In other words, the furniture, like this cupboard, was crafted with the knowledge, they would be kept in buildings without adequate heating sources, plagued by dry conditions at times, damp and cold conditions most often. At night time, the fires in the home hearth and stove, would dry out the air, and would reach substantial temperatures before it was time for the residents to retire to bedlam. The heat would last in the house most of the night, this time of year, but as many old-timers can still remember, there would be ice on the wash basin at bedside, by early morning. These furnishings had to be built, in such a way, as to allow for constant swelling and then contraction. Modern day, factory made furniture, is generally made to handle a moderation of temperature and moisture fluctuations. I've seen new cupboards and dressers, that become swollen, with drawers and cupboards that are stuck, because of a minor shift of atmospheric condition. Old time cabinet makers understood how these wild fluctuations, even in the fine houses of the time period, would affect their furniture creations. So they built them to handle this swelling and contraction, without cracking the wood, and constricting movement of drawers and cupboard doors. They allowed for this, in the hinging together of the wood, and how the doors were hung on the cupboards. They understood what kind of fluctuations the pieces were going to experience over their lifetime of usefulness, so this is how they were built in the first place. The fact that so many of these fine pieces, are still around after centuries of use, is a testament to the fine work of these early cabinet makers. Can we say the same about modern era pieces, many of which were manufactured of boards made out of wood particles, or laminates, covered over with veneers and plastic coating?
When we come upon one of these true antique pieces of furniture, out on our regular antique hunts, I am compelled to study the workmanship. I can't justify buying every piece I come upon, built to this standard, but as an antique dealer, this is what I want most in my shop. This is the kind of quality I want to offer customers. It's what I want in my own home. Quality is always the best choice when buying, and that ranges from glass, china, pottery, to books, art and furniture. Most self help books, written about collecting, stick to this point as a standard. If you buy items of high quality, at a fair market value, you're guaranteeing, (as much as you can, while speculating on antiques), that your investment will at least hold its level of value. I might pay a little bit more for an antique cupboard I want for our house, but it will do triple service for us over the long-haul. First, it will function more than adequately for the task we assign it; and it will look real nice with the other antiques; and it will hold its value, or increase marginally or greater, for as long as I hang onto it. Unlike the new production line furniture, that is expensive to start with, and will generally lose its value the longer its in your possession. I like buying household items for functionality and investment value. It might fall under the category of used furniture, but not in the same degree that new century pieces are considered "second hand," and sold for a fraction of the cost at yard sales.
My parents couldn't have cared less about investment value of their furnishings. They were old-timers, who surprisingly wanted a youthful, contemporary look and feel to their apartment. Even though their son, and business partner, was an antique columnist for the local press, and a fledgling dealer, they had no interest in hearing my pitch for buying "old." On the other hand, I have lived with the advantages of buying heritage furniture and decorations for our abode, as well as for our antique business, and benefitted in many ways as a curator of my own museum. It's exactly what Merle and Ed hated about old stuff…..as if they wanted liberation from the bad stuff of history…..and this I understood. My dad had seen the horrors of war up close, and my mother and her family had suffered during the Great Depression. History had not been kind to them, so they had no interest in surrounding themselves, with reminders of what they had lived through. Suzanne's parents, on the other hand, were quite content and proud, to have heirloom pieces in their Windermere home. Each piece had a story attached…….a family provenance, and I was in heaven each time I visited. Many of those pieces are in our possession now, and we are just as proud and respectful, as they were…..and those who had enjoyed them previously, some since the late 1800's.
Quality workmanship, whether visible on a handmade quilt, or in the painting hanging on my wall, is what attracted me to antiques and collectables in the first place. I didn't like the cheaply crafted pieces from my vintage, that while certainly nostalgic today (as seen on That 70's Show), doesn't inspire me to re-live my youth in their company. I will sell these pieces……but they won't be found in our house, where even the most primitive of items, attracts me, more than any manufactured furniture, hammered together by the thousands, outside of this country, to meet mass market demand. But then I am set in my ways. Whole heartedly, an antique lover, who would, as they say, "rather fight than switch." Wasn't that the slogan for some brand of cigarettes?
Thanks so much for taking time to visit this blog today. And by the way, as you're probably well aware, there isn't anything so intoxicating to an antique dealer, than the smell of well aged wood, in these magnificent cupboards, dressers and tables. This is my daily connection with the pioneer times I adore. See you again soon. Please visit my Muskoka as Walden at http://muskokaaswaldenpond.blogspot.ca/
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