The simple but brilliant attraction of the popular PBS series is that deep down inside, everyone wonders if that family heirloom or flea-market antique in the corner of the living room has any real value.
Antiques Roadshow Primer can help you answer that question. Carol Prisant, who writes about antiques and collectibles for
Martha Stewart Living,
House Beautiful, and
New York, quickly notes in her introduction, however, that this is a primer--an introduction to the basics of antiques--and does not presume to make the reader an instant expert.
In that vein, the focus is on the bread and butter of the antique world: silver, glass, pottery, porcelain, books, paintings, jewelry, rugs, clocks, and furniture. These are the items that are not trendy (Barbie dolls, 1920s beaded bags) and subject to massive fluctuations in price and value. Instead, Prisant points out, they are the types of items that are good for the long haul and, she notes, the front hall. So how do you determine if an heirloom is worth something? The following tips are offered when inspecting furniture: run your fingers underneath or over the back of the piece--very sharp edges and corners indicate recent manufacture. Remove one screw in some inconspicuous spot. An old, handmade screw will have irregular widths between the spirals, running the whole length of the shaft. The slot in the head may be off-center. Look for the distinctive curved pattern left in sawn wood by the teeth of a circular saw--it is one important sign of manufacture after 1840.
Prisant also reveals tricks of the trade for inspecting diamonds: place the gem against your upper lip, she advises. If it's glass--the oldest imitator of a diamond--it will not feel cold at all, while a real diamond will. Definitions are also offered for "antique furniture" (any object 100 years old or older, according to the U.S. government), "used furniture" (secondhand furniture less than 100 years old), and "period furniture" (made when its design was first popular and new; generally the most valuable of antique furniture). At its best,
Antiques Roadshow Primer instills a sense of genuine interest and enthusiasm, much like the PBS show, by making the antiques and collectibles world less of a stuffy discussion about an untouchable item behind lock and key and more about drawing connections to the heirloom in the corner.
--John Russell
Reader Reviews
What could be a more appropriate resource for the new millenium than this compedium of information concerning antiques. Through a delightfully written and totally applicable approach, Carol Prisant helps those of us green to the antiques market guage the potential value of our treasures. For such a broad field of study, Ms. Prisant takes us by the hand through a myriad of antiques, giving us a general yet highly pertinent overview of each category. She then goes into a more in depth explanation, replete with fascinating examples, of what comprises a healthy antique. She seems to provide a minor's hat to each of her readers, and brings us on a wonderful journey of exploration into so many practical and fascinating details of this arena. This was such a fulfilling read, such an inspiration to any of us who search for a more complete understanding of the world of objects around us. She primes us indeed, and serves as a masterful captain in navigating these otherwise confusing waters. This book is written in highly intelligent yet comfortably familiar language, with true respect for us novices. Antiques Roadshow Primer takes center stage on my shelves this year. Bravo! and can we have a Primer 2, please?
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