Mean While Back At The Store

 Forgive me for not getting on here and writing the latest exploits of the store.  The late spring and summer seasons have me reeling.   Thought you might get a kick out of this one.  Promise I'll write more soon.

The day was so good, the past week end was so  GREAT! The customers were beautiful, fun, interested and really wanted to be here.   Then today this happened...

Man upon leaving the store,

Man:  You sure do have a lot of stuff in here.

Me: Yeah, I try.

Man:  I mean you have a LOT of stuff in here.

Me: Well, yes, that's part of the business. You can't sell from an empty wagon.

Man: What wagon? I didn't see no wagon.

Me: The store is the wagon.

Man:  This building is on a wagon?

Me: Symbolically not literally

Man:  Now who made that symbolically wagon?  I've heard of that one. Can I see it?

Me:  No, I'm sorry I don't let people look at it.

Man:   Son, I don't blame you. People will just worry you to death over it.  Thanks I'll come back one day.

He was very elderly and I don't think he got out much. Everyday is a new experience.

Mean While Back At The Store

Here is a layman's rundown of furniture and its desirability in the OPEN market.  This is from an appraiser and retail store owners point of view.

Gorgeous  Irish 18th Century desk and bookcase. 

Antique: This can run from the 16th Century to the early 20th Century. Things that are earlier? You're not going to have much luck in finding or being given. There is a obscenely strong chance that it did not come over on the Mayflower, get over it.  It can be anything from a masterpiece to junk.  It can be valued from the millions of dollars to a few dollars per piece. One good thing about these periods is that it is almost always good quality, made from real wood and there might be, might be, someone out there who still wants it.  Each piece must be weighed on a case by case basis.  Lots and lots of variables.

Old & Collectible:  This group is going to run from just after the early 20th century to the early 1970's.  It can be valued from the millions of dollars to a few dollars per piece. The million dollar mark is now a real long shot. Basically, you're dealing with some merely expensive stuff and a lot of inexpensive to downright cheap. Its not always good quality either. You're looking a hand and machine construction, the good, the bad and the ugly. Its not always made from real wood. The later pieces will be much, much cheaper materials.  There might still be someone out there who still wants it.

This category will encompass several subcategories.

 "Regional Traditionalist"  This is the locally or state made traditional furniture. Corner cupboards,  bed and dining suites, reproduction sugar chests and hunt boards and the like. Think of TV shows such as, Leave It To Beaver, Ozzie and Harriett and Happy Days and a decorating view. Companies like Willett, MacMahan, Davies and other Campbellsville cherry furniture makers were big in my area. You'll have these types of companies in your area or state too.  They make the stuff your grandparents and parents scrimped and saved for. Their desirability is sketchy at best.

"The Stylish Collectible" These are the high end brands, many still in business today.  Companies like Century, Kittinger and the various companies that did the Williamsburg reproductions. You'd be surprised that some of these companies are hotly fought for by designers and decorators.  Many times these furniture companies may have Asian or European flavors or something is unique and different.  They can pay big bucks for these items.   But there are again, many variables.

"The Studio Set"   This category will also have the  cache of having  studio made pieces. These are professional artists, George Nakashima comes to mind as one of the most famous, though not the only one.  Provenance is a major key here.  This is not a local crafter, but a listed and reputed artist. This ain't your Grand Pap's furniture. Which leads to the next subcategory.

"All in the Family"  These are things that were made and sourced locally.  Of course, a lot of fine furniture was sourced locally, at one time.  Today that is something different.  It can run the gamut from amazingly beautiful to just horrible.  This is a sticky wicket.  Families, sometimes, will fight tooth and nail for a piece and pay accordingly. Sometimes a piece will be near museum worthy and will die from a lack of sale. Many of these pieces are subject to "The Regional Traditionalist" and its either merits or demotions. Their desirability is sketchy also.

"Paint Me Pretty"  This is a recent, but a big addition to this lineup.  This covers a lot of furniture from the 1920's to the 1950's.  Good bones but poorly made.  Comfortable but weak.  Hated but loved.   A lot of it is poorly made. A great deal of was literally churned out by thousands of box cars over these decades. There is little if any love and care and attention paid to the construction of this type of furnishing.  This is a lot of the furniture that you see that's painted in the home and shelter magazines.  And rightly so.  I doesn't bother me.  Its better than being in a land fill. It DOES bother me when a piece from one of the other categories is painted, much to the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Cheap thin veneers, gum wood bodies, watery stains all equal up to poor quality from this period.   Still, there are some hidden gems here, but you're going to have to dig for them.   Most of the value here, lies in what else you can do with it.

Now, for the last category.

Modern: This is going to date to the late 1970 up to yesterday.  This is going to be a shocker to you. That recliner you bought a year ago, that dining room set you purchased 10 years ago, that sectional sofa you bought last week, its all USED FURNITURE!   Period.  I don't care if you bought it from your local furniture store, Macys or The Ralph Lauren Home Store in New York.  I don't care if you home has been featured in Home & Gardens, Veranda or Architectural Digest. Its USED FURNITURE!  I don't care if you took great care of it or if you never sat or ate from it. Its USED FURNITURE!   If its from this period, even if you paid thousands for it, its used furniture.  Its not what you paid for it its what the market says its worth today.  Of course, there are exceptions to every category, this one included.  However, I've I see more and more modern furniture selling at a nice, public auction for pennies on the dollar. The whisper of bed bugs, even from fine homes, ruffles across the antiques trade.   Sometimes a modern piece doesn't even get a bid.  In my opinion, don't buy new furniture.


So there you have it.  A layman's guide to furniture. Remember each piece must be weighed on a case by case basis and there are lots and lots of variables. Bear in mind, the market is soft and real picky about what it loves. In all categories, things sell for less than what they did 5 or 10 years ago.  So now you know how furniture functions on the open market.


       

Well I'll be damned ,it was one!

That's a Good Question:

 Phone rings I answer.

Woman: I have a painting I need you to appraise.

Me: Well, what kind is it?

Woman:  I think its on wood and its a black background. Really thin.

Me: How big is it?

Woman: About one by  thirty six.

Me:  One by thirty six what?? Inches?

Woman:  Yes, one inch by roughly thirty six inches.

Me:  One inch high?  OK, what's the design of the painting?

Woman:  I don't know what you mean?

Me:  What's it a picture of?

Woman: Ohhh. Its got all kinds of flowers and vines and a few butterflies and green leaves.

Me:  Uhhhh. It sounds pretty but I still can't wrap my mind around the size.

Woman: I think that it belonged to an elderly aunt or something.  So its old. I can bring it over in a few hours.

Me:  But that size is strange. I mean was it a yard stick or something?  

Woman:  I'll be over as soon as I can.

She brings it in in a few hours.

AND IF DAMNED IT WASN'T!

It was a gorgeous, folkly floral painting PAINTED  on a yard stick! It measured roughly one inch by thirty six inches.  I dated it to the 1890's to the early 1900's. Obviously was a handcraft of one the delicate lady painters.  It was beautifully done and I said that it would be priced in a store for maybe $75.00. I begged her to let me photograph it and put in one of the newspapers. But she didn't want other family members to see it.  So, I'm here to tell you that you never know what may come your way.

Mean While Back at The Store:

There is something to be said about having a store pet. Small dogs and large non-threatening dogs are the most common canine.  Who doesn't love the thoughts of a lab curled up under a table or sprawled on a couch. They typically, welcome a pet or a "Helloooo there boy!  How are you pretty guy?" They will spring to life, like a key wound toy soldier, and pant or cock a head with the look of "HEY you want to play or rub my belly?"  Cats are the most common pet in residence. I guess that this stems from the fact that, cats are self preservers.  They make it seem proper and right that YOU, serve them and not the other way around.  They seem to blend in. They make themselves become part of the atmosphere, a fixture of the culture and place.   Well, for many years,  I had a store cat. Antiquea was her name.  Great name for an antiques store cat.  I'm not sure that she liked it or not. But, she would answer to it.  That is amazing, as any cat owner or cat slave knows.  Everything about this cat was amazing and different.  I saw her for the first time near my back porch, looking for something to eat.  All I said to her was, " Hey kitty cat, what are you doin'?" Evidently, that was translated into cat speak for, "Come here and live and I'll feed you." That's what happened,  she came and I fed her.  All I had was a can of Hormel potted meat and she ate it with delight.  Come to think of it, potted meat and cat food do look a lot alike.  My God, she was thin!  In her healthy days, I fattened her up some, but she never did become a fat cat. It must have been her hard scrap life that kept her thin and agile. She curled up on a towel I had laid out and this became her home for the next 15 odd years. Proper cat bedding and toys quickly followed, but she never much cared for them.  Antiquea preferred to hunker down in the section where I kept large paper bags at the front counter. I worried that she would be cold in winter, until I reached my hand in and found it toasty warm from her own body heat. I however, was often cold, and still am.  

It seems hard to believe that yesterday marked the 6 year anniversary, since Antiquea last left the store. I knew that the time was quickly approaching.  A major holiday, a holiday weekend  and promises of another holiday would prolong her suffering.  I choose this time, so that things would be quiet in the closed store, after the deed was completed. I looked back, a few days ago, at photos of her during her last weeks with me. Shockingly, I found that she had nearly reverted to her former skinney, starved looked.  But I knew that there was one difference, she had been loved, and become a character in the store. Never to be replaced. Though she was independent, she had changed from that of a street cat, a stray feline, to that of a minor Main Street star and legend. 

Antiquea loved to be on the front counter.  It made it easier for folks to pet her. 

What a treasure she was to have in the store. I didn't choose her, she picked me. That little cat was responsible for more sales than you can imagine. I think that, as a thank you to me, she endured years of her eyes being almost poked out. Sometimes by kids, just being kids and more often than not, by adults who, " Didn't think she was real?".  Would you go up to a statue and poke its eyes, even if you knew it was a statue or figurine?   I wouldn't think so.  She was carried, packed, toted, talked to, kissed, loved on and once was placed in a baby stroller with A BABY!  I'll never forget the elegant, older woman, who rolled around on the floor playing with her. Her expensive skirt riding up around her thighs.  She cried real tears, when I wouldn't sell her. Her husband had to almost drag her away. I think that she might have had serious metal issues. People loved to give her treats and cans of her favorite foods.  The servant of said cat, received nothing.  Honestly, I did make sales because of her. So in a way she did pay for her keep.  

There are times that I think I still catch a glimpse of her. You know its funny... I still have her litter box set up and her food dish is under the counter. People still ask about her and more than one sent a sympathy card when she died. I secretly chuckle when folks say that they just saw her last year when they were in town to see Mom and Dad. I guess they don't visit Mom and Dad as much as they should. 

And NO there will not be another store cat in the future. I'm not being cruel or denying myself or another animal joy... I raised her, cared for her, befriended her and had her put to sleep and I'm done with that job. I know that there are other animals out there that need help, care and love, but it won't be from me. I'll be more than happy to give an animal food or donate food to an animal shelter.  But I'm done with my stint as a cat slave.   Dr. Ellis and I were never sure, but we always thought she was about 20 she died. I'll always miss you little girl. 

Mean While Back at The Store: 

 The opening of one of the lectures.

Boy, what a great Thursday and Friday I had.  The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) finally came to Kentucky. We've waited a long time too. They had a whirlwind series of lectures, field trips and socials scheduled for this weekend.  A close friend and I went down to check it all out.  I was happy to see that on Thursday, the meet and greet, that there were about 65 - 75 people in attendance. However, I was shocked that there were like 145 to come to the lecture and seminars.  That made me feel great.  For so long Kentucky and and Kentucky decorative arts had been pushed aside, stuck off in a corner.  In fact, we were called the " back country." I guess that that's a nice way of saying, there was nothing here of any scholarly merit.  How wrong they were and they've been wrong for a long time.  Kentucky since its very earliest days has been a breeding and receiving ground for amazing decorative arts, furniture, silver, textiles and of course, pottery.  All praise and acclaim had been denied to us. Why?  Was it because we were considered a frontier region? Or was it because we were segregated by the golden southern coast by a range of mountains and a different economy?  Perhaps, it was because we weren't romanticized as a "moonlight and magnolia" south. Which ever way, those days are over.  Well, we scholars, dealers, appraisers  and historian knew it wasn't true all along, but now its officially over, with this all important visit from MESDA.  In Kentucky, since the 1920's there has been a dedicated band of collectors and dealers,who made great efforts to enlarge the concepts of what decorative arts were, in several fields, in the early days of Kentucky.

The crowd coming in early

I can't stress scholarship enough.   Be it for your hometown or your favorite collection.  There is room out there for more and more discovery.  Explore, discover and SHARE all that you can.  If we don't stress scholarship and if we don't share what we discover future generations will loose out.  I can't say enough about how empowering and exciting it was to see, not only scholars sharing about Kentucky arts, but people from OTHER states, actually interested in what we had to say and show off.  Don't delay.  I guarantee that there is something in your area that needs more scholarship on.  Someone in the future needs your help.

Mean While Back At The Store: 

 Reworking the store for the fall season.  Thanks to Sandy Collins an Cheryl Barton for taking the bull by the horns.  The small mantel is circa 1830 with an old white paint with an original green under that. Priced at $450.00.  The screen in the front is Japanese and is circa 1900 and is BONE.  Its priced at $300.00 with some losses.  Contact me for any other questions you might have about other items in this photo.  I'll post more store images up later. 

Fireplace in the front of the store.