Restored Chesterfields stylish in a heritage or contemporary interior

From experience working in the trade, perusing galleries, working at and attending fairs and auctions over a long period of time (some 30 years) collecting antiques or vintage pieces is a pleasure indulged in by a vast number of people from very different backgrounds and all walks of life. Holiday periods and long weekends give everyone opportunities to catch up on jobs left undone, or pleasures denied.

A favourite pastime in our family is hunting for that special piece of furniture waiting in a second hand store, recycle yards, church opportunity shops or in ads on ebay . In these days when recycling is so very important it makes good sense to try and buy pre-loved pieces.  With the money saved on buying new you can also enjoy a holiday.

Chesterfields before their new coat

A great deal of satisfaction comes from finding something at a great price that serves a great purpose and recycling it grandly to give it another opportunity to provide many more years of service.  A happy treasure hunt memory is finding a pair of serpentine fronted Victorian Chesterfields in the early 80′s that needed a new home and loving care.  Found discarded in a country yard with their original leather covering hanging in shreds they were brought back to life with the aid of some stuffing and a new coat of stylish black fabric. After 20 years of service, when moving house again they gained another new coat and were sold on to a new home. Their style worked wonderfully in both a heritage or contemporary setting.

Hallstand restored

Recently my youngest son showed me a turn of the 20th century hall stand and great country table that he had restored. Both ended up looking wonderful from a sad and sorry state.

Hallstand being restored

The hall stand he knew would work well near the front door for dumping keys, coats, and umbrellas. The house it was going into was an old Queenslander so it suited both the style and era and was immensely practical.

He had to take it all apart first and then keeping every original piece he reinforced all its joints, manufactured a new drawer and other broken parts, reassembled it and then gave it a new coat of varnish.

It would have been easy to have just dumped it but the whole exercise, which he had never attempted before, gave him immense personal satisfaction. Good to know that the woodwork classes from his school days would, with practice and persistence have a practical application.

The table he recycled grandly was found in a garage sale at an incredibly reasonable price. And it was big enough to seat 12 people. He gave the legs and base that supported the top a coat of paint, and replaced its broken castors and then re-waxed the old wide timbers on the top lovingly and it looked truly great. And when finished wasn’t so precious that people wouldn’t feel relaxed and happy sitting at it to enjoy their daily meals.

The use of antiques and collectibles in traditional or modern settings will always be desirable; the lure of the past is strong. The very nature of their delightful idiosyncrasies is very appealing.

The variety of choice available in lovely decorative pieces, such as the colour, warmth and mellowness of aged wood, the gentle softness of old paint and gilding, the variety in exotic inlays and now extinct materials, all produced by craftsmen who refined their skills into an ‘art’ form is generally enough incentive. However, when all of these attributes are combined with the ‘thrill of the chase’ it can be quite irresistible.

Happy hunting…Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle January 2010

P.S.

Becoming an antique collector may seem fraught with danger. However if you make and follow a few guidelines you can protect your interests when purchasing.  Download our INTRODUCTION TO ANTIQUES which aims to provide a basic foundation of knowledge. There are some guidelines to follow and advice that may assist you. If you are an international visitor to our site, seek out and find the relevant guilds and associations in your city, town or state.

Related posts:

1. Antiques, Art, Culture & Commerce for Breakfast @ Tiffany’s
2. Taking Tea with Jane Austen a blend we would surely enjoy
3. Antique & Art Dealers Association Show at Sydney in Spring

Hey, even Agent McGee in the popular American television series  N.C.I.S. knows that an antique is more than old tat. He solves the puzzle of where five million dollars has disappeared to from a bank robbery by identifying rare  antique furniture and objects in a room no one else had been visually aware of. When asked he says, ‘Antiques Roadshow’.

The show is one part adventure another part history lesson. It’s all about finding out if an object is a valuable antique or a worthless copy, from someone able to decode its message and decipher the truth about its authenticity and origins.  It involves a treasure hunt full of special finds and long-lost items, which have been salvaged from attics, basements, trunks, crypts and sheds. And, on top of that are all the family heirlooms? Who knows, they may turn out to have a noble pedigree.

During The Antiques Roadshow dealers may, if they are fortunate, discover a chair like the one illustrated, which is in the V & A Museum at London. Made of beech, painted with scenes, symbols and decorative ornament gleaned from ancient Greek vases, it is known as a Klismos chair, Klismos meaning ‘to lie or to rest’. The seat is covered with sturdy attractive woven horsehair and its curvaceous stylish elegance was very popular after 1760 and before 1840, but most especially during the period 1800 – 1820 when this one was made.

It looks grand in a Regency or Empire style interior, but is equally at home and looks absolutely smashing in a minimalist contemporary space. An antique like this works in any setting because it’s all about good design, quality materials and great craftsmanship. In circumstances where it’s not in a museum, it makes good green environmental sense to continue to recycle furniture and objects. However whenever I speak to friends and family in the 25 – 50 age group they tell me with clear conviction few people are interested in antiques, or art anymore.

So do the people attending and watching events like the many spin offs, from the Antiques Roadshow event only have grey hair? Are attendance figures dropping off as they fall off the perch? Or is there a smattering of the next generation coming into play? After all they are the people now enjoying croissants and coffee for breakfast @ Tiffany’s in most major cities around the world every day. Afterward they can go inside and purchase something wonderful to take home in the signature turquoise blue box that has become a collector’s item in itself.

Author and Collector Stephen McKay with Paul Atterbury at Portmeiriion Village for the Antiques Roadshow 12 May 2004

The show has a simple, but successful formula. The crew and dealers set up shop in a smashing architecturally interesting local venue. They send out a message to a cross section of the community, to bring their treasures to be appraised by a savvy team of antiques and art dealers. The dealers gain a high profile and get to convince the viewer they have considerable expertise, which is undoubtedly good for business. Locals where the shows are held, respond in droves because they want to find out about their treasures. Some will say they are there just to learn about the memories, the stories and the emotions attached to the object or its history. While others will say that for them it is about gathering information that will lend artistic, historical and cultural context and interest to their object. This means they can talk about it for years and, knowing about its provenance will certainly value add if they do decide to sell. It is quite an exciting event to be part of and, there is a heightened expectation of becoming an instant celebrity on TV, even if only for a few minutes.

Sadly most who attend will go home in some respects, disappointed, because the odds of finding something rare and wonderful, in reality are stacked against them. Finding out they have something intrinsically interesting is all very well, but it is also generally a large let down if they find out what they are having appraised doesn’t have monetary value.

So really when it all boils down to it, trust me it’s all about the money. To know that you only have to look at their faces, which either light up, or let down as the story they are being told proceeds. Everyone wants to find out they own a treasure that will ‘save his or her family’ from hard times or bringing instant happiness through the acquisition of more than ordinary wealth.

Realistically, the odds of finding a treasure are more than hoping to win with a ticket in Lotto. But hey, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a never-ending quest for humankind. After all wealth in terms of money still = happiness for a majority of people. The success of lotteries and gambling options prove that. And if that is not true in reality well then, there is the chance the sums received can at least buy some happiness, albeit for a short time.

Book Reading Porcelain Cupid

What the dealers extensive experience ensures is that they can also let someone know gently the China figurine they own is not rare but was made in an attempt to copy something finer. They make it sound so fantastic the owner goes home feeling gratified, rather than knowing it was really at the same level as the plastic mug you can purchase at a supermarket daily.

With antiques and art collecting from the 50′s to the 80′s in Australia you were able to start small and trade up as confidence and knowledge expanded. But it takes time, more than it seems most people have patience for today. Although I would like to be proved wrong so let me know if that is not your experience. Collecting well also requires a certain amount of discipline when exposed to say, the exciting atmosphere of an auction room, where emotions run high and any sort of logic or restraint can easily fly out the window. When you get caught up in that milieu you might just as well drive down the street throwing your cash out a car window.

Art Nouveau gold, diamond and enamel dog collar plaque by Lalique at Masterpiece, London

Annual prestigious exhibitions and successful galleries allow a circumspect approach for those who prefer a contemplative environment in which to engage with antiques and art. However it also depends on where it is. With hire costs and rents the way they are, as well as the cost of hiring staff, even greater huge % commissions from artists and collectors are required just to cover overheads. And let us not forget perceptions of status are involved. Gallery owners, just like artists and collectors and indeed everyone else really, seek to live a more than average lifestyle surrounded by beautiful things.

Internationally, people have a great deal of choice these days so the trade, even at a very sophisticated level, has become tougher and tougher. Success is all-relative to costs, so if you are in a good neighbourhood then you need to cater to a target market of those with well above average incomes.

The majority of the people I know in the 30- 40 age bracket tell me they are perfectly happy and content to hang pictures picked up in a local décor store rather than go after ‘art’ by profiled ‘artists’. They ask how do they know what is good, because many people they know, including their parents, were burned by falling prices late last century and in economic trends and downturns since.

Psychologists observe the current generation will still display special pieces handed down from parents or grandparents, the reason being is it is familiar, part of a cherished childhood memory and in that regard, represents both continuity and security. So that aspect hasn’t changed. So does that mean antiques and art survive as an important aspect of cultural commercial enterprise?

With reality cuisine, celebrity events and travel shows on TV the attitude and focus for those in the age group that purchased antiques and art thirty years ago is very different to previous generations. Despite bringing in two incomes and starting out in houses or apartments their parents could not perceive possible at the same stage in life, the majority seem to believe they cannot make money collecting antiques and art.

Does this mean dealer’s trade associations, at least here in Australia, have failed to educate the next generation of traders. Or does it simply mean that the generation who should be stepping up to buy antiques and art would rather spend their extra money on a gourmet meal in a fashionable restaurant, a visiting celebrity performance, a trip overseas, a relaxing holiday in a design style oriented suite on a desert island, because for them it is only about what they experience now, not the future?

If they do want to embark on an adventure in style they can do that very easily. All they have to do is purchase the latest ‘bovine’ rug, a brand name luxurious leather lounge suite and perhaps a heritage piece, made to look as old and venerable as they would like it to be.

The world is in so many ways their oyster, containing far more pearls to choose from, all of which can be discarded when times and tastes change, or flood and tempest strike. However if they are going to be the generation caring for the environment and respecting the dramatic changes brought about by a climate being denigrated by a lack of trees, then all of that doesn’t make sense, because being green for the future will mean recycling goods on a grander scale than ever before.

The baby boomer generation were brought up in a thrifty environment and were taught to ‘Be Prepared”, the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movement’s motto. After all their own parents had gone through two world wars and a depression saving every rubber band, piece of brown paper, rolling string, turning off the lights and appliances when not in use and limiting water consumption. They took thirty second showers and learned that Grandma’s china or furniture, while maybe not sensational was solid and if they conserved it, well it just might get them out of a hole when needed. It had resale value, because it was less than half the price of something new and was well made to stand up to wear.

Brand advertising certainly works and in the last two decades older brands have demanded a place amongst the period roses. Some leather lounges are absolutely ridiculous prices. Because they are seen by the current generation as prestigious, they sell well more easily than antiques and art. This view is informed by the new Masterpiece Fairs, which have been a success at London where visionary antiques and art dealers have teemed up with brand name firms to promote together. Clever.

During the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s in Australia you could make excellent money purchasing and selling antiques and art. But there are many reasons why it could not last. For decades England and America’s currency was much stronger than our dollar and made it inevitable that dealers in England, Paris and New York would discover the fabulous goods shipped here from the first fleet onward. Once the secret was out there was no stopping the drain. Now a great majority of the excellent antiques and art that that were here have been shipped back to England, Europe and America as many people and dealers took the quick profit option in the late 80′s and 90’s. There were dealers and collectors at the time who believed they wouldn’t have a future marketplace unless they kept good things in the country, so they settled for less.

Many of the remaining good things during that time were purchased by canny museum curators with better than average budgets. They had well informed boards made up of business executive who understood the investment value of ‘real antiques and art’. They knew that in the foreseeable future monies expended would be realised many times over in long term ticket sales, as beautiful rare objects and paintings today now form part of innovative, creative exhibitions. This viewpoint is informed by the sale of the ‘Thomas Hope Chairs’, listed with a sale estimate of $500 in a 1984 auction catalogue and purchased by the Powerhouse Museum for $56,000.

Licensed second hand dealers are battling because there is so much information on line too that it now allows for those interested in art and antiques to shun traditional ways of selling their goods in favour of on line trading. They don’t need fancy premises, stock and overheads. An old warehouse in an unfashionable suburb will do for shipping goods from. It means the protagonists can concentrate on collecting cash, rather than becoming connoisseurs and collectors. How many people are being cheated, or conned by unscrupulous ‘antiques and art’ operators online is anyone’s guess.

Goods purporting to be ‘antique’ available on line to an older experienced well trained eye are often just rubbish, and fall into the category of being a poor copy of something finer. For instance glasses purporting to be English eighteenth century lead glass are a trap. Most I have seen are copies from the Edwardian and Art Deco era. They have a little bit of age, so look the part. That is all fine if you are not trying to obtain an eighteenth century price.

Without spending years traveling internationally to look at the best quality antiques to train their ‘eye’ and give themselves something to compare the local product with, for my children’s generation at least the trade is fraught with danger and it’s no wonder they’re opting out. The current future of ‘antiques and art’ seems for the moment at least to be an elitist concern, only for those with much much more than the ready necessary. This is informed by the sale of a Tiffany ‘Apple Blossom’ Table Lamp for nearly a million dollars appropriate at Sotheby’s in New York.

So in the days of ‘reality’ television what is it that defines ‘real’ art and what is a ‘real’ antique? Is it more than old tat!

Carolyn McDowall, June 2011

Related posts:

1. The Culture Concept Circle – You Tube Channel
2. Antique & Art Dealers Association Show at Sydney in Spring
3. CIVILISED: At the Beginnings of Art

Detail Chippendale Period Carved Giltwood Side Table Courtesy Mallett, London

What is a Masterpiece? My understanding is that it is something wonderful created by an individual with extraordinary talent in one field, or many. A work of art, a tour de force, a magnum opus, a masterwork completed by such as Leonardo da Vinci the first person who always springs to my mind as his was certainly one of a genius +.

In facing the crisis of the global economic downturn a brave group in London have come up with a whole new way of marketing fine quality wares. Masterpiece London will be showcasing the most covetable objects in the world: traditional and modern, old and new, from the finest of fine and decorative art to the best of wines, classic cars, jewellery and contemporary design.

It is indeed a clever concept. A 26th dynasty 600 BC bronze head of a Cat will be displayed next to a rare Pink Diamond of over seven carats,  a fabulous Torse masculine du ‘Je suis belle’ by C20 French sculptor Auguste Rodin or a Russian Faberge Cane Handle for a walking stick made of smoky quartz on a gold mount set with diamonds made in St Petersburg c1900.

The fair will feature six world-class restaurants, numerous bars and state-of-the-art stand design. The object is to make a visit to Masterpiece an exceptional cultural, culinary and social experience for its clientele. It is all about valuing creativity in any age and in all cultures and replaces the former Grosvenor House Antiques & Art Fair that lasted for 75 years.

The change of location to the Former Chelsea Barracks is a stroke of masterly public relations. This former British Army Barracks has been a matter of comment and controversy since 6 September 2005 when the British Secretary of State for Defence, John Reid announced it would be sold. Since then many applications for redevelopment have failed reputedly because Prince Charles used his position in society to encourage healthy public debate on the issue, which has indeed been fierce. How shocking that he should use his influence for the greater good instead of for a greedy few.

As a result at the end of 2009 a Masterplan team was appointed and has been working with the community to resolve all the issues associated with this historic site since January, 2010.Residing opposite the prestigious Royal Hospital Chelsea and ideally situated in the heart of central London, Masterpiece London will be held in a Stabilo-designed bespoke structure on the site.

Some of the Exhibitors include  A La Vieille Russie (USA), MacConnal-Mason, Marchant, SJ Phillips, Peter Finer and the Tomasso Brothers, Anthony Woodburn, Cahn International (Switzerland), Offer Waterman, Galerie Steinitz (France), Vanderven & Vanderven (The Netherlands) and Wartski.

An Important Chippendale Period Carved Giltwood Side Table Courtesy Mallett, London

These illustrious names, amongst others, will be exhibiting alongside established founders Mallett of London and New York, Ronald Phillips, Apter-Fredericks and Asprey as Masterpiece London seeks to showcase some of the greatest works on a scale not seen in the capital since the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Should be quite a bash, so if you are visiting London later this month this would seem to be the place to see and be seen, let alone enjoying yourself looking at major works of art and design and then indulging in some fabulous cuisine by world class chefs and wine from some of the world’s greatest vineyards.

Wish I could be there.

Fair location:
Former Chelsea Barracks
Chelsea Bridge Road
London SW1

Preview 23rd June
On View 24th – 29th June

Tickets GBP 20

Masterpiece London
142 New Bond Street
London
W1S 2BS
+44 (0)20 7499 7470
contact@masterpiecefair.com

A very important mid 18th century carved giltwood side table of large proportions. The finely carved and pierced frieze formed of continuous scrolls and foliage hung with garlands of leaves, fruits and flowers, standing on deeply curving cabriole legs, boldly carved and moulded with acanthus leaf edges and scrolling feet; the table retaining its original Sienna marble top of magnificent colour and markings.

Read Result of Opening Day Sales

Related posts:

1. Antiques, Art, Culture & Commerce for Breakfast @ Tiffany’s
2. CIVILISED: At the Beginnings of Art
3. Trio of Boutique Style Museums – At Sydney, Paris and London