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Antique
Continued from preceding page
Accessories by Ann
Bookpeople
Fwts
aria user
Cheesecake Cafe
Coats Unlimited
The Cover Up
Efods Drugs ,
Esti-)er & Estelle 's
Europa Fur & Leather
Gemini Travel
Warren Company
Greg Shoes
Guys N' Gals
Gymboree
Hdir in Vogue*,
It's The Gifts
Julie Marie's Art of Dance
Karma Kreations
KitChen Glamor
Koochie Koo
The Lingerie Place
Lois Gross Cleaners
ThO. Mop Shop:.
Accents In Needlepoint
The Next Step
Papillon
The Perfect Patkage
R.I.K.'s The Restaurant
Rikshaw Inn
Rochelle's Knit Knit Knit
Rosalie
Shopping Center Market
Silver Streak
Soleil Contemporary Furniture
Th0 Studio
Sue's Hallmark
Terry Thurn Photography
Under It All
Wdrren Opticdt
Moststores open Sundoys for your
Holiday shopping convenience.
•
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 1991
RC
WEST BLOOMFIELD • MICHIGAN
Orchard Lake Road • North of Maple
restoration can affect the
piece's antique value. Thus,
reweaving a wicker chair or
replacing drawer pulls that
have become rusted, corroded
or just plain ugly is quite
okay. But a restoration
becomes a fake when at-
tempts are made to age it so
as to misrepresent. The most
common form of forgery is to
take what's left of a genuine-
ly old chair and replace miss-
ing slats and staves with new
pieces. Attempts are then
made to disguise the
replacements by nicking and
hitting the new wood.
Other common forgeries are
taking something that was
designed as a separate piece,
like an antique serving tray,
and mating it with a table of
modern construction; and
replacing badly damaged feet
on an authentically old chest
of drawers.
One of the first lessons to
learn in buying antiques is to
trust your judgment. There's
nothing like a little common
sense. When you see a piece
of furniture, just ask yourself
how you think a piece that is
supposed to be 100 or 200
years old would look after a
lifetime or more of continuous
use in a family. If it looks old
and well-worn, that's a good
sign.
Antiques can be bought at
garage sales, second-hand
stores, pawn-shops, house and
estate auctions and flea
markets as well as from anti-
que dealers and stores that
have special sections for anti-
que silver, old paintings and
furniture.
Currently, there is a strong
market in Americana, par-
ticularly homey things which
were hand-crafted — duck
decoys, ship models, furniture,
oils painted by itinerant
painters. In furniture, there is
particular interest in painted
furniture as well as in
American walnut Hep-
plewhite chests which were
made in Pennsylvania, Chip-
pendale mahogany bird tea
tables, and Queen Anne
highboys.
Other current favorites are
weather vanes, and iron or
bronze cast statues of horses,
eagles and other animals.
Forgers will cast iron weather
vanes and drop acid on them
to duplicate the effects of time
and weathering, sometimes
even drenching them for days
at a time with a hose or
sprinkler.
The most prized of the cop-
per weather vanes are those
which have achieved a rich
dark green patina. Some
weather vanes were gilded; if
some gilding is still present,
under the wings, for instance,
or around the feet, the piece
will be particularly valuable.
If you want to increase your
knowledge of antiques, there
are plenty of books on the
subject. Sometimes called the
beginner's bible of antiquing,
Good, Better, Best is published
by Sack. More comprehensive
is Nutting's Furniture Treas-
ure, which deals strictly with
Americana.
If you are going to spend big
money for an antique, a
dealer often has in his posses-
sion what is called a "pro-
venance." This is a written
history or pedigree which
tells a great deal about the
origin of a piece of furniture
or a painting. It often shows
the approximate decade of
manufacture, name of maker
or artist and families who
have owned the piece.
A reputable antique dealer
will give you an invoice which
will spell out exactly what
you bought, its age, condition,
any restorations or altera-
tions which have been made,
and the painter or maker if
known.
So good hunting! Whether
you end up with a future
heirloom or just something
old and interesting which
speaks quietly of the past, en-
joy the search — and try not
to be fooled. ❑
Parent Gifts
Use this list of a dozen ideas
to give your holiday gifts for
your parents some original
spark. And then keep the list
around for great gift-giving
ideas all year long.
• Photo of the family or
frames for favorite pictures.
• Mixed assortment of
greeting cards.
• Roll of stamps.
• Gift subscription to a
publication they would enjoy.
• Hobby gear like golf balls
for the golfer, yarn for the
knitter or pedometer for the
walker.
• Gift certificate for long-
distance telephone calls.
• An IOU for a personal ser-
vice you can perform, like
cleaning their house or run-
ning a day's worth of errands.
• Favorite video-tapes or
cassettes for the car stereo.
• A traveler's care package
of sample-size cosmetic items
such as shampoo and
toothpaste.
• Gift certificate for pesky
household tasks like window-
washing or carpet cleaning.
• Portable radio or tape
player for the traveler or
walker.
• Books that add enjoyment
or information to a favorite
activity.
❑