Treasure 1- lur

A special species
of shopper finds
thrills from
scouring auction
houses, antiques
shops and flea
markets for
finds laden with
history, charm,
craftsmanship
and value.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF SESLER

By Lynne Konstantin

Judy
Frankel

s a newlywed, in the 1970s, Judy
Frankel would often grab a good
friend and make a day or weekend
of visiting antiques shows through-
out Michigan and the Midwest.
But when the couple's two children
came along, the full-time catering
manager's outings took a back seat.
As the kids got older, Frankel and her husband,
Stanley, purchased a 19th-century farmhouse in
Metamora Township. With it, her passion for hunt-
ing for treasures was rekindled, and soon the farm-
house brimmed with primitive whirligigs, weather-
vanes, hand-hooked rugs and other American folk
art, as well as a collection of French majolica, the
organic-themed tin-glazed Victorian earthenware.
This time, she was hooked.
"My house was filled, but I
wanted to keep searching for
great and unusual pieces," Frankel
says. "So I went into business."
After holding her first an-
tiques and folk art sale in a
former frozen-yogurt shop, its
enormous success inspired her
to load up her Cutlass van and
sell at local antiques shows and
open a 600-square-foot, one-day-
a-week retail space. Eventually,
she bought a book on buying
European antiques, headed to the
continent and expanded her ex-
pertise and offerings. By 1993, the former catering
manager had tripled her retail space. Today, Judy
Frankel Antiques fills the entire 9,000 square feet
of the Antiques Centre of Troy with pieces dating
from 1750 to the 1970s, from lighting, mirrors and
glassware to industrial antiques, cabinets, tables
and seating, and salvaged architectural elements
used for decorative purposes.

THRILL OF COLLECTING

Collecting, of course, is no new phenomenon.
Marbles, stamps, comic books, snow globes, Beanie
Babies — kids have always been naturals. But the
popularity of TV shows such as PBS's Antiques

28 October 2013

I RD MEAD

Roadshow and nationally syndicated

Above: Some
After hunting around for so many years,
of the treasures
question-and-answer appraisal columns
you just learn from experience. You have to
at Judy Frankel
have had people wondering what the
educate yourself."
Antiques
contents of their attics are worth.
That's what she and her husband have
Many collectors begin with a fascination
done. Always a collector, even as a child, Dr.
with a certain place and period in history
Jeffrey Lipton met his match with his wife,
— interest in 15th-century Dutch history, for example, and together they have amassed a prized collec-
might lead to an expertise in Old Master paintings by tion of Americana, including almost 400 pieces of
van Eycks and the Bruges school. Or perhaps what
vibrantly colored ceramic spatterware, Pennsylvania
began with a record collection of 1960s and '70s rock
and New England schoolgirl samplers (the earliest
might lead to an interest in concert posters from the
dating to 1726), Amish potholders and more.
bands you love.
"It's fun, it's educational — and it's become
Although antiquing can be approached as a
social," Sharon says. "We have a circle of friends
financial investment, it is best to have an experienced
around the country that we've made over the years
appraiser on hand before making big decisions.
when we visit antiques shows and auctions. We all
Treasure hunting can be as big as high-end, fine
get together and have this passion in common."
antiques from around the world, to as intimate as
VINTAGE LOVE
amassing a collection of charming vintage buttons
from your grandmother's hometown. What's in com-
In the 1960s, Italian designer Elio Fiorucci opened
mon? They should both call out to you similarly.
his first lifestyle-focused clothing store and jaws
Most experts agree that no matter what you seek,
dropped. When the brand came to New York City
the first rule is to love it. "Find your passion and go
in the '70s and into the '80s, it became as iconic a
after it," says Helaine Fendelman, a New York-based
hangout as its customers — Keith Haring, Bianca
nationally recognized authority on fine and decora-
Jagger, Andy Warhol. The store even hired Madon-
tive arts, author of the nationally syndicated Scripps-
na's stylist, Maripol, as its art director.
Howard column "Treasures in Your Attic" — and
As a little girl, Brenda Mann didn't know all this.
whose own collection of American paint-decorated
She just knew her heart fluttered a bit when she
furniture and folk art sold at Sotheby's auction house
came across Fiorucci's seminal vintage-style draw-
in New York
ings and logos plastered over their T-shirts and
"It doesn't matter if it's high priced or inexpensive
labels, like the pair of cherubic angels that made
— you have to first find what you love. Then, study.
the Fiorucci clothing brand a national obsession
I've been doing this for years, and the best thing I've
with teenage girls in the 1980s.
learned is which resource to turn to when I don't
"I was drawn to vintagy-looking objects, whether
know the answer."
it was a paper ticket on a pair of jeans or the
Go to museums, read books, talk to other collectors
ornately floral decor of my college sorority house,"
and dealers, and make yourself an expert on what you says Mann, a Sylvan Lake mom of two boys. "I just
are interested in, whether it's exquisitely embroidered
get excited about beautiful things, and I like to be
English linens, 18th-century American case furniture surrounded by them. But even more, I love the les-
or 1920s German glass tulips, like those that Sha-
sons to be learned from these pieces, and the stories
ron and Dr. Jeffrey Lipton like to display in their
they can tell."
antiques-filled Waterford home.
She became a connoisseur of vintage style in-
"My daughter called to say she had found some
fused with a visible sense of history, from art deco
at a great price," Sharon Lipton says. "I asked how
platinum and diamond jewels to Mary Gregory
much, and she said $10 each. I told her to have the
glassware, known for its enamel-decorated silhou-
dealer take them out of the vase so she could look
ettes of children posed and at play. She picked up a
at the stems, and sure enough, they were all broken. diamond watch for $50 at a flea market, and found

www.redthreadmagazine.com

