ANTIQUES
Before you buy: What you should knowObject lessons through the ages
‰Object From G6them, like the pine travelling trunk of a little Irish orphan girl, still leave him emotional. (see Tales sidebar at right).
Douglas Stocks advises anyone interested in dabbling in the antiques market to spend some time first educating themselves on the basics. Here are a few things to consider before making a purchase:
‰Read a bit of history and look at lots of pictures. Learn to identify style and form, patina and structure. “There’s a lan- guage of antiques,” he says. “Doing the academics helps because you understand the hows and whys of the esthet- ics; then you start to apply it.”
‰Look before you leap. Mak- ing mistakes is all part of the learning process — and “it can cost you money” — so take your time before buying.
‰Buy from reputable dealers. It’s easy to be fooled by fakes when you don’t have the knowledge (China, Stocks says, is doing a wonderful job of producing fake antique por- celain.) Members of the Cana- dian Antique Dealers Associa- tion are required to authenti- cate and label their goods, pro- viding a level of protection for the inexperienced buyer.
‰Try to define your personal style. Even if you can’t articu- late it clearly, you might find a certain piece too fussy, or too plain; and that helps your deal- er help you. “Once you have an idea of the style, you try to ap- ply it to a certain space,” says Stocks. “Function, form and es-
Novice buyers, he says, tend to enter the market at a moderate price level, upgrading and refining their collections as they grow more comfort- able.
Others, perhaps with greater experience, may wait and search for “the very special superb piece.”
He recommends rural antique“You get to see the country- side,” he says,“and you get to meet people. And if you don’t know anything about it, you start to learn. It’s a great way to get your feet wet.”
Not everything that’s brought into the Roadshow is a treasure, but even when it’s not, Stock in- sists, “it’s not junk. What you have to do is tell the people what it is and why it looks like that. Youlistentothepeople,theytell their stories, and really, it’s that great thing of sharing.”
His rural showroom, itself a
Hundreds of period items — Chippendale sofas, Regency chairs, ornate
Two fireplaces offer cozy nooks for clients to relax and confer. Through the back win-
KEITH BEATY/TORONTO STAR
Stocks’ stone farmhouse is a designated heritage site. An extension of the store, most of its contents are antiques, for sale.
| dows, a serene little creek glim- | item is sold, it’s replaced by an- |
| mers between the foliage. It was | other favourite piece from his |
| silted up when Stocks bought | storerooms. |
| the property 20 years ago, but | Some might find this a slightly |
| he’s had it dredged to restore its | disconcerting way to live, but |
| Stocks is philosophical. | |
| Stocks ’ farmhouse home is an | “We don’t ever really own an |
| extension of his showroom. | object,we’rejustcustodiansofit |
| It’s furnished with a choice se- | for a certain amount of time, be- |
| lection of his inventory and, he | fore it gets passed on to the next |
| declares airily, “it’s all for sale!” | generation. |
| His décor, he admits, changes | "I think of antique dealing as |
| every few weeks. As soon as an | the first form of recycling.” |
| The Canadian Antiques Road- |
| from the Roadshow (“I may cry |
| show is one of CBC’s most en- |
| when I tell you this”) has to do |
| during successes and Douglas |
| with a plain pine trunk, |
| Stocks thinks it’s because of |
| brought in by a woman whose |
| the stories. Even the humblest |
| |
| of artifacts has a history, and |
| cently died. |
| some of them can still leave |
| She had discovered the trunk |
| him |
| while cleaning and sorting out |
| He recalls a Halifax woman |
| her mother’s house. |
| presenting a photograph of her |
| She said she knew it was old, |
| grandmother, a former slave |
| but that was all. |
| who married another former |
| Taped to the inside of the lid |
| slave. All their children grew |
| was a list that read: “2 pairs |
| up to become doctors, lawyers |
| socks, 1 coat, 1 good petticoat, |
| and schoolteachers, a testa- |
| 1 everyday petticoat . . .” |
| ment to their parents’ struggle |
| It turned out they were the |
| and determination. |
| travelling items given to a |
| “As a personal history,” says |
| |
| Stocks, “it was priceless.” |
| Ireland to Canada to be |
| Another man brought in his | J.P. MOCZULSKI | “adopted” into indentureship. |
| Stocks examines an English | The mother had never told her | |
| nately carved walking stick | Derby vase, circa 1835. | family about her heart- |
| and a |
| wrenching history. “It was |
| thinking his ancestor might | been the King of Sweden’s | quite an |
| have belonged to a secret | prime minister and had been | daughter),” comments Stocks. |
| guild. The Roadshow experts | presented with these gifts up- | “It was very touching. Wherev- |
| were able to tell him his 18th- | on his retirement. | er you go, there are all of these |
| century relative had actually | But Stocks’ favourite story | wonderful stories.” |
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