Growing Interest In Antiques

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31836, 14 November 1968, Page 7

Growing Interest In Antiques

Depreciation of the value of money, an unsteady world economy, a love of fine things or merely a desire to own an antique—whatever the rea son Christchurch people have, over the last four or five years, displayed an ever increasing interest in antiques.

This interest is reflected in the number of antique and curio shoos which have opened in Christchurch tn the past years.

Antique collecting can be a lucrative hobby, and also an expensive one, as is shown by an estimated value of $lOO,OOO of the collection on display at the fair. For the amateur collector the world of antiques cari be confusing, but with the help of a reputable dealer, a lot of reading and many visits to places such as the Canterbury Museum and antique fairs, much can be learned. Gold and silverware are, of course, date-stamped and thjs can be a help to the collector. Similarly china, porcelain and earthenware are relatively easy to date when compared with furniture.

When purchasing furniture prospective buyers must decide just what is their purpose in buying. Many reproductions, and good ones at that, are available, particularly in dining suites, and for the young couple who feel that something antique would fit in with the decor of their home and yet have not got the $BOO to $lOOO to pay for an original, a good reproduction costing perhaps as little as $l5O is an ideal substitute. Silverware and glassware are most sought after in most

shops and antique auctions. The delicate beauty of such things in no way impairs upon their usefulness and most collectors of such items will say that the only way to get the best from antiques is to live with them. Basically, as far as New Zealand antiques are concerned, the best guide is whether or not the article is more than 100 years old. If it is it can come under the category of antique. There are. however, instances of articles being as little as 60 years old being treated as antiques. Much depends on the individual workmanship land appeal of a piece. | Appeal is probably the main criteria of most amateur collectors in New Zealand, except for those who have specialised in collecting one type of item. Among these, musical boxes, phonographs, i fire-arms and bladed weapons seem to be the most popular, although lamps of all sorts have a large following. Vogue “crazes” occur every so often and articles, while not strictly speaking antiques,' become fiercely sought after. Such was the way with brass beds and warming pans.

In general the trend seems to be to exclude factorymade items in favour of the traditional handicrafts, although a large part of this could be a result of the appeal of the individuality of a craftsman-like piece. The basis for this attitude is probably that at the beginning of industrialisation products were poor in design and quality, and interest in antiques as they are now stemmed from an attempt to recover prior standards.