The devil is in the details, or not.

[Lily left the valley]

I feel afraid just looking at your delicate treasures. How people who are not clumsy manage to keep these items undamaged for more than 100 years just confounds me. I would be afraid to breathe - let alone sneeze ! {snip}

I share this sentiment. The most delicate thing I own right now is a fun little wood and wicker planter--that's about as close as I get to delicate anything.

Ron, I'm always amazed at the quality you and yours manage to find. Simply stunning.

I also love the little history research bits you included!

[Gothichome]

Lily, thanks. Antiquing keeps me off the streets. I am glad you like our finds, big and small, I enjoy the research of our finds it gives us a sense of being in the period and a view of what was important and not so important to the people who lived during those times. And although I do not know it all or even a small slice of it all, I am always happy to share what I know. And you know collecting antiques doesn’t have to be expensive, a lot of the antiques we own are well under the hundred dollar mark, we’ll, most of our smaller finds are well under. All of the large furniture and our period lamps were most definitely ‘considered’ purchases. The trick is knowing what to look for.

[phil]

Ive been known ot bring home things that are old but not valuable but I like them , later realizing they take up a lot of space together. Then I hate to part with them. "considering purchases" is a novel and intelligent idea

[Gothichome]

Phill, the trick with antiques is not to buy everything, I know that’s hard thing, I fight with that every time we go antiquing. Upper management just roles her eyes some times.
But, let me show you my latest find.

For those who are unaware, this is a Staffordshire figure. It dates circ. 1870. They were manufactured as pretty things for the working classes. They are not overly rare but you have to know what your looking at and be able to tell the difference between the fakes, the new, and the old. It cost me under $60. So was not expensive in any way. But it does add a bit more Victorian clutter, which is the essence of Victorian decoration.

[phil]

antiques can be like savings , If you buy the right things they can appreciate, but also they can fall. One thing I enjoyed about antique auctions was seeing the real price things sold for tio antique stores and that gave me a sense of value of some items.
I find myself trying to sell a few things. I have a maple coffee table and I tried to sell it for more and reduced it to 40 bucks, still I had two people who wanted it that were no shows. I have a big dining room table , its well made and pretty worthless. I got it with a set of 6 old chairs with porcelain rollers on the front feet. they are sturdy and oak and I dont know what to do with those because I like them but I also know my fir floors would hate the rollers. I htink i like buying things more than selling them and since life isn't indefinite I find myself thinking to pair down a little make room for new finds. I have lots of neat thigns I put away and take out to admire and put them away because it becomes too much clutter if I try to display everything. level surfaces eventualy become more rare than objects. I still buy some stuff. I got a soda siphon from about the 30's and thought i should get the little cartridges and try it out. I like clocks and radios and lamps and things like that so ill buy the odd thing to work on and fix up.
I just found a clock at my parents place that I liked. it was a simple westinghouse but perfect for the kitchen and I like electric plug in clocks. I fiddled with it a few evenings and got it working. it was quite worn and the rotating part was rubbing until I bent it just right to get clearance, then it worked fine. I initially thought Id ebay lots of little items but I think ebay turned into a bit of a PITA. Because I am in canada and the market is mostly US the shipping cost becomes an issue. If the things you collect are recognized and valued it can be worthwhile. Ill tend to buy things that need a little repair work and fix them and that way I increase what its worth and have a little fun but the selling is really time consuming , that's what I find. I sort of reached a saturation point where I need to downsize slowly and try to collect just what really pleases me. many or most antique stores just disappeared int he past 10 years or so near me and not many seem to "go antiquing" whereas 10 years prior it was quite a common hobby. as always the really fancy rares stuff does seem to hold it's price but I really have to think if I want something if it's very high in value.

If I can get ahead with my wainscot and shelving project for my living room , it will eventually give me more display space and I can take some things out and see them more but if I display too much it becomes too much of a dusting project. after a while you get used to seeing even rare things and it's like they are not there if the display doesn't change much, but switching out what is displayed helps.
now that people are working online they are all setting up nifty backgrounds so that may have done something in the market. I often see old radios on bookshelves where people work from home under the watchful eye of big brother and the public ( zoom ) camera.. as an example. i was thinking they are all like little movie sets and someone might do well if they specialized in helping set up these personalized backgrounds. it can be a sort of an art to make them present well and represent a person's personality or represent their business. Lilly might do well at that ?

[Gothichome]

Phill, with the current state of Victorian antiques I just might have to pay some one to take them. I’m not sure there is a lot of long term investment opportunities in stashing your money into antiques. I think the best you can do is get your money back. I would make a very broke antique dealer I’m afraid. I tend to buy what I like rather than what’s currently the latest trends. My only hope is when Victorian becomes the trend once again, then I should be golden, or at the very least shiny copper.

[Gothichome]

An update pic of our new ‘old’ china cabinet. Most of the black japaning is complete, ran out of black lacquer. Decided to stuff it any ways. This emptied the contents of two smaller china cabinets and we stiff have more room to fill. Only option is more antiquing, after covid of course.

[Lily left the valley]

So during non pandemic times, do you have fancy parties? Or do you instead use your various china for every day happiness?

Thank you for the picture. It's very lovely despite the polish up being waylaid from finished by running out of the medium.

[Gothichome]

Lily, we sure do use the fine china when we have guests over. We set up the big table with all its finery, light the candles and enjoy a good meal with friends. Just as the Victorians would have. The ambiance of a late supper under candle light is rather nice, and it is conducive to table conversation.

[Manalto]

The ambiance of a late supper under candle light is rather nice, and it is conducive to table conversation.

Ah, I miss that. Your dining room is warm and inviting, and the china cabinet suits it perfectly. Well done.

Just today I found some beeswax candles that I bought 25 years ago in Cuba. They were handmade and incredibly cheap because I got them directly from the maker - I should have bought more. They're a dark ocher and still have that characteristic fragrance that's a little like honey after all these years. I look forward to using them at Thornwood when I get settled in.