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| Each year the summer season's fairs in London provide a barometer to the state of the British antiques trade There is every indication of an upturn and cause for optimism. Those in the Trade who have abided by the traditional principles of antiques dealing during difficult times will come out best. Unfortunately in recent years some fairs have suffered from organisers chasing markets that do not exist and giving a new look to perfectly satisfactory well-established trading environments, all done at the exhibitors' expense at a time when they could least afford it. Successful organisers are those who know their business, in particular remembering that antiques fairs are primarily selling and not social occasions and that, in the current marketplace, big is not beautiful. There is only a certain amount of money that comes through the door. As ever, dealers' knowledge and personal service proves invaluable. Stocking quality rather than quantity will always be rewarded. The tide is on the turn for the better. Things can only go up for dealers and organisers who know what they are doing, albeit from the lowest base we have seen for decades. | |||||||||||||
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| How often have we been told antiques are not fashionable anymore? Well, fashions come and go - and come round again. Currently everything eco-friendly is catching attention, not least anything that can be recycled. As antiques is the biggest recycling business in the world that should bring them back into favour. But as John Fiske, editor-in-chief of the "New England Antiqus Journal" points out, "Recycling is associated with garbage." Rubbish collection is not the image we want! However, John sees a solution. Being eco-friendly is green, living in the world without damaging it, "Behaving green usually involves some self-sacricice," he says. "But we are just not good at self-sacrifice. We want convenience, comfort and to feel good about our contributions to saving the planet. "Antiques call for no self-sacrifice - the opposite in fact self-indulgence. Green self-indulgence, what could be more attractive....it should be easy to persuade people to buy antiques, because everyone knows antiques are green." That is the sort of thinking that is going to take the antiques trade forward and appeal to the broadest audience of potential buyers. And the "New England Antiques Journal" has done something positive to promote the idea. It has designed an eye-catching motif that you can download free from its website, www.antiquesjournal.com - or click onto our associate magazine's logo at the foot of this page. The logo is on the NEAJ home page. Use it anywhere, in advertising, business cards or as a poster. "Don't treat this as something that you've just thought of, treat it as something that's already taken for granted, a piece of common sense. If we can make "Antiques are Green" part of American common-sense, our future would be assured." John concludes. I say, why confine the campaign to America. It makes sense worldwide. John Fiske's article can be read by clcking onto the "Antiques are Green" button on the Home page of www.fiskeandfreeman.com | |||||||||||||
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| During the couple of months following Thanksgiving Day in America at the end of each November, collectors and dealers around the world have tradionally planned buying trips to Britain. Since the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York in 2001, the reduced volume of transatlantic visitors to Britain has been dramatic. I have always believed it would be difficult to sustain a buoyant British antiques trade without the export of English antique furniture to America. This view has been emphasised during recent years. In addition to the weakening of the antiques world's "special relationship", antique furniture has suffered a change of fashion on the home front. This has put many prices back to where they were years ago. A great deal of very good, but unfashionable in the UK middle-market, brown furniture is on offer at silly prices. At the beginning of 2007 there was a general optimism that the tide was turning and the export market set to improve. But as the year progressed, world economic and financial markets turned against it, not least the weakening US dollar. However, due to the change of fashion, the fall in UK prices allows some room to manoeuvre. One well-tried and tested way to overcome the problem of an exchange rate that has gone against a buyer is always to quote the price in their own currency. That way the immediate calculation in the mind of the customer is the potential profit rather than reminding them of their weakened currency. | |||||||||||||
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| There is no doubt that the British antiques trade is not what it was. But the end is not nigh. Changes have simply followed the way of the world, most of which have not been for the better.
A turning point was when I overheard children who stopped in front of an object with their parents in an antiques shop not enquiring, "What is it?" but only asking, "What's it worth?" Likewise when speakers at seminars and writers in the trade press began refering to antiques dealing as "an industry". I do not know any dealers who consider themselves to be industrialists. I do know numerous escapees from industry to the world of antiques. International saleroom scandals and antiques-based game shows on television have unfairly darkened the public's perception of dealers' integrity. Insufficient attention has been given to correcting these impressions by fair organisers, dealers and their trade associations. Much effort has been wasted chasing markets that do not exist, lamenting trends with which they cannot compete and making excuses as to why antiques are allegedly out of fashion. There will always be people who appreciate antiques rather than contemporary styles or transient fashions. Maybe not such a large market, but it is much more worthwhile to satisfy its demand. Far better to concentrate on a market that exists than endeavour to create new ones. The secret of success in the heyday of antiques buying in the 1960s and 1970s was built on personal relationships between collectors and dealers, based on knowledge and trust. People purchased antiques for what each was, not with the thought of buying solely to make a profit. Antiques acquired may well appreciate in value over time, but more important is the day to day appreciation of having them in the home. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. In this stressful world, joy is a rare commodity. Antiques are each unique. Being able to offer such things, antiques dealers arfe bound to be in a profitable business for a long time to come. | |||||||||||||
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| If only because the price can only go one way, up, in a saleroom, we always recommend buying through an antiques dealer rather than an auctioneer. Even more important, the dealer offers a guarantee that the auctioneer does not. However, more is bought and sold in salerooms than through dealers, so it is encouraging to read a booklet of worthwhile advice published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on buying and selling antiques at a fine art auction. Readers are given a comprehensive outline of what to expect in commendably plain language from the RICS that promotes best practice, regulation, consumer protection and a formal complaints service. So, as it not surprisingly says, "you may want to use an auctioneer who is a RICS member". In particular, there is plenty of good advice for beginners, although the suggestion that one should ask the auctioneer's general opinion for help to decide what your top bid should be, is interesting to say the least! Overall the RICS believes that "bidding is really exciting, so don't forget to enjoy yourself"! Of course, the enjoyment may be tempered by the addition of a Buyer's Premium of up to 20% on top your winning bid. Although mentioned in a general outline of auctioneers' terms and conditions, the premium is not emphasised under the heading "Now for the fun.." For a free copy of the booklet one is invited to call the RICS contact centre on 0870 333 1600 - not surprisingly a premium rate telephone number. | |||||||||||||
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| Angela was tall and elegant. It was the legs I noticed.
A ballet dancer, in her heyday she did a dead good dying swan. Tchaikovsky would have been proud of her. So was I the last time I saw her. It was on television, but she was not in Swan Lake. As a student, on her way home from ballet school, Angela often called into my shop. Antiques really interested her, always hoping to find something special. I told her one day she would. Later, whilst on tour, she was always in and out of antiques shops. When she hung up her ballet shoes she did a bit of dealing out in East Anglia. Angela kept in touch. Sometimes she even bought something, nothing special. Honest, useful furniture was her forte. So I was surprised one evening to turn on the telly and see a very fine 18th century cabinet, more decorative than practical, had been acquired from the attic of an old farmhouse in Suffolk. And who had found it? Angela. There she was saying how exciting it was. It had been more than half hidden under piles of junk. "It was the legs I noticed," she said. I could not resist a smile. | |||||||||||||
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