Collecting antiques begins with that first fragment. If every picture tells a story, so do antiques. Each and every piece has a history, likely some battle scars, and a character all its own. This acquisition is your first. You obsess over its placement. You display it. You talk about it. You compare it to others you see in various shops. Suddenly, the allure of collecting intensifies; it becomes a passion, perhaps an obsession. You can’t pass an antique shop without longing to explore its every nook and cranny.
Antiquing is about finding that one-of-a-kind piece or rarity that no one else possesses. Only those who thrill at digging through crowded, pungent rooms filled with curios and oddities understand that the whole point of antiquing is discovering, learning, and acquiring a part of someone else’s history. In our erratic world, it offers a sense of perpetuity, a link to another time-perhaps another place. In an age where long-held traditions are rapidly dwindling, the apt object -in all its inanimate glory-may be one’s only resonant connection to days gone by.
And so begins your lifelong expedition of antiquing.
But where to go and how to know what you are buying is truly a task in explore. “Spend a year educating your eye before you make a huge purchase,” advises Jane Grant of Savage Mills’ ultra ‘lux EJ Grant Antiques. “Your best protection is working with a reputable dealer.” Certainly there are some real deals to be had in flea markets, auctions, and non-descript shops. But the experts warn that you risk buying something that isn’t all you might imagine it to be. Jean McHale of Gaines McHale in Fell’s Point, urges, “Go to the shops. Talk to the owners. Those forthcoming with information about the piece, and who take the time to know what your needs and interests are, are the superb ones. They are looking to create a lasting customer relationship, not just to produce a sale”. Both of these prominent dealers appreciate the significance of the philosophy they impart…they own two of the most revered antique establishments in the spot.
There was a time when people decorated their homes in a single period style, e.g., Federal, Shaker, Victorian, etc. Hardly anyone does that anymore. Eclectic is not so much a contemporary trend as it is a reflection of the variety of nationalities and ethnic origins that make up the fabric of the U.S. Combining furnishings and accoutrements of various historic periods and cultures is a natural extension of that societal patchwork quilt. Grant and McHale both recommend that buyers should begin by purchasing things that they can use and that are pleasing to them. If you see a piece that you like, you check its condition, and it falls within a comfortable designate range, you should most certainly purchase it. Comparison-shopping is futile, because antiques are one of a kind, you will not ‘find it cheaper’ anywhere else. In the antique world, value is as subjective as beauty. If you love a fraction, no matter its age, its worth, its style, it is a treasure to you. “Even if its monetary worth has not escalated, you’ve had the piece to luxuriate in,” explains Jane Grant. “One thing about antiques, they do not lose their value as can other investments, because they cannot be replaced or recreated.”
If you are considering making a sizeable investment in a Shapely share, it is critical that you determine its authenticity. Spend the money and the time to have it appraised (National Association of Online Appraisers is a good spot to start http://www.aoaonline.org/). Get a description and letter of authenticity in writing from the dealer. It is key to learn how to identify reproductions, and to realize that even genuine antiques often have new finishes. Recognize that antique furniture is handcrafted and one-of-a-kind, and imperfections are part of their character. Mass-produced pieces rarely have flaws. Yet, simply being old does not ensure or enhance worth. What is the condition of the piece? Has it been modified in any way? Rarity also drives the value. A limited production piece or “one-of-a-kind” item is often priceless.
The Antique Dealers Association of Maryland recommends: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Is the asking price of an item the best price? Does the merchant offer a written guarantee? Is there any history or provenance available? Where did the dealer purchase the item? Are there any repairs or any restoration you should be aware of? The more you talk to a dealer, the more you will learn about what you should be asking. Take advantage of the resources shows on television. On cable TV, The History Channel, Home & Garden and A & E regularly feature informative programming on antiquities and related arts. And, of course, The Antiques Road Show has become a public television phenomenon, sending millions of folks scurrying to their attics and basements looking for hidden treasures.
Today, tough economic times have inspired many towns and neighborhoods to create tourist traffic for their retailers. So many are now designating themselves antique villages and marketplaces. Many are nothing more than proverbial tourist traps laden with trinkets, homespun soaps and penny candies. Below we have scouted out some improbable day trip destinations, abundant with authentic and reputable antique establishments…enough to monopolize many a summer weekend. Undoubtedly we have missed a few, but there’s always next year.
Baltimore’s Antique Row
Upstairs, in the superbly restored narrow town house in which resides Connoisseur’s Collection, Frank Rutkowski unlocks the door to his “treasure room”. Inside, he points out the antique harp and other historic furnishings that have been used on sets of major movies filmed locally. Located smack in the center of Baltimore’s 100-year-old Antique Row, this eclectic menagerie is a happy clutter of the most sparkling objects. Here on the 800 block of Baltimore’s Howard Street, many of the twenty-plus shops are ‘priced to dealers’, so there are certainly deals to be had. Other marvelous shops on the row include Dubey’s Art and Antiques, Amos Judd & Son, Drusilla’s Books (antiquarian and rare books), and Imperial Half Bushel, and the exquisite Cross Keys Antiques.
* Off the Row but worth the trip in Baltimore: Gaines McHale Antiques in Federal Hill has among the finest and most comprehensive selection of French and English antiques in the city. Jean McHale, her son and their staff of gifted designers personally greet you like old friends.
Savage Mill Savage, Maryland
Jane Grant is unpacking. Amidst the mammoth crates, stacks of Bills of Laden, and colossal antique European furnishings, she and husband Ed inspect and assess each item meticulously. The freshly arrived pieces are mostly massive 18th and 19th century armoires from France and England, a pair of Louis XVI fauteuil chairs, an 1830 French Cherry Bureau Plat handpicked for a designer’s specification, and an assortment of mirrors, paintings and other accessories. This newest collection is but a sampling in EJ Grant Antique’s grand 13,000 square foot showroom, filled with the most superb 18th and 19th century antique objects collected throughout Western Europe. What’s truly alluring is the welcoming spirit that permeates the shop; the Grants and their staff genuinely invite you to come, look and peer their treasures along with them.
Once you’ve rummaged through the finest Europe has to offer, meander next door to perhaps the most plentiful and diverse array of Americana in the mid-Atlantic. The Antique Centers I, II & III are three restored former textile mills housing collectibles and antiques from more than 225 antique dealers in at least seven states. Mill developer and owner Julie Baker qualifies the authenticity of her dealer’s wares and provides knowledgeable staff to wait on customers. Baker proudly declares that there is “something for everyone” amidst the booths featuring American furnishings, smalls (pottery, jewelry, silver, linen) and collectibles. Conveniently, Savage Mill is open seven days a week, with evening hours Thursday through Saturday.
Kensington, Maryland
If you feel the need to get away and only have an afternoon, come to Kensington. Be warned, to find it, you have to be looking for it, or you most definetely won’t find it. Barely two minutes from the Capitol beltway, and nestled down a serene, non-descript road called Howard Avenue, head east -away from clamorous Connecticut Avenue-into Kensington’s Antique Village. As you enter this hidden realm, you will notice that even the old Esso gasoline plot has been restored. The Antique Village is actually several converted warehouses filled with more than 30 shops offering authentic collectibles, small furnishings and one-of-a-kind oddities. Patient browsing is an essential skill required here in turning up a treasure that you can’t live without. All of the shopkeepers are on-premise and ready to declare the history of a piece, help you indulge your whim and locate your admire, or simply offer you a cup of tea.
Don’t miss visiting Maria’s (pronounced Muh-ri-ah) Place. Hers is a menagerie of furnishings, porcelains, paintings and fountains. Maria herself is a care for, lively with stories of the village and her business. Afterward, she will personally lead you to the other dealers. Jill & Company specializes in well-preserved Antique quilts and American primitives. For authentic old furnishings mixed with new glass craft, check out Prichard’s. Stop into the Tea Room for some quiche or a piece of pie before heading back across Connecticut Avenue to the vendors on West Howard Avenue. Over here, don’t let the industrial-park aura dissuade you; these shops house the most serious European antiques on this side of the beltway. Sparrows is indubitably the Grande Dame of the group, with 10,000 square feet of enormous and impeccable 17th -19th century French furnishings. Don’t miss their pristine collection of French faience and majolica-timeless antique pottery. Others include Paris-Kensington (smaller pieces and decorative works), Gonzales (a must for antique wall sconces and chandeliers), Huret Antiques (17th-19th century furnishings), and Desbois Antiques de France. Not into French? Try the Great British Pine Mine for antique and quality reproduction European pine furniture.
New Oxford, Pennsylvania
Ever ponder the universal shape and size of light bulb sockets? At The Remember When Shop, owner Jim Blankenship is pointing to an original kerosene lamp and explaining, “The early electric companies designed the bulbs to easily convert the coil lamps, because folks wouldn’t have just gone out and replaced these back then.” “How could this Traditional sugar basket, cased in slotted wood, effectively preserve the mince meat stored in it? ” Richard Cisney, owner of New Oxford Antique Center mall poses this question to me.” Before I can offer a bewildered response, he enthusiastically answers his acquire examine. “Read the label. There was 5% alcohol in everything!” Conversations like these are customary here in New Oxford’s antique shops. Cisney explains that Primitives are the utilitarian furnishings and utensils created in the mid-Atlantic in the 18th and 19th centuries. They include native functional pottery (for instance, Redwear-pottery named for the indigenous color of the clay in Pennsylvania), farm tables, dry sinks, pie safes, and robust practical furniture. Primitives are prominent throughout the shops of this town. New Oxford is an unadulterated historic town that strives vigorously to maintain its 208 year-old extinct bolt. With Hanover merely a mile up the road, it has no need for convenience and fast food establishments, preferring to subsist on the draw of its historic charm. It is home to more than 20 antique shops and five malls, accommodating hundreds of dealers. Most of the dealers in town ardently abide by offering only genuine antiques. Cash is king here; many post signs that there are no discounts with credit cards. The antique malls house everything from furniture to smalls. Visit as many as you can, but don’t miss the case of decorative Victorian sewing accessories (each has a unique secret inside) and German children’s sewing machines at The Remember When Shop. And before you leave, stop at Family Restaurant, a vestigial throwback to Mayberry, serving up wholesome homemade entrees and desserts, at small-town prices.
Virginia
Dilapidated Town Alexandria
Old Town is truly exquisite. It is a legendary bastion of the finest American and English antiques among Washington’s aristocrats. King and Washington Streets are the main thoroughfare for antiques, but don’t hesitate to meander off to the side street treasures. Wandering about, it’s easy to imagine the bazaar of English treasures deposited here by the trading vessels in Colonial times. The majority of dealers offer English and American 18th and 19th century furnishings. At the top of the list is Sumpter Priddy, whose unique clientele include the likes of the White House and some of the country’s leading museums. Priddy specializes in 18th and 19th century antiques indigenous to Maryland, Virginia and The Carolinas, prideful that he is able to offer complete history and documentation on each of his pieces. Nearby is Studio Antiques and Pleasing Art, known as great for its 19th European and American century paintings and English tea caddies, as for its furniture of the same era. Don’t miss Brockett’s Row Antiques with its safe English and American banquet tables. For the best in Early American and vintage silver, china and porcelain, check out Lenore & Daughters. And if antique linens are your specialty, visit Curzon Hill Antiques. Afterwards, recharge at British Collection, an authentic British tearoom with delicious scones and clotted cream.
Arlington
You have to get up pretty early in the morning if you ever want to peer where the DC region’s antique dealers and interior designers go to procure their “finds”. Each Sunday beginning at 9:00 am is the legendary Georgetown Flea Market (aka “the Flea Market of the snobs”). This is not your Aunt Polly’s yard sale. Several of Georgetown’s most prominent antique shop owners began here. Washington’s elite luminaries and officials, amass together with locals, college students, collectors and tradesmen, hunting amidst the furniture, chandeliers, silver, linens, lamps, and countless one-of-a-kind items. Though its roots are firmly entrenched on the streets of Geogetown, the producers of this market have moved just over the key bridge to accomodate its ever expanding vendor base and parking.
Georgetown
In contrast, Georgetown’s antique shops are distinguished and toney, laden with authority and pedigree. Be certain to visit the period frames at Susquehanna Antique Company, Gore & Dean for rare antique decorative items, Frank Milwee for heirloom entertainment pieces and vintage wine-related items, and Miller & Arney Antiques’ huge medley of 18 & 19 century American furniture.
Frederick
“Richard, I’m going to catch my husband down here”, the prominent woman assured Richard Rodenbaugh, owner of Embassy Antiques. And she did. Along with the woman’s husband came her mother, her daughter, an entourage of Secret Service men and at least one staff secretary. Yes, the Clintons shop here. It’s no wonder. In addition to a consignment shop, and an antique decorative arts store, Embassy imports salubrious 18 & 19th century French antiques. They also do their own restoration. If your taste is more outlandish, you must go to Great Stuff by Paul for the most extensive (and wildest) selection of worldwide treasures. This is where you can fetch hundred-year-old hand carved stone troughs from China. This is also where the set designers for Martha Stewart bought those elaborate baskets hanging in her studio kitchen. Prepare to spend an hour…and for the full experience, be sure to talk to Paul. Check out Heritage Antiques for fantastic European china and silver, and rummage around for the “bent” English salad plates. Speaking of food, don’t miss the seafood bouillabaisse and dazzling panoramic views of Frederick at The Tasting Room.
Unique Market
In 1954, a state senator wrote into legislation that Modern Market is “The Antiques Capital of Maryland”. And thus a shopping destination was born. In your hunt for true vintage items, keep in mind that the real estate is the oldest thing in this town (some of it dating back to 1793). For the most part, the shops here carry a combination of late 19th and 20th century antiques, and bric-a-brac. Level-headed, each dealer confided that their biggest jam is keeping enough inventory in the shops. There are certainly some ravishing curios and reasonably priced furniture to be found.
Just eight miles east of Frederick, this is a well-behaved detour. The most entertaining store in town is Country Store Antiques. Owner Glen Moore has collected the mainstream and uncommon items sold in pharmacies, dry goods and tobacco shops throughout the 19th & early 20th century. There are vials containing everything from hair growth oil (guaranteed!) to natural laxatives for cows. Moore uncovered a case of bottles that once stored over-the-counter Laudanum (contents 45g opium, 40% alcohol), complete with dosage for the baby! Ask to recognize the 1880 counterfeit coin scale. For the ultimate in refined lunching, dine at the Village Tea Room, with scrumptious homemade lunch choices, pies and over 40 different varieties of tea.
Recycled Relics In Crumpton
“Pick a look-overhere-ee…see the lil’nighttable…mirrorafixed…”
“There’s a drawer on the side, Jim,” calls the owner of the fraction.
“Lil’nighttable…with mirror-n-drawer…do I hear $5.00? Fivedollars-Fivedollars-Fivedollars….got five-do I hear-ten?? Ten-ten-fifteen-ten .Sold to Sam Varner for $10.”
We’re standing in a field on a farm at the crossroads of State Highways 544 and 290, off Rte. 50, in Crumpton, Maryland. This is Wednesday Morning at Dixon’s farm, where the outdoor auction runs year-round, regardless of the weather. Jessie Dixon, whose father Norman bought the business in 1960, travels in a golf cart outfitted with a microphone from cluster to cluster amidst acres of furniture items to be sold. There are mahogany armoires, maple bedroom sets, oak dining tables, Victorian sofas and heaps more. The bidding begins at 9:00 am and doesn’t end until the last piece has been sold. Often that doesn’t happen until after dark. A crowd of bidders gathers to follow the cart. Others wait territorially by the lot they are interested in purchasing.
The crowd is an intermingling of dealers, restorers, collectors, locals and scavengers. A purchase must be paid in cash on the status and promptly carted away. Anything left behind is snatched quickly by the scavengers, who come to acquire, not buy. The prices are often so incredibly low that many purchase items simply to resell them. The furniture varies from true antiques to modern, mass-produced, vintage, art deco, and everything else. Most of the dealers come with huge empty trucks that are filled by the day’s end. Ray Mannis, an antiques shop owner from South Carolina, makes the trip to Dixon’s twice a month. He knows the other dealers and usually bids against them. Today, his purchases -totaling $3800-could easily furnish a few small townhouses.
There are three simultaneous ongoing auctions at Dixon’s. The outside auctions are Furniture Auction, where bidding begins at $20, and Household and Garden items with a minimum five-dollar bid. On the day of our visit, there was an abundance of yard chairs, vintage lamps, federal period end tables, crates full of broken and abused dolls and toys, paintings, rocking chairs, timeless sewing machines…you name it. Finally, inside a colossal barn is the Smalls and Collectibles auction, which is a catchall for virtually everything else. Tables filled with china, silver, figurines, and memorabilia. “This is a buyer beware market,” Jessie Dixon reveals from his office as the auctioneers still hawk outside. “Lack of knowledge is the biggest risk. The auction begins at nine; buyers should come at eight to peruse at the pieces. Check out what you are buying and listen to the bidding around you, many are dealers who realize the worth of the items. Buy useable furniture, not decorative.” Jessie recalls that in the 1980’s, roll-top desks were the rage. Then people discovered that computers were too fat to fit and damaged the roll-tops. Now no one wants them. He offers one last bit of advice with regard to antique collecting: “Stick to one-of-a-kind items. The mass-produced collectibles never hold their value, there are too many of them. And only collect things you really like, that way you’ve enjoyed the search and your collection.” Dixon’s auctions win place every Wednesday at 9:00 am, unless Christmas Day falls on a Wed. Rte 50 to U.S. 301 north to Route 290 north. Crossroads at Hwys 290 & 544. 410.928.3006
