Archive for Antique Furniture
Rugs 101: An Introduction to the Antique Rug World
Posted by: | CommentsRugs 101: An Introduction to the Antique Rug World
This article has been written for AntiquesAvenue antiques blog by Nazmiyal.com
The world of antique rugs is one often overlooked by the public. A rug is meant to be a furnishing, something placed on the floor, adding a decorative layer while maintaining its purpose. However, antique rugs are more than just an object of utility, they are decorative pieces that engrained with history. Entering into the world of antique rugs one is taken back in time, where art and culture interact.
Antique rugs are generally classified as those that are older than one hundred years. Handmade productions using natural dyes, antique rugs are highly sought for their distinctive look and originality. Unlike new rugs, antique rugs reflect a bygone era. They feature designs primary to their culture. Unique designs, from nomad to village to city, their production reflects the cultural and social structure of the period. These elements add to the lure of antique rugs as these pieces compose a historical narrative.
Cherished by the Eastern world as pieces of art antique rugs offer a variety of uses. Although they are generally used as wall coverings, pileless pieces such as tapestry rugs serve as decorative wall hangings. The production in of itself depicts the imaginative nature of the weavers and the cultural trends at the time. Antique Anatolian rugs exemplify the artistic and imaginative qualities produced in rugs. A form of earning extra money, women would weave these rugs with designs including marital prospects and symbols particular to the region. The finesse of these rugs is representative of the cultural significance and beauty that exists within the antique rug world.
Cultural milieu of antique rugs makes the industry a sector where history meets stylistic function. A rug’s age is not indicative that it will be the highest quality and price. The nineteenth century produced some of the most highly sought after pieces in the market. The marker depends of the quality and the current aesthetic values. However, unlike new rugs, antique rugs do not depreciate in value and have the potential of investment. Often in the Middle East people purchase these rugs for investment purposes meanwhile decorating their homes and businesses with these exquisite pieces. Cherished as pieces of art, antique rugs are now becoming more popular in the West as people are seeing their multiple purposes and are introduced to various art forms.
Composed of a multifaceted clientele, the antique rug world has an appeal for every taste. Whether a person is a collector, historian, interior decorator or just a person searching for a decorative piece there is rug for every taste and need. The beauty behind these rugs lies to be unfurled. At Nazmiyal each of our rugs contains a history, one that we seek to share with our clients.
The historical and aesthetic values of antique rugs add to their lure. Market prices reflect rarity and demand. A rug is a historical and cultural journey. Materials, design and size reveal the distinctions and quality of each rug. Antique rugs comprise a select field in the art world that is continuously expanding. It is both form and function: an antique rug adds a decorative layer to an already complex puzzle.
Antiques in the Summer
Posted by: | CommentsHows the antiques trade for you this Summer? Here is the view from an antique furniture dealer, Graham Smith from Graham Smith Antiques Ltd:
A Long Hot Summer – or not!
Summer business in the antiques trade is as unpredictable as ever, the beginning of July was very quiet and at times I thought we might never sell anything again… perhaps a slight exaggeration but the end of the month was very good and it was almost the best job in the world to have! I spoke to an American client yesterday and business is just the same there, if people want an item they will pay well to have it, if they don’t you couldn’t get a dollar for it.
pedestal cabinet
Useful quality pieces of antique furniture have continued to sell well throughout the downturn, dining tables and sets of chairs have still commanded interest at both auction and through retail. Bookcases and all manner of boxes or trunks have been continually selling and generating enquiries, especially online.
I bought a very unusual coaching trunk last week, I think it is made for the back of a horse drawn carriage, it is shaped and has a bow end, with a good pair of brass hinges to the lid and a steel lock and key. Another unusual item of furniture just back from our restorer is a pedestal cabinet with what looks like two short drawers, one above the other, but they are dummy fronts and it is a fall front door with a spring catch at the top to release the door. The cabinet is made from very figured mahogany we think it will make a very smart telephone table or bedside cabinet.
Anyway, the news this week is full of hope for the future and an apparently imminent improvement in the economy so we live to fight another day finding quality items that will hopefully interest and delight our customers!
Why Antique Furniture?
Posted by: | CommentsChris Seidl currently works as a blog writer and webmaster for English Classics, purveyor of fine antique furniture. He lives, works, and plays in Atlanta, and can be contacted at webmaster [at] english-classics.net. Here is a piece he has written for AntiuqesAvenue which is all about why you could consider Antique Furniture for your home
Why Antique Furniture?
Antique Bookcase
If you asked yourself, “Why furniture?” two categories of answers would surface: need and desire. Of course, there is a practical need for furniture around the home and office, dating all the way back to when the first person decided it was better to sit on a plank of wood than squat on the floor. But then there are the more complicated “needs” of the mind: desires. Furniture has a way of completing a space, of pulling a collection of rooms together to make a home. Accessories and collectibles have a way of doing this, too, but it is the sustained combination of function and aesthetic pleasure that sets furniture apart as a superior organizer of space. A desk, for instance, serves an obvious and important need, but whether the desk is a gorgeous antique with rich wood and leather, or whether it is simply a hunk of junk with surface area, can make the difference between an inspired workspace and one lacking all creativity and cheer whatsoever.
So now we arrive at the second part of the question: “Why antique?” Everyone probably has their own answer for this, but I’ve found that antiques have several key advantages over contemporary furniture (good reproductions aside). The first is the most obvious: quality. In general, antiques hail from a time before quality became expendable, when furniture was carefully made to not only endure, but to look beautiful. Of course, there must have been droves of shoddy pieces, pumped out by unscrupulous cabinetmakers, but then, most of the furniture belonging to this category has already passed away into the oblivion of scrap and garbage that history forgets. The furniture that remains has withstood the test of time, and so there’s bound to be something good about it.
Antiques also tend to hold their value. I myself am redecorating around the house, and it makes it much simpler (and easier on the wallet) to sell one piece and use that money to buy another. Over time, too, it makes sense to have your money invested in something that is almost guaranteed to at least retain the same value, especially in today’s market.
Last but not least, antique furniture organizes space in a way that I have come to believe is healthy for the mind. If the spaces we inhabit affect how we feel, then in some small part, they determine who we are. Consider, for instance, your idea of home: isn’t it more in the mind that in one place? It is the feelings and memories with which we invest a place that makes it home, and furniture goes a long way to creating that ambiance. Antique furniture in particular so often represents the ideal synthesis of nature and craft—carved wood being the perfect example—and I believe it is this combination that we look for in our homes. When we surround ourselves with the crafted beauty that only antiques can provide, it tends to affect us in a way that makes us happier people, and in the end, that’s what furniture should do.
Dealer delights in return of “old friend”
Posted by: | CommentsHere is a piece written for AntiquesAvenue by Graham Smith – a well respected member of the Antiques Trade :
cheval mirror
One of the many delights of being an antiques dealer is the likelihood of customers becoming friends because of a shared passion for good or interesting articles. Now and again I come across the opportunity to buy back an item that I have sold some time in the past – it’s always a pleasure to have such items in stock again. Recently I had just such an opportunity – a good customer of mine who lives in North Yorkshire was rearranging his life style and decided to rent out his house and move into a cottage. The phrase ‘getting a quart into a pint pot’ springs to mind as this gentleman had a habit of buying items he liked regardless of whether he had space to fit them in his home! I would describe his house as Dickensian – wonderful items everywhere but still nowhere to sit because of piles of books on every chair!
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