English Georgian Sterling Silver Forks, Circa 1816

English Georgian Sterling Silver Forks, Circa 1816
Photo Credit: xzx

English Georgian Sterling Silver Forks, Circa 1816

Buy It Now Price: $399.95 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-A ram’s head family crest adorns the back of this stately set of 8 King’s pattern English Georgian sterling silver forks from the early 19th century.

-Each one of these dinner forks measures a full 7.9 inches (20 cm) long and weighs an immensely heavy 2.9 troy ounces (91 grams).  This is double the weight of an average antique silver dinner fork!  The total weight of the set is a whopping 23.5 troy ounces (730 grams) of solid sterling silver.

-Britain’s Georgian period extended from 1714 to 1837.  It was a time of strict class hierarchy in which the aristocracy exercised outsized power on British politics, culture and foreign policy.  The late Georgian era produced many famous British authors who are still celebrated today, such as the novelist Jane Austen and the poet John Keats.

-The hallmarks on this set of Georgian dinner forks confirm they were made in London, England around the year 1816. Although the maker’s mark is worn, it is possible that William Eley and William Fearn – a pair of silversmith who were active in the British capital in the early 19th century – produced this superb set.

-These Georgian sterling silver forks were forged in the renowned King’s pattern, which sprang to popularity in the early 19th century along with the quite similar Queen’s pattern.  Both the King’s and Queen’s patterns were characterized by decorative shells and scrolling foliage.

-With silver trading at $14.40 an ounce, the bullion value of these Georgian sterling silver forks is about $313.  This means they are selling for only $87 over melt – a mere 28% premium over their scrap value.

-19th century British King’s and Queen’s pattern flatware could be either double-struck (with the design on both the front and back) or single-struck (with the design only on the front).  This particular set was double-struck, which was the norm on heavier, higher quality pieces.  This boosts the forks’ value and desirability considerably.

-The ridiculously low premium over melt value for these 200 year old Georgian sterling silver forks pretty much debunks the efficient market theory in my opinion, at least in the world of antiques.  This set is a phenomenal deal at only $400.  So scoop up these Georgian silver treasures now before someone else beats you too it!

 

Cons:

-This set of Georgian dinner forks has moderate wear, which one would expect for antiques that are fully two centuries old.  Honestly, I’m grasping at straws for anything negative to say about them.

 

Read more fascinating Antique Sage antique silver spotlight posts here.

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Farewell to a Dealer of Central American Jade

Farewell to a Dealer of Central American Jade

I was on eBay the other day looking for a profitable way to use a $5 coupon the online auction house had been gracious enough to give me.  As I was browsing through the rough jade listings, I made a shocking discovery.  Much to my dismay, I found that one of my favorite rough jade dealers – Paul’s Rok Shop, located in Lake Arthur, Louisiana – was closing.

This gentleman was a dealer in all of sorts of lapidary slabs, but seemed to specialize in Central American jade, aka Guatemalan jadeite jade.  This was quite fortuitous, as I believe that rough jade blocks and slabs are an intriguing tangible investment alternative to precious metals.  And out of all the world’s jades, I find those from the Americas – jadeites from Central America and nephrites from the Pacific Northwest and California – to be the most intriguing from an investment perspective.

These North American-sourced jades are rarely subjected to the same harsh enhancements that are commonly applied to Burmese, Chinese and (occasionally) Russian jades.  So when you buy North American jades, you are almost assured of getting fully untreated, completely natural stones – a tremendous advantage in a world dominated by polymer impregnation, artificial dyes and other scummy gemstone treatments.

But you won’t be getting them from Paul’s Rok Shop, at least not according to the poignant message he left in his last listings:

“After 13 years on eBay, I am shutting down my rough rock sales here.  [It’s] just not worth my time to be here [on eBay] anymore.  I will not be relisting any rough rock at all after May 31st [2019].  I suggest that you get what you may be interested in before the end of the month.  If things turn around in [the] next couple years, you may see me again.  To those of you who have followed and bought from me over the years, I am grateful.”

If you have any interest in purchasing rough Central American jade, I urge you to stop by Paul’s Rok Shop before it closes for good.  He has been aggressively marking down prices in an attempt to move his remaining inventory and there are great deals to be had.  Unfortunately, if you are reading this any article any later than June 2019, I doubt he will have any active eBay listings left.

Out of this sad event springs two topics that I want to discuss.

The first is Central American jade.  Jade is a gemstone that has been revered in many cultures for thousands of years, but curiously not in the West.  The ancient Chinese loved it.  The Pre-Columbian civilizations of the Olmec, Maya and Aztec loved it.  The indigenous Maori people of New Zealand loved it.  But we Westerners tend to shrug our shoulders at the green wonder stone.

Why is that?

I believe it is largely a question of exposure.  High quality jade deposits are not found in Europe, meaning that ancient European civilizations never saw the stone at its best.  In contrast, East Asian, Meso-American and New Zealand peoples had ready access to fine jade which left an indelible mark on their respective cultures.  This reverence for the beauty and utilitarian value of jade eventually elevated the gem to ceremonial and even monetary status, but only in those societies that had access to it.

Jade was so important to these ancient civilizations that I believe archeologists and historians should make room for a “Jade Age” sandwiched in-between the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.

Furthermore, many modern-day Europeans and Americans have simply never seen good quality jade before, much less held a fine rough jade specimen in their hands.  Most Westerners’ experience with this legendary material has been via poor-to-mediocre quality jade jewelry that has undoubtedly been treated to within an inch of its life.  And that’s assuming they’ve beheld real jade at all, and not some inferior imitation or simulant, like serpentine, aventurine quartz, maw-sit-sit, etc.

When jade is treated, the properties of the stone often fundamentally change.  Acid or alkali baths leach out stains and impurities, but also render jade brittle and susceptible to discoloring over time.  The dyes, polymers and paraffins injected back into the treated stones in an attempt to make them salable might render these treated jades superficially attractive, but don’t restore the superlative properties of true, untreated jade.

On the other hand, genuine untreated Central American jade is a marvelous thing to behold.  At a distance, it appears as if it might be some impossibly soft material – satin…moss…even Jell-O.  But the truth is that real jade is both harder and tougher than steel.  It is an extraordinary gem created under the tremendous geological pressures found almost exclusively at tectonic plate boundaries.

In spite of its toughness, handling jade is an intimately tactile experience.  The stone persistently whispers for you to gently caress it.  And when you do, real Central American jade rewards you with a heft, solidity and glass-like smoothness that seems otherworldly.  It is almost as if some super-advanced material from the distant future was transported back in time to amaze and astonish us in the present day.

As the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius once stated quite perceptively, jade possesses “perfect compactness”.  This is due, no doubt, to the gemstone’s unique, interlocking micro-crystalline structure.

And the colors!  Central American jade comes in a range of attractive shades, including “Maya mint” green, “Olmec” blue-green and mottled deep-green “jaguar jade”, just to name a few.

Simply put, you have to actually see and hold a piece of real Central American jade to truly understand its allure.  Mere words, regardless of how poetic they are, cannot hope to do that transcendent moment justice.  Jade’s appeal is very similar to that of gold and silver.  Once you place a piece in the palm of your hand, you immediately and viscerally appreciate how valuable and desirable this precious material truly is.

And this leads me to the second thing I wanted to talk about: the loss of yet another small business.

I have written before about the troubles facing physical antique stores.  I have also written about the decline of American retail, with an emphasis on the closing of mom-and-pop shops.  I would like to say that these trends are unrelated to each other.

Unfortunately, I cannot.

Ever since the 2008 Financial Crisis, the United States (and most of the world for that matter) has been experiencing a soft depression.  These unrelenting economic travails have robbed middle class households of much of their discretionary spending power.  Money that would have been spent on art, jewelry and antiques simply never made its way into the hands of the middle class.

As a result, the many small businesses serving these industries have suffered.  The loss of Paul’s Rok Shop is just the latest in a long parade of such business closures.

There is one silver lining to this dark cloud, albeit with strings attached.  As art, antique and gem dealers liquidate, they often heavily discount their inventory.  This is a tremendous opportunity for disciplined connoisseurs and investors to buy quality tangible assets at reduced prices.

But it is important to keep in mind that prices are always lowest right before the lights go out.  And it takes much, much higher prices to induce a future entrepreneur to turn the lights back on.  In other words, enjoy the bittersweet deals on art, antiques and other tangible investments while you can.  Once they’re gone, they will only reappear when there is far greater profit to be had.

 

Read more thought-provoking Antique Sage gems & jewelry articles here.

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Illuminated Book of Hours Leaf from Rouen, Circa 1470

Illuminated Book of Hours Leaf from Rouen, Circa 1470
Photo Credit: LEAVES-OF-OLD

Illuminated Book of Hours Leaf from Rouen, Circa 1470

Buy It Now Price: $499 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This vibrant French illuminated Book of Hours leaf was sumptuously hand-scribed in the medieval city of Rouen sometime between the years 1470 and 1490 AD.

-This medieval manuscript leaf measures 178 mm (7 inches) tall by 125 mm (4.9 inches) wide.  This is a good size for an illuminated Book of Hours leaf, which tended to be fairly small compared to modern books.

-A Book of Hours was a medieval prayer book intended for personal worship at home.  Only the very wealthiest families could afford to commission a Book of Hours, which – like all medieval manuscripts – were completely handmade.  It could take a specialized monastery or manuscript factory more than a year of exacting work to complete a single copy.

-Rouen is a city in the Normandy region of France, situated on the lower reaches of the Seine River.  It was one of the most important cities of medieval France, with a population of about 40,000 inhabitants in the late 15th century.

-This illuminated Book of Hours leaf is richly decorated with red, blue, green and gold pigments, and includes an elaborate floral border on both the verso and recto.  It is an incredibly fine example of late medieval art, yet remains within financial reach for the average person.

-In the late 15th century, France was still a patchwork of feudal duchies and counties.  However, the end of the Hundred Years’ War in 1453 saw the English definitively expelled from all French territory (except for Calais), laying the groundwork for the modern French State.

-The text of this illuminated Book of Hours leaf is written in Latin, which was the lingua franca of medieval Europe.

–Medieval illuminated manuscripts are one of today’s most underappreciated alternative investments.  They are quintessential examples of medieval European art, complete with vivid colors, Gothic script and hand-drawn illuminations.  But fine specimens can still be purchased for only a few hundred dollars each – a mind-blowingly low price in a world filled with $10 cappuccinos and $100 a month gym memberships.

-I believe the buy-it-now price of $499 is quite reasonable for an illuminated Book of Hours leaf of this caliber, especially considering the stunning aesthetics of the piece.  It would look great mounted on the wall in your study, bedroom or living room.

 

Cons:

-Expect to pay an extra $100 to $200 to have this medieval masterpiece properly framed with acid-free, archival-quality matting and UV-resistant glass.  However, I consider this is a small price to pay to protect such a wonderful manuscript in perpetuity.

 

Read more fascinating Antique Sage print & wall art spotlight posts here.

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The Antiques in Your Attic (Probably) Aren’t Worth Anything

The Antiques in Your Attic (Probably) Aren't Worth Anything

A lot of people (falsely) believe that the hoard of antiques or vintage items they have stashed in their basement, closet or attic is worth a fortune.  They might especially feel that way after coming to the Antique Sage website and reading that I tout antiques as a superior investment vehicle.

But the sad truth is that only a fraction of the antiques out there are investment grade, and they probably aren’t sitting in your attic.  There are broad swaths of the antique market that are simply not – and never will be – investments.  Even the very finest items in many vintage categories do not meet the strict requirements for investment-oriented pieces.

I examine this topic in greater detail in an article I wrote titled “Your Hopalong Cassidy Collectibles Are a Bad Investment“.

In spite of this, many people see the words “investment” and “antiques” close to each other in a sentence and assume that the antiques piled in their musty attic must be worth a lot of money.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Age, by itself, does not confer desirability on an object.

But in order to understand the attributes prized in today’s antique market, it is important to grasp the trends that have shaped it.

The antiques industry has undergone a radical transformation over the last 20 years.  From the end of World War II until the year 2000, antiques, collectibles and vintage items of all sorts appreciated in value more or less non-stop.  The only exception to this rule was recessions, when the prices of many collecting categories would pause or pull-back slightly.  But the overall trend was always up.

This was due to a couple factors.

Post-war America (and Western Europe too) was incredibly prosperous, with average wages rising both predictably and robustly.  Increased discretionary spending power inevitably filtered into the antiques trade, lifting the prices for almost all collectibles.

Another contributing cause was that many members of the Greatest Generation, Silent Generation and Boomer Generation were quite materially acquisitive, although they all had different reasons for doing so.  The Greatest Generation had lived through the Great Depression – often as children or young adults – and was loath to throw anything out, fearing it might be needed again someday.  The Silent and Boomer Generations grew up in an era when physical goods were still somewhat scarce.  Consequently, accumulating large amounts of stuff, including antiques and collectibles, was often considered a mark of wealth and social status for these generations.

Then the wheels came off the global economy.  First there was the Dot Com crash of 2001, followed all too quickly by the disastrous 2008 Mortgage Meltdown and capped by a tepid, decade-long recovery.  These economic catastrophes gutted the middle class, destroying their ability to casually collect antiques or vintage goods.  Younger people, like Generation Xers and Millennials, struggled under crushing student loans and stagnant wages.  Millennials, in particular, were forced to abandon material desires for cheaper and more attainable spiritual aspirations.

The internet also did its wickedly efficient work by allowing buyers and sellers to aggregate on huge sales platforms like eBay, Etsy and Ruby Lane.  Unfortunately, many antiques were far more common than previously believed – a situation that online marketplaces fully revealed for better or for worse.

The effect of these trends on the antique market has been devastating.  Collecting categories that had reliably appreciated for decade after decade suddenly collapsed in value, often with little warning.  Haviland Porcelain, bisque dolls, Waterford crystal and baseball cards are just a sample of the antiques/collectibles sitting in peoples’ attics that have cratered in price by up to 90% since the mid 2000s.

Even redoubtable antique furniture has been on the losing end of this trend.  Old furniture is interesting because so many people (incorrectly) treat it as a proxy for the general antiques market, even though it is really its own category (filled with dozens of sub-categories of course).  Everything from 18th century Georgian furniture to early 20th century Golden Oak furniture has plummeted in value over the past 15 years.  Only those pieces with clean lines, like Art Deco and Mid-Century Modern styles, have avoided the worst of the damage.

Now I don’t want to be doom and gloom all the time.  After all, my website is about investing in antiques.  And there are plenty of great antiques out there that possess marvelous investment potential.  In fact, this is probably one of the best times in history to shop for high end antiques.

But I feel it is imperative that you stick to items that are small and precious.

I favor compact antiques made from gold, silver, gemstones and exotic woods.  Things like vintage fine jewelry, antique silver, ancient coins, classic mechanical watches and old fountain pens are at the top of my wish list.

Sure, I believe some items not made with precious materials can make the grade too.  Vintage Japanese prints are a favorite of mine.  I also just featured a wonderful Mid-Century Modern enameled panel that is almost preternaturally alluring.

In any case, you should stick to the Antique Sage’s 5 rules of investment grade antiques for the best results.  An item must be portable, durable, scarce and of high quality.  In addition, it should reflect the zeitgeist or dominant style of the era in which it was made.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t be surprised when you don’t find any investment grade antiques when cleaning out your great aunt Emma’s estate.  The good stuff is pretty rare.  And while it is natural for everyone to believe that their stuff is special, in all likelihood, the random accumulation of old junk that your relatives have stashed in their attics and basements almost certainly isn’t.

 

Read more thought-provoking Antique Sage editorial articles here.

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