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Antiques & Collectibles

Barbara Nicholson Bell

The variety of objects which people find beautiful, useful, amusing or bizarre is endless; these are some of the reasons people assemble collections. This column provides context, advice, guidance, information about antiques, collectibles, auctions, antique shows, dealers, home furnishings, decorating, memorabilia, books, Victoriana, Chinese Export, glassware, as well as furniture, appraisals, restoration, collecting, porcelain, pottery, coins, clubs, tiles, souvenirs, interior design, flea markets, Belle Epoque, fin-de-siecle, antiquaires, golf, art history, miniature villages, walking sticks, collectible fishing gear, art fraud, selling antiques, price guides and more to help you avoid poor deals and transactions made in bad faith.

Some of the periods we will talk about are 17th and 18th century design, 19th and 20th century furniture and pottery, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Mission and Arts & Crafts, Roycroft, Victorian, Bauhaus, Biedemeier, modernism and mid-century, and all Americana. We will talk about famous designers like Susie Cooper and Adelaide Robineau, Charles Rennie Macintosh and William Morris.


latest articles
Antiques & Collectibles

She Walked in Beauty

Remembering my mother, and her very special beauty.

Stickley Furniture

The development of America's most important contribution to the world of furniture design.

Summer Flea Markets

A brief description of some of the flea markets open this summer around the U.S. - so you can plan your vacation trip accordingly!

Why Do We Collect?

A diversionary trip to a most unusual web site, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, leads to an exploration of the question "why do we collect?"

Collecting Vintage Linens

Vintage linens are very rewarding to collect. Here are tips on buying, caring for, and displaying your collection.

Stangl Pottery, an American Original

Despite the evolution of Stangl Pottery from Fulper to Pfaltzgraf, its colorful dinnerware and bird figurines continue to be highly sought after by collectors.

Weller Art Pottery

One of today's most popular collectible art pottery manufacturers, Weller began in Ohio in a one-room log cabin!

Niloak Pottery

An attractive swirled pattern in the clay characterizes the unusual Niloak pottery known as Missionware.

Collecting Christmas: Book Reviews

For collectors of vintage Christmas ornaments, lights, decorations, a review of books to tuck under the tree.

Collecting Vintage Cookbooks

One of my favorite ways to relax is with a cup of coffee and a good cookbook!

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discussions
Antiques & Collectibles

Mason's ironstone china (13 msgs)

Stickley Furniture (14 msgs)

Susie Cooper Pottery (5 msgs)

A Small Dilemma (1 msgs)

Let It Snow! Snowglobes, That Is! (5 msgs)

Old-fashioned Christmas Collectibles (6 msgs)

Collectible Christmas Plates (1 msgs)

The Potteries of New England, Part V: Low Art Tile Works (14 msgs)

Coin Collecting (4 msgs)

The Potteries of New England: Dedham (6 msgs)

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