The Science of Scrounging Whether readers are dumpster divers, estate sale addicts or modern archaeologists, this easy-to-use and informative guide to "picking" is guaranteed to improve their antiquing skills. The Picker's Bible provides great tips on where and how to find antiques for the best price. A fun and quick read, the book explains the ins and outs of negotiating price, things to avoid, secrets to success, and how to do it all better than the other guy. There is hidden treasure out there...Picker's Bible will help you find it!
Ralph and Terry Kovel, America's foremost antiques experts, have written a book with a difference about our most popular pastime -- collecting. Whether it is a shelf lined with old toys or a houseful of Art Deco furniture, everyone has a favorite collection.Kovels' Know Your Collectiblesis the ultimate guide to "young antiques" -- collectibles less than one hundred years old. With hundreds of photographs and line drawings, in-depth text, several glossaries, and an extensive subject-by-subject bibliography, this book provides important information you can't find anywhere else. Each chapter ofKovels' Know Your Collectiblesbegins with general advice on how to locate, preserve, and protect your collectibles. The chapters cover a wide variety of objects, including ceramics, dinnerware and art pottery, furniture, glass, jewelry, metal, lamps, clocks, toys, paper, tins, advertising material, and old store collectibles. The Kovels tell you how to recognize the value and improve the condition of your collectibles. They provide a wealth of information about individual manufacturers and designers, patterns, styles, artists' marks, and historic curiosities. Whether they are talking about common household objects or rare pieces of recognized value, the Kovels tell both beginning and experienced collectors what they want to know about their most cherished collectibles.
Ralph and Terry Kovel are proud to present the most authoritative and current art pottery book on the market, Kovels' American Art Pottery: The Collector's Guide to Makers, Marks, and Factory Histories. After the Kovels began collecting American art pottery in the 1960s, they decided to research and write their first book on the subject, The Kovels' Collector's Guide to American Art Pottery (Crown, 1974). Since that time, art pottery has become one of the most important and popular areas of collecting in this country. Today, many pieces are still very affordable, and collectors everywhere are searching for art pottery treasures. Many other pieces are represented in museum collections, and some pieces are selling for thousands of dollars. The Kovels have never stopped researching the history of art pottery factories and products, and have been continuously gathering new or previ-ously unpublished information from rediscovered catalogs and records, archaeological digs, and family histories. And now, they offer the most com-plete and up-to-date pottery book available, Kovels'American Art Pottery. Written with the collector in mind, this book emphasizes all the information needed for an under-standing of art pottery factories and their wares. The Kovels list large and small art pottery firms and include a general history of each one. Makers, artists and their backgrounds, artists' and factory marks, dates, and lines of pottery are all described in detail. The Kovels discuss the well-known factories such as Rookwood, Weller, and Grueby, as well as the lesser-known or recently recognized potteries such as Avon, Radford, and Zanesville. More than 215 potteries are listed here fromA to Z. There is also a full section on tile factories following the art pottery portion of the book. Kovels' American Art Pottery is extensively illustrated with more than 700 beautiful color and black-and-white photographs of art pottery pieces. Also included are fascinating historical photographs and more than 1,000 illustrations of actual artist and factory marks. The thorough range of photographs and illustrations will enable any collector to identify a piece of art pottery by its decoration, shape, color, or identifying mark. And to complete this valuable reference, a bibliography is provided for all those who wish further information about the historical aspects of a pottery. Kovels' American Art Pottery is an indispensable book for all collectors, dealers, museums, or antiques enthusiasts who wish to know all they can about this exquisite art form.
Over 1700 of Skibinski's line drawings present a visual approach to the identification of antique furnishings. The book is arranged in chronological sequences (17th century through the early 20th century) by type of furniture, from tables and settees to desks and bookcases. Butler and Johnson have included some important information for the novice and the experienced collector: the sources of furniture used as models for the illustrations; lists of museums, art galleries, and special displays of outstanding collections of furniture; a selected bibliography and a glossary; the anatomy of a piece of furniture; and a brief history of the periods of furniture and furniture makers. Highly recommended for public libraries and other subject collections.
You may be the owner of a valuable piece of porcelain or pottery, but the cryptic symbol on the underside of the piece may be your only clue to its value. Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks: 1850 to the Present will help you identify your pieces. Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks provides the quickest and easiest way for professional and amateur collectors to identify more than 3,500 American, European, and Oriental marks. The perfect companion to the Kovels' original best-seller, Kovels' Dictionary of Marks -- Pottery and Porcelain: 1650 to 1850 (still in print after more than 42 years and 41 printings), Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks is the most comprehensive reference for nineteenth- and twentieth-century marks. Together, the two volumes are an indispensable guide to porcelain and pottery marks of the last four centuries. Also available from Three Rivers Press, Kovels' Dictionary of Marks--Pottery & Porcelain: 1650 to 1850
Miller's Antiques Handbook & Price Guide remains the essential and trusted guide to the antiques market. It has earned the reputation of being the book no dealer, collector or auctioneer should be without. Compiled by Judith Miller, world-renowned antiques expert and co-founder of the book, the guide features more than 8,000 antiques. Comprehensive sections cover ceramics, furniture, glass, silver and metalwares, jewellery and objets de vertu, clocks and watches, books, Oriental antiques, textiles, toys, decorative arts and Modern Classics. Special features explain why one piece is worth more than another, show how to value an item and teach you to be your own valuer. Biographies of designers and factories give the background information you need to help date and value objects, while special 'Judith Picks' sections give fascinating background and valuation details for particularly interesting or unusual objects.
A thorough reference to antique and period jewelry created over a 200-year period in Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. From the Georgian to Modern periods, the fascinating story of jewelry evolving with women's fashions is told. Great designers' findings, fittings, and maker's marks are fully explained.
Offers tips on identifying, collecting, and caring for furniture, photographs, posters and illustration art, costume jewelry and wristwatches, dolls, toys, advertising and sports memorabilia, and glass and pottery.
Book III in Jim & Susan Harran's series is all-new, with no repeats from their first two books. Over 1,000 color photographs are included this time, and the book concentrates on cups and saucers that are readily available to collectors. An expanded section on cabinet cups and saucers is provided, and some of the categories from books I and II are again covered: late nineteenth and twentieth century European and American dinnerware, English bone china and earthenware cups and saucers, miniatures, and mustache cups. There are also two brand new categories in the book, Japanese cups and saucers and art glass cups and saucers made by the leading glass factories in Europe and the United States. A marks section, helpful appendix, and bibliography are once again included, as well as useful tips for dealers and collectors. 2007 values.