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On Your Mark. Get Set.

Now What?

s you walk antiques booths, whether in person or online, offering jewelry.ha.com/worth This is
a hodge-podge of wares available for purchase, just about every- the reference site for jewelry,
Aone looks for one thing that can determine whether or not it timepieces, and luxury acces-
truly is what you are looking for: a Maker’s Mark. Depending upon the sories, sorted by designer.
item you are looking at, it could be a stamp, actual signature, paper glassbottlemarks.com/
label or tag with either a name or symbol or something that can help bottlemarks For all the
you determine where this item originated. Short of dragging around a Bottle Gypsies combing
tractor-trailer full of reference books or a gaggle of appraisers, what is a the fields, this site is a
shopper to do? great tool to use when
One answer is to ask the dealer/seller. Unless they are a top expert looking at bottles and when
in their field, they will generally have a working knowledge of what and looking at glass insulators.
where an item is from. Chances are they have done their homework kovels.com/look-for-your-
when they acquired it in order to set a price and pass on information mark If ever a membership was
to their buyer. Often you will find clues simply by looking at the price worth something, Kovels is
tag. This should be enough to allow you to take an educated guess as considered one of the best. On their site
to whether or not to make the purchase. But what they have a number of references to turn to,
happens when you need more? and also have articles on marks that can help you distinguish older Pyrex
If you normally work with knowledgeable from new, and one to read ahead of time, “Don’t Be Fooled.”
friends, make a call. Give them all the details and gotheborg.com is a site just for chinese porcelain starting with the
be sure to note any breakage or anything that Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and has over 1,500 marks with
doesn’t feel “right.” Send them a picture or even translations and dates. This amazing site has ever bell and whistle you
a video showing all sides of the piece. could ever need, but as Jan-Erik Nilsson says in the introduction,
When it comes to looking up a particular “there are no shortcuts available that I know of :-)”
mark or pattern, you can Google it on your library.si.edu/digital-library/book/listofearlyameri00fren is an
phone. There are some great online resources online book with a list of Early American Silversmiths and Their Marks
to consider using, but viewer beware: these can by Hollis French. While this and many other books are available
be quite cumbersome in nature because there online, you may wish to consider data usage and ease of use when using
are tens of thousands of marks—real and them on your phone. Instead of accessing an entire book, take a few
fake—that are sorted through on many levels. pictures with your phone of those marks you are seeking to collect.
925-1000.com Here you will find an replacements.com If you are seeking information on china,
almost infinite listing of silver marks, hallmarks, glassware, flatware, jewelry, watches, and collectibles in one spot, you
and makers’ marks separated out by country and can turn here. While you may not see the particular piece you have in
including silverplate and flatware patterns. It can your hand, chances are you can find the pattern. But pay no attention
be overwhelming – plan on taking a short break to the pricing – this is full-on retail and then some.
to get around this site, or better yet become The bottom line for marks is research, research, research. But do as
familiar with using the site on your phone before much as you can before you hit the shows and shops, and have your
you arrive at a show or market. favorite references at your side so you can truly get what you pay for.

The Bookshelf

The Allure of the Archives The Art of the Vintage Motorcycle
By: Arlette Farge, Translated by By: Serge Bueno and Gilles Lhote
Thomas Scott-Railton Publisher: Rizzoli
Publisher: Yale University Press Hardcover, 240 pages
Paperback, 152 pages Price: $45.00
Price: $17.00 This is the most beautiful book of its kind:
Arlette Farge’s Le Goût de l’archive is widely celebrating the art and design of the luxury
regarded as a historiographical classic. While combing motorcycle by presenting forty of the best-designed
through two-hundred-year-old judicial records from and most enduringly iconic motorcycles ever made,
the Archives of the Bastille, historian Farge was struck spanning half a century.
by the extraordinarily intimate portrayal they The book showcases forty rare and exceptional
provided of the lives of the poor in pre-Revolutionary motorcycles, from 1905 to 1956, presented in chronological order, illustrated
France, especially women. She was seduced by the sensuality of old with stunning studio photographs that present the machines as works of art
manuscripts and by the revelatory power of voices otherwise lost. In The Allure and wonders of design in themselves. An international roster is featured: a
of the Archives, she conveys the exhilaration of uncovering hidden secrets and 1905 Peugeot Factory Racer, a 1916 Indian Power Plus, a 1929 Majestic, a
the thrill of venturing into new dimensions of the past. 1936 Excelsior Manxman, a 1951 Harley Davidson 750CC WR, a 1951
Originally published in 1989, Farge’s classic work communicates the Vincent 1000CC Black Shadow, and a 1955 Triumph Tiger Cub, among
tactile, interpretive, and emotional experience of archival research while others. Written by a motorcycle collector and expert, the book presents the
sharing astonishing details about life under the Old Regime in France. history of the motorcycle through the most significant makes of all time.
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