Page 37 - 2020 March JOA

As auction houses continue to expand the kinds of so I bought a mustache cup. Now don't ask me why I
events they hold by concentrating on price points or bought a mustache cup with a pretty flower on it! But
particular artists or special online-only options, it’s still on display in the hall upstairs.
where do you see this going?
How do you view “collecting”?
What’s happening here is probably happening
where you are, too. The paint contractor for my house A lot of people have had theories. Freud thought we
is now a full-service “everything-including-the-house” were collecting our feces … I don’t quote him
business where they will come in, go through your very often.
house, and give certain things to charities and other The main theory is that you’re born a squirrel look-
things to wherever you want them to go, and then ing for nuts and you stash things away for the future. I
have a whole-house sale. They will even stage and sell think there’s some truth in that. You’re either a collec-
your house! tor or you’re not a collector. You can be a decorator
But it pays to do your homework. A lady I had and buy things, but I think most of them are buying
never met knocked on my door and said, “My father for the look and not the history.
said I should come to you when he died and find out I believe there are 2-D and 3-D collectors. I am a 3-
how I can get rid of his house. I didn’t know the father, D collector—I didn’t have anything hanging on my
either, even though he lived down the street! He was walls until I filled up all the floors and cabinets and
single for a long time and was an engineer. He had a everything else. And then I have all 3-D pictures—no
lot of very interesting old engineering items like books, flat, modern things.
maps, tools and other technical things. The woman It’s in the genes. Kids collect stamps and stones and
already had an antiques dealer in who had taken cut This Tobia Scarpa (B. 1935) for things and they’re not going to stop. They just change
glass and what he considered “modern art” (who knew Venini “Occhi” Vase 12 in. tall, what they collect. Star Wars collectibles and comic
how good or bad it was), but he had left all these other sold for $4,888 in 2017 at books are perfect
things that were worth a small fortune! She got a lot Cottone Auctions examples.
of money for the engineering books at sale that There are
specialized in maps, autographs and out-of-date technical books. But many dealers who start out as
before that, she had it all waiting to go to a charity that gives books collectors. They always have
away, so you never know. something they collect that may
or may not have a lot of value –
What was the first antique you ever bought? but it’s what they like.

When I was 10, I went to Niagara Falls with my mother and my This c. 1960 Lucille de Paris purse
brother and she gave me $1 to spend. I walked around with it for features a brass clasp, compartments,
the whole trip. My mother said, “You have to spend it before you measures 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 in and
leave. That’s why I gave it to you, to learn how to spend money,” sold for $550 in 2017

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the wear environmental fluctuations will cause over time, A leading name in museum presentation and storage, Gaylord Archival offers
consider this simple fix: desiccant packets. Save those little a wide variety of products to institutions and private collectors.
silica gel packets you get with new shoes, medicines, This tissue is unbuffered, which is preferred for animal
and other purchases and store them with your materials like leather, silk, and wool as well as for dye transfer
items. They will absorb excess moisture (up prints and cyanotypes because the buffering agent can cause
to 40% of their own weight) and can be reactions. Buffered products are best for paper, photographs, and
cotton textiles. photo: Gaylord Archival.
used to keep items dry when you pack
them away. When the packets start to lose
their effectiveness, some claim you can management and typical collections management
heat them on a cookie sheet in the oven strategies. They have started to implement
at 100 degrees for one hour to recharge experimental initiatives like pheromone trap
them for repeated use. They also can be monitoring to identify which pests are causing
lifesavers if your technology gets wet! problems and to target where to treat them, as
well as using insecticide mosquito netting as a
physical barrier around objects. Private citizens
Saving the Silver and museums canalso utilize their “Bubble,” a
You likely know what tarnished controlled atmosphere treatment that isolates your
silver looks like but did you know items (and
that if left untreated, the chemicals lots of carbon
that cause tarnishing can become etched in dioxide gas) in
the surface of your piece? Silver is one of our more a plastic bubble, which
sensitive heirlooms and needs to be kept clean of salt, grease, safely kills any and all stages of
water/high humidity, dusts, and sulfur compounds in the air. Car insects living inside without
exhausts, rubber products, cigarette smoke, and other pollutants give damaging your valuables since
off hydrogen sulfide, which will gradually discolor your silver. there is no fluctuation of
Formaldehyde from wood and proteins from silk, wool, felt, and leather temperature or humidity. If
are also damaging, so now what? To protect your silver, store it with you suspect insect infestation,
sulfur-absorbing materials like activated charcoal cloths, or use stable signs include insect bodies,
materials like cotton to wrap it. Metal shelves are also superior to wood molts, dropping, holes or Look out for bugs! These tracks are left by the
shelves, and the same humidity rules apply. tunnels, and webbing. powderpost beetle, and if left untreated, can
Historic New England’s get out of control and ruin your objects.
Professionals may recommend removing
History and Pest Management? solution is one of the most oxygen, freeze treatments, or fumigation,
We’ve covered temperature, acids, humidity, light, and finicky metals, antique and environmentally- but be specific about your concerns to help the
but what about living threats? Unruly hand placement aside, we’re friendly options, but chemical professionals choose the right course of action.
talking about pests. Historic New England is a pioneer in linking pest solutions are available as well. photo: Bernacki & Associates.
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