Antiques Journal, Comprehensive Coverage of the World of Antiques

Once upon a time, at a time long ago in a country far away, there was a belief among show dealers that “It’s the promoter’s job to get ‘em through the door, and my job to sell to ‘em when they’re here.”

Dealers marketing shows
I’m not sure that that was the case even then, but sure as eggs is eggs, it isn’t now. The show business is fundamentally a numbers game: the more people on the floor, the better the chance of having a good show. (Don’t tell me – we all know the show with huge crowds but no buying, but think, is that better than a show with tiny crowds and no buying?) We can all help to get bodies through the door. We can all help in marketing a show, dealers and promoters together. And indeed, there’s some marketing that dealers can do better than promoters.

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In My Opinion Archives

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Famously on Sept. 6, 1620, a ship called the Mayflower set sail from England. Sixty-six days later, after crossing the Atlantic at an average speed of two miles per hour, the Mayflower deposited some 102 men, women and children at what we now know as Plymouth, Mass. About half of the passengers were people commonly known as Pilgrims or Separatists — members of the Church of England who wished to separate from the mother church.

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What is a miniature?

“Portrait miniature” evokes the image of a tiny, jewel-like painting, typically oval, of the subject’s head and shoulders on a vivid blue ground – but this is by no means the whole picture. One of the best known miniatures, Nicholas Hilliard’s Young Man Among Roses, is a full length portrait in a stylised natural setting – and, at 136x73mm (5-3/8x 2-7/8in), about twice the average size.

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Trace Mayer

English furniture designs developed rapidly throughout the eighteenth century, and cabinetmakers were kept busy meeting the demand for new furniture from an increasingly prosperous society. Between 1730 and 1790, 148 manor houses were built or refurbished in England. In London alone, in 1760 there were between 5,000 and 6,000 cabinetmakers who competed intensely for the newly-moneyed patrons. One result of this competition was an increase in innovative interior and furniture designs. The evolution of the sideboard from 1750 to 1820 is a fascinating example of one of these designs that originated in the prosperity of Georgian England and quickly spread to America.

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Today, Denby Pottery tableware is a familiar sight in department stores – but few shoppers realize that the pottery has a long history: It is 200 years old, and was at the forefront of popular designer art pottery in the 1920s and 30s.

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The image of diners in our popular culture often conjures up a nostalgic view of the 1950s, but diners actually go back well over 100 years, making many of these historic structures “true” antiques that are well worth preserving. And while some diners may be restored for display at a museum or used for other purposes, most would agree that the best preserved diner is one that retains its original purpose as a local eating establishment. A place where people from all walks of life can sit shoulder-to-shoulder on slender stools, sit with the whole family in over-upholstered booths (hopefully with wall mounted music), meet with their neighbors, talk local politics, argue over sports or joke with the waitress. This is the type of American tradition that is worth saving.

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Taking a well-earned break (in our opinion at least), Lisa and I spent a long weekend in Provincetown, right at the tip of Cape Cod. Our main aim was relaxation and hedonism, but I did want to see where the Pilgrims first landed and to trace, as far as possible, their earliest steps on American soil. The relaxation and hedonism went just fine, but retracing those first steps – now that was a different matter entirely.

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