Tuesday, June 28, 2005

What is an antique?????

This is an age old question. A columnist's in one of the antique related magazines I subscribe to has decided that an antique is anything that is 30 years old. I frankly think that this is absurb.

My personal feelings are that an antique is atleast 100 years old. In my online shop, www.mygrannysatticantiques.com, I classify items as follows:

  • Antiques - 1904 and earlier, this includes most Victorian collectibles
  • Vintage Collectibles - 1905 - 1949 (this included art nouveau and art deco)
  • Mid-Century Collectibles or Mid-Century Modern - 1950's (depending upon the style
  • Retro Collectibles - 1960's - 1980's
  • Modern Collectibles - 1990's to present

This is just my own personal system of dating and naming antiques and collectibles and I don't expect the "professionals" to agree or adopt my little system. But you will also never find me calling a 30 year-old item an antique.

What do you think?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you about antiques being 100 yrs old. I live in small historic town, my neighbor ownes a lucrative THRIFT SHOP business, even HE classifies antiques at being 100 yrs old. He and his wife are very learned about all kinds of items (new and old) and have taught me plenty about resale. He makes huge profits off what he buys (he has an eye, particularly for primitives). They also share your view, ANTIQUES are 100 yrs old.