All I Really Need to Know about Antiques I Learned in Kindergarten

The Young Collector

by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond

Sometimes adults have a tendency to overcomplicate things. We talk about extenuating circumstances, right and wrong, gray areas, and we use big words or abstract concepts, but in reality, most things either are or they're not.

Most of the time, life is really simple—get up each morning, do your best, and try to be as good a person as possible. Most of the mental cluttering up we do tends to help us feel better about not participating, not doing our best, and not being good people, something we grow into when we're no longer children who are being made to do the right thing. But reducing things to their simplest components clears up a lot of confusion, and in thinking about this, we realized that Robert Fulghum was right: everything we really need to know, even everything we need to know about antiques, we did learn in kindergarten.

Share everything, for instance. Share knowledge, share insights, share enthusiasm; it makes for a stronger marketplace when we're all exchanging information. But share the bad too. We need to be sharing our concerns and our frustrations, not keeping them to ourselves when they seem unpopular or negative. Things don't change unless we talk, pulling them out into the light where we can see what we're dealing with. As with so much of life, when we start sharing, we may find out quickly that we're not alone.

Play fair. No pushing, no cheating, and no lying. Play fair, and you'll be legendary as a businessperson. People will come back to you, knowing that you're not going to shove them into making a sale that doesn't fit them well just to profit. They'll know that you won't ask an unfair price or create an unbalanced contract. When you offer condition information, they'll rely on you. If nothing else, you can go home each evening with the conviction that you can live with your actions.

Clean up your own mess and put things back where you found them. When you make a mistake, if you've played fair, people will usually come back, confident that it wasn't intentional and that you'll want to make it right. Don't make your errors in judgment problems for others. Don't pass off an object with problems by deceiving someone. It's your mess, so you fix it.

Don't spend way too much for something and then fault an auctioneer who couldn't recover every cent you originally laid out for it. And put things back by keeping objects together with information whenever you can. If there's strong evidence that a chest was made in Indiana, don't sell it as Pennsylvania because you think you can ask more for it. That not only violates the rule "play fair," but also severs forever an important chain of research information. Whenever possible, don't have irreversible conservation or preservation work done, so objects can easily be returned to their original state.

Respect others and use good manners. Say you're sorry when you hurt someone, and thank people when they help you. You can get a lot further by being nice, by establishing a reputation for grace and good manners. People will work with you because they know you're well-intentioned, and they'll go out of their way for you if they recognize that you're aware of their efforts. Thanking someone doesn't require a note (although notes are always appreciated) or a gift basket or grand gestures; just take a moment to tell your customers, your auctioneer, your phone bidder, that you're sincerely grateful for their patronage, their hard work, or their best efforts. Say something more than the perfunctory "thank you." You may be surprised by how much harder people will work on your behalf if you're courteous and appreciative.

If someone does something wrong, ask them nicely to stop, and if they don't, tell the teacher. For things to work well, everyone has to follow the rules. If someone isn't following the rules, let them know. Bid-rigging, pooling, and misleading customers are behaviors that hurt all of us, and if you notice them, report them. You may run the risk of being called a tattletale, but that's preferable to letting something unjust or illegal happen without protest. See previous remarks about being able to live with your actions.

Ask questions and keep asking them until you've figured out what you want to know. While we've all been driven mad at some point by a five-year-old with a vocabulary that seems to consist solely of the word why, one has to appreciate that small children are not easily put off with answers that don't make sense, just because shutting up seems to be the polite thing to do.

Asking questions is one of the best ways to figure things out, so ask away! You'll probably be surprised; questions, like concerns, are normally shared, and if you want to know, chances are someone else does too. Don't give up until you get enough information to feel satisfied. If someone tells you something that doesn't make sense, ask for more information. "They made them like that out there sometimes" is not a satisfactory answer, and don't pretend that it is! If the person you're asking can't answer you, then find someone else (or a book) to ask, but don't ever feel as though you need to apologize for wanting to know more.

Pay attention and look around you. We all know what disasters could befall us as children when we weren't paying attention-spilled milk, broken toys, or worse yet, broken bones-and we all know what fascinating new things we discovered when we were looking around. Unwise purchases (there are no bad purchases as long as you learn from them) are what happen when we're not remembering what we learned as children; we weren't asking questions, and we weren't paying attention. And think of all that you can learn if you just look!

We're presented with so many opportunities to look at and learn about things, and there are interesting little oddities all around if you're paying attention: make-do lamps, reliquaries, Robert Thompson tables, hair art, even the little pugilistic sheep in the background of Ferdinand Brader drawings. (Stop by our blog at www.youngantiquecollectors.com to see some of our favorite antique curiosities, and let us know about yours.)

Live a balanced life. As children, we spent our time learning, playing, reading, and drawing, and developing an understanding and a mastery of as many things as possible. We also learn that balance is good for our bodies—we need a little broccoli, even if we'd rather just fill up on macaroni and cheese. As adults, we tend to focus on one thing and forget the adage everything in moderation. Learn a little about art, porcelain, and needlework, even if you'd really rather just fill up on Windsor chairs. You'll be a well-rounded person and a better friend if you can relate to interests other than your own, and who knows what bargains you might come across if you take the time to learn about something new.

Finally, be in wonder. Sometimes we're surrounded by so many amazing things, we lose sense of how truly wondrous they are. Objects such as one-drawer stands, pewter candlesticks, and wood bowls are commonplace, but consider any one of them as an object with a history, and you'll be in awe. They were made centuries ago in times and places that are unrecognizable to us now, by the hands of a person who lived a life we may know nothing about. They traveled longer and made more treacherous journeys than many of us have ever experienced. They were used and carried and worn down by people who are nameless to us and are long dead now. They sat in rooms where people were born and where people died and were silent witnesses to small daily dramas and to the vast panorama of history. Women who couldn't vote or African-Americans who were enslaved dusted and carried the most utilitarian of objects that sit in our collections today. If you take a moment to really see and think about an object, you may discover a whole new aspect to your collection.

Normally, we start a new year under much pressure, trying to advance ourselves as human beings, to become more of something somehow. It's hard work, this constant evolving into adults, and sometimes we look around our lives-personal, financial, professional, and cultural-and perhaps realize that we're not going where we thought we were, that where we're going isn't really where we want to end up. For many of us, 2009 was that sort of year. Maybe in 2010, we need to go back to go forward.

We welcome ideas, tips, criticisms, and questions regarding "The Young Collector." Andrew and Hollie may be reached by e-mail <youngcollectors@maineantiquedigest.com>, via our blog (www.youngantiquecollectors.com), or by writing The Young Collector, c/o Maine Antique Digest, PO Box 1429, Waldoboro, ME 04572.

Login or Register to post a Comment