And now — ta-da! — for the big finish: After two installments of our Chesapeake Collectibles appraisers assessing this year’s antiques and memorabilia trends, we’re back to conclude with a rousing flourish (if we do say so ourselves).
Glance back at the first two parts if you want to refresh your memory, but be assured we’re wrapping up with a fresh set of insights about collectors’ interests and market forces.
We’re starting with Lisa Jones, who always seems to have long-distance radar as well as being the series’ pottery, porcelain, and glass appraiser.
With the 250th anniversary of the United States approaching, notes Jones, “We are going to see some great Americana, unearthed from hiding places and possibly never seen before. We will see flags, stoneware crocks, maybe even some centennial furniture like Philadelphia Chippendale, and hopefully coin silver from important Colonial silversmiths such as Paul Revere.”
A cultural mood is also something Kathleen Hamill, our modern and contemporary art savant, is sensing: “What I am seeing lately is the desire to make things beautiful and to fill homes with things that evoke feeling and meaning. Collecting art and adding beauty need not be expensive; I love the collectors who find hidden gems in thrift stores or estate sales.”
It’s almost as if Hamill was cueing Dennis Harter, our Asian Arts expert — but we actually got his input before hers! Harter reminded us that our appraisers are also collectors, and he indeed has been in the mode described by Hamill, maximizing his ability to display special items.
“As a lifelong collector,” he said, “my focus has been on thrifting for signed photos (and) prints and useable frames that can be stripped of their current contents and repurposed to protect Chinese and Japanese scrolls, or Vietnamese pencil and ink drawings from the war that were loosely stored or impractical for hanging in their current mountings.”
Harter didn’t mind mentioning that he has boxes from multiple Asian locations that have gone unpacked for two, three and, whew, four decades. We know collectors who can relate to that, and we’d like to suggest they make it trendy to finally dig through that storage with an eye for finds that might be perfect to bring to the next taping of — what else? — Chesapeake Collectibles. Good luck and good hunting!
Look for news in the coming days about Chesapeake Collectibles’ season 13 taping weekend taking place in October. In the meantime, series fans can catch replays of past episodes on Mondays at 7:30 pm on MPT-HD, or watch anytime on the free PBS app, and online at video.mpt.tv/show/chesapeake-collectibles/.
