New location in Needham, Ma
While we are present at the new address, the salesroom is not yet ready. It appears it will be ready at the end of next month. Until then, restoration as usual and appointments for sales only, please!
Old England Antiques moved!
As of August 1st, 2010, Old England Antiques moved to new premises in Needham, Ma. The phone number is the same for now, so call 6 1 7 9 9 9 0 2 6 9 for more info
Charity sale: Antique chair for a noble cause
In the next coming months, we will offer for sale the antique piece in the picture.
It was kindly donated by a client to Old England Antiques.
Marco Brunicardi will donate the restoration of the frame and the reupholstery work.
Proceedings from the sale will go to recognized charity organizations, still to be chosen.
At the current stage, we have not decided when and how to price and sell the chair.
The piece is visible in our window at 1015 Boylston St, on Route 9 West, in Newton Highlands, Ma, 02461.
antique chair for charity
Check back on this website for updates and more information, including dimensions and method of sale.
Today, August 20, 2009
We’re closed for the day. We’re sorry for any inconvenience. We will reopen tomorrow at 10.
Today, Thursday, July 9th, 2009 we will close at 1:30 pm
We apologize for any inconvenience, but we have to be closed for most of the afternoon for family reasons.
We will reopen tomorrow at 10 am, as usual.
Today’s English Antique: China Display Cabinet, Edwardian, Mahogany.
English Edwardian display cabinet with dome top.
English Edwardian Mahogany China Display Cabinet with dome top.
Original lock and comes with key, reupholstered interior in a neutral white (can be replaced), solid wood upholstered shelves, glass panel sides, decorated door with 5 separate glass panes.
French polished with shellac rubbed in by hand only. The actual finish is a natural shine, but it can be adjusted to more or less shiny, or even opaque and/or waxed.
No woodworm or other signs of deterioration. Well kept and maintained.
Secret compartment present…
The max dimensions are:
Width: 24″
Depth: 12″
Height: 62″
Code: 22B309
How to use a china display cabinet
If you have small collectibles to store and show, for yourself or your guests to enjoy, as a conversation starter or as pure entertainment, antique china display cabinets are the type of furniture that you should consider.
Although made in the past centuries, since becoming popular in antique Georgian England, for the purpose of storing precious china items, they are very versatile and can nicely display any small and fancy item.
Whether china or ceramics, silver or figurines, glass or gold, porcelain or wood, or anything else, china display cabinets were designed for the main purpose of displaying the pieces preserving the items from dust and smoke, pests, from possible breakage and even theft.
They usually were made of glass, to the front and often to the sides in the vertical ones (typical display cabinets and curios), and to the top and sides in the horizontal ones (display cases and showcases).
The glass would allow the pieces to be viewed better and let in more light than bookcases, for example.
Appropriate upholstery and sometimes glass shelves and mirror backs would allow the contents to stand out more and be better enjoyable, from all angles.
Display cabinets are usually placed in well lit places where homeowners and guests can easily see them and the contents. Think about extra spotlights and modern and efficient lighting to make a showpiece out of it.
The items stored and displayed should fit in the environment, even more than the display cabinet itself, with external pieces in someway connected and associated to what’s inside the cabinet, same period or style or materials for example, Victorian, Edwardian, ivory, silver, rosewood, ebony, and so on.
The display cabinet itself should stand out attract attention. However, it should not conflict with the rest of the room design and colours. If the wall is dark, use a light coloured wood cabinet, like oak, if it’s light, you want a darker wood cabinet, like mahogany or rosewood.
A formal environment will require a more formal piece, especially as far as finish; go for french polished antique cabinets.
A lockable cabinet could provide a degree of security, from children for example, but don’t rely on them being safe from burglars; a locked cabinet could actually attract more attention and a break-in, with heavy damage to the piece.
That’s why antique cabinets should have a working lock, to preserve value as an antique, but shouldn’t necessarily be locked if frequent access is required.
Pieces inside should be displayed in a way that they are very viewable, so far apart. Don’t fit too many items, think about another cabinet, in a different spot if different, or next to each other with a little space if twins, which are almost impossible to find as genuine antiques.
They should also be spread out in a balanced way, with more smaller items around fewer larger ones, to compensate and balance.
The focal points, the center of any group of items, usually a larger or more important one, should be behind the center of the glass panes of the cabinet, not behind the frame. Think also about balancing the contents of the display cabinet on the various shelves, but at the same time think about lighting and eye-level in the specific situation.
To learn more, get some inspiration by museums, which are often full of neat and tidy display cabinets of all sorts, with appropriate lighting.
Antiques defined: coffee tables
Typically coffee tables are low tables typically designed to be placed in front of a couch, to support beverages, coasters, magazines, books and similar items.
TV remote controls are other items typically found on a coffee table, and that leads to the main reason why these tables are low; so they do not obstruct the view of a TV.
In the old days, when actual antiques were crafted, without any TVs, there was no great need of such low tables, so antique examples that are genuine, are really difficult to find.
Most examples that are actually antique or preantique (just a few years younger than century old pieces), are from the beginning of the 20th century, and many of the Art Deco period.
With the TV making way in every home and in every living room, coffee tables were to be mass produced and seen in almost every home and TV room.
Many were clearly inspired by antique styles and materials, but will never be antiques.
If found they are usually not cheap, and choice is limited, but they are little treasures.
With tall lamps and flower vases, these low tables can decorate many other corners and areas of a home.
Antiquing during recession
There’s an old rule, as old as collecting antiques, that is that quality is always on demand and always sells.
It’s truly an antiques buyers’ market, with prices lowering as the recession worsens, but that applies to common pieces that will always turn up.
Antiques are not newly manufactured goods that can be made to order, if there’s demand for a piece, it’s irreplaceable and therefore the price has to go up.
With lower end antiques, assuming they really are so, it’s just too easy to wait for better times and/or for lower prices. If a piece sells, chances are that another of the same type, age or quality will be found.
During a recession, there are always people that want rare and/or quality pieces and that can afford them.
These pieces also prove as a valid long term investment, and therefore their value never decreases.
For antiques’ dealers, it’s a matter of focusing and specializing, with experience and knowledge to deal in the right niche, clients will never go missing.
We, at Old England Antiques for example, focus on truly antique furniture, at the very least 100 years old, historically restored by french polishing.
Antique furniture has also many pros that other items don’t; they are decorative, appreciate in value, they are restorable, and they usually serve a practical purpose too, such as storage, support, and so on.
For those reasons English antique furniture appeals to collectors looking for an addition to their collection, private buyers that want to add a piece to their home, and investors, for an almost certain long term return; consequently they appeal to antique dealers, because there’s always a market for English antiques, after all, we regularly see buyers from all over the world compete at auctions and fairs in England and the rest of the British Isles.
It takes a very deep depression to make all antiques lower in value and anyway the higher end ones will always be the last.
Latest shipment of English Antiques
We finally received and unloaded the container packed with authentic British antiques, mainly antique furniture, that so many of you subscribers of our newsletters have been waiting for.
We have chests of drawers, side tables, sideboards, nesting tables, china display cabinets, bookcases, trolleys; they’re in mahogany, oak, walnut of the Victorian, edwardian, Georgian, Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau period, inlaid, carved, turned, solid, veneered, restored and unrestored, and so much variety of pieces that you have to come and see to understand the antiques that we offer.
The sooner you come, the more opportunities to view the pieces before others and the more pieces that will not have been sold yet.