`ANTIQUES HAVE THEIR PRIVILEGES

Probably the most common and most ongoing question among antiques dealers is "how do we induce more people, particularly younger ones, to purchase more antiques for their homes?" Of course, there is nothing new about this question. It has been asked and unanswered for decades since at least the 1970s. It has become a dealer's lament.

Over the years, many sages have offered a variety of reasons why people should buy antiques: for investment; for trendy design; for quality of wood, metal or workmanship; for historic value or interest; and for culture are some of the reasons. Sometimes one or more of these reasons will stimulate a sale or two, but not necessarily in the quantity that will sustain a dealer's business or interest.

By accident recently, I uncovered in my clutter a book published in 1889--itself an antique--that may offer some insight to answering this question.* The author's premise is : "man is an aesthetic being." Elaborating, man has an implicit duty to adorn and beautify his house. The author states: "The best characters and the noblest men come from the modest homes which taste, refinement, and labor have adorned and beautified."

The author adds: "But it is not alone in nature that beauty may minister to our souls...art may serve this purpose. Nature hangs no landscapes on our parlor walls, nor does she set bouquets in our windows....The beauty of art is not alone for the mansion of wealth. Artistic and tasteful adornments are the products of ingenuity and not of wealth."

Art, of course, is not limited to paintings. An antique by its design, or by its age and ancestry, or even by its placement within a home by itself or in conjunction with other antiques can be art.

So, there you have it. Perhaps the most important reason to buy antiques is to adorn and beautify one's home, so as to "minister to our souls."

______________________________________

* Sargent, "Our Home", King, Richardson
& Co., 1889, pp. 287-290.

© Daniel J. Kucera 2017