www.georgianaantiques.com is an idea based on our long experience in the antiques and collecting arena in the fields of collecting and dealing in the 1970s/80s and then as publishers for 26 years of a major antiques publication. Our early interests were in ceramics and glass found in archaeological digs, but developed into collecting as a hobby with a particular interest in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. During the last twenty years or so we have written a number of books on the collecting market covering such areas as ceramics, glass, silver, jewellery and furniture as well as a general guide to the pleasures and the pitfalls across the whole of the collecting field. And as publishers we also ran a certificated valuation service to the industry for more than twenty years.
In the early days, dealing was about getting up early and travelling around the country seeking stock, a face to face affair, and this stock was sold mainly at antiques and fine art fairs and in particular in London. Much of today’s trading takes place at auction, in antiques centres and online, but these often lack the flexibility of the old ‘horse trading’ where deals were done face to face with the owner. Auctions have their drawbacks, not least the now staggeringly high premiums being charged by these third parties. Antiques Centres themselves, as well as antiques fairs, often make far more out of the action than the individual dealer ever does, and online costs for selling, in the way of direct and secondary and even tertiary charges similarly cut, often severely into profits.
Here the intention is to cut out these charges, such as those made by Ebay or Paypal. Registered buyers pay by cleared cheque or bank transfer, and no third party will profit or benefit from the transaction except the seller and the buyer! Each item will have a guide price, and buyers can contact us to discuss the merits or otherwise of individual items of stock and if interested in a purchase can negotiate to a ‘best’ price, which may or may not include delivery, just like it used to be! If clients want to sell rather than buy, but have no knowledge of the value of their items then we will officially value and certificate items free of charge and if interested in purchase buy at that price, or if not, then we will still value all the same and even add in market advice if needed. Our Valuations Service is unique and it is free! Valuations will be based on appraisals, experience and knowledge of the current market for similar items and will therefore be stated as an auction hammer price range, the most widely available comparison, that is, how much an object is likely to fetch in a public sale. Worthwhile items will be certificated: modern reproductions, fakes or other spurious items will be appraised as such.