Why I do this

We've had our first sale from the store at TIAS - and it was because of this blog. This is not why I'm writing this blog. The store isn't even why I'm selling collectibles... um. OK. I really, really enjoy discovering treasures at estate sales, auctions, garage sales, wherever - they truly do abound, if you're on the lookout for them. I also enjoy the research process, when I look up objects on the internet to find out more about their history, their origins, their value, and their worth. Documenting the object is a challenge - I'm not naturally a photographer, but I'm learning! I always want to be able to show an item's best attributes, as well as be able to illustrate any flaws or defects that might be present. This is a very important part of the process. (Offside - I can't believe how many poor pictures there are out there. Would you spend your money based on an out-of-focus image you'd seen on an auction website?)

I mostly enjoy finding these found treasure new homes - I kind of feel like this is some kind of adoption agency; where we sometimes recondition the found objects (by cleaning or repairing them) so that they can best find their next destination. There are many times when we'll pick something up - and it will stay with us. Being enjoyed; that's the real purpose of the object, isn't it? I think of it as a "catch and release" program, where our website or antique booth is the holding pen, until the object can be appreciated, captured again, and released, by us.

To me, it's the ultimate in recycling. These are all items that were loved in someone's home to begin with: they've gone on to be enjoyed in another owner's home, instead of being discarded and put into a landfill somewhere, to be unearthed some centuries down the road by some archaeologist. (Can you just picture what they'll do when they come across some of our waste? What will they make of our civilization?) I actually prefer handling an object, knowing that it's had a lifetime's worth of use; it's getting a second life in another's hands with me or with someone else. It's also getting a better chance at having its own particular history live on with it, with its provenance and the stories that are passed on with the object from owner to owner. It really is an oral history (that I try to document as best I can) that might otherwise go undocumented.

And so, the story goes on. From one home on to the next, it's a continuing story and a comfort to me to be a part of the process.

Today's photo - a Victorian vase of Bristol milk glass, a very heavy, opaque glass. This example has a metaled rim, possibly of copper, and a floral design that covers about half of the surface. We found this vase in a small lot at a local auction.