Keeping Christmas Green and Out of the Red II: Antique “Sushi Sets”

In a previous post , J.R.’s Discontinued China (on Antique Row in Victoria, BC) advised that you should NEVER break up a set of China.  But what are rules for if not to be broken?

J.R.’s also advised that if you were trying to sell a set, you could expect to receive no more than 25% of the cost of replacement. While you’ve been given the honour of storing all of this family history, you’re probably in the unenviable position of trying to find the next “heir”. If you’d like to keep the China in the family, breaking up the set isn’t necessarily a bad idea.  It allows more family members to have a piece of the past, including the stories that go with the pieces.

In the past, we’ve advised people to have pieces framed, and displayed prominantly. Now we have a new idea (Thanks to Tony Duke for his creativity).

This sushi needs a home - perhaps some Royal Albert?

Antique “Sushi Sets”. Sushi is easy to make, popular, and the tools and accessories are readily available. China sets can be repurposed as Sushi sets.

A Sushi Set For Two Usually Inlcudes:

• 2 smaller plates
• 1 serving plate
• 2 bowls for miso soup
• 2 small bowls for wasabi, ginger and other condiments
• 2 pairs of chopsticks

Don’t forget that teapots, teacups and saucers can be used for green tea or saki!

Creating Great-Grandma’s Antique Sushi Set will require the addition of some Japanese chopsticks, and perhaps some coordinating modern small condiment bowls. Finishing touches might also include a bamboo rolling mat and perhaps a small cookbook (or card with a few website addresses) with instructions for making sushi.

While you’re enjoying sushi with the grandchildren – you can pass along a few family stories.

Suki desu ka?

Share Your Ideas for Keeping Christmas “Green and Out of the Red”

Eighteenth Century Holiday Traditions

I wondered why there was so much information on Victorian Christmas traditions and very little on earlier traditions. The resources I found are listed below, and are definitely worth reading.

• Society in the 18th Century had no significant middle class. The upper classes celebrated Christmas, and the effort required for the mid-winter celebrations was borne by the servent class who had no significant holiday time.
• After observing Christmas Day, the holiday season lasted the 12 days until Epiphany (January 6) and was observed with feasting, parties and hunting.

The following verse from The Virginia Almanac published by Joseph Royle in 1765 captures the festive spirit of a colonial Christmas (from the Victoriana website). Notice that there are no references to buying lots of gifts or stressing yourself out.

Christmas is come, hang on the pot,
Let spits turn round and ovens be hot;
Beef, pork, and poultry now provide,
To feast thy neighbours at this tide;
Then wash all down with good wine and beer,
And so with Mirth conclude the Year.

Resources:

• Victoriana site. This has excellent information and photos from Colonial Williamsburg. http://www.victoriana.com/christmas/williamsburgchristmas.htm
• The complete history of Christmas decorations. Really! From the 6th to the 21st Centuries. Must Read! http://www.christmasarchives.com/decorations.html

Victorian Christmas Trees

We wouldn’t leave you hanging by just telling you to get a real tree and then not tell you how to decorate it! One of the most popular eras for decoration was the Victorian – and many Victorian items still exist today.

Victorian Christmas decoration was characterised by:

• Lots of greenery. A “holly cart” would deliver sprigs and boughs to homes in town for people who couldn’t get out themselves.
• Holly and Ivy were used to decorate. These ever-green plants were both natural in England.
• Trees were generally decorated with small toys, candies, cookies, fruit and nuts, paper cutouts, popcorn strings and candles.

Later in the Victorian Era, glass ornaments were also produced. These are the kind of lovely hand-painted ornaments we often haunt the antique shops for.

Resources

• A Victorian Christmas Scrapbook. A must-read for all aspects of a Victorian Christmas: http://www.scrapalbum.com/vxhome.htm
• This site has some valuable information buried amongst the advertisements. http://www.victoriana.com/christmas/christmastrees.htm

Keeping Christmas Green: Tips on Trees!

Antiquing Insiders like to keep things real! This is especially true for Christmas trees and decorations. Those of us lucky enough to live on Vancouver Island have it easy! There’s lots of greenery to go around.

From an environmental perspective, getting real green makes more sense than getting artificial:

• Artificial trees are often made from plastic, which contains petrochemicals. More petrochemicals are required to ship these to you.
• Real trees are carbon neutral. Carbon is fixed from the atmosphere as the tree grows, and is then released as it decays or is burned. Your real tree can provide not just beauty, but heat.
• You can also consider having a potted tree that can be planted in your yard later, or getting the house-plant version: a Norfolk Island Pine.

This also goes for green swags and table centrepieces.

Using natural items creates a more authentic “antique” feel to your home, harkening back to a time when mass-produced items weren’t available.

I know this isn’t exactly news, but as the Christmas season approaches, it’s time to put some thought into how to make things a bit more “green” around the house. Don’t stress about it – Christmas should be a time of fun and relaxation. Antique Insiders know that less truly is more, especially around what has become for many, a very stressful time. Get outside and find some green. You’ll be rewarded with a more calm and peaceful atmosphere.

Keep Your Cats Away: Curiosity Cove Furnishings

Curiosity Cove in Nanaimo has something for everyone, carrying a wide variety of antiques, collectibles, and some new items.  Their inventory runs the gamut from furniture and well… pretty much everything.

Owner Gerald Gonske has been running Curiosity Cove Furnishings since 1982. As an avid “digger”, Gerald too has not only a lot of curiosity, but a wealth of knowledge about local history… and in Nanaimo, the local history runs deep.  The port of Nanaimo has seen First Nations, Asian as well as European cultural influences over its many years.

Where to find the Curiosity Cove

Curiosity Cove Furnishings is located in downtown Nanaimo – and is easily accessible for those travelling by Cruise Ship.

• Check out the Curiosity Cove @ GoAntiques.com* Curiosity Cove Furnishings Ltd., 59 Nicol Street Nanaimo, B.C. Canada V9R4S7
• Phone: 250-753-9510

Hand-dug Chinese Artifact

Orientalia Pottery Jug circa 1870

Hexagonal Pink Depression Glass Vase

The father of which Canadian songstress was an accountant for the Curiosity Cove Antique Shop in Nanaimo?

Keeping Christmas Green & Out of the Red: How Do You Do It?

Keeping ourselves environmentally and pocket-book friendly requires not so much work, but foresight and thinking ahead (notice I didn’t say “planning”!).

A friend’s family has a rule at Christmas that gifts from the adults to each other have to have come from a yard sale or 2nd hand shop. This is (arguably) fun – and it’s certainly easier on the planet and the pocket-book.

Our family tries to give home-made and/or consumable gifts. This year we even ventured into making sherry – which is a lovely Christmas gift if there’s any left… not because we drink it by the gallon, but we’ve been making Christmas cake as well, and the cake drinks it.

We also like to “bundle” gifts – so some homemade wine or sherry might arrive with a sterling silver decanter label (available at Blinking Star Antiques).  While the decanter label isn’t clutterless, it is antique and makes a charming gift.  Homemade jams will be packaged with crackers and small silver spoons.  Some chocolates in a depression-glass bowl… you get the picture.

As Christmas winds its way towards us (no rush… we’re leisurely thinking ahead), let’s start thinking about how to recapture Christmases past – by keeping the holidays green and staying out of the red.

How Do You Do It?

Leave your comments and suggestions below, send them to info@vanisleantiques.com or follow our tweets .

VanIsle’s Fab Four!

Vancouver Island is lucky to have the number of antique appraisers that it does. The following appraisers have a few things in common:

They have all been on the Canadian Antiques Roadshow!

They are all listed on the Appraisers page of www.VanIsleAntiques.com.

They will all be appearing at the upcoming “Christmas of Hope” Fundraiser for the BC Cancer Foundation.

Tony Duke

B.A. (Hons), M.A. (Hist)

A Life in Antiques

After growing up in the antiques trade in Manchester and Abersoch, North Wales, Tony immigrated to Canada in 1990.  Antiques are in his blood as his background in the trade includes work in furniture restoration and French polishing. Tony has operated antique shops in the UK and Canada, and has training as an auctioneer of art and antiques. Tony has an excellent knowledge of antiques and collectibles that allows him to provide accurate appraisals. Watch for Tony on the Canadian Antiques Roadshow.

Luis Poretta

Luis has over thirty years of experience buying, selling, and restoring antiques both in Europe and North America! He buys, sells and appraises antiques for clients both nationally and internationally. Luis’ interests stretch from antique paintings to collectible LP’s and vintage audio and he offers full art and audio restoration services.

Colin Ritchie

Colin Ritchie is the CEO and Chief Appraiser at Colin Ritchie and Company in Victoria. Colin has a solid reputation in the field, having worked at Sotheby’s Auction House in both Canada and London, England.

Colin has worked for a number of highly recognized institutional clients, including
* Royal Ontario Museum * Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art * Canadian Museum for Textiles *  Toronto Historical Board * Ontario Heritage Foundation * UBC Museum of Anthropology * Victoria Art Gallery * BC Maritime Museum *

As well, Colin has had publications in the Ottawa Journal and the Antique Collector’s Club Magazine and has taught Art and Antique courses through Sotheby’s and the Ontario Women’s Antique Collectors Association.

Richard Rosewell

Richard Rosewell is originally from Stoke-on-Trent, the pottery manufacturing centre of Britain. He emmigrated to Canada in 1971 and established his first antiques shop in Calgary in 1980. Over the years, Richard has been an antiques course instructor, a radio phone-in show host, and an appraiser for CBC’s televised program “The Canadian Antiques Roadshow”, as well as for other organizations. His areas of expertise include pottery and porcelain, glassware, furniture and silver.

In business since 1980, Richard and his wife Elizabeth are two of the most knowledgeable and respected dealers in the area, and their antique appraisal services are recognized by insurance companies for estate and probate purposes.

Find an Appraiser You Can Trust in a Snap!

If you live on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands or the Lower Mainland, you’re in luck. You can find an appraiser in one easy step: www.VanIsleAntiques.com has a page devoted to appraisers.

If you don’t live here on paradise with us lucky folk, never fear.  There are 2 easy ways to find an appraiser:

1. Sometimes you’re required to have an appraisal for legal or insurance reasons. Ask for a referral from the professional who has required the appraisal. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Would you believe that even though you may be required to produce a written appraisal, some professionals don’t know where to refer you.
2. If you’re doing your own search, and you’ve drawn a blank with the Yellow Pages and Google, call a local antique dealer.  While many antique dealers don’t provide appraisals, they will know someone who does or they can at least refer you to another dealer who may know an appraiser.

It can be a bit of an effort to find an appraiser. Once you do, you need to know that the appraiser you’ve found is reputable. Trustworthy appraisers ensure that they are completely independent of the goods they are appraising.  This means the following:

1. Ask HOW they charge: The appraiser should charge a flat rate – either per hour, or per item. If they charge a percentage of the appraised values, their values could be overinflated to increase their fee.
2. Ask if they’ll buy your items: The appraiser should not make an offer to purchase any item they have appraised. To do so means that your items could be undervalued so the appraiser can save money when buying from you.
3. All items must be physically inspected. A proper valuation cannot be performed using a photograph or description. A preliminary estimate may be made using a photograph, but a written appraisal is a legal document. Once an inspection and appraisal has been done, your appraiser becomes one of the professionals “in your corner”. An appraiser who has not physically inspected your items cannot act on your behalf in the future.

10 Reasons to Have a Professional Antique Appraisal

With thanks to Tony Duke for permission to reprint one of his blog entries. (Tony is one of the appraisers listed at www.VanIsleAntiques.com.)

10. You can drop the phrase “My antique appraiser says…” into random conversations.

Tony, Luis, Richard and Colin are all Canadian Antiques Roadshow Alumni

9. You can look like a hot-shot  whenever the Antiques Roadshow comes on – especially when your appraiser is actually one of the experts.

8. You’ll know what to put into your next garage sale.

7. Forget the Joneses – you’re the one to keep up with!

6. So you aren’t rolling the dice with your insurance coverage in the event of a disaster. Really! Check your policy.

5. To learn that you could be richer than you think.

4. To get advice on how to look after the pieces you’ve got – because a poor restoration can devalue a piece by up to 90%! No kidding.

3. So you know your affairs really are in order, and you’re positioning yourself and your family for the future.

2. Because you get an expert in your corner who has physically inspected and documented your investments.

1. Because Peace of Mind is….. Priceless.

Hallowe’en Gothic: Best Dressed Party Goths

Ya Hoo! Time to get dressed for the Par-Tay. This is the most fun part (for me, anyway) – thinking about a costume.

If you’re not doing a Gothic costume – but still want to check out those vintage shops, think “MadMen“! There are lots of vintage and 2nd hand shops that have already started their hallowe’en costume promotion. If you fall into this category – just get going!

Get Going! Vintage Clothing Shops Await.

When it comes to costumes, it’s all about expressing yourself, so while you might be informed by authentic historical trends, don’t limit yourself. Again, I look for costume pieces that either I already have, or can make or get inexpensively, and can re-use. (We always get bonus points for environmental actions in the antiques world!)

Today, I haul out my Hallowe’en box to see what’s there. And I’ll go through my closet not only to check out what I’ve got – but to weed out the things I’ll take to the Sally Ann because I know I’ll be by there in the next day or two!

Don’t Forget To Look For Tableware Items While You’re Shopping for Costume Pieces!

Early 18th Century Dress

When going for a “Gothic” Hallowe’en look, think black, think flowing, think velvet and lace, think ruffled shirts…

Think “Edgar Allan Poe”.
Think “Wuthering Heights”.
Think “Frankenstein”.

And be thankful that you have local antique, vintage and 2nd hand shops that can supply your needs. (And don’t forget those little shops where you can find leather items with skulls and spikes – I think they also carry fishnet stockings! Please don’t tell the antique dealers on the Island that I sent you to a modern store.)

P.S. Don’t forget to think…. Rocky Horror Picture Show!