New Book Teaches Collecting Of American Paintings

Any collector or dealer who wants to seriously handle American paintings will definitely benefit from spending time with Collecting American Paintings, by A. Everette James Jr. Dr. James, a long-time collector himself, provides in-depth information about the way one can go about amassing a valuable, interesting and meaningful collection.

The book begins with a vocabulary lesson. This first short chapter, which the author calls “Art Speak,” provides definitions for words that are used frequently in the art world. Some of these words will be familiar ones - such as sketch; others may be vaguely familiar - such as foxing (brown spots that appear on paper due to dampness); and others may be totally new - such as Catalogue Raisonne (a complete description of an artist’s work.)

Chapters on building a collection and the role of investing in paintings follow; and you’ll learn about using the tools of the trade, including a black light, a magnifying glass, a tape measure, a multi-purpose knife and a good reference book. These should be with you whenever you’re out shopping.

Authenticity is the major determinant of value of any painting. In other words, the painting should be done by the person that is said to have done it. This isn’t an easy task, especially for a novice. The author includes helpful advice on establishing authenticity.

This is not a casual “picture book,” although it is amply illustrated with photographs of wonderful paintings. It is for the serious collector. In addition to the topics mentioned above, there are many more issues discussed, from determ­ ining condition by digital radiography to color perception. There are also sections on specific regional schools of art, as well as types of art such as portraiture and still lifes.

Collecting American Paintings, by A. Everette James Jr. is a 2006 publication of Collector Books. While specific paintings are not valued, a general price guide is included which gives the range of values for the work of about 250 American artists.

The book sells for $29.95. Check your local bookseller or visit Collector Books online at www.collectorbooks.­ com.

Donna Miller

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Vintage Linens Offer Variety Of Collecting Choices

There is continuing interest in vintage linens, and this interest can take the collector in a variety of directions.

Some people prefer small handkerchiefs; others are satisfied with nothing smaller than a bedspread.

Some collectors want only one-of-a-kind handmade pieces. Others are perfectly satisfied with beautifully made factory items.

Antique Linens, from the kitchen to the boudoir, by Marsha Manchester (Schiffer Publishing) is an excellent reference book dealing with a vast variety of items that fit the “linens” category.

The antimacassars - those three-piece sets originally used to protect upholstered chair backs and arms from macassar hair oil - now work well on a dresser or buffet.

Bird cage covers were used at night to cover the cages. Packages to assemble at home, complete with fabric, stamped embroidery designs, embroidery floss and directions, were available from several ladies’ magazines.

Doilies were used under everything, to protect the furniture. Some are tiny; others are as much as 18 inches in diameter. A doily press was a matched set of two fabric covered round pieces that doilies fit inside when they were not in use. The parts were usually tied together with a ribbon.

Everything from specialty items such as lingerie envelopes, napkin wraps,  shade pulls, tea cozies to the more expected items such as napkins, towels and tablecloths are covered in Manchester’s book.

Also from Schiffer Publishing is Collecting Household Linens, by Frances Johnson.

This book features chapters on afghans, bedspreads curtains and shade pulls, decorator pillows, doilies, centerpieces and napkins and napkin rings.

It also contains a special section on altar cloths. While not what one would consider a household item, they were often made at home to be used in the church by whomever was decorating the altar. There was no designated size and shape, but each lady whose turn it was to decorate the altar that week would bring her own cloth. It would be taken home at the end of Sunday services, to be freshly washed and ironed, to be ready for the next time the lady had her turn at decorating.

An interesting feature of the book is the chapter on uses for damaged linens. These can almost always be purchased inexpensively. Some ideas for making lampshades, window valances and dollhouse furnishings are suggested.

A third Schiffer publication, 20th Century Linens and Lace, by Elizabeth Scofield and Peggy Zalamea, is a guide to the identification and care of household linens.

The authors use the term “household linen” to refer to items made for use in the house that are either woven out of silk, linen, cotton or a combination of these fibers which may be embroidered or trimmed with lace of items made exclusively out of lace using silk, linen or cotton thread.

Most of the pieces shown are somewhat “fancier” than those detailed in the other two books, although a few fun items are included, such as some risque embroidered cocktail napkins.

This book contains detailed chapters on tape laces such as Battenberg, bobbin lace, machine laces, crochet, cutwork, needle lace, embroidery, and tatting.

All three books contain value guides. They are available from Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Rd., Atglen, PA 19310 or online at www.schifferbooks.com. Antique Linens from the kitchen to the boudoir (hardback) is priced at $39.95; Collecting Household Linens (softback) at $29.95; and 20th Century Linens and Lace (hardback) at $39.95.

Donna Miller

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Without Marbles, There Would Be No Circle In The Dirt

Some collectibles are faddish. Interest in them will peak for a few months or a few years, and then fade from collector interest. Sometimes this is cyclical, and interest will reappear a few years later; other times it never does resurface.

Other collectibles seem to be enduring. They have a steady collector base that just goes on and on. One of these is marbles.  Everett Grist's Big Book of Marbles, recently released in its third edition, will be of interest to marble collectors, both novices who can learn some of the basics of marble collecting from it, and seasoned collectors, who can use it to keep in touch with the latest activity in marble collecting.

Marbles may be the oldest plaything known. Crude chipped stone ones have been found in Stone Age Excavations. Clay marbles have been found in Egyptian excavations; and marbles made of Egyptian clay have been found as far away as Greece, indicating there was a certain amount of trade in them. Porcelain marbles appear to have been made in the United States since before the Revolutionary War, made by German immigrants.

Most of those marbles, existing in very few numbers, are museum items. Most of today's marble collectors are looking for marbles made in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Marbles may be ceramic, from a soft clay fired at low temperatures and plain colored to lovely porcelain marbles with colored designs; they may be made of glass, and these are certainly the most numerous kind; they may be of stone, such as agates, carnelians, marble, onyx and tiger-eye; and metal "Steelies."

One of the most popular manufacturers of marbles with collectors is the Akro Agate company. It was founded in 1911, and for its first four years, bought marbles from another company, repackaged them, and sold them under its own label. In 1915, the company began producing its own marbles. They provided the market with mass-produced multi-colored "corkscrews" (two or more colors that twist in a spiral from pole to pole,)  ox-bloods, (brick-colored, streaked with black, gray or white,) moss agates and nine colors of slags. Akro Agate halted production in 1951. By that time, it had added a number of other colors and combinations of colors to its marble lines.

The Big Book of Marbles includes a listing, with dates and types of marbles, of most of the United States marble producers, in addition to Akro Agate.

The book pictures hundreds of marbles, giving description, size and value of each. They have interesting names - onionskin, clambroth, and some wonderful peppermints, to name a few.

There is an extensive section on machine-made marbles, and several chapters on "go-withs," such as boxes and bags.

The Big Book of Marbles, third edition, is a 2006 Collector Books publication. It sells for $24.95. Check with your local bookseller or see the online catalog, www.collectorbooks.com.

Donna Miller

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