Are you like me a sucker for everything vintage? Do you love putting all sorts of blast-from-the-past mementos and memorabilia in your home, office, or business? If you say yes, then welcome to my world!
Well, here's a little revelation: I go absolutely nuts trying to scour the Internet and nearby antique shops hoping to find some interesting vintage and antique pieces for my crib. In fact, I even spend hours on the web looking for that perfect piece.
In the crystal and glass world a compote is usually referred to as a serving dish that was made to serve the culinary dish called compote. This culinary dish originates before the 18th century in France and it basically consist of a mixture of fruits with sugar syrup combined with items like nuts, cinnamon sticks, cloves and other items of the sort.
Compote Dishes are usually found made of glass but can be made of porcelain and metal as well. Compotes usually have a build that features a footed base with a stem that leads up to a bowl.
The compote isn’t an overly popular food choice in America today, so what makes it’s serving dish counterpart so collectible? For many, many decades, high end and collectible glass companies have made their variations of compotes in many, many different patterns. Companies like Fenton, Indiana Glass, Westmoreland Glass, Anchor Hocking, Smith Glass, Colony and many more have put their gorgeous spin on compo
Collecting can be a great hobby, as well as a lucrative investment. People collect all kinds of things including advertising items, stamps, coins, dolls, teddy bears, art glass, art pottery, figurines, antiques, vintage items and memorabilia. Some collect for the sheer pleasure it gives them, while others hope to increase their net worth over time. For instance, anything antique or vintage and items that are no longer circulated like coins and stamps can become quite valuable over time, especially rare ones. As the law of supply and demand states, the rarer an item is the higher the value rises. The value of these collector’s items will also largely depend on their condition; many items that have never been out of the package or box are usually worth more than items that have been used or unpacked.
There are few name brands that stand out above the rest and have created a following among collectors that is extra special. Brand names like Boyds Bears, Coca Cola (
I just returned from my weekly expedition of visiting antique malls. Let me tell you, one really should know the difference between antiques, vintage items, and collectables before purchasing, and it’s really not that hard.
If you are specifically looking for antiques, the rule of thumb is, items made 100 years ago or longer. Why 100 years? That is the time in history when most items stopped being made by hand and started being massed produced.
According to Michael Flanigan, an American furniture expert on the PBS Antiques Road Show most antique dealers abide by the 100 year rule.
The U.S. Customs Office, defines an antique using the Tariff Act of 1930, which states that antiques are defined as items, (except rugs and carpets made after the 1700’s) made before the 1830’s. Antiques are valued by their condition, and when they were made.
So many people today are displaying their items as antique, when in reality they are v
