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News & Events Mid-America News Show Calendar State Event Calendars Regular Features The Antique Detective Antique Detective Q&A Common Sense Antiques Refurnished Thoughts Traveling with Ken Good Eye Books for Collectors Directories & Classifieds The Finder: Unique Shops Lodgings Directory Museum Directory Aviation Museums Wineries in the Heartland Classifieds Web Links Archived Features Antiquing in Colorado Dealer Profile Archive Editor's Notebook Heirloom Recipes Helpful Hints for Collectors Is This An Antique? Past Cover Features Reflecting History 2005 Best Of Winners *Destinations 2006*	Discover Mid-America — June 2005 Goth? No, it is Gothic! Nowadays, we hear the young people say that some student is “the one who dresses and thinks he's a cool ‘Goth.’” I had to wonder what in the world my granddaughter meant. For the rest of us not in the know, it is someone who wears black nail polish, uses black eye shadow and dresses in long, swingy black clothing. To some this is quite uncool, to others it is “if they like it, then let them dress like that.” Little might these young people know that there once was a real Gothic style from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. It was so well received that there was even a revival in the early 1800s, then again in the 1850s. Research tells that the earliest Gothic style was hard for even the saints to endure. The points, the sharp carvings, the protrusions of parts of the furniture were punishing to the person using it. High pointed arches, circular motifs, symmetrical trefoils, Lozenge-shaped articulations and very artsy curls and angles usually characterize Gothic. The decorator magazines are occasionally showing an accent piece here and there that is in the Gothic style. What was interesting in my research was that one of the most popular Gothic-style items in the 1850s was the “whatnot.” Knowing that the Victorian era was encompassed in this time period, it figures that the whatnot would be the perfect place for the many bibelots and "sit arounds" that the Victorians so loved. One of the references stated, “The whatnot by mid-century became an almost indispensable convenience as a corner stand within the Gothic home.” At one flea market about twenty years ago there was a fellow selling an odd assortment of chairs. Among them was a Gothic-style chair that must have come from a church. I thought it had a certain look that would appeal to a decorator, but when my husband sat in it he remarked that no man would let it into his home as it was so very uncomfortable. My guess is that even after several centuries from the inception, Gothic has never gotten into the comfortable stage. Using pillows would take away from the elements that one would be trying to show off. There is not much chance that Gothic reproductions will be made for our markets. The carvings would be quite labor intensive, making the profit margin for the vendors much smaller. So if this style has appeal, it is quite possible that the piece you find is an antique. But never take that for granted — study, look at the undersides, the wood and the finish. About twenty-five years ago, Welsh cupboards/Welsh dressers became very popular for the country look that had just started. In Houston, there was an importer that had several really nicely done dressers that had great eye appeal. But as we started to go over the ones we liked, we would find that the wax that was giving the wood the brown look did not reach into the corners. These were "old" all right, the wood was old but the (new) construction was for the American market. The caution then is to always look at the corners, the undersides of the drawers, look for plywood (newer), look for pulls that have been replaced, and corners without patina. Norma Crews is a native Texan, graduate of Texas Tech, former teacher and rancher, mother of three grown sons and six grandchildren, and raised in South Texas on a ranch as a member of two pioneer families. Upon retiring from teaching and ranching, she and her husband James became pickers for large Texas shops, before branching into doing shows for a number of years in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. She currently resides in Neosho, MO. > Is This An Antique? Archive — past columns	{rightside ad cell}
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Is This An Antique?
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2005 Best Of Winners
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Discover Mid-America — June 2005

Goth? No, it is Gothic!

Nowadays, we hear the young people say that some student is “the one who dresses and thinks he's a cool ‘Goth.’” I had to wonder what in the world my granddaughter meant. For the rest of us not in the know, it is someone who wears black nail polish, uses black eye shadow and dresses in long, swingy black clothing. To some this is quite uncool, to others it is “if they like it, then let them dress like that.”

Little might these young people know that there once was a real Gothic style from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. It was so well received that there was even a revival in the early 1800s, then again in the 1850s. Research tells that the earliest Gothic style was hard for even the saints to endure. The points, the sharp carvings, the protrusions of parts of the furniture were punishing to the person using it.

High pointed arches, circular motifs, symmetrical trefoils, Lozenge-shaped articulations and very artsy curls and angles usually characterize Gothic. The decorator magazines are occasionally showing an accent piece here and there that is in the Gothic style.

What was interesting in my research was that one of the most popular Gothic-style items in the 1850s was the “whatnot.” Knowing that the Victorian era was encompassed in this time period, it figures that the whatnot would be the perfect place for the many bibelots and "sit arounds" that the Victorians so loved. One of the references stated, “The whatnot by mid-century became an almost indispensable convenience as a corner stand within the Gothic home.”

At one flea market about twenty years ago there was a fellow selling an odd assortment of chairs. Among them was a Gothic-style chair that must have come from a church. I thought it had a certain look that would appeal to a decorator, but when my husband sat in it he remarked that no man would let it into his home as it was so very uncomfortable.

My guess is that even after several centuries from the inception, Gothic has never gotten into the comfortable stage. Using pillows would take away from the elements that one would be trying to show off.

There is not much chance that Gothic reproductions will be made for our markets. The carvings would be quite labor intensive, making the profit margin for the vendors much smaller. So if this style has appeal, it is quite possible that the piece you find is an antique. But never take that for granted — study, look at the undersides, the wood and the finish.

About twenty-five years ago, Welsh cupboards/Welsh dressers became very popular for the country look that had just started. In Houston, there was an importer that had several really nicely done dressers that had great eye appeal. But as we started to go over the ones we liked, we would find that the wax that was giving the wood the brown look did not reach into the corners. These were "old" all right, the wood was old but the (new) construction was for the American market. The caution then is to always look at the corners, the undersides of the drawers, look for plywood (newer), look for pulls that have been replaced, and corners without patina.

Norma Crews is a native Texan, graduate of Texas Tech, former teacher and rancher, mother of three grown sons and six grandchildren, and raised in South Texas on a ranch as a member of two pioneer families.

Upon retiring from teaching and ranching, she and her husband James became pickers for large Texas shops, before branching into doing shows for a number of years in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. She currently resides in Neosho, MO.

> Is This An Antique? Archive — past columns

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