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New Books for Collectors
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June 2006
Quilts Sold: A Guide to
Heirloom and Antique Quilts
by David and Kathy Prochnow
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
Quilts Sold provides a refreshing new account of vintage quilts and their 21st century marketing at the nation’s leading auction houses. In Quilts Sold, A Guide to Heirloom and Antique Quilts by David and Kathy Prochnow, the reader rubs shoulders with the big names in auctions, among them Butterfield’s. Christie’s, James D. Julia Inc., Marcus Brothers Textiles, Skinner Inc. and Sloan’s. Antique quilts that were once simply adored are now big business according to the authors.
“Nowhere is the proclamation more readily apparent that at the major auction houses of the United States. From New York to San Francisco, America’s auctioneers are selling antique quilts at a fever pitch. Similarly, investors are lining up to pay top-dollar for these historically significant quilts.”
They add, ”The ability to attract the attention of serious buyers signals the ascension of the antique quilt to the status of important Americana.”
However, the husband and wife team warns there is much more in dealing in treasured quilts today. “Knowing the major players in today’s estate sale scene is only half the contest,” according to the Prochnows. “You must also know how to play the game.”
That game, among other things, includes “learning to accurately judge the condition of an antique quilt and preparing yourself with a credible history of past and present quilt valuations at auction.”
The volume includes chapters on evaluating antique quilts, a short history of making patterned fabric, caring for historical textiles, modern reproductions and tons of prices realized at auction. Authors Dave and Kathy Prochnow have written popular nonfiction and how-to books on topics ranging from technology to fine furniture building. Kathy is a former top columnist for Traditional Quilter magazine.
Quilts Sold is illustrated with 135 color photos, and also includes five tables, glossary and index. Based on 15 years of research at auction and estate sales, the book, with 152 pages, is $24.95 plus shipping from Pelican Publishing Company, 100 Burmaster Street, Gretna, LA 70053.
Antique Trader Bottles:
Identification and Price Guide
by Michael Polak
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
The latest volume of Antique Trader Bottles: Identification and Price Guide provides sparkling coverage of more than 50 different categories from Avon to antique whiskey. This is the fifth edition of the popular book.
Coverage is extensive, covering both the 19th and 20th centuries and providing a wide range of bottle titles including barber, beer, medicine, milk, soda and miniature bottles. New to this particular edition are patriotic bottles, and perfume and cologne bottles. Overall this nifty volume includes more than 600 color photographs in addition to a generous offering of more than 5,000 listings and current prices.
The book is divided into two general divisions for the collector including “old‚” pre-1900 bottle types and “new” post-1900 bottle types. Covered within the “old” section are bitters, cobalt blue medicine bottles, flasks, patriotic bottles, pattern-molded bottles, whiskey and even poison bottles. The book’s “new” section includes Ezra Brooks, J. W. Dant, Old Fitzgerald, soda bottles with applied color labels, plus both violin and banjo bottles.
Antique Trader Bottles also provides listings of trademarks, bottle clubs, bottle dealers, auctions companies and a full glossary. “Interest in bottle collecting continues to grow with new bottle clubs continuing to form throughout the United States and Europe,” notes author Michael Polak. “More and more collectors are spending their free time digging though old dumps and foraging through old ghost towns, digging out old outhouses, exploring abandoned mine shafts, and searching out their favorite bottle or antique show, or swap meet, flea market or garage sale.”
Polak has collected more than 3,000 bottles since entering the hobby more than 30 years ago. The author is a regular contributor to a variety of antique publications, and is also the author of Warman’s Bottles Field Guide. Antique Trader Bottles by Michael Polak, with 552 pages, is $19.99 plus shipping from KP Books, 1-800-258-0929.
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