OK, here I am. Dragged yet again into the new millennium. Reluctant. Slightly intimidated and yet just plucky enough to start this blog writing about antique tiles. Who else cares remains to be seen.
I was scheduled to present a seminar on tiles in Boston. As I rolled my computer into the room to get the PowerPoint set up, I bump into my sister. "What are you doing here? I asked.
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| Bold design, fab colors. 6" tile. |
"I saw the article that said you were the featured speaker and I thought I should come so that there was at least somebody in the audience!"
Even my sister, who obviously loves and supports me, thinks it's slightly whackadoodle that I love tiles and can't imagine anyone else feeling the same way.
My copier died. When I called the company for tech support the auto voice said,"This has reached the end of life and we no longer support this machine." Whew, was my copier an antique and a dead one at that?
So is everything that is old an antique? How old does something have to be to be an antique? What is an antique tile?
The rule of thumb used to be that something was at least 100 years old to be an antique. This is still true, at least as far as US customs is concerned, for items imported duty free. But for the rest of us "antique" has become less time rigid and can (and does) refer to something older than us by either a little or a lot.
Tiles were made from BC. Hard baked mud that has proved very durable. The antique tiles that I love are, by the made in BC scale, "new" as they were made between about 1880 and 1920. I have had tiles that were made as recently as 1950, 1970 and even 1980 but most stay in the 1880-1920s range.
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| Selection of tiles from recent Hyannis, MA sale |
The 1880's was primarily the time when tiles evolved from being entirely hand made to machine mass production. The mass production part means that there are still examples around because there were so many produced and that makes them still affordable. 100 years old makes them old enough for me and maybe for you, too.
Just a taste of future postings:
- using
- history
- styles
- artists
- makers
- why buy?
- Cost
- finding them
- old vs.new
- Please let me know your ideas.
http://www.antiquearticles.com/
Good Luck with this venture Wendy.
ReplyDeleteHere are at least two who care.
Ian & Chris