A Beginner's Guide To Buying Antique Pottery And Glassware

By Gregory Stewart


There are many reasons why people love adding antiques to their homes. Whether it is the style of a particular piece or the connection to the past that they feel, they continue to buy these kinds of pieces. Smaller items such as antique pottery and glassware items continue to be incredibly popular for a number of reasons. If you are looking to add these items to your home, here are some tips on how to choose the right options for you.

Once you start looking at the different time periods you will see that when a piece was made can highly affect how heavily decorated it is. In some periods, heavily decorated pieces were much more popular. You should think about what style of room you are placing a piece in to make sure that your new addition is suitable.

You should also think about whether you want to use the piece to hold or display items, or if you simply want it to look beautiful and have no practical purpose. This may affect which kind of item you choose and which materials will work best for you. A delicate antique ceramic vase may be too fragile to hold flowers or other items. If you want it for display only, however, then it could still work well for your space.

Cleaning items can be a challenge if they are very old or if they feature surfaces that are painted rather than glazed. Keep in mind that a piece that is being used and touched often will need more extensive cleaning so the way the surface is finished will be more important than if the item is simply being kept on a shelf and handled infrequently.

Glass pieces will often have the colors built right into them. Different colors of glass will be melted together or patterns will be etched into the surface. This will make it easier to clean them without fading or damaging the finish. Ceramic pieces will often have glazes applied and may also be painted. In this case, repeated washing at high temperatures may cause a piece to fade over time.

You should look at the design of a room and the other items that are in it when deciding what style will suit you best. Many modern spaces have very clean lines. Finding antique pieces that are similarly designed may be something you should consider. That way the entire room will continue to flow nicely even after your new piece has been added to it.

If you want to find valuable items that will look well in your home and also be good investments, you may want to work with a professional art dealer or antiques dealer. They will be able to find you specific styles and items that will be beautiful and appreciate in value.

Of course, once you get a piece home, feel free to play with it and move it around your home. You may have a specific spot in mind for it but it may also help to try a piece in many different locations in order to figure out where it looks and feels the best.




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