Collecting Antique Glass

Beginners are easily bewildered by different prices asked for essentially similar pieces of glass, for the price is determined as much by where you shop as what you buy. With patience and plenty of luck, bargains can be found anywhere, but in order to obtain specific types of glass, most collectors realize they have to go to specialists.

It is nice to think that you can find interesting glass at car boot sales or garage sales, but usually someone has got there first. Initially at a low price, the piece may have passed through an antiques mall or general antiques fair or two before arriving with the specialist, a profit added at every stage. For this reason it is important to ‘shop around’ and compare prices in order to work out what you should be paying. Some dealers do work on much greater margins than others, and you will always be expected to pay more in the comfortable and convenient surroundings of a selected fair or high street gallery.

Starting To Collect Antique Glass

This book is a valuable starting point for enthusiasts. It tells you where to hunt for bargains and how to add rarities to a growing collection. An important section offers tips on what is available within any price range. It is filled with invaluable advice. How do you spot repairs or re-polishing? How can you avoid the proliferation of fakes while you learn to distinguish fine glass from ordinary? John Sandon’s sensible guidance will prevent many costly mistakes. This book tells the whole story of glass, from its discovery in ancient Egypt right through to the fascinating world of the twentieth century and post-war design. The carefully chosen illustrations, all in color, provide stunning contrasts between fine old Venetian and Art Nouveau masterpieces and quite ordinary decanters and Victorian molded bottles.

If you have time to hunt around the bargain shops and flea markets then that’s fine – good luck will sometimes come your way. Beyond this, once you start to specialize, the world of auctions and top dealers’ exhibitions will beckon and you will need to pay rather more for what you want. It may not be quite as much fun to discover a good piece of glass in a smart antiques shop as in a box of bric-a-brac, but the excitement of the hunt comes with every purchase as your collection grows.

Collections can be small or large, and enormously varied, so it is always important to be focused. It is all too easy to be tempted and to buy any glass you like the look of, and then end up with a meaningless accumulation. A worthwhile collection needs a theme.

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