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 Antique
furniture and antiques in general get more and more popular every day in Europe
as well as in America. It is very desired by those who use this type of
furniture to highlight their individuality and by those who wish to design their
own old-fashioned interior and use the antiques for it.
For
some collecting old and ancient pieces of interior is simply a way of
continuing family traditions and a way of recreating family history, for others
it is a way to establish themselves as a member of a higher class of society.
Modern
furniture is very much affected by fashion and style changes, just like clothes
and accessories, but fashion has no power over real antiques that the older
they get the more desirable and expensive they become. It is because antique
furniture keeps the memory of nothing but people in itself telling stories of
all of its owners and allowing their new ones to be a part of history and feel
the wind of times.
The
process of collecting the antiques is a very long and difficult one to carry
out, because if one decides to create a unique interior using specific items of
antique furniture it is simply impossible, no matter the circumstances, to
collect and buy all of the pieces at one time and making the interior come true
may take years to happen.
Even
from the point of using antiques as a way to launch the capital into something,
there's never a right or wrong way. It all depends on the condition of the
furniture, its age, furniture's creator, its originality, the way it left
itself in the history books. One should also remember that restoration works
can increase the price of an item for a lot.
In
1990 the most expensive piece of furniture ever seen was an antique cabinet
from count's Badminton mansion. It was bought by Prince Beaufort the Third. The
cabinet was made in 1726 at Opificcio delle pietre dure in Florence. Made from
ebony, decorated with luxurious incrustations and wooden sculptures, bronze,
wonderful paintings, the cabinet became a symbol of antique furniture,
sculpture and art. In 1990 the cabinet was sold at London's Christie's auction
house for unbelievably high price (according to those times) - 15 million 178
thousand dollars. The buyer was Barbara Piasecka Johnson. Later on in December
2004 the «Badminton cabinet» was sold at Christie's auction house for 27
million 463 thousand 250 euro. It was sold to Wien museum.
That
same year an armchair of the eighteenth century, made by Hertault in 1755,
which was owned by count d'Artois was put on the auction for 600 thousand euro
and was eventually sold for 5 million 815 thousand 250 euro. Of course the
previous owners got their piece off the deal.
Even
though antiques are fairly popular, there were none sold at the first session
of Sotheby's auction house at 24 of March, 2008 which took place in Charpentier
Galerie, Paris, France. There were a lot of unique and outstanding items from
the point of the experts' view. Such were, for example, a couple of bookshelves
from Louis XIV private library. The antique bookshelves were decorated with mosaic
and one can easily see a «Sageot» signature that was used by famous furniture
crafter - Nicola Sageot. Another item that was not sold was an outstanding game
table from the times of Louis XVI (1782), decorated with wooden mosaic made
from the lemon tree.
According
to all that's been said, it is very hard to predict what prices for antiques
will be.
By
the way, there is a lot of old furniture that is sold at antique stores, not
only auction houses. Those include a lot of rare and unique items. A rookie
collector can find great help in such stores from the managers and the
furniture is usually sold with lots of attributes. Later, such stores can find
specific items you might want to buy.
A
lot of famous persons are known for their passion for antiques. Not so long ago
Hollywood star Brad Pitt bought marvelous furniture set for his girlfriend
Angelina Jolie to use it in their newly bought mansion in France. It's been
said that some items cost around half of a million dollars each. Elizabeth
Taylor, another Hollywood celebrity tries to use antiques not only in her
houses but also in her yachts. By the way, Brad Pitt bought such a yacht in
2004 previously owned by Elizabeth and presented it to Jennifer Aniston.
Of
course, there is no better gift than old and expensive things. Antique
furniture is very appealing in that aspect. It is beautiful, unique, it has a
sense of old times in it and such furniture can turn an ordinary house into
sophisticated and luxurious once it's there.
Lana
Plotnikova
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