Lyle: 1,001 More Antiques Worth a Fortune
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
To highlight the lottery-winning prices that collectibles can demand these days, Tony Curtis has revised 1001 Antiques Worth a Fortune nine years after its first publication.
Curtis, an antiques dealer and broadcaster, adopts the traditional Lyle Antiques Guides format: objects are listed alphabetically with illustrations, brief histories, and identifying characteristics, as well as top auction prices. This emphasis on monetary value reveals the true intention of the book: to inspire amateurs to root about in attics and scour flea markets in the hope of finding a bargain tchotchke that turns out to be worth a fortune. One word of caution, however: these valuations are somewhat high, even for rare pickings. Curtis lists auction houses that have achieved sales such as $47,438 for an original King Kong poster and $135,000 for a delft tankard, but sky-high prices are dependent on condition, timing, and demand. They will not necessarily be repeated.
Despite this, Curtis lists a regular Aladdin's cave of unlikely valuables--from advertising signs to Titanic memorabilia to wastepaper baskets that will thrill amateur collectors of the unusual. He also pays respect to more serious furnishings, including 18th- and 19th-century Shaker and Macintosh chairs and Tiffany lamps; it is this mixture of traditional and bizarre that is the book's greatest strength. It caters to all tastes and is carefully researched, offering a reference book that is accessible and informative. This book will appeal to the Antiques Roadshow junkie and the dealer/collector alike. It is full of curiosities that will amuse and inspire--who can resist checking that long-unopened trunk of junk? After all, "It could happen to you!" --Karen Homer
Lyle: 1,001 More Antiques Worth a Fortune,Tony Curtis,Perigee Books,0399525076,Antiques,Antiques & Collectibles,Antiques / Collectibles,Antiques/Collectibles,Catalogs,Reference - General
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