Square Grand Pianos Sought Again After Century Out of Favor
Danielle Arnet
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1939 Detective Comics No. 27
Courtesy of www.ha.com
1939 Detective Comics No. 27 sold for $657,250 at Heritage Auction Galleries this summer
Q: I read your column about the lack of buying these days. I just never thought of collecting as a two way street! My question is about buying: How do I find an antique square grand piano?
A: For sure, collecting is a two-way street. First, people buy. Somewhere down the line, the owner (or heirs) decides to sell. New to the market, the item attracts a buyer. It's an endless circle, and what keeps the market alive.
Many readers may not know that during the 19th century, more square grand pianos sold in America than uprights or classic grands. Massive and stolid, the elaborate instruments fit Victorian aesthetics. They reached a height of popularity around the 1880s and 1890s.
By 1900, consumers rejected Victorian fussiness and many handsome square grands were cut into firewood or discarded. Today, the old relics are again fashionable.
Most refurbished versions sell around
I recommend doing a
Q: What can you tell me about these vases? My mother and grandmother think they are Meissen.
A: When vases with large openings have covers, they are called urns. The urn pair seen in images appears to be porcelain. They are ornate, but there is no indication of size.
Bottom marks with crossed lines and check marks certainly look like Meissen. But what's up with that W at the base and the top line that caps the vertical ones?
I think the urns are fakes, created to look like Dresden or French porcelains and given an artistic mark. Some "antique" porcelains are excellent fakes. Date is indeterminate, but they look newer rather than old.
Granted, I cannot inspect them first-hand. To be sure, I recommend paying an appraiser to take a look. Perhaps a local seller of decorative antique porcelains will provide a verbal estimate for less.
A clock image also sent shows a
Q: How do I sell a 1984 issue of
A: If you were a Beatles collector, would you want something from the time of an event, or a memento marking an anniversary of the event? Of course. Anniversaries lack the punch of the real thing.
The Beatles 1984 issue sells for under
Q: How can we learn about our sheet of 1948 Olympic stamps? These aren't postage stamps. They were issued by the
A: Just about anything related to the Olympics is collectible. Items sanctioned by the Committee have most value. Must-haves go way beyond pins. In recent years, torches have become the memorabilia to have.
The 1948 summer games were in
Little info remains about official, non-postage stamps. But we found several strips on
AUCTION ACTION: The 1939 Detective Comics No. 27 that sold for
COLLECTOR QUIZ
Question: The Sunbeam Mixmaster revolutionized home cooking. When did it debut?
a. 1934
b. 1929
c. 1927
d. 1931
Bonus points if you can name the No. 1 caveat when buying a small vintage kitchen appliance today.
Answer: The Mixmaster was introduced in 1931. When buying, be sure all parts are included and that they are original to the machine. No switched beaters and/or bowls, etc. Source: "Kitchen and Home Collectibles: 30s, 40s, 50s and Beyond" by
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(c) 2010 Danielle Arnet