Saturday, October 16, 2004
Dear Yahoo!:
How old must an item be before it can called an antique?
MicheleAlliance, Ohio
Dear Michele:
Beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder, and the label of "antique" is similarly subjective.
One guideline states true antiques must be at least 100 years old. This comes from a 1930 U.S. tariff act that defined antiques as works of art and ornamental objects produced before 1830. Why that particular year? That was when machine production became common. Objects made before 1830 were handcrafted.
Today, some mass-produced items are valued as antiques. An object's material and design can mean as much as the manufacturing method or date. While purists consider anything less than a century old to be merely a collectible, some collectibles are just as valuable as antiques. For example, many original Tiffany lamps, while not technically antiques, are still very valuable. And items like movie and sports memorabilia are valuable because of their associations and rarity, rather than their age.
How old must an item be before it can called an antique?
MicheleAlliance, Ohio
Dear Michele:
Beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder, and the label of "antique" is similarly subjective.
One guideline states true antiques must be at least 100 years old. This comes from a 1930 U.S. tariff act that defined antiques as works of art and ornamental objects produced before 1830. Why that particular year? That was when machine production became common. Objects made before 1830 were handcrafted.
Today, some mass-produced items are valued as antiques. An object's material and design can mean as much as the manufacturing method or date. While purists consider anything less than a century old to be merely a collectible, some collectibles are just as valuable as antiques. For example, many original Tiffany lamps, while not technically antiques, are still very valuable. And items like movie and sports memorabilia are valuable because of their associations and rarity, rather than their age.
