Antiques by their very nature possess a stately beauty and a sense of history. They are decorative, exude character and charm, and increase in value with the passage of time.
Along with antiques there are vintage, collectible, and reproduction items. So what differentiates an antique from the rest?
“I’m still a believer that the true antiques should be 100 years old,” said Bill Dobson, a longtime dealer, collector, and promoter of antiques. “Generally speaking, vintage is from the 1960s to the 1990s … and then collectibles is from the ‘20s to the ’50s.”
Dobson, who is mayor of Montague Township near Smiths Falls, Ont., where he lives in a 170-year-old house, became interested in antiques in 1967 when Canadians celebrated 100 years of confederation.
“Shortly after that I started buying and selling. Over the years I’ve been both a dealer and a collector,” he said.
He also promotes and manages several antiques shows in Ontario, including the Perth Antique Show and Sale, where he was one of about 30 vendors at this year’s show on July 4 and 5. For 18 years he and his wife Linda published “The Upper Canadian,” a national antiques magazine.
To identify an item as antique requires looking it over carefully and getting its history. Antiques were built to last and were not mass-produced. Antique furniture can be made from a mixture of woods, and the veneers are usually thicker than the ones used in newer pieces. They are mostly handmade and thus show some irregularity, such as the design carving not being perfectly symmetrical.
