Authenticity

I love the real deal! I get so excited finding an authentic early antique that is all original - perfect in every way.  No, not perfect in the way most people would describe perfect.  To me, perfect means it shows it's age and imperfections.  I don't want it to be abused and weathered, but I want it to be used and cherished.  That's why I love old teddy bears who's fur was loved off or old chairs whose foot rest are worn to almost flat with a burnished surface.

I love wrought iron where its pitted with age and you can see the hammer marks.  I love cracks in the wood where it's shrinked with age.  I like when something has lived a life and it shows it's age.

I don't mean to be disrespectful to any customers, but frankly, when I hear someone is going to repaint or strip the old finish, I almost don't want to sell it to them. One time we sold a beautiful early dresser with a beautiful patina and old dovetailed drawers to a lady who after purchasing it, announced she was going to go home and sponge paint it!!! I honestly felt a twinge of nausea!   Age is beautiful and when you get that beautiful crackled paint or dark rich patina, I don't understand not loving that. Some people haven't been exposed to early, authentic antiques.  Many people just want a "look" and they haven't learned to appreciate the honest antique, the one that comes with a life, a past, a history. I love touching old wood and old hand wrought iron that gets so smooth with wear.

I love cleaning my treasures after I've brought them home - that's when you really notice all the little imperfections...Each knick, every age crack, the old repair or mend, the place where a rat chewed a door or a shelf to get the food inside. But, you also see the way the piece was constructed and lovingly made with someones hands... each tool mark, the scribe mark on the drawer, the plane marks in the wood, the old square nails. I love thinking about where something has been and how it was used.

I appreciate the same thing in people...authenticity.   I love when people are open and honest and show their "imperfections" which I think makes them "perfect."  We all come with a past and a history which makes us who we are. I think that's what I love about my business - all the interesting people we meet along the way. You don't have to be perfect, you have to be yourself. And that means we embrace the imperfections that make people endearing. Sometimes elderly couples come in the store and say things like, "How much will you give me for my husband? - He's older than most of your antiques."  I always say, "He's priceless, a one of a kind."

xo~Peggy