ABC (Adams-Byrd Collection) Guide to Finding Fine, Funky & Fantastic Treasures
Posted by The Proprietor (Your Personal Curator) on
Trash or Treasure?
The ABC (Adams-Byrd Collection) blog will be your guide to exploring the wonderful world of "stuff". It will inform, educate & entertain. It will give you new perspectives. It will reveal many things about this business that will help you maneuver through the overwhelming choices in your hunt for wonderful "things".
The never ending search for interesting, appealing and great finds requires the development of a trained, informed and discerning eye. The combination of a "good eye" and great taste will take you far in your acquisition adventures!
In future posts I will give many helpful hints and strategies. I want everyone (from beginners to more experienced collectors) to enjoy successful "hunts" in which they strike gold. As you continue your search for genuine & authentic treasures (of any age, style & price range), it is certainly possible to find wonderful things everywhere -- online, at flea markets, at garage/yard/moving sales, at estate sales, at auction houses and in shops and galleries of all types.
Yes, do buy things that delight you --- but try to spend your money on splendid "real" things and not poor quality (& ultimately worthless) cheap copies. Authenticity is a major goal in this quest. By looking, learning, researching and asking (those with more expertise), you can become a better sleuth and detective in the overflowing world of antique, vintage, and newer "material possessions".
Often, the real and authentic items are even less expensive than the copies (that flood the internet as well as brick & mortar stores). So often there is no financial reason to buy, for example, the imported copy of mid-century dinnerware when you can purchase the "real" thing at the same price or less!
Sometimes roadblocks and brick walls interfere with your acquisition adventures. Online, when the search results are sometimes manipulated (often items listed on a venue or site are not even being shown to shoppers in the search results), you need to figure out how to effectively continue your treasure hunt on that site -- or elsewhere. On this blog we will provide creative solutions to all kinds of roadblocks and challenges in your quest for special pieces that will bring joy to your life and surroundings.
I hope to be your guide to new explorations of the fine, the fun and the funky. Many of my interesting (& sometimes almost unbelievable) adventures as the proprietor of a well respected local business/institution --- will one day probably be the source material for books and screenplays. In the meantime you might get to hear snippets from mesmerizing true stories with amazing casts of characters.
But for now, you can be the beneficiary of my half a century (+) of experience in the world of the fine and decorative arts. My combined experiences as an artist, a fine craftsman, an academic, a scholar, a lecturer, and as a longtime art & antiques dealer give me a unique and comprehensive background and perspective. My "good eye" was well developed even before years of training and experience in universities, museums, historic sites and art & antiques galleries and shops.
I am eager to share my perspective, my knowledge and my enthusiasm with all of you. While I hope to educate and elucidate, I also expect to learn a lot from my readers. I look forward to this new adventure!