Jane Dottie Vintage discuss 5 characteristics of a successful antique collector

Jane Dottie Vintage
4 min readDec 30, 2021

So you would like to become an antique collector? What makes a decent antique collector, what characteristics do you need? Antique collecting or hunting is an absorbing, exciting, and fulfilling pastime, or a full-time job if you’re doing it for a living, and you wish five special attributes to become an antique collector shared by Jane Dottie Vintage -

Be Enthusiastic

The first of those characteristics is enthusiasm. With enthusiasm, you’ll be able to do anything. you’ll have the passion to encourage you to find out the maximum amount as you’ll be able to about your chosen field. the sector of antiques is teaming with subjects — since nearly everything will become an antique sooner or later — if it’s older than 100 years, by definition it’s an antique. But even objects but 100 years old are included therein genre if they’re thought to be ought to have the label. Because the scope of the topic is so vast most antique collectors concentrate on one or two aspects of it. they could collect antique clocks, or old paintings, books, period furniture, you name it, the list is endless. Or they could specialise in a specific period in time, just like the Victorian era, or the first settlers period within the mid-western region of the States. Following your particular branch of the topic requires knowledge and you will only acquire this information with enthusiasm.

Be Inquisitive

Is another antique hunting characteristic vital to your success is that the ability to be inquisitive. have you ever ever wondered what was up in your grandma’s old attic? Or what grandpa kept therein box up his bureau? One source of finding antiques is to attend house clearance sales. What’s therein pile of old papers in this cardboard box? Go along to auctions and snoop around. move into antique shops, especially ones off the beaten tracks — many other treasures have been discovered by hunters being nosey.

Be a Detective

And having an inquisitive nature isn’t much good without having its sister characteristic — that of being a detective. Once a motivating item has been found there’s usually a decent deal of detecting required to uncover its history. you will need to understand at the very least when it was made or approximately the time that it was made in. Who owned it, is it rare? Can its background be determined with any degree of certainty? Can its history be traced? The provenance of an antique piece can add tremendous value to that.

Provenance is anything to try and do with its origin or life history which is of great interest. as an example, if that recently discovered set of cutlery was once owned by Chief Executive then that cutlery would immediately achieve some notoriety — provenance — and be that rather more valuable than cutlery for whom no famous owner or user can be determined. The detective’s expertise is extensive. you would like to be able to tell the real from the fake; the restored from the first, and also the repaired from the full.

Be Knowledgeable

This expertise is just acquired through knowledge, which leads me to the subsequent attribute — the flexibility to be told. you wish to soak up the maximum amount as you’ll about your chosen field — it’d be impossible to be told all about all antiques, so specialise in one area. Choose a genre — furniture, watches, old toys, farming implements, postage stamps, manuscripts — it’s an infinite list, and study the topic with a passion. The sources of achieving this information are almost endless because of the subjects themselves. Books are a comprehensible mine of data but do visit auctions, house clearances, and antique dealers and ask questions — be inquisitive! the sole silly question is that the one you do not ask!

Be Adventurous

Finally, be an adventurer. Explore your surroundings, explode into the neighbouring town and walk around the curio shops, the old stores, the antique shops, the auction houses. come to libraries and dig up long-forgotten manuscripts and books and explore for information about local people and places. Find clues on the whereabouts of the contents of old houses, or details about the ownership of the property passed down through generations — where are they now? Take the journey — search, be an explorer within the antique world.

With your enthusiasm, your inquisitive nature, your detecting ability and your intelligence born of data you never know what you may find. Life is fun, history is thrilling, discovery satisfying, follow the antique collecting trail and revel in it.

For further information about Jane Dottie Vintage read a blog which I am sharing with you and also you can follow him on Twitter and Crunchbase -

Blog — https://sites.google.com/d/1pVz3WuWD9l8lpvycZ2CVgnvg9tFlXnNJ/p/1fHradnJ-VYOxvuJaRTXP3tlSYmvVliFT/edit

Twitter — https://twitter.com/janedottievin?lang=en

Crunchbase — https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/jane-dottie-vintage

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Jane Dottie Vintage

Jane Dottie Vintage store was founded by Amber Glaspie in 2019. The curated shop includes a lot of neutral colors and more classy, upscale fashion with name bra