French Antiques
By Helen Costantino Fioratti

An Introduction to
Collecting French Furniture

Part 8
By Helen Costantino Fioratti

People are often very definite about what a piece should cost. How can they decide that? A good piece is not worth just a little more than a bad, nor is a fine piece worth just a certain amount more than a good one. Each is in a separate category and must be considered from an entirely different aspect. It is not simply a case (to paraphrase Gertrude Stein) of "A table is a table is a table."

An interesting phenomenon is that of a man who has amassed a fortune through his own efforts and who is presumably a shrewd judge of human character, but suddenly falls prey to flattery and the sales talk of smooth, obviously unreliable dealers, whose equivocal characters are apparent to all outsiders. What causes this metamorphosis in a brilliant businessman? Is it that he loves the flattery and is willing to pay for the fairy tales which he wishes to believe? I wonder how rich a man must be before he reaches this point and loses his judgment.

A humble approach to a work of art is of great value in developing a flair for judging, and real knowledge. Too often, after a relatively short experience in collecting, people feel that, armed with a smattering of information gleaned here and there, they have mastered the situation and understand what they see. The sincere student should let the piece in question speak for itself, instead of projecting his own personality into his manner of observing it.

The fact is that one must develop a sixth sense in judging antiques and, curiously enough, with patience and persistence one does. At first glance a piece is either convincing or the reverse, and the best advice I can give anyone is: If in doubt, leave it alone. An instinct or hunch is a gift which must not be ignored. But it frequently is, because it is human nature to do so when one wants to have discovered a treasure. This is certainly one way to learn, but an expensive way.