An antique dealer journey: When France meets Sweden...

...You get the Swedish flag!

New, old year and a Martian

Well while the new one is approaching eager to show himself, the old one is packing his stuff getting ready to leave.

How will the new one be?
I don t know, i hope healthy, generous, funny and peaceful all at the same time. And i hope that and much more to every soul on the earth.

So let s hope the starting of a new era in those funny hat priest calendar is the beginning of a new great intelligent era.
An age where we don t have to be ashamed (like we should be now) if an extraterrestrial little green man would open the door of his new cool space vehicle and ask us:
" What the hell are you doing to yourself, the hole world and all the humane races??"
he would also add "Assholes", and would leave disapointed this magnificent planet.

So let s all do something at least a little bit better this 2013

Happy new year world
Happy new year citizens of it

Luca

Yes it s a new camera!

The result is very very good, and i bought the promise camera, so i guess the camera-omen was a positive one.
Only thing is the fact that i sold about 90% to other dealers.
Is that scary at an antique show open to public?

Yes.

I´m use to sell to dealers, that is what i want to do.
But with right weather, pieces that should also go to private, public flowing in, a not terrible economical situation in Sweden, it s a strange thing seeing people roaming around like hypnotized by some obscure force.
I m happy i m not one that pointed all my efforts and my pieces to the private visitors, i would cry right now.
I m happy at least I am happy!

Stockholm Antique show "Älvsjö 2011"

Good show.

Thought we need wool underwear to go to the restaurant (-19 at 20.00) and the fact that they do not take away the ice from the street of the very centrum of the capital of Sweden.
I actually saw middle aged women literally fly on a slippery surface of ice that i can only remember when i was kid and mountain- climbing on the Alpes, at 3500 m over the sea.
Big minus for the Stockholm county, it looked like North Pole.
Anyway beside that, Zeus and Tor gave us a very good "fair weather" and that made possible to have more visitors than the last years.
Than the God of currency killed all the chance of getting a lot of big foreign dealers, few courageous came anyway, putting the Swedish crown on an altar that makes the other currencies go on their knees.
But, but, but regular Swedish people enjoyed the show in hordes and i think i can say speaking for the most of the sellers there, that they were very much in buying mood.

So thank God the magic combination weather/currency worked out anyway.

So what´s happening?

Some dealers complain.
Some sell great and are extremely happy.
Some says it´s only very high quality that sells.
Some says it´s only new white painted stuff who sells.
Some says it´s only new faked gustavian look a like stuff that sells.
Some says it´s original painted charming stuff that sells best.
Some sells all of what they have in stock for they are cheap and all the cheap things sell well (according to them).

So where are we? What is the reality?
Or do we have different realities in different countries and continents or maybe we have them even between the same small villages?

I don´t know, but i don´t complaine too much either

Helsingborgs Show

It has certainly been the best antique show ever i have participated in.
A lot of visitors, a lot of dealers (my kind of visitors), very good companions around me.
I have actually changed place to a much better spot and me and my colleagues around me build a sort of "Street of good charming furniture´s and collectables". That in contrast to the sea of white painted/new rebuilt antiques the has invaded the shows the last years. Things that should not be able to be represented in a serious antique show if there were only big balls enough to say " no thank you, your are not welcome with new/old remake here".
But who cares, those pieces make serious people, especially (this is sad) foreigner clients, run to our little "genuine street" at the show and choose between good stuff. Not expensive, but original, charming, antique for real and good.
That´s all folk´s

Luca

Help, somebody!

I became in posses of a nice, early 19th. century oil painting on canvas. It´s very nice painted and on the wooden frame backside there is an old Irish frame workshop label in paper. That means possibly that it is an Irish painting like it looks to be. Most exciting is the red wax imprint in the meddle part of the wooden frame backside. It represent a kind of "Noble mark" with a bird similar animal and the initial(I N i guess). Can somebody help me with the mark?
I would love to know who the noble owner has been.
Thanks´
Luca