Know Your Antiques

On cover: The best-selling guide to evaluating, buying, and caring for any antique.

Ralph and Terry Kovel, America's foremost antiques experts, have written a book with a difference about our most popular pastime -- collecting. Whether it is a shelf lined with old toys or a houseful of Art Deco furniture, everyone has a favorite collection.Kovels' Know Your Collectiblesis the ultimate guide to "young antiques" -- collectibles less than one hundred years old. With hundreds of photographs and line drawings, in-depth text, several glossaries, and an extensive subject-by-subject bibliography, this book provides important information you can't find anywhere else. Each chapter ofKovels' Know Your Collectiblesbegins with general advice on how to locate, preserve, and protect your collectibles. The chapters cover a wide variety of objects, including ceramics, dinnerware and art pottery, furniture, glass, jewelry, metal, lamps, clocks, toys, paper, tins, advertising material, and old store collectibles. The Kovels tell you how to recognize the value and improve the condition of your collectibles. They provide a wealth of information about individual manufacturers and designers, patterns, styles, artists' marks, and historic curiosities. Whether they are talking about common household objects or rare pieces of recognized value, the Kovels tell both beginning and experienced collectors what they want to know about their most cherished collectibles.

The comprehensive guide to antiques of the future by America's foremost experts in the field.

Judith Miller's super-sleuth guide to spotting, buying and collecting antiques, now in ebook(PDF) format If you are looking to discover a valuable treasure or nab a bootsale bargain then antiques and collectables expert Judith Miller shows you how to solve any collecting case. Find out how to tell a genuine antique piece from a fake. Spot signs that indicate an object has been restored. Discover makers and styles to look out for, and whether an object should be kept, or not. Includes expert advice on makers, questions to ask, tips for identifying the best examples in furniture, ceramics, glass, silver, dolls, teddy bears, textiles and more. With hundreds of photographs that reveal every detail of each piece, you'll soon know exactly what to look for. Get more at www.antiques.dk.com with over 30,000 photos, descriptions and price guides. "Super-easy to use, may save or make you a bob or two." 5-star rating, Web User Magazine.

This unique quide from the co-author of the Little, Brown Illustrated Encyclopedia of Antiques will be a required reference book for every collector of antique furniture, from beginner to expert. Featuring over 200 representative chairs, tables, sideboards, desks, cupboards, mirrors and other collectables with both large and close-up photographs, KNOW YOUR ANTIQUES provides a wealth of information on each piece's provenance and distinctive features. With notable variants pictured alongside the principal pieces, as well as illustrated charts of fixtures and other details, this all-inclusive sourcebook enables collectors to appreciate the fine points of period style and assess a potential purchase with confidence.