A short time ago a friend asked me to put together an article about Oriental rugs. “Show them how to tell rugs apart,” he suggested. After a bit of thought on the subject, it seemed more fitting to discuss the first steps first. Plus I’m not a warp and weft and my interest is the front of a carpet. For those who’ve been into rugs for some time, it’s interesting to recall that first attraction. Sometimes it’s a garage sale with a rolled-up old piece or a Great Aunt warning you to take your shoes off when walking on her Persian rug or that old wives’ tale that they “never wear out”. Whatever tu ..read more

It is hard to believe, in this age of electronic toys that beep, flash, and move, that there was a time when the simple figure of an animal, mounted on a tin platform with wheels, could have been considered exciting and desirable. In almost all instances, the animal did not move; a child simply pulled the platform along the floor. Nor was the animal particularly exotic. Most of the figures were drawn from the agricultural life of the time and represented farm animals. Sometimes, a bear or an elephant was found, but these were infrequent. Still, hundreds of thousands of these toys were produce ..read more

GCADA is an acronym that stands for Genesee Country Antique Dealer’s Association was founded in 1948 by several Rochester New York antique dealers who wanted to professionalize the business and develop ethical standards of conduct. An additional objective was to provide a social setting among friendly competitors to share information, and trends, and most importantly help educate the public on antiques, their appropriate values, and origins. Ultimately a constitution and by-laws were developed which the 25 members pledged to honor. The first antique shows organized by GCADA were held at variou ..read more

This journey began as a 10-year-old, probably even sooner. Dragged through flea markets and antique shops the adventure was really not for me, until one day when my father handed me a $20 dollar bill and well, the rest is history. That purchase was a large, square New York State Tin filled with Victorian picture buttons and an 18Kt gold thimble. As I proudly carried my purchase down the aisle, a dealer offered me the price that I paid for the entire collection, for just one button. I declined and knew that this next chapter was going to lead to something big. 38 years later, here we are. But ..read more

We have been running Muleskinner Art and Antiques for 50 years now. We have always had a retail shop but over the years we have found it necessary to make changes in the way we do business. From the start, we advertised heavily in the trade papers and sent out Polaroids of items to our customers around the country. We were always looking for ways to show our merchandise to the most people in the fastest ways. At one point we were doing too many shows all over the country, which was time-consuming and expensive. We have not been doing shows for over 20 years now. About 30 years ago my friend V ..read more

You know how it is right??? How one thing leads to another, and another, and another??? And then.... you look around and HOLY COW!!!!! Where did all this 'stuff ' come from? Am I a HOARDER??? A HOARDER, A HOARDER??? OH NOOOOOOO!!!!! Well, if you're anything like me, you don't worry about silly things like All my friends think I have way too much stuff! (HOARDER) I'm running out of room in every room in the house AND the barns! (Plural), (HOARDER) I'll never live long enough to sell it all! (HOARDER) How many different topics do I collect? (HOARDER) Well, maybe I am, but SO WHAT???? I'm not re ..read more

B Close-up of Jacob Hersperger’s desk dated 1850 by Jacob Knagy. (Collection of Dan and Pam Freeburg). By the early 1800s in most of the eastern United States, the communities had grown to a point where many settlers had begun to specialize in trades other than farming. These were the craftsmen who worked mostly in backyard shops to supply members of the community with the products of their trade. Cabinetmakers, blacksmiths, potters, coopers, and weavers abounded in most populated areas of the countryside by the mid-1800s to meet growing demand. Their works, many of them signed and dated, are ..read more

In the early 1820s in Staffordshire, England a new process of decorating ceramics was taking place called transfer printing. Sketches of historic places were able to be transferred onto ceramics. Conditions were just right at that time in the area with a trained labor force, the right clay, historic events taking place, and few potteries in America. It was said the Brits paid for the War of 1812 with the tremendous amount of dark blue pottery that they shipped to the young United States from 1816-1830. They sent their artist over to sketch battle scenes, new bridges, aqueducts, the Erie Canal ..read more

Art Pottery refers to ceramic items in the form of vases, bowls, candlesticks, jardinieres, and umbrella stands made to decorate the home. They are designed as a piece of art, not as a functional vase, and were made as a shelf piece or table centerpiece to be enjoyed. Frequently, the decorative motifs were floral and scenic themes, coming in a variety of forms, glazes, and color tones. Each “line of pottery” was issued for a period of one to 15 years until a new line was designed. The decorative artwork featured women who were skilled china painters, a Victorian skill of the early 1900s. The ..read more

Yellowware is a lighter clay than stoneware or redware, and there was a great deal of that clay readily available to potters in America. Yellowware requires two firings. The first or biscuit firing resulted in the formed piece but left it permeable. The second gloss firing, comprised of an alkaline-based glaze, rendered the piece impermeable and ready for household use. As with most wares coming to America they were manufactured in England and Yellow Ware was no exception. As immigration from Europe to America grew so did the metropolitan areas along our east coast, bringing skilled potters a ..read more