CHEVROLET Decor G8 - Manual (Page 7)

Product:SUNDAY Date:04-29-2007Desk: SPC-0007-CMYK/19-04-07/17:10:01
them, like the pine travelling
trunk of a little Irish orphan girl,
still leave him emotional. (see
Tales sidebar at right).
Not everything that’s brought
into the Roadshow is a treasure,
but even when it’s not, Stock in-
sists, “it’s not junk. What you
have to do is tell the people what
it is and why it looks like that.
You listen to the people, they tell
their stories, and really, it’s that
great thing of sharing.”
Self-taught in the field of an-
tiques, Stocks’ specialty is 18th-
and 19th-century furniture be-
cause, he says, “the older the
better. The rarity is important.
And I like the sophistication of
design that you see in that peri-
od.”
His rural showroom, itself a
19th-century artifact, is a splen-
did high-roofed space with
rough-hewn beams and ancient,
highly glazed floorplanks.
Hundreds of period items —
Chippendale sofas, Regency
chairs, ornate gilt-framed mir-
rors, exquisite marquetry ta-
bles, and “enough lamps to open
a lamp store” — are attractively
set out amidst rich Persian rugs
and interesting artwork. Tchai-
kovsky plays softly in the back-
ground.
Two fireplaces offer cozy
nooks for clients to relax and
confer. Through the back win-
dows, a serene little creek glim-
mers between the foliage. It was
silted up when Stocks bought
the property 20 years ago, but
he’s had it dredged to restore its
19th-century flow.
Stocks ’ farmhouse home is an
extension of his showroom.
It’s furnished with a choice se-
lection of his inventory and, he
declares airily, “it’s all for sale!”
His décor, he admits, changes
every few weeks. As soon as an
item is sold, it’s replaced by an-
other favourite piece from his
storerooms.
Some might find this a slightly
disconcerting way to live, but
Stocks is philosophical.
“We don’t ever really own an
object, we’re just custodians of it
for a certain amount of time, be-
fore it gets passed on to the next
generation.
"I think of antique dealing as
the first form of recycling.”
Object
lessons
through
the ages
KEITH BEATY/TORONTO STAR
Stocks’ stone farmhouse is a designated heritage site. An
extension of the store, most of its contents are antiques, for sale.
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Douglas Stocks advises any-
one interested in dabbling in
the antiques market to spend
some time first educating
themselves on the basics. Here
are a few things to consider
before making a purchase:
‰ Read a bit of history and look
at lots of pictures. Learn to
identify style and form, patina
and structure. “There’s a lan-
guage of antiques,” he says.
“Doing the academics helps
because you understand the
hows and whys of the esthet-
ics; then you start to apply it.”
‰ Look before you leap. Mak-
ing mistakes is all part of the
learning process — and “it can
cost you money” — so take
your time before buying.
‰ Buy from reputable dealers.
It’s easy to be fooled by fakes
when you don’t have the
knowledge (China, Stocks
says, is doing a wonderful job
of producing fake antique por-
celain.) Members of the Cana-
dian Antique Dealers Associa-
tion are required to authenti-
cate and label their goods, pro-
viding a level of protection for
the inexperienced buyer.
‰ Try to define your personal
style. Even if you can’t articu-
late it clearly, you might find a
certain piece too fussy, or too
plain; and that helps your deal-
er help you. “Once you have an
idea of the style, you try to ap-
ply it to a certain space,” says
Stocks. “Function, form and es-
thetic appeal all need to be
considered.”
Novice buyers, he says, tend
to enter the market at a mod-
erate price level, upgrading
and refining their collections
as they grow more comfort-
able.
Others, perhaps with greater
experience, may wait and
search for “the very special su-
perb piece.”
He recommends rural an-
tique-hunting as a good start-
ing point.
“You get to see the country-
side,” he says,“and you get to
meet people. And if you don’t
know anything about it, you
start to learn. It’s a great way
to get your feet wet.”
Before you buy: What you should know
The Canadian Antiques Road-
show
is one of CBC’s most en-
during successes and Douglas
Stocks thinks it’s because of
the stories. Even the humblest
of artifacts has a history, and
some of them can still leave
him misty-eyed.
He recalls a Halifax woman
presenting a photograph of her
grandmother, a former slave
who married another former
slave. All their children grew
up to become doctors, lawyers
and schoolteachers, a testa-
ment to their parents’ struggle
and determination.
“As a personal history,” says
Stocks, “it was priceless.”
Another man brought in his
great-great-grandfather’s or-
nately carved walking stick
and a coat-of-arms letter seal,
thinking his ancestor might
have belonged to a secret
guild. The Roadshow experts
were able to tell him his 18th-
century relative had actually
been the King of Sweden’s
prime minister and had been
presented with these gifts up-
on his retirement.
But Stocks’ favourite story
from the Roadshow (“I may cry
when I tell you this”) has to do
with a plain pine trunk,
brought in by a woman whose
92-year-old mother had re-
cently died.
She had discovered the trunk
while cleaning and sorting out
her mother’s house.
She said she knew it was old,
but that was all.
Taped to the inside of the lid
was a list that read: “2 pairs
socks, 1 coat, 1 good petticoat,
1 everyday petticoat . . .”
It turned out they were the
travelling items given to a
6-year-old orphan, sent from
Ireland to Canada to be
“adopted” into indentureship.
The mother had never told her
family about her heart-
wrenching history. “It was
quite an eye-opener (for her
daughter),” comments Stocks.
“It was very touching. Wherev-
er you go, there are all of these
wonderful stories.”
Tales from the Antiques Roadshow
J.P. MOCZULSKI
Stocks examines an English
Derby vase, circa 1835.