Lincoln City makes history
By Dana Grae Kane
For the TODAY
While Antique & Collectibles Week has been a significant part of our Oregon coastal culture for many years, the pandemic has made us more conscious than ever before of the value of maintaining in the present our often-tenuous connections to the past.
What possible meaning could antiques have in the midst of all this?
Antiques are remarkably meaningful at all times, and particularly so during desperate times. While we may not always be conscious of it, historical objects have incalculable intrinsic value.
Those of us who are not privileged to have generational antiques can remedy that immediately for our children's and grandchildren's sake by selecting pieces of the past to enter our homes, becoming over time a treasured part of our own family continuum. A wonderful way to do this is to visit our antique shops during Antique & Collectibles Week, which started on Feb. 5 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 14.
How do I know what I should buy?
There is no such thing as “should.” There are absolutely no rules for what we like and what gives us sufficient joy to give it houseroom. Personal taste requires no justification. We can have the fun of sleuthing for ourselves or taking advantage of knowledgeable antique shop owners and staff to help us find something satisfying within our price range. If you, like I, prefer stalwart veteran warrior furniture proudly displaying its battle scars like medals attesting to its strength and invincibility, you will find bargains with scratches and scrapes easily mitigated with a little work at home.
If you prefer to acquire perfect pieces, there are a few that have miraculously come through the years unscathed despite their remarkable delicacy and vulnerable surfaces. A single piece in this rare category has come down to me from my maternal great-great grandfather via my grandmother, a frighteningly frail hand-painted porcelain condiment dish, originating in Germany in the early 1800s, traveling with Great-Great to France, then with him across the sea to Wisconsin about 1900, thence to Oregon in 1911 and now in 2021 with me to my new home in San Francisco, where it serenely scoffs at the threat of the next major quake. In the realm of large pieces of antique furniture or art into which we plan to invest a considerable sum, it is crucial to carefully measure the space where we intend to place them, record our calculations and bring them with us when we come to shop. The same advice applies here as to tailoring: “Measure three times, cut once.” I inform you not from the august heights of superior knowledge, but from the lower depths of bitter experience . . .
Where can I start if I am new to antiques, with small space and an even smaller budget?
To my way of thinking, embroidered and fancy-work linens are among the most interesting, accessible and affordable of antique pieces. You will find quilts, crocheted bedspreads, embroidered dresser scarves and dish towels, lace mantillas, intricately knitted shawls, cut-work tablecloths and runners, needlepoint chair seat covers, hand-painted silk handkerchiefs and many more types of textile work, including crochet, crewel and Hardanger, all at very low cost. Except for antique rugs intended to cover the floor, textiles take up no floor-space, and can either be kept to their original intent, displayed on the wall, or easily converted to uses beyond their initially assigned roles. My interest in vintage hand-work was spurred as a teenager by a gift of a length of gossamer filigree lace, created by my maternal great grandmother to adorn family wedding gowns and handkerchiefs, as well as a quilt made by her and my great aunt from flour sacking and four generations of family women's dresses, including some from my own from childhood. Collecting antique linens over the years, I have repurposed needlepoint pieces and large damask dinner napkins to recover chair seats, made lace tablecloths into curtains, and worn a stunning black lace mantilla as an evening wrap. There is no time I have not been acutely respectful of the infinite amounts of time and meticulous work it took to create these marvels, and how rewarding it is to prevent them from going to waste.
Does Antique & Collectibles Week have anything special to offer for Valentine's Day?
It most certainly does. A romantic weekend on the coast can be enhanced by searching the shops for exquisite Victorian Valentines and Valentine postcards. Many of these are suitable for framing, bearing magnificent floral designs, reflecting the time when intimate feelings could be properly expressed only in the symbolic code of certain flowers, accompanied by equally flowery verses. Victorian Valentines often encompass masterpieces of miniature portraiture and landscape, and some are edged with hand-made lace and satin ribbon. Once in a great while we can find an entire album of valentines covering many years, alongside pressed corsages and nosegays from long-ago dance and dinner partners.
For families with children celebrating Valentine's Day, a great treat lies in store, dreamed up by Krista Eddy, director of the Chessman Gallery at the Lincoln City Cultural Center. Eddy has created valentine-themed antique art kits that will keep the kids occupied while visiting the coast or back at home. These kits may be picked up from the cultural center, 540 NE Highway 101, from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday through Sunday.