Question about lace tablecloths..

Look on some antiques websites before you try a dealer, then you’ll have some idea of value and will know if someone is trying to rip you off.

Oops, sorry about the long post!

And if you’d rather not pay for an appraisal, I’d tend to go straight to ebay…

There is not much sense paying for an appraisal if these tablecloths are not worth anything. You could pay $50 or $75 for an appraisal to find out you have something worth $10.00. First you need to establish that they are in fact antique. Something is old at 25 years but it is not an antique and not worth much more than what you would pay in the store for a new one. It can be quite lovely but that doesn’t mean it is valuable.

You need to do your homework first or risk spending time and money for nothing. If they are crocheted tableclothes made by someones grandmother 25 years ago they are worthless except if you like them. If it is something like handmade Battenburg lace or tatting then you are talking about a whole different ball of wax.

I am sure if you find any local antique store which carries linens you can go in and ask for their opinion. People used to do that all the time when I had my store. I specialized in Victoriana and had a fair stock of antique textiles as well. It is something antique dealers are used to dealing with and for the most part don’t mind doing as long as someone isn’t taking up lots of our time and asking for a written appraisal without expecting to pay for it. You don’t need to sell it to them. Just find out what kind of lace you have to begin with. Between that and finding something similar on eBay you will at least have a starting point to know whether they are worth investing any further time or money in them.

You made me laugh JC. When I first opened my store I prided myself with purchasing only stock which I liked myself. My view was how could I possibly sell anything I wouldn’t want in my own home? I couldn’t! My sister used to come down and help me out once in awhile and she realized that the items I really loved didn’t seem to be moving. After a little observation she realized why. I put exhorbitant prices on those items I really didn’t want to part with knowing no one would pay the prices I asked. She got really upset with me and told me she thought I should put a sign in the window saying “no sales – viewing only”. I eventually got over it but it was not easy.

Hee hee, I don’t think the pieces I really loved would even make it to the shop window, Petpntr.

Petpntr, I was brought up with antiques because my parents love them so and every opportunity they got, they were off antique hunting, in England and in NZ. At some point I got tired of staying in the car with my little brother reading comics and started going in the stores with them… fatal! We are all ridiculous hoarders and collectors except for my brother. Guess he stayed in the car too long…. lol

I love and collect Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Georgian (which I really cannot afford, but if I ever won the lottery, that’s what I’d fill the house with), antique dolls, antique textiles, china, furniture, clothes and linen, and basically ANYTHING old, if I like it and can afford it. I tend to stop getting excited around about the time of the 1950s and 1960s except when it comes to clothes… A lot of my things are cracked and/or imperfect or in not wonderful condition (which made them affordable), but as long as they’re pretty, I don’t mind! I just love to think of the characters in the old books I love (Victorian novels, Jane Austen, Little Women etc) or their writers using something exactly like this! I watch Antiques Roadshow every chance I get and haunt the internet, antique shops, second hand and op shops, and auctions. Kitties and antiques, that’s basically me…! Aaaarggh, I am totally obsessed! But I write sometimes for a house and garden magazine so it actually comes in useful in my work (well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!)

Twelve dollars? Ohmigosh, I’m moving to Canada. We have a bit of a shortage of antiques in NZ for loads of reasons — small population, never a lot of rich people here, the sea voyage out here was so long (3 months, I think) and you paid by weight so people didn’t bring a lot, then antiques weren’t popular here for a long time so stuff got sent to the dump, tipped over the cliff, or overseas buyers came in and couldn’t believe the low prices here so shipped loads overseas. A lot of our antique dealers have to go on buying trips overseas which, of course, makes them quite expensive for us. But you can find the occasional bargain if you look hard.

That site is just gorgeous, I am going to sit looking at it all evening!

I don’t think there are courses here, unfortunately (that small population thing again), I would have to go to Australia… 🙁