Pictures of the Dead:

In olden days, when the child of wealthy parents died, the family paid to have a portrait painted including the deceased. The recently departed was depicted as alive, though might be staring off into the distance while the rest of the family faced forward. Other signs of a mourning painting are a child holding dead flowers, or dead flowers in a vase near the sitter.

 The middle classes typically remembered their deceased with "hair art," which could be a wreath made from the hair of their loved one, or a piece of jewelry created from hair.

Photography was invented in Paris, though there is some argument about that (the first photograph was taken in 1827 and took 8 hours to develop).  While having one's picture taken was costly, it was not nearly so prohibitively priced as having a portrait painted.  As one might imagine, being able to keep an actual image of the family member appealed to mourners greatly, so when photography became affordable and popular, Victorians had pictures taken of family members after they died. As with the earlier paintings, the mourning photographs intended to depict a "living" person.

Most of the time, the deceased was "asleep."

Sometimes the deceased was propped up along side living family.

I should point out that it is the young girl above who is being propped.

Taken 9 DAYS after she died.

There are some people today who feel that this old practice is "creepy" or overly morbid, and are glad that we now properly respect the dead. These people forget that not everyone had a camera back then, and mortality was much higher. That postmortem picture is all that the parents have left of their little boy or girl. Think about it - there's no other way to remember what the laughing child looked like before the sickness or accident. Parents don't want to just bury their baby and forget, so they have a picture taken as if their child was napping.

Today's occidental society is far removed from death.  Aging, Sickness and Death no longer take place among family in one's home.  Today we hide them away in nursing homes and hospitals.
In a time period when Death walked more frequently among us, such images weren't foreign and disturbing.  The were loving reminders of those who passed too soon.

To Buy Or Not To Buy (And Why):

In most of my blogs that have dealt with fine art or antiques, I always say that the best investment is to buy what you like. That way, if for some reason you can't sell it, you won't be upset by having it hang on your wall, or sit in your corner indefinitely.

Some people think that only listed artists are valuable, or that only antiques are valuable.

These people are mistaken.

Something is an "antique" if it 100 years old or older. People love to tell me their grandmother's 1940s bed room suite is "antique." It isn't.

It is also a vague term, and has little to do with money. Many antiques are not particularly valuable. I was researching a Victorian ivory handled, silver plated fish service last week that was quite disappointing in its value (and my standards are pretty low).

Conversely, people will pay a lot of money for nearly anything that Andy Warhol touched.

Freeman's sold an Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Grace Kelly for $50,000 last November, which was actually below estimate.

Plenty of unlisted artists do well, depending upon subject matter. An unsigned oil on canvas of a beautiful river scene is never worthless.

But don't feel you should be limited to what hangs on a wall, or a shiny flatware service.

Here is what is sitting out in front of the gallery where I worked in New Jersey:

This could be yours, for the low low price of $325. And it plays the Lone Ranger song. How can you refuse??

I was reading an article, and saw that 1980s Pez dispensers can be worth $125-$150, and some rather bland looking "first generation" Pez dispensers can bring as much as $1,500 (but the article failed to mention if that was an auction value or a retail value - kind of important info).

The important part of buying a vintage or antique piece is to at least know a little something about it.
More than once we've had to appraise fake Dalis and Chagalls. Even on my cruise boat they were selling them - they are everywhere (Park West is the name of the cruise-ship auction house to be avoided.) People purchase them with the impression that they are investments for the future.

Like all investments, you need to do some research first or hire an expert to work on your behalf. How many of you would spend your life savings in the stock market without speaking with a broker or other qualified consultant? I mean, that's kind of why we antiques appraisers are here.

Even the tiniest fraction of knowledge will help you when spending your money. Is that tea set sterling silver, or just plate? But if it is plate, is it good plate? Is that table a genuine period piece, or nice reproduction? Why is it so cheap?

As for me, my newest interest is to collect post WWII West German pottery. Most of it may be had for less than $100, and even the good stuff is less than $200. If it increases in value, that's great! If it doesn't, that's okay because I will have only bought items I like, and I didn't spend too much.

Happy buying!

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