|
|
Weaving Art Museum www.weavingartmuseum.org
The Weaving Art Museum website has impressive photos of tapestries, some of which are thousands of years old. One exhibit on the website called “The Wealth of Kings: Masterpiece Persian Carpets,” has photos of carpets from “…the golden age of Persian Carpet production,” circa 1450-1650. One cannot help but marvel at the beautiful designs, splendid colors and be impressed by the great artistic and technical achievement these weavings represent. Though many of them have suffered the ravages of time, particularly from use as ordinary floor carpets, they still convey the magnificent opulence that characterized the lifestyles of the kings and khans they once served. Many are now fragmentary, having been cut down to remove worn or damaged areas, or to reduce their great proportions into more manageable sizes. Examples like these almost never come onto the market. They are truly rare and the only place to find them is in the collections of some of the world’s greatest art. There are several articles posted on the website, some of which are quite in-depth. One interesting article about Turkmen weavings describes how after the Czarist government of Russia finally conquered the Turks around 1875, the Russian commander was so impressed with their courage that he collected 80 of their tapestries. He presented them to the Czar, and then in 1909, he wrote a book about Turkmen tapestries entitled, Tapis de l’Asie Centrale (Tapestries of Central Asia). His book was published in French and German. The designs and colors of these tapestries and carpets are quite impressive, and in many cases, these weavings from antiquity put our modern versions to shame. eBay Search Engine www.honesty.com
Now, along comes some help. The honesty.com website is a search engine for finding items, but more particularly, it also gives a price range on what the item has sold for and a bargain price. I searched “Lalique” on honesty.com and was shown 28 sub-categories of Lalique items currently on sale on eBay that it considered worth taking a look at. The sub-categories included bowls, trays, plates, vases, paperweights, etc. A bargain price for each sub-category was listed, along with the current price range. Andale.com is the owner and creator of this new website, and you may recognize it as the website that provides free counters and other tools. As they explain about their new venture: “The premise is that with so many items on eBay at any given time, it’s impossible to know if you are getting a real bargain or throwing cold hard cash away. Honesty.com eliminates the unknown and tells you right up front the bargain price. The process uses complex algorithms and historical data to determine the bargain price of an item. This is the lowest you can expect to pay for the item.” The owners of honesty.com are paid a small amount by eBay for items purchased through their website, which is not added to your sale price. You get to use their search engine for free. Is this a worthwhile tool for you? Only you can answer that question. Of course, antiques and collectibles are a different bird altogether when it comes to buying items on eBay, but this could be a valuable resource for you when buying. But always trust your instincts first. The Beatles www.rarebeatles.com
The rarebeatles.com website has tons of Beatles collectibles of all genres, as you would expect. But for the collector who has everything (if that is possible), there is a whole new collectible vista—Beatle’s food. Bread, candy cigarettes, bubble gum, cookies, pies, potato chips, ice cream bars, licorice, Nestle’s Quik and Nabisco Honey Wheat cereal are just some of the food products that carried the Beatles’ name and/or images. To find this page from the home page, click on “Rare Collectibles,” then “Memorabilia,” and then scroll down to “Beatles Edibles.” Or go to: www.rarebeatles.com/photopg2/eatthe.htm. One company, Album Graphics, created Chu-Bops Bubble Gum Records (gum shaped like records) and sold them in a display box of 64 pieces with16 different album titles on them. The website reports that the display box and complete set of gum packages as being worth $150 to $200. Sold in the 1980s, you might not want to chew any of it. A sealed carton with six complete display boxes sold in January 1998 for $1,000. As you can see, I focus too much on food. So for the true Beatles’ collectors, visit the website for some great memorabilia. And maybe, as Napoleon Dynamite once said, “All of your wildest dreams will come true.” |
|
Journal Home Page Contents Page Brimfield FleaMarkets.Com Brimfield Country Store Subscribe |