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| Is It or Isn't It Antique? | |
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| Age Before Beauty | |
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| When Age Matters | |
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| What the Connoisseur Knows | |
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| The Time-Honored Legacy of Craftsmanship | |
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| Legally Speaking | |
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| Reeling in the Years | |
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| What a Difference a Year Makes | |
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| The Grandmother Theory | |
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| Like Good Wine, Objects Must Age | |
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| Collectibles vs. Antiques | |
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| Too Soon | |
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| Too Many | |
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| Too Cheap | |
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| Antiques. Period | |
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| There's Nothing Like the Real Thing | |
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| Understanding the Oldie Goldie | |
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| Limiting Circumstances | |
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| What's in a Name? | |
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| A Fading Beauty That Just Misses | |
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| Time Makes the Heart Grow Fonder | |
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| A Chair by Any Other Name | |
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| Some Knockoffs Are, Legally Speaking, Antiques | |
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| Beware the Clones | |
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| Enter the Repro Man | |
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| In Good Faith | |
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| The Not-So-Faithful Copy | |
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| The Great Pretenders | |
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| For the Lion-Hearted and the Lamb-Hearted | |
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| |
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| Some Antiquing Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them | |
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| Hey, Good Lookin'! | |
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| Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep | |
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| Inside, Outside, Upside Down | |
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| Dark Corners | |
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| Seeing the Light of Day | |
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| The Gotta-Have-It Mindset | |
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| Look Before You Leap | |
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| Bide Your Time | |
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| Put a Hold on It | |
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| So Dear to My Heart | |
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| |
| The Cold, Hard Facts | |
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| |
| A Fistful of Dollars | |
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| |
| Ticket, Please | |
| |
| |
| Where's the Info? | |
| |
| |
| What Dealers Don't Tell Can Hurt Them | |
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| |
| What Dealers Don't Write Down Can Hurt You | |
| |
| |
| If It's in Print, It Is | |
| |
| |
| Added Insurance | |
| |
| |
| Knowledge--the Ultimate Tool | |
| |
| |
| Know Where to Look | |
| |
| |
| Know What to Look For | |
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| |
| |
| Quality vs. Quantity | |
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| It's Old, But | |
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| |
| The Sum Is Equal to the Parts | |
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| |
| Materials Equal Quality | |
| |
| |
| Design Equals Quality | |
| |
| |
| Decoration Equals Quality | |
| |
| |
| Quality Craftsmanship--the Ultimate Test | |
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| |
| Quality Is Evergreen | |
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| |
| Museum Quality, Fact and Myth | |
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| |
| The Facts | |
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| |
| The Myths | |
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| |
| Telling the Turtle from the Mock | |
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| |
| |
| Luck Comes to the Prepared Mind | |
| |
| |
| When Less Is Really More | |
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| |
| Everything's Relative | |
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| |
| What the Market Can Bear | |
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| |
| When Birthright Matters | |
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| |
| George Washington Slept Where? | |
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| |
| The Proof Is in the Object, Not the User | |
| |
| |
| The Maker's Mark | |
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| |
| When Many Heads and Hands Were Better Than One Name | |
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| |
| Long-Term Memory--Long Forgotten | |
| |
| |
| The Big Changeover, or Why Benchmark Dates Are Your Friends | |
| |
| |
| When the Government Came to the Antiquer's Aid | |
| |
| |
| Proof Positive, or Attributed To? | |
| |
| |
| When Homegrown Is Best | |
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| |
| Why It Pays to "Brake for Antiques" | |
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| |
| Sell Homegrown Back Home | |
| |
| |
| Beware Media Hype | |
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| |
| Buck the Trend | |
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| |
| |
| Right as Rain | |
| |
| |
| Condition, Condition, Condition | |
| |
| |
| A Nick Here, a Ding There | |
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| |
| Thinking It Through | |
| |
| |
| The Other Side of the Coin | |
| |
| |
| When Imperfect Is Good Enough | |
| |
| |
| The Big Picture | |
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| |
| The Big Break | |
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| |
| Making It Whole | |
| |
| |
| Leaving Things Well Enough Alone | |
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| |
| Good Intentions Gone Bad | |
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| |
| When Worse Is Better | |
| |
| |
| Fix It Up or Throw It Out? | |
| |
| |
| Those Other Kinds of Condition | |
| |
| |
| Enter the Bad Guys | |
| |
| |
| A Word to the Wise | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Summing Up: Objects Do Not Lie | |
| |
| |
| The Best Formula | |
| |
| |
| Money on Your Mind | |
| |
| |
| Getting Your Money's Worth | |
| |
| |
| Comparison Shopping | |
| |
| |
| This Isn't Wall Street, Boys and Girls | |
| |
| |
| Passion Says Buy but Prudence Advises Caution | |
| |
| |
| The Price Is Right | |
| |
| |
| Waiting for Godot | |
| |
| |
| When a Deal Is Too Good to Be True | |
| |
| |
| Roped Off | |
| |
| |
| The Bigger Sucker Theory | |
| |
| |
| Hold Everything | |
| |
| |
| So Far, So Bad | |
| |
| |
| Getting the Honest Steal | |
| |
| |
| Don't Forget the Middleman | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Thrill of the Chase | |
| |
| |
| |
| Accumulator or Collector | |
| |
| |
| The Taste Test | |
| |
| |
| Fessing Up | |
| |
| |
| Figuring Out Why You Like What You Like | |
| |
| |
| Spying on Yourself | |
| |
| |
| Zeroing In | |
| |
| |
| What Collectors Know | |
| |
| |
| A Little of This, a Dab of That | |
| |
| |
| Building a Strong Foundation | |
| |
| |
| Learn from the Mistakes of Others | |
| |
| |
| To Thine Own Self Be True | |
| |
| |
| Make a Wish List | |
| |
| |
| Adding a Personal Touch | |
| |
| |
| Be Careful What You Ask For | |
| |
| |
| Before You Get Started | |
| |
| |
| Thinking Things Through | |
| |
| |
| Wish Lists of Antiques for the Living Room | |
| |
| |
| Wish Lists of Antiques for the Dining Room | |
| |
| |
| Wish Lists of Antiques for the Bedroom | |
| |
| |
| Other Furniture Items to Look For | |
| |
| |
| Remember--Aim High | |
| |
| |
| |
| Antiquing the Old-Fashioned Way | |
| |
| |
| The Traditional Shop | |
| |
| |
| Specialty Shops | |
| |
| |
| Tapping the Shopkeeper's Resources | |
| |
| |
| Location, Location, Location Equals $$$ | |
| |
| |
| The High-Rent District | |
| |
| |
| Off the Beaten Track | |
| |
| |
| The Antiques Dealer as Professor | |
| |
| |
| The Shop Floor | |
| |
| |
| The Open Classroom | |
| |
| |
| Please Touch | |
| |
| |
| Inquiring Minds Want to Know | |
| |
| |
| Twenty Questions? Start with One | |
| |
| |
| |
| On the Road Again | |
| |
| |
| Antiques Malls: The Tip of the Iceberg | |
| |
| |
| Leave Your Stopwatch at Home | |
| |
| |
| Variety Is the Spice of Life | |
| |
| |
| Mom and Pop Are Off at Work | |
| |
| |
| Flea Markets | |
| |
| |
| Overlooking the Dogs | |
| |
| |
| Come on Back | |
| |
| |
| Yard and Garage Sales | |
| |
| |
| Anything Goes | |
| |
| |
| Weeding Out | |
| |
| |
| Down the Garden Path | |
| |
| |
| Fstate Sales, House Sales, Moving Sales, Tag Sales | |
| |
| |
| A Worthwhile Pursuit | |
| |
| |
| It's Now or Never | |
| |
| |
| The Five Rules of the Game | |
| |
| |
| Other Options: Thrift Shops | |
| |
| |
| A One Shot Deal: Classified Ads | |
| |
| |
| |
| On the Spot: To Buy or Not To Buy | |
| |
| |
| The Waiting Game | |
| |
| |
| What You Do Depends on Where You Are | |
| |
| |
| Shop Around | |
| |
| |
| The Gentle Art of Bargaining | |
| |
| |
| The Shopkeeper Has Bills, Too | |
| |
| |
| Whose Bottom Line? | |
| |
| |
| When It's a Big Purchase | |
| |
| |
| Remember Your Manners | |
| |
| |
| Clinching the Deal | |
| |
| |
| Binding Contracts | |
| |
| |
| Buy, Buy, Buy! | |
| |
| |
| Making a Lasting Impression | |
| |
| |
| |
| Antique Auctions: Offline and Online | |
| |
| |
| |
| Antique Auctions: In a Class by Themselves | |
| |
| |
| The City Mouse and the Country Mouse | |
| |
| |
| The Truth About the Big Boys | |
| |
| |
| Sotheby's and Christie's Started It All | |
| |
| |
| Understanding Million-Dollar Sales | |
| |
| |
| The Big Names Aren't the Only Game in Town | |
| |
| |
| And Don't Forget the Country Auction | |
| |
| |
| Fun and Frolics | |
| |
| |
| You Love Me, Take Me Home | |
| |
| |
| A Softer, Gentler Auction | |
| |
| |
| Looking Ahead | |
| |
| |
| |
| Playing for Keeps | |
| |
| |
| Not for the Fainthearted | |
| |
| |
| Auction Catalogues: The Key | |
| |
| |
| Read Before You Bid--or Buy | |
| |
| |
| What the Numbers Mean | |
| |
| |
| Auction Previews: Better Than a Museum | |
| |
| |
| Help When It's Needed | |
| |
| |
| To Bid or Not To Bid, and How | |
| |
| |
| Setting Your Limits | |
| |
| |
| In the Heat of the Moment | |
| |
| |
| The Race Is to the Swift | |
| |
| |
| Then Again, Patience Is a Virtue | |
| |
| |
| Learning the Competition | |
| |
| |
| Practice Makes Perfect | |
| |
| |
| Not the Final Price | |
| |
| |
| The Buyer's Premium | |
| |
| |
| Other Charges | |
| |
| |
| When You Can't Be There | |
| |
| |
| Absentee Bidding | |
| |
| |
| Ma Bell Goes to the Auction | |
| |
| |
| |
| Brave New E-World | |
| |
| |
| The World of the Web | |
| |
| |
| Getting Where You Want to Be | |
| |
| |
| Not Just for Buying | |
| |
| |
| The Price Is Right ... or Wrong | |
| |
| |
| Leveling the World-Wide Playing Field | |
| |
| |
| Shop Anywhere, Anytime, Anyhow | |
| |
| |
| Getting Sucked In | |
| |
| |
| Get a Life | |
| |
| |
| Understanding the New Kid on the Block | |
| |
| |
| Risks and Rewards | |
| |
| |
| Buyer Beware | |
| |
| |
| Here Today, Gone Tomorrow | |
| |
| |
| How Suckers Are Born | |
| |
| |
| Seeing Is Believing | |
| |
| |
| Honesty Is the Best Policy | |
| |
| |
| Return Policy | |
| |
| |
| Hidden Costs | |
| |
| |
| Baby Step by Step | |
| |
| |
| Click for Click | |
| |
| |
| One Highway Leads to Many | |
| |
| |
| My Personal Take on Antiques Cyberspace | |
| |
| |
| |
| Getting Down to Brass Tacks | |
| |
| |
| |
| Furniture: The Lure of the Old | |
| |
| |
| Early Warning Signs! | |
| |
| |
| Two Countries an Ocean Apart | |
| |
| |
| Rule Britannia | |
| |
| |
| Westward Ho! | |
| |
| |
| The British Invasion | |
| |
| |
| Come Together | |
| |
| |
| Overlapping Timetables | |
| |
| |
| Shortcut Aids to Understanding Furniture Periods | |
| |
| |
| Hefty Jacobean | |
| |
| |
| Curvy Queen Anne | |
| |
| |
| Straight Mr. Chippendale | |
| |
| |
| The Georges I, II, and III | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Beginning of a Century of Change | |
| |
| |
| Two Hundred Years and Counting | |
| |
| |
| Hepplewhite's Light Touch | |
| |
| |
| Rounding It Off with Sheraton | |
| |
| |
| The Federal Deal | |
| |
| |
| Regal Regency | |
| |
| |
| The Empire Strikes Back | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Rest of the Nineteenth Century | |
| |
| |
| Victorious Victoria | |
| |
| |
| Rococo | |
| |
| |
| Victorian Gothic | |
| |
| |
| Renaissance Revival | |
| |
| |
| Eastlake | |
| |
| |
| Aesthetic Movement | |
| |
| |
| Cottage Furniture | |
| |
| |
| Arts and Crafts Movement | |
| |
| |
| The Colonial Era Comes 'Round Again | |
| |
| |
| |
| Chipping the Old Block, or the Chip Wood? | |
| |
| |
| Tooling Along | |
| |
| |
| Look for the Saw Marks | |
| |
| |
| The Plane Facts | |
| |
| |
| Chisel Marks | |
| |
| |
| Making It Fit | |
| |
| |
| Dovetails | |
| |
| |
| Mortise and Tenon Joints | |
| |
| |
| The Modern Dowel | |
| |
| |
| Hitting the Nail on the Head | |
| |
| |
| Turning the Screw | |
| |
| |
| The Truth About Hardware: It Takes a Beating | |
| |
| |
| Wood You Buy It? | |
| |
| |
| Patina: What It Means, What It's Worth | |
| |
| |
| The Inside Patina | |
| |
| |
| Faux Antiques: They Look Good But | |
| |
| |
| Born a Fake | |
| |
| |
| The Made-Up Piece | |
| |
| |
| Mix-Matched Marriages | |
| |
| |
| Splitting Heris | |
| |
| |
| Repaired, Altered, and Enhanced Antiques | |
| |
| |
| The Repaired Piece | |
| |
| |
| The Altered Antique | |
| |
| |
| The Enhanced Piece | |
| |
| |
| The Happy Ending | |
| |
| |
| |
| Heavy Metal: Understanding Silver | |
| |
| |
| You Take a Ball of Silver | |
| |
| |
| Mark It Well | |
| |
| |
| The English Way | |
| |
| |
| The American Way | |
| |
| |
| Coin Silver in the Home | |
| |
| |
| The European Way | |
| |
| |
| Intrinsic Value vs. Aesthetic Value | |
| |
| |
| Altered States | |
| |
| |
| Through Thick and Thin: Content or Gauge | |
| |
| |
| Silver Threads Among the Gold | |
| |
| |
| |
| A Twist of Plate: Understanding Silver Plate | |
| |
| |
| Rolled Over: Sheffield Plate | |
| |
| |
| Marks, but No Hallmarks | |
| |
| |
| Plated for the Privileged Class | |
| |
| |
| Electroplate: The Modern Way | |
| |
| |
| Peeling Away the Outer Coating | |
| |
| |
| Silver Plating Comes to America, Big Time | |
| |
| |
| Making the Second Best as Good as the Best | |
| |
| |
| Yesterday's Demand; Today's Supply | |
| |
| |
| Mark Those Marks | |
| |
| |
| Getting the Most for Your Money | |
| |
| |
| |
| Silver: No Home Should Be Without It | |
| |
| |
| Put Your Money Where Your Teaspoon Is | |
| |
| |
| The English Tradition | |
| |
| |
| America's Silver Fever | |
| |
| |
| A Silver Picture Is Worth Its Weight in Gold | |
| |
| |
| Table It, or Shelve It | |
| |
| |
| Personal Effects | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coming Out of the China Closet | |
| |
| |
| China China | |
| |
| |
| On the Home Front | |
| |
| |
| For the Foreign Trade | |
| |
| |
| The Continental Touch | |
| |
| |
| Delft: The Trying Dutchmen | |
| |
| |
| German Alchemy Pays Off | |
| |
| |
| The French Connection | |
| |
| |
| England Tries and Succeeds | |
| |
| |
| America Lags Behind | |
| |
| |
| The Great Pretenders | |
| |
| |
| Look-Alikes | |
| |
| |
| The Name Game | |
| |
| |
| Those Other China Types | |
| |
| |
| Pot-tery It Up | |
| |
| |
| That Glazed Look | |
| |
| |
| A Stone's Throw | |
| |
| |
| The Exterior Design | |
| |
| |
| Hand-Painted Designs | |
| |
| |
| Transfer-Pattern Designs | |
| |
| |
| |
| The China Collector's Cabinet | |
| |
| |
| The Connoisseur's Choice | |
| |
| |
| What's Old and What's Not | |
| |
| |
| Figuring Out the Shape Things Are in, Literally | |
| |
| |
| Figuring Out the Shape Things Are in, Condition-Wise | |
| |
| |
| The China Collector's Name and Address Book | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Glass House | |
| |
| |
| Early Glass: Blowing It Off | |
| |
| |
| When in Rome | |
| |
| |
| The Venetian Way | |
| |
| |
| From the Rhine | |
| |
| |
| In England--in Like Flint | |
| |
| |
| As Time Goes by: Cutting It Up | |
| |
| |
| In Deep Relief | |
| |
| |
| Acid Takes Over | |
| |
| |
| Later Yet: A Pressing Matter for the Table | |
| |
| |
| Three-Part Molds | |
| |
| |
| Flasks: History on a Bottle | |
| |
| |
| Cup Plates: The Look of Lace | |
| |
| |
| Glass on the Edge of Becoming Antique | |
| |
| |
| Names Worth Noting | |
| |
| |
| Under the Glass Dome | |
| |
| |
| Weighting Around: Paperweights | |
| |
| |
| Seeing Through the Fakes | |
| |
| |
| |
| Here Today, Still Here Tomorrow: Protecting Your Investment | |
| |
| |
| |
| It's Mine! Now What Do I Do? | |
| |
| |
| They've Been in Good Hands | |
| |
| |
| It's Up to You | |
| |
| |
| The Collector's Pitfalls | |
| |
| |
| Facing the Fact of What Might Happen | |
| |
| |
| Thieves Shop Around | |
| |
| |
| Fireman, Fireman! Save My Antiques! | |
| |
| |
| When Nature's Way Isn't Better | |
| |
| |
| Planning for the Future | |
| |
| |
| Money Heals a Lot | |
| |
| |
| Ensuring That You Won't Need to File an Insurance Claim | |
| |
| |
| Appraising Appraisers | |
| |
| |
| The Least They Need to Know | |
| |
| |
| The Price of Protection | |
| |
| |
| The Proper Paperwork | |
| |
| |
| I'd Rather Do It Myself | |
| |
| |
| |
| To Market, to Market | |
| |
| |
| Knowing the Market | |
| |
| |
| Getting a Second Opinion | |
| |
| |
| Buy Low, Sell High | |
| |
| |
| Antique Crystal Balls | |
| |
| |
| Look Before You Leap, or Sell | |
| |
| |
| Bit by Bit | |
| |
| |
| Clearing Everything Out | |
| |
| |
| Where to Sell? | |
| |
| |
| Back to the Dealer | |
| |
| |
| A Percentage Deal | |
| |
| |
| Taking the Cash | |
| |
| |
| Auctioning It Off | |
| |
| |
| The Terms of the Deal | |
| |
| |
| Reserving Your Goods | |
| |
| |
| Same Time, Next Auction | |
| |
| |
| Having It Your Way | |
| |
| |
| Home Sweet Home Sale | |
| |
| |
| Unraveling the Web | |
| |
| |
| Giving It Away | |
| |
| |
| Your Noble Intentions | |
| |
| |
| The IRS Is Here to Help You | |
| |
| |
| Playing by the Rules | |
| |
| |
| Now That You Have Some Room--Starting Over | |
| |
| |
| Appendixes | |
| |
| |
| |
| A Guide to Furniture Periods and Styles | |
| |
| |
| |
| Where to Go | |
| |
| |
| |
| What to Read | |
| |
| |
| |
| House Museums | |
| |
| |
| |
| Glossary | |
| |
| |
| Index | |