Welcome to the FUTURES Antiques website! It has grown and improved daily since 1996! Please relax, browse, and if you have questions – ASK!
Thanks, Ronn Ives, owner

FAQs & Tips

 

The Top Ten Questions of FUTURES ANTIQUES

  1. “How do you find all this great stuff?”
     I average 50 hours of “hunting” per week – on the road, the phone, the web, in the mail, etc., PLUS, having established FUTURES more than twenty years ago, people reach me first when they are ready to sell interesting, top condition items.
  2. “Does this thing work?”
     Yes, “it” does. If I say it does, it DOES.  End of discussion.
  3. “Do you have an early 1800’s dining set?”
    No. I specialize in the 20th century. THIS is what I KNOW and LOVE.
  4. “Do you buy things?”
    Yes, often.  If you have items for sale, I’ll be happy to look them over. (Please do not send photos unsolicited.  Contact me first.)  I’m fair and honest – as witnessed by the folks that sell to me on a regular basis.  And, on occasion, I will consider consignments, trades, and barters.
  5. “Do you offer layaway, charges, appraisals, etc.?”
    We all need help once in awhile, so yes, I do what I can. I offer Master Card & Visa & Discover services, “24 hour holds”, layaway, gift certificates, delivery, shipping, research, and appraisals.  (For those of you who watch too much television and have what I call “Antiques Road Show Fever”:  No, I do NOT offer “free” appraisals any more than YOU do YOUR job without compensation.  My appraisal fee is $75.00 per hour – with a one hour minimum – IF I feel there is a chance I can help you.)  Most of you might think my stating this unnecessary but, believe me, I get 2-10 calls per week from brain leeches wanting everything for the price of nothing.)
  6. “Can you find a 1927 Chicago 15-bolt aluminum self-winding Cogsworth Dilto-Graph for me?”
    Yes – or at least I’ll try! One of my world-wide services is to locate specific items for those who know what they want but are too busy or vulnerable to hunt alone. And, I should add, whenever I acquire new data (designer, value, etc.) about items you’ve purchased FROM FUTURES, I try to reach you with the information. (This has more than tripled the value of some of my customer’s purchases overnight. I love doing that.) Just stay in touch!
  7. “Why don’t you sell damaged antiques?
    There are already more than enough businesses cornering that market.
  8. “Can you…?”
    First, let me say that if you’ve read this far, I already like you. YOU read!  If you haven’t (duh!), or if you’re the “efficient” type who scans only the first and last sentences of a paragraph, you won’t know I have said “Yes, on occasion (and when not a consignment) I can reduce the price of some items.” So, anyhow… THIS is the last sentence of this paragraph. Blah blah blah.  Know what I mean?
  9. “Do you ‘do’ eBay?”
    No, I have not, DO NOT, and will not “do” eBay.)

 

The Ten Truths About Collecting: (I wish someone had told me these things!)

  1. OLD does NOT mean interesting or valuable. I can step outside, pick up a rock, and it will be older than any antique on the planet. So what?
  2. Just because “Gramma” had it doesn’t make it antique or good. In THIS country, older people are allowed to exit their homes, shop, buy new things – even junk from China – and keep them.
  3. You can’t drag EVERY thing around with you for your entire life. There ARE times when you must choose what gets left behind. DON’T do this at the last moment.
  4. Damaged items are always worth less than ones in excellent to mint condition. Flawed items are NOT investments. They may be for your enjoyment… which is wonderful… but know the difference!
  5. Whether you’re on a limited budget or are a billionaire, you should know it is ALWAYS smarter to buy one GREAT thing over ten mediocre things. ALWAYS.
  6. Mental laziness is a curse that follows a person everywhere. Learn all you can about that which interests you.  Of the thousands of people you will meet, only a few will share with you their complete, accurate knowledge… and they are under no obligation, and you are not Entitled to it.
  7. Never allow pressure to rush you into decisions. If by pausing, you lose something, oh well, you lost it and you move on. Chances are it wasn’t an original Van Gogh (despite the fantasies fed you by television appraisal / picker / greed shows).
  8. Get sales claims that concern you in writing. Anyone unwilling to stand by their statements should be looked upon with suspicion.
  9. “Refinished, redone, restored, refurbished, repaired, recovered…” ALL the “re” words mean the value of an item IS decreased but NOT destroyed. However, I have NO attachment to original, old electric appliance wiring. Rewiring is good. I’d rather not burn down my home.
  10. Finally, I wish someone else had written this list decades ago and made me read it once a year.

 

How do YOU spell “Art Deco”?

c. 1917-1941

But for scholars and serious enthusiasts, the term “Art Deco” has been used and abused for forty five years. I’m NOW here to CORRECT THAT! (Laughter heard in the background…) Let me try, at least:

  • De Stijl: Dutch, less industrial in appearance than upcoming movements, but geometric, with visible construction, and often painted in primary colors. Examples: Gerrit Rietfeld’s armchair of 1917, and the paintings of Piet Mondrian.
  • Bauhaus: German design inspired by industrial production – strict, formal, and “masculine” – with little or no adornment or hidden construction. No nonsense. Examples: 1925 “Wassily” chair by Marcel Breuer, and the 1929 “Brno” chair by Mies van der Rohe.
  • Art Deco: This term was coined in the late 1960’s as an historical response to the 1925 Paris “Exposition of Decorative Arts”. Note its use of exotic materials, high style, hand crafting, costliness, and extreme detailing in a floral/”feminine” fashion. Examples: the furniture of Jacques Ruhlmann, and the iron work of Edgar Brandt.
  • Egyptian, Mayan, etc.: Decorative styles with a taste for “far away” places, inspired especially by the 1922 discovery of King Tut’s tomb, and the opening of the 1925 Paris Exposition. Designs are laden with references to past cultures. Examples: the 1926 silent film “Metropolis” by Fritz Lang, and the 1928 interior of the Chrysler Building by Oscar Bach.
  • Skyscraper: This is the “Americanization” of the 1925 Paris Expo, expressing American optimism and power (pre-stock market crash of 1929), with vertical, geometric, machine, jazz, and narrative references. Examples: 1927 furniture by Abel Faidy and Paul Frankl, the 1929 Chanin Building and the Empire State Building (NYC) completed in 1931. (These designs are also called “Zig Zag” or “Jazz”.)
  • Machine Age: The Bauhaus begins going international, being interpreted with less than Germanic restraint. Objects are meant to appear machine made even if hand made. Examples: the ceramics of Keith Murray, the George Washington Bridge by O. H. Ommann (NYC), and the lighting designs of J. LeChevalier. (These designs are also called “Industrial”.)
  • Art Moderne: This is the Machine Age with added adornment, less geometry, and less focus on the “functional/rational”. Call it the “feminization” of the machine, especially in Hollywood films. Examples: interior scenes in the 1930’s movies of Busby Berkeley or Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers.
  • Streamline: The Bauhaus meets the automobile. The Machine Age gets windswept. Design goes horizontal – consciously designed to look as though built for speed, even if superfluous. Examples: furniture by Norman Bel Geddes and Kem Weber, and the 1933 Chrysler “Airflow”.
  • Organic: After twenty five years of rationalism and geometric expression, form begins taking on human attributes – becoming curved, asymmetrical, and ergonomic. Examples: 1930’s furniture by Bruno Mathsson, and 1940’s furniture by Charles & Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Isamu Noguchi.