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DALLAS BY DESIGN

By HELEN RINEY |

The saying “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” has never been more true than when it comes to the art of collecting.

Come on, think about it. I’m sure you have objects scattered around the house or hidden behind the encyclopedias on the top book shelf that, with proper placement, would form a collection.

Whether it’s Venetian glass and Mason jars or Lladro porcelain and Majolica tableware, collectibles are unique to those people doing the collecting.

The desire to collect, say both collectors and industry observers, is part pack-rat mentality, part quest and part personality expression. Collecting for many resembles the elements of a human game.

“Some buy because they love it, others buy so people will see they have it and some buy to keep other people from getting it,” notes Mary Vernon, chairman of the division of art at Southern Methodist University. “Humans are historically pack rats,” she says.

While the psychological reasons behind accumulating early 19th-century furniture or famous artwork might be debated, no one disagrees that collecting is hotter than ever. As we face the next century, traditional values and comfort in the home are in, and collecting the past is woven into the fabric of those desires.



POPULAR COLLECTING

Fall is the time vacationers return to their homes to enjoy the Saturday college football lineup on television, read by the fireplace or entertain friends with a spaghetti supper. A slew of studies show the cementing of the ’90s stay-at-home movement and a wish to create a unique environment in which to live and entertain.

The “home is my castle” mentality is boosted by economic conditions that find more people holding on to their homes much longer, choosing to renovate or redesign instead.

Many young people are interested in creating this type of comfortable atmosphere in their first home, slowly adding fine-quality, long-lasting pieces.

One incredible piece of art or furniture in a room can carry the other not-so-wonderful things in the room and make them look so much better, says Dallasite John Marrs, president of the Texas chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.

Whether you fancy an 18th-century French bed, a hand-crafted table or decorative cachepots and mantlepiece clocks, adding collectibles in the home is a way to make one’s abode one-of-a-kind, say Dallas designers.



WHAT’S NEW OR OLD

Lest you think you are a true collector only if you scour the European countryside in search of that ancestral piece that will give your house the charm of the English country home, think again.

“You don’t even need to leave Dallas,” says Marrs, “1 think a lot of people waste their time going to Europe to buy antiques, There are plenty of wonderful things in the U.S. Europeans are now coming back here and buying back pieces that have left their part of the world,” he says.

Marrs, who collects balloon prints and old ancestral portraits of unknown people, prefers treasures you can use.

For instance, if you collect plates, Marrs suggests putting them on your wall for decoration and pulling them off the wall to serve dinner. Goblets, flatware and silver pieces, as unusual as Victorian asparagus prongs, and antique napkin holders make your table complete.

People are beginning to understand and appreciate the mixture of different patterns on a tabletop for a setting, says Marrs. The different pieces not only make collecting more fun, but are less expensive than things bought in sets, he says.

Charles Venable, curator of decorative arts for the Dallas Museum of Art, sees a growing interest in the collection of 20th-century items.

Fiesta ware, a ceramic line of Western art deco dinnerware made from the late ’30s through the ’50s, was originally sold at Wool worth stores and now can be picked up for $25 to $100.

Another line of growing popularity is from the industrial designer Russell Wright. These streamlined, glazed earthenware pieces range in solid colors from sea foam green to cantaloupe. Meant to be mixed and matched, the ware is one of the earliest examples of the use of organic forms and is one of the most important mass-produced lines.

As we near the end of this century, people collect these items not because they are rare, but for nostalgic reasons since the objects influenced the way people lived in the 1930s and ’40s, Venable says.

Collectibles are one of the strongest categories at the Dallas Market Center, says DMC marketing director Nell Butler, who collects floaty pens, which boast a pen on one end and a water scene from your favorite state, country or place on the other.

Christmas ornaments and other Christmas collectibles are extremely popular, Butler says. Many folks pick up a new piece each year to add to their own collection.

Collectible plates or similar items in a series of animals or by certain artists are also in demand, Butler says. “Collecting is an expression of oneself, where you’ve traveled and happy memories that started with what your parents gave you,” Butler adds.

THE ART OF COLLECTI

Walk into Randy Auman’s home and you’ll find a collector’s shrine of sorts. Situated inside a wall of bookshelves is an old Chinese home altar that houses a world of knowledge in as many as 800 miniature books.

The 3-inch books range from the classics of Emily Dickinson and Robinson Crusoe to a facts-about-the-candidate hook with a picture of Theodore Roosevelt on the cover. Used during Roosevelt’s campaign for president, Auman’s collection includes one version in English and another printed in Dutch to be handed out in the Pennsylvania Dutch country, where many residents still spoke the language.

The books, all carefully placed, represent 10 years of collecting by Auman, who works in the corporate visual presentation office of Neiman Marcus.

On all sides of the altar in the remaining shelf space, sit dozens of miniature chairs, a collection of Auman’s roommate Jim Van Devender. Van Devender began amassing the chairs while searching for miniature books with Auman. He became fascinated with the chairs, particularly those made by craftsmen who, instead of lugging around their wares to sell, produced miniatures, 5 to 10 inches tall, to display their skills.

“Individually, some of these might not be extraordinary,” says Auman. “But once you clump them all together they reach an importance as a collection..-That’s true of anything, it doesn’t matter if it’s refrigerator magnets or whatever. Once you get them together, they make a statement.”

Auman and Van Devender started out as novices in the collection world, but by reading books on the various collectible subjects and developing an “eye” for their wares the two can place a reasonable value on items.

Seasoned collectors agree the buying process often has much less to do with your income and more to do with your eye and knowledge of the material.

Auman constantly upgrades and edits his collection in part, he says, because of his desire to create something unique. Although revising collections might be tough for many to do, the process of refining a collection by replacing mediocre pieces with better ones is a sign of a good collector, says ASID’s Marrs.

In the case of goods you know have been mass-produced, DMA’s Venable encourages would-be collectors to hold out for the best. Don’t settle for damaged goods, particularly when you know that because there have been 83 million produced you eventually will find a good piece.

Interior designers and industry observers encourage consumers to collect items that they enjoy. “Collect what you like and not because you think it’s important and will bring you a million dollars one day,” sums up Venable, “It probably won’t.”

Although collectibles will indeed vary in value, the art of collecting is sure to bring you a lifetime of pleasure.

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