The Curio Journal
Antique identification and value guides
Practical guides to identifying, dating and valuing antiques, vintage pieces and collectibles — hallmarks, maker's marks, furniture, jewelry, pottery, glass and more.
Care & Restoration
How to Clean Bronze Without Destroying the Patina
The most expensive thing you can do to an old bronze is make it shiny. The patina is usually worth more than the metal under it.
Cleaning Antique Furniture Without Wrecking the Finish
Most damage to antique furniture happens during cleaning. Not from neglect, from care.
Clocks & Watches
Estate Sales & Auctions
Estate Sale Tips for Buyers: Timing, Prices and Finds
Everyone walks the same rooms. The buyers who leave with something good went straight to the ones the family stopped caring about.
How to Organize an Estate Sale: A Practical Guide
Most of the mistakes get made in the first week, before anything has been priced.
Furniture
General Identification
How to Identify Antique Furniture: Joints, Saws, Screws
Most old furniture carries no maker's name, so the date is written in the joints, the saw marks and the screws.
Bronze Foundry Marks and What They Prove
A foundry mark says who cast the metal, not who modelled the figure, and telling those two apart is the first job on any bronze.
How to Identify Antiques: Marks, Materials and Construction
Most people start with age, because age is what they care about. That is exactly why they get stuck.
Glass & Bottles
Jewelry
Pottery & Porcelain
Valuation & Appraisal
How to Value Antique Furniture: What Actually Matters
Condition and originality decide most of what a piece of antique furniture is worth, and age decides very little on its own.
Free Antique Appraisal Online: What You Can Really Get
A free opinion is strong on what something is and weak on what condition it is in. Since condition drives value, that is a real limit.
Antique Appraisal Guide: What It Costs and When You Need One
The same object can be worth three different numbers on the same day. Which one is right depends entirely on why you are asking.
Antique Pricing Guide: How to Set a Price You Can Defend
Research gives you a range. Pricing means choosing a number inside it, and that depends on how you are selling and to whom.
How to Value Antiques: A Six-Step Method
The same six steps work on a chest of drawers or a box of costume jewellery, and most bad valuations come from running them out of order.
Antique Price Guide: How to Find What Yours Is Really Worth
Most people research their item by looking at what similar ones are listed for. The listings were never the market.