Unique pieces that reflect personal taste find favour with younger collectors
Vicky Sanderson ,Special to the Star

To get this season’s most sought-after décor pieces, you may have to go beyond the shelves of your favourite home improvement retailers.


That’s because what’s super hot now are unique pieces that reflect personal taste. To get the look, consumers are turning in ever greater numbers to antiques and collectibles, says Stephen Ranger, president of Ritchies Auctioneers. In the 20 years he’s been with Ritchies, Ranger has watched the popularity of antiques grow.

“The whole nature of the business has really changed,” he explains. “It’s gone from being the realm of connoisseurs – decorators and dealers – to include a much wider public. The demographics have changed too. It used to be mostly people of 50 plus who were interested. Now we have more customers in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.”

Antique and collectible enthusiasts will be attending Ritchies’ 40th anniversary Select Sale, which begins on Tuesday with an auction of jewellery, clothing, silver, glass and porcelain, followed by auctions of furniture, rugs and decorative art on Wednesday and Canadian books and art on Thursday. Previews start at noon today.

Those who can’t make it to the auction can participate by absentee bid or watch it on-line in real time on e-bay. For more information about Ritchies (380 King St. East), go to ritchies.com)

The trend toward what Ranger describes as the “new eclecticism” is evident in the auction catalogue, which features such items as an Eames lounge chair in red ribbed fabric and aluminum. It’s a fine example of the modern Danish design that’s enjoying its moment in the spotlight after years of disregard.

“A few years ago, we were giving away the traditional teak dining set,” says Ranger. “Now they sell for significant money. And some high-quality silverware, like the Georg Jensen pieces, are the most desired in our marketplace. It’s part of a whole movement toward modernity.”

Other hot sellers are Bauhaus-style chrome chairs and toney Barcelona chairs. Cynthia Findlay, who’s been selling antiques since the Harbourfront Antique Market opened in 1977, agrees that everything old is new again.

“There’s a new openness to putting antiques in the home, and every month we lend something to a décor magazine,” says Findlay, who now manages Toronto Antiques on King, a multi-dealer market that includes her very own Cynthia Findlay Antiques, which focuses on fine china, pottery and estate jewellery.

For more information about Toronto Antiques on King, including information about upcoming seminars and free appraisal events every Thursday, go to torontoantiquesonking.com or call 416-345-9941.

More and more younger customers are browsing the china and decorative pieces Findlay has on display. But most want objects that do more than just look beautiful.

“People don’t want to buy things that are just going to sit in a room that nobody uses – the way our living rooms used to be,” says Findlay. “They want to use and enjoy the things they buy.”

To do that, Findlay’s customers are finding innovative uses for archaic items. Small china cigarette holders, for example, become single bud cases, while tiny nut dishes find new life as soap dishes. One Toronto designer started buying biscuit boxes and barrels in etched silver or crystal to use as an extra toilet roll holder in a powder room. Old cigar boxes are reborn as stylish hiding spots for TV remote controls. A Dresden china crumber – originally used to sweep up crumbs off the tablecloth between courses – could now serve as a letter holder on a desk or entrance-way table.

In some cases, says Findlay, there’s a fresh appreciation of the rituals that surround antique objects.

“For example, there are a lot of young women coming in now to buy china teacups. They use them for tea parties with their girlfriends,” she explains.

That trend supports Findlay’s theory that women are biologically predisposed to love china.

“It’s true,” she laughs. “Women like china they way men like Canadian Tire.”

Findlay is also noticing an upsurge of interest in coloured glass. In smaller spaces, she suggests, it reflects light and adds a splash of colour.

Findlay and Ranger agree that many people don’t consider antiques and collectibles because they think prices are prohibitive. Not so, says Ranger. “Although what you hear about occasionally are the items that go at fantastically high amounts, the truth is that things that sell at auction tend to sell at wholesale prices.”

Judging from the anticipated prices in the Ritchies’ catalogue, that’s accurate. A 76-inch sofa from Barbara Barry’s collection, which is probably about a decade old and looks in fine shape, is expected to sell for between $1,400 and $1,600. A new sofa from Barry’s collection would probably run about $6,000.

A set that includes an Arne Jacobsen-designed stainless steel ice bucket, plus a boxed set of tongs, corkscrew and bottle opener, is expected to sell for between $100 and $150.

At Toronto Antiques on King, there’s also a range of prices, and a special $10 table that’s filled with small treasures. Another obstacle to the wider use of antiques in home décor is fear of failure, says Ranger. “People are afraid that they’ll make a mistake, especially when it comes to mixing antiques and contemporary décor,” he says.

Ranger’s advice? Relax. “Buy what you love. People’s instincts are generally very good.”