Antiques and Great Things

Classics never grow old. This adage is a bit ironic since the word classic in

itself signifies a past fad. When we hear the word antique, what pops into our minds is this word classic. Antique, on the other hand, is defined in the Webster’s Dictionary as a relic of the distant past or a piece of furniture, pottery, etc. dating from an earlier historical period and sought after by collectors. The latter are those people who collect antiques for different reasons and with different criteria in choosing so. For all the criteria a collector uses, five are of the most common. The most indispensable is that the item must be old. Otherwise, it will not be considered an antique after all. Who wants to collect something so common anyway? The purpose of collecting and keeping them is defeated when all the others can easily acquire and dispose the item as they like. Second is the beauty of the item. Now this criteria is subjective since beauty as we know, is in the eye of the beholder. What may be beautiful to one may not be so to the other. So long as the item passes the standard for beauty of the collector then it’s worth the price to pay. The item’s rarity is the third criteria. It should be as rare as the shooting star, or as a blue moon. Any collector will not be proud of his collection if his neighbor has the same items bought at a store when he actually bought it at a distant place believing it to be rare. The great designs and styles used on the item is the fourth criteria. Sometimes what makes the item a collectible is also the talent that is manifested on it by someone popular in the past. One good example is the Monalisa of Leonardo da Vinci. The item may be replicated a million times but the original will remain original. The thought that one of the greatest artists to ever walk on Earth painted it, that he laid his own paintbrush and hands on it, is already of great value, whether or not the painting itself is of beauty. The last is that the item is a product or owned by someone famous. The owner doesn’t have to be someone from the past. He could be living still at the moment the collector collects his items. This is usually the case when someone famous puts on auction sale his items, memorabilias, etc. Famous basketball players, world renowned boxers and other sports related icons are usually the ones selling their items. There are other criteria a collector may have but in all of these, what matters the most is his closeness or attachment to those items. After all, his satisfaction is his utmost reason for collecting such antiques.