Finding the Way Around the World

QUESTION: I’ve always liked maps. When I was a teen, I read the road maps when my family went on road trips. Then later, while taking a world geography class in college, I had to color in large maps of the different continents. I soon learned where all the countries were, even many I never knew existed. As an adult I still love maps, but now I like the really old ones. I’d like to start collecting maps but I’m not sure where to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER:  Maps teach people about geography and history, as well as politics, religion, and culture. But most collectors love maps for their beauty and relevance to history.  

Collectors seek out maps for many reasons. Some appreciate the beautiful artwork and intricate etchings on early maps and purchase them for decorative purposes. Others seek all maps depicting a specific geographic area and want representative examples of all time periods showing changes resulting from exploration, wars, or just an increase in population.

Others use maps to trace their ancestry or showcase where they’ve traveled. Above all, it’s important to focus on a particular time period or geographical location rather than just collect maps from anywhere. 

Antique maps, like other antiques, are those printed over 100 years ago. Beginning in 1550, cartographers depicted the exploration and discoveries made throughout the world during the next 350 years. During the 17th and 18th centuries, cartography became one of the highest forms of fine art.

Some collectors look for accuracy while others look for inaccuracy–towns incorrectly sited, coastlines incorrectly charted, and rivers incorrectly routed.

Printers produced the majority of antique maps using woodcuts from the 16th to the early 19th centuries. Later, they used copper and steel engraving to create the majority of antique maps found today. By the early 19th century, the lithographic process allowed the artist or cartographer to draw directly onto a specially prepared stones—often using multiple stones for several colors. This was cheaper and faster since lithography required no engraver, but most lithographic maps have a fuzzy quality. By the late 1880's modern machine lithography and printing took over and maps lost their decorative quality.

While some maps were never meant to be colored, most antique maps look better with appropriate hand coloring. Ideally, collectors like to find maps with original hand coloring that’s applied at the time of printing. 

Elaborate cartouches giving the title, the cartographer, the dedication and perhaps details of scale, as well as compass roses, ships, sea monsters and human figures gave the map painter ample opportunity to be creative. Those on engraved maps became more elaborate through the 16th and 17th  centuries. 

When the fragility of maps is considered, it’s remarkable that so many survived over 300-400 years. Collectors will likely find early maps printed on strong, thick hand-made paper from France, Germany and Switzerland and the finest of all from the Ancona area of Northern Italy.

Antique maps can be divided into four main groups, depending on how a single sheet of paper can be folded. Double folio refers to maps printed on a complete sheet measuring 20 by 25 inches. Quarto refers to maps printed on one quarter of a sheet. Octavo refers to maps printed on one eighth of a sheet. Miniature maps of 3½ x 4½ inches appeared during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. 

As with most other antiques, quality and condition are important in map collecting. Since antique maps are paper items, they’re subject to wear and tear similar to any item which was intended to be used. However, with antique maps this isn’t always true. Most maps were printed on paper, and while modern paper is cheap, thin, and tears easily, antique paper is typically much more robust. This is due to the fact that paper used to be made by hand using cotton or linen rags. The paper-making process resulted in long, sturdy fibers within the paper that made it thick and durable. 

It’s not uncommon to find a 400-year old map that appears in perfect condition while a  100-year old map will often suffer from tears and other condition issues. Collectors are more forgiving about condition when it comes to newer maps printed on wood-pulp paper.

Some flaws, such as tears, worm holes, and toning, can be professionally repaired by a paper conservator, making the flaws nearly invisible and therefore minimizing any impact to the map's value.

And while color doesn’t always increase a map’s desirability, it can highly interesting geographical and decorative details.  Some maps were not meant to be colored; in particular maps from the late 15th through early 16th centuries were published in black ink without any color added. With these early maps, most collectors prefer that they remain in their original uncolored state. 

Choices in color ranged from simple outline color, which means that only the borderlines were highlighted, to elaborate full color examples that only the wealthiest could afford.

If color was added soon after the map was printed around the time of its publication, it is referred to as original or contemporary color. Maps that feature original color are a big draw for collectors, especially when the color is well-preserved.

Older, rare, highly sought after maps can be very expensive, sometimes reaching five figures. Collectors can find originals from the 16th century for less than $100, and many from 19th-century atlases are available from  $20 to under $100.  Rarity, age, historical importance, decorative value, coloring, and overall condition of the map and the paper it’s printed on also affect price. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about art glass in the 2022 Summer Edition, with the theme "Splendor in the Glass," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

A Tool for Every Purpose

QUESTION: I’ve always liked old tools and would like to start collecting them. Can you offer any advice on how to get started?

ANSWER: For any collector, liking something is the most important thing. You should collect what you like. Doing so will build and keep your interest in your collection for a long time. That’s the difference between collecting and assembling a group of like objects. In the former, you have vested interest while in the latter you’re just adding them to a shelf or cabinet.

Old tools not only have value, they also have historical interest. You should always be asking how old they are, what condition they’re in, and how rare they are?

When it comes to tools, age is a major element. This doesn’t necessarily mean a tool’s actual age. What’s most important is age related to the particular type of tool. Planes are a good example. Many years before companies began manufacturing planes out of metal, they made them of wood. It’s very easy to find a wooden plane that’s well over 150 years old that, in good condition, may be worth only $25 dollars. The more modern version, which isn’t as old but is made of metal, can be worth many times that amount particularly if it’s one of the early models. So just because you have an old tool that you can date to the early 1800s, doesn’t necessarily mean you have a very valuable tool

The most important point to consider with tools is condition. This is the area among collectors where more confusion exists than any other. Look at how what you have  relates to what was originally made. This can be looked at in two ways. First, is what you have totally complete? Are all the parts, cutters and anything else that came along with the original tool still there? One of the best examples of a tool that’s commonly for sale without all the parts is the Stanley 45 multiplane. The basic Stanley 45 came with 18 to 23 cutters, two lengths of arms, depth stops and in some cases a cam rest. Very seldom do you find a complete Stanley 45 for sale, yet in many cases, the asking price is that of a complete one.

After you’ve determined a tool’s completeness, the next thing to look at is its actual physical condition. Cracked or chipped handles or even handles that have been glued back together reduce the value. In some cases, people will substitute a handle or a part from another tool that looks about right. While this might make the tool useable, it detracts from the value for the true collector. Finish is also important. Having the original label still in place and the original metal and wood finish makes a tool more valuable. What detracts most from the value is when you can see signs of wire brushing  or that the tool has been painted black or covered with some kind of other coating.

The "rareness" of a tool, as with other antiques, is also very important when determining its value. This typically comes down to how many have survived and are available for sale. In some cases there may be a limited relationship to how many were actually made. A good example of this is the foot-powered tools that were common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During World War II scrap metal drives, people donated many of these to be melted down for the war effort. Partially as a result of this, these foot-powered. tools are sometimes hard to find. In other cases, a particular style or type of tool may have only been manufactured for a limited period. This may be a result of a company going out of business, the tool not selling well or some external events such as a war that caused manufacturing priorities to be redirected. In most cases, it can usually be concluded that the more rare a tool is, the more it’s worth.

Tools, obviously, come in all shapes, sizes, and sorts. Each tool has been designed for a different job and so the variety is endless. In fact, even longtime experienced tool collectors will often run into something they haven't seen before. To make sense of all this variety, tool collectors have established categories of tools to help them focus their collections. In the broadest categorization, they divide tools into groups by the material they work—woodworking tools, metalworking tools, basket making tools, leather working tools, etc. They also further defined tools within each of these categories. For instance, in the woodworking tool category, there are edge tools, boring tools, measuring tools, woodworking machines, and so on. Within the machinist tool category, there are calipers, gauges, indicators, etc.

Tools can also be categorized in ways outside their intended purpose, such as by tool makers, patented tools, aesthetic tools, tools from a particular era or generation, tools made in a particular geographical area, tools made from a certain material, and miniatures.

Collecting tools can be daunting—and expensive—if you don’t focus on a particular type early on. But whatever type you choose to collect, always buy the best you can afford.

Determing Value

This is the 200th post of this blog. And being so, I thought I’d break away from my usual question and answer format and discuss a topic for which I receive lots of questions—value. I routinely tell everyone that I don’t do valuations. I do that because value is one of the hardest things to determine without lots of expert information. That’s why certified appraisers are in such high demand. But they’re expensive, so most people seek free value advice.

Value of any kind is subjective. It depends on several things—age, rarity, authenticity, trendiness, and historical association. Just because an item is old doesn’t make it valuable. Take glass from ancient Rome. At over two 2,000 years old, you’d think it would be worth a fortune. But the truth is there’s so much of it around that it isn’t worth as much as you’d think.

Throughout history, people had as much junk as we have today. But they didn’t value things in quite the same way as we do today. For ordinary people, old furniture was just old furniture. Old dishes were often mismatched. Let’s face it, they didn’t have “Antiques Roadshow” to make them think that just about everything was valuable.

To determine an item’s value, you first have to determine its age. The type of wood used in furniture, particularly the secondary woods used for the inside of drawers, is an important clue of age. If you see a  circular saw pattern in the wood on a piece of furniture, you know it was made after 1840.

Not everything rare is valuable either. An old book by an unknown author might be extremely rare. But to be valuable, someone must want to buy it. Nevertheless, rarity is a key determinant of value. Start by considering how rare an item was when it first appeared on the market.

Think in terms of different levels of production. At the bottom are mass-produced items made of ordinary and usually cheaper materials. At the top are unique items made of the finest materials. Generally, if an item was rare and valuable when it was made, it'll be even more rare and valuable today. Previously expensive objects will still be expensive today.

When an antique or collectible is in demand by collectors, it’s price can skyrocket. And when prices climb, fakes and forgeries abound. Some forgers use as much skill producing fakes as if they were making an original. Fraudulent antiques lie in wait for the uninformed. A good example is the myriad of fake Chippendale furniture coming out of Indonesia.

Perfectly round wood in a piece of furniture, for example, is a tell-tale sign of a forgery, because wood becomes distorted with age. Look carefully at ceramics to see if someone painted the decoration on top of the glaze after the firing.

When it comes to collecting antiques, condition is prime. Did you know that the patina on fine furniture----produced before 1830—is one of its most important features, and too much cleaning and restoration can ruin it? Did you know, for example, that the value of a rare book can drop by more than 100 percent if it doesn't have its dust jacket?

Another thing that influences value is how typical an item is. Collectors are always looking for representative examples of a given period, craft or style. When an item sparks a collecting trend, prices always go up.

Finally, an object’s association with someone famous automatically increases its value. That’s because more collectors want to own it. And that’s the bottom line with value. The more people who want to own an object, the more its worth. And an item is only worth what the last person paid for it.

I hope you find this post as useful as the previous 199. I’ve enjoyed writing this blog and plan to continue bringing you insightful information about antiques and collectibles. For more in-depth articles, please visit The Antique Almanac, my new monthly E-zine on antiques and collectibles. You’ll never know what you’ll learn next.