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.

Frame It!

 

QUESTION: I love collecting older works of art—not the type found in galleries and museums, but those found in flea markets, antique shops and shows. While some come with frames, many don’t. And those that do have frames often don’t look right in them. How can I tell what type of frame should go with a particular work of art? How have frames changed over the centuries? How does the age of a frame relate to the art work?

ANSWER: Most people who purchase older art works don’t bother to change the frames that come with them, even if they aren’t the best for the art works they surround. 

Most two-dimensional antique and vintage art works----paintings, posters, and prints---had frames, but it’s not unusual for them to be sold without them. Often the existing frame is an inappropriate replacement, or isn’t in perfect condition. While restoring a frame is often a simple procedure, finding the right one can be as time-consuming and challenging as discovering the work of art, itself.

An overwhelming frame on a delicate painting robs it completely of the experience of the delicacy, and conversely, a painting that’s strong and powerful, for example, will be  short-changed by a thin, delicate, fancy frame.

Quilts, tapestries, murals, wood and paper panels seldom need a frame. A frame is, however, an essential for any other art form which existed since the Middle Ages when the frame was integral to the art. Cabinetmakers, architects, gilders, and wood carvers made the first frames in 15th-century Italy. From Italy the craft of frame making spread throughout Europe. 

Some early settlers to America brought with them framed works of art, introducing the craft and frame designs of 16th- and 17th-century France, England, Holland, Spain and Portugal to the Colonies. The earliest frames were not only decorative, but also reflected the tastes and fashions of the time and often the artist's concept of what was right for his work.

During the American Federal Period from the late 18th- and early 19th-century, wealth increased for many who then sought the better things in life. The larger pictures that people hung singly and the groupings of smaller works were frequently completed with simply ornamented gilt frames that mirrored the understated furniture of the period.

Few homes were without pictures through the classically dominated Empire period from 1810 to 1830. Despite frequently being hung high above eye level, the paintings boasted elegant frames of gilt moldings, later in the period, when Empire furniture had become more elaborate and less graceful, frames, too, became extravagant featuring ornately carved plaster and lots of gilding. The exceptions were the narrow black frames used for prints. As the Victorian period embraced the American scene and became ever more ornate, frames followed suit.

By the middle of the 19th century, frame making had become a well-established industry in America. Most were mass-produced and lacked the fine quality and individual creativity of handcrafted ones.

For those seeking to collect works of two-dimensional art, a knowledge of frames— their history, styles, makers, design and material details—is very important. This can be accomplished by learning from dealers in fine frames, frames restorers, and museum curators, as well as doing a lot of reading and studying the art works in museums to see how and which frames have been used.

While choosing the wrong frame doesn’t physically damage a work of art, it damages it aesthetically. To ensure that a particular art work has the right frame, the date of the painting should match the date of the frame. During the late Victorian era, the preferred frames were wide and heavily embellished. During the years of the late 19th-century Aesthetic Movement, decorative frames continued to be used but were flatter. Another consideration should be the color of the frame appropriate to the date of the art work. 

The frame’s width depends on whether a work of art has a busy or a simple composition. Fancier frames complement busy art works while simple ones do the same for simple works of art. 

The frame should always complement or enhance the work of art it surrounds. It should never go with the style of the room that it’s in.. If the art work doesn’t fit in that room, it doesn’t belong there. 

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 the "Pottery Through the Ages" in the 2022 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Romancing the Road

QUESTION: My mother saved every map she and my dad collected on their many road trips. Some of these go back as far as just after World War II.  Do these have any value today?

ANSWER: Road maps, especially the ones produced by oil companies for their service stations, are highly collectible. While older ones can be worth higher amounts, depending on their condition, newer ones aren’t as pricey. They’re also easy to store, so a collection won’t take up a lot of room—always a good thing for those living in apartments.

The systematic mapping of roads and the installation of route signs by the government didn’t occur until the auto arrived. Prior to the mid-1890s, bicyclists were the ones who demanded road maps. But as the new century dawned, the number of automobiles on the roads began to increase. The Chicago Times-Herald printed the first automobile road map in the country for a race they sponsored from Chicago to Waukegan.

In 1918, Wisconsin’s state legislature initiated a numbered highway system., which the federal government adopted in 1926. The new highway system gave us the names for legendary roads like Route 66 or California’s scenic Highway 1. Rand McNally became the first major publisher to adopt the system, which it also helped promote by installing numbered signs along these national roadways.

Before World War II, service stations gave out road maps free. These featured elaborate artwork. Oil producers such as Esso, Chevron, Shell, Gulf, Standard, Texaco, and Socony-Vacuum (later known as Mobil) all distributed maps.

Raod maps belong to the growing category of collectibles called “petroliana,” or anything to do with gas stations and the petroleum industry. For the most part, they’re reasonably priced, and some estimate that during their peak service stations distributed over 8 billion. Oil companies provided them as a service. They were made to be disposable, marked up by the gas station attendant as he gave directions and sent his customer on their way. But people often saved maps as souvenirs of the trips they made.

As automobiles proliferated, the marking of routes changed. Before numbered roads, stripes of paint on telephone poles, fence posts or trees delineated the various routes. In 1925, states began numbering their roads. At first it was an adventure to drive, but by the 1930s it had turned into a method of tourism. Tourist cabins sprang up along the way, as motorists made their way across country. Historians consider this time the road map’s golden age.

The Sinclair Oil Company hired noted artists like Peter Helck, who also produced advertising illustrations for car companies. Maps featured images of a carefree and playful life on the road, with service stations welcoming children and dogs, many of which were Scottish terriers, like the ones popular in movies like “The Thin Man.”

Maps produced during World War II reminded motorists to slow down to save tires. After the War, maps featured dynamic scenes, vibrant colors, and great graphics.

By the baby booming 1950s, the images tended to show nuclear families—a mom, dad, son and daughter, all enjoying life on the road. During the 1960s, maps displayed the dotted lines of planned Interstates and aerial views of highway cloverleafs.

Three companies—Rand McNally, H. M. Gousha, and General Drafting—produced most of the service station maps. These became a vehicle through which oil companies could promote the service at their stations, for it was service that differentiated them.

General Drafting produced maps for Esso, whose attendants handed out some 34.5 million maps in 1965.
After 1965, the quality of service station maps declined until their virtual disappearance in the 1980s.

Today, of course, free maps are long gone. They faded away, along with so many other aspects of the highway culture, with the 1973 energy crisis.

Early road maps from the first decade of the 1900s can be worth $75-100 today in good condition. Those from the 1920s and 1930s range in price from $20-40.  Groups of maps from the 1950s sell for $10-20.