A Few Clues to Your Household Treasures

Americans have discovered their attics, and Carol Prisant is ready to help them sort the junk from the treasures.

Is it a true Tiffany lamp or one of the ubiquitous imitators? A valuable piece of sterling silver or merely silver plated? An 18th century Chippendale armchair or a reproduction?

There are ways to find out, even for the beginner, and Prisant, a former antiques dealer and expert appraiser, has put it all together in her book “Antiques Roadshow Primer” (Workman Publishing Co., 1999).

In 350 pages, she takes the reader through a how-to introductory guide to the traditional categories of antiques and collectibles, complete with charts, tips, glossary and anecdotes.

Clearly aimed at beginners, the book will not create overnight experts. “The object is to demystify the field of antiques and collectibles,” explained Prisant, who is a member of the Appraiser Assn. of America and New York editor of the British magazine World of Interiors.

“It takes years of experience to develop the eye of an expert, but this will help you ask the right questions,” she said on a book-tour stop in Los Angeles last week.

“I’m not aware of any book like this--I think it’s a first,” said appraiser Robert Scott of North Hollywood. “We have thousands of pamphlets in our research library on specific subjects, but this is a how-to for a beginner.”

And while a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, it can also be helpful, he said. “There’s a big revolution in the antiques field, particularly with the online buying, and if this book makes you aware enough to call an expert, it could be very helpful.”

Like most dealers, Prisant is self-taught. “Some schools now offer a master’s degree in decorative arts, but that would prepare you to be a scholar, not a dealer,” she said. “Dealers spend the money, make the mistakes and learn the hard way.”

Prisant’s book, which has received early favorable reviews, is meant to be a companion to PBS’ popular “Antiques Roadshow,” which draws 7,000 to 10,000 people bearing treasures to be appraised when the touring show hits town. The show, she says, “has reminded everybody they have attics and popularized them.”

Suddenly, the rusty old sword, the tarnished teapot and the rickety side chair take on new get-rich-quick potential. Everybody’s buying and selling.

“The big auction houses that used to be rarefied now have become accessible to the ordinary guy,” said Prisant, who, with her husband, is restoring an 1862 gabled three-story house in New York on Long Island’s North Shore. “It’s like the stock market--everybody is there now.”

Nowhere is the frenzy more evident than on EBay.com, the largest online trading marketplace, boasting 2,000 categories and more than 2.5 million auctions a day for everything from antiques to toys.

Prisant thinks “Roadshow” has tapped into Americans’ collective desire to unravel the mystery of the many objects they have inherited or picked up at flea markets.

“Sometimes you’ve gotten attached to the object, and maybe you want to give it to a daughter or son, and suddenly, one day, you want to know what it is,” she said.

Or maybe a visitor mentioned that the little secondhand desk in your den looks like a great antique and perked up your interest. Start being a detective. Just taking out a drawer and looking at it will give you lots of clues, said Prisant, whose book offers a long list of tests for authenticity.

For instance, if there is veneer and it’s chipped, look at the edge and see how thick it is. If it’s thick and irregular, it is old. (Modern veneers are thin.) Is there a hole that seems to have been plugged? That means the hardware has been changed, another reassuring sign of age. Feel the blocks of wood glued in the underside corners. If handmade, they should feel hand-finished and irregular to the touch.

“Old furniture feels soft, and new furniture feels sharp and hard,” Prisant said. “Some ‘Roadshow’ people even like to smell the pieces.”

Although furniture, the “queen of the decorative arts market,” occupies the largest section in her how-to primer, equally detailed information is offered in other categories, including silver; porcelain; pottery and glass; paintings; jewelry; clocks and watches; metalwork; and books and manuscripts.

The richly illustrated book includes quick-read boxes with additional information, such as “Old News,” listing items that aren’t worth much these days.

In that category, furniture that may look valuable but usually isn’t includes Boston rockers, Savonarola chairs and Windsor-style kitchen chairs. Glass objects too common to have unusual value include grandmother’s jelly glasses; most clear glass, especially stemware; and carnival glass, the iridescent giveaway from the 1930s.

Prisant, who is self-taught (“I started buying antiques as a bride furnishing a house on a budget because I could get more for my money”), focused on American antiques because that’s mostly what people bring to the “Roadshow.” An antique, by law, is anything at least 100 years old, but that doesn’t automatically mean it is valuable, she added.

“The craftsmanship quality is usually better in any antique than in machine-made furniture,” she said, “but there were inept craftsmen making clunkers back in 1770, and nothing will make clunkers into great antiques, not even being 100 years old.”

In contrast, collectibles are a 20th century phenomenon that don’t have to be old, useful, attractive or rare. They are “accidental in nature” and can be anything from swizzle sticks to Elvis memorabilia. And because they were created to be used and discarded, they sell today for much more than they were ever worth new.

Her book breaks down the vast field into categories (sports, rock ‘n’ roll, advertising, movies) and offers one overall guideline: “The good thing to know about the collectible market is that everyone can play, and, more than in any other field, the rule to remember is--Condition is All.”

Although collectibles have nothing to do with what we think of as antiques, it’s good to learn about them, she said.

“Collectibles can turn you to more substantial objects that have a history and can get you excited about America’s past.”

Connie Koenenn can be reached at connie.koenenn@latimes.com.