Nautical Antiques: Locating and Purchasing the Best Nautical Antiques

 

According to Amazon.com, the 2006 album Nautical Antiques is “a collection of outtakes, B-sides and rarities from the early years of Pinback’s career.” The album likely takes its name from Maidhof Bros. Shipware Merchants, a marine salvage store in San Diego’s Mission Hills. Maidhof Bros. is still a major antiques dealer.

 

 

 

You can’t find good nautical antiques for sale if you’re not out there looking for it. The most obvious place to look would be antique stores and malls. The next place to look at is the world of shows. After you increase your understanding of the world of maritime antiques the next stop is an auction. Finally don’t overlook the classified section of your local newspaper.

 

 

It’s always interesting to read the descriptions in catalogs advertising nautical antiques. They often describe a piece as having “original finish” or “original brasses.” This is always suspect, since changing the finish and the brass hardware is one of the quickest and cheapest ways of improving the look of an otherwise plain piece.

 

For example, eighteenth century brass is easy to recognize, because it will have impurities or grains of sand embedded in it. You’ll need to do some research to become knowledgeable about basic stuff like styles, periods, construction details and different types of brass.

 

Collecting is a worthwhile hobby, even in hard times. There seems to be a collectors’ club for every antiques category conceivable, and it shouldn’t be too hard for you to find one specializing in nautical antiques. Joining a club will give you the means to study the antiques and collectibles that are of interest to you.