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What are early American antiques? For a quick lesson, click on photo links below
and go the the original web sites to read the related article, see the larger original image, note the web source, and learn a bit more about each antique.
Armchair
 Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org |
Box
 Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com
|
Clock
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Desk
Winterthur Museum www.winterthur.org |
Earthenware
Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org |
Fraktur
York County Heritage Trust http://www.yorkheritage.org |
Gameboard
Antiques & the Arts Online www.antiquesandthearts.com |
High chair
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Indian, cigar store 
Folk Art Collection New York State Historical Assoc. |
John Townsend chest
Sold for $4,732,500 ! Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Kentucky rifle
Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org. |
Lowboy
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Mechanical banks
Mechanical Bank Collectors of America www.mechanicalbanks.org |
Wallace Nutting secretary
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Oak chest
Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org. |
Pewter flagon
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Quilts
Smithsonian magazinewww.smithsonianmag.si.edu |
Redware pottery bowls
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Shaker chest
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Tea table
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Unusual painted dower chest
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Weather
Vane
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Windsor chair
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
E
Xtremely rare folk art portraits 
Maine Antique Digest www.maineantiquedigest.com |
Y - Z |
Newspapers -- most antique dealers and collectors read one or both of these:
Online Texts:
Older established national associations
People who love to collect Americana are an interesting group and below are just a few individuals who have played a major role in preserving and collecting American antiques.
Antiques collectors often refer to books with photos and descriptions of early American furniture and assessories. The "classic core American antiques book collection" listed below provides selected classic books with a focus on furniture, folkart pewter, iron, copper and brass in America from the 17th, 18th, and early 19th century.
To purchase new or out-of-print editions, check booksellers and antiques shops. For online bookstores or rare, used, out-of-print sources online, see the University of Delaware Library guide: Book Collecting and Book Buying: A Guide to Internet Resources. Out-of-print books may also be in auctions.
Start your antiques book collection with this essential reference book:
Nutting, Wallace. Furniture Treasury (mostly of American origin): All periods of American furniture with some foreign examples in America, also American hardware and household utensils. 3 volumes. Framingham, Massachusetts: Old American, 1928-1933; Reprint ed: Furniture Treasury (2 Volumes in 1). New York: Hungry Minds, Inc, 1954.
(UD Library: NK 2407 .N73)
Five thousand illustrations with descriptions on the same page. A bibliography of publications by and about Wallace Nutting is available at:
http://www.wnutting.com/biblio.htm
Thousands of books are available about antiques. This list represents a selected classic core collection of books which are valuable for constant reference and which include large numbers of illustrations. Several of the books are about antiques of English origin but are included because recognizing and understanding these are key to collecting American antiques, particularly pewter, iron and brass.
Books available at the University of Delaware Library have the designation "UD Library" and the LC call numbers. If books are not part of the University of Delaware Library collection, but are part of the Winterthur Library collection, the designation "Winterthur Library" appears.
Americana, folk and decorative art. New
York: Art & Antiques, 1982.
(Winterthur Library: NK 807 .A51)
American Furniture. Annual.
(UD Library: NK 2405 .A64)
Edited by Luke Beckerdite and William N. Hosley.
Cotterell, Howard Hershell. Old pewter,
its makers and marks in England, Scotland, and Ireland: an account
of the old pewterer and his craft. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle Co., 1963.
(UD Library: NK 8415 .G7)
Early lighting: a pictorial guide. 2nd ed.
Boston: The Rushlight Club, 1979.
(Winterthur Library: NK 8360 .R95)
Click here for more information.
Evans, Nancy Goyne. American Windsor Chairs. New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1996.
(UD Library: NK 2715 .E92 1996)
Fales, Dean A. American painted furniture, 1660-1880. New York: Dutton, 1972.
(UD Library: NK 2406 .F3 1972)
Gould, Mary Earle. Early American wooden ware and other kitchen utensils. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle Co.,1962 (c. 1942).
(UD Library: E 161 .G6 1962)
Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum. Metalwork in early America: copper and its alloys from the Winterthur collection. By Donald L. Fennimore. Wilmington, Del.: Henry Francis du Pont Wintherthur Museum, 1996.
(UD Library: NK 8112 .H46 1996)
Hurst, Ronald L., and Prown, Jonathan. Southern Furniture 1680-1830: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection. Williamsburg Decorative Arts Series. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997.
(UD Library: NK 2411 .H87 1997)
Jacobs, Carl. Guide to American pewter. New York: McBride, 1957.
(UD Library: NK 8412 .J3)
Kauffman, Henry J. American Copper and Brass. Camden, N.J.: T. Nelson, 1968.
(UD Library: NK 7803 .K3)
Kauffman, Henry J. The American pewterer: his techniques & his products.
Drawings by Dorothy Briggs. Camden, N.J.: T. Nelson, 1970; Reprint ed. Mendham, NJ: Astragal Press, 1994.
(Winterthur Library: NK 8412 .K21)
(Winterthur Library: NK 8412 .K21 1994)
Kauffman, Henry J. Early American ironware, cast and wrought. Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1966.
(UD Library: NK 8212 .A1 K3)
Keno, Leigh, and Keno, Leslie, with Joan Barzilay Freund. Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture. Warner Books, 2000.
(UD Library: NK 1133.26 .K46 A2 2000)
Read book review by Lita Solis-Cohen: "The Kenos Tell Almost All" in the August 2000, Maine Antique Digest.
Kettell, Russell Hawes. The pine furniture of early New England. Reprint of the 1929 edition published by Doubleday. New York: Dover Publications, 1975.
(UD Library: NK 2410 .K4 1975)
Kirk, John T. Early American furniture: how to recognize, evaluate, buy, and care for the most beautiful pieces -- high
style, country, primitive, & rustic. New York: Knopf, 1970.
(UD Library: FOLIO NK 2406 .K56 1970)
Ladd, Paul Revere. Early American fireplaces. New York: Hastings House, 1977.
(Winterthur Library: TH 7425 .L15)
Lindsay, John Seymour. Iron and brass implements of the English house. London: A. Tiranti, 1970.
(UD Library: NK 6443 .L5 1970)
Montgomery, Charles Frankin. A history of American pewter. Revised and enlarged edition. A Winterthur book. New York: Dutton, 1978.
(UD Library: PN 1994 .C5143 1982)
The Pennsylvania German collection. Handbooks in American art, no. 2.
Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1982.
(Winterthur Library: NK 835 .P41pa)
Pewter Collectors' Club of America. Pewter in American life. Wappinger's Falls, NY: Pewter Collectors' Club of America, 1984.
(UD Library: NK 8412 .P48 1984)
Plummer, Don. Colonial Wrought Iron: The Sorber Collection. Ocean Pines, MD: Skipjack Press, 1999.
(Winterthur Library: NK 8203 .P73)
Click here for more information about this book.
Prisant, Carol. Antiques Roadshow Primer: The Introductory Guide to Antiques and Collectibles from the Most-Watched Series on PBS. Preface by Chris Jussel. New York: Workman Publishing, 1999.
(UD Library: Reference NK 1125 .P75 1999)
Richards, Nancy E.; Evans, Nancy Goyne; Cooper, Wendy A.; and Podmaniczky, Michael S.
New England Furniture at Winterthur: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods. Winterthur, Del: Winterthur Book, 1997.
(UD Library: NK 2410 .R5 1997)
Santore, Charles. The Windsor style in America. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press, c.
1981-1987.
(UD Library: NK 2406 .S36 1987)
Schiffer, Herbert F.; Schiffer, Peter Berwind; and Schiffer, Nancy. Antique iron: survey of American and English forms, fifteenth through nineteenth centuries. Exton, PA: Schiffer Pub., 1979.
(Winterthur Library: NK 8212 .S33)
Sherril, Sarah B. Carpets and rugs of Europe and America. New York: Abbeville Press, 1996.
(UD Library: NK 2842 .S54 1996)
Thomas, John Carl. Connecticut pewter and pewterers. Hartford, CT: Connecticut Historical Society, 1976.
(Winterthur Library: NK 8412 .T45)
Webster, Donald Blake. Decorated stoneware pottery of North America. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle Co., 1971.
(UD Library: NK 4003 .W4)
To search for other books about antiques:
Megasites
Adamstown, Pennsylvania, an hour from Philadelphia, is an example of one major antiques market center drawing collectors and dealers because over a thousand dealers selling everything from $20,000 American 18th century cupboards to $100 1950s lunchboxes within a one mile radius every Sunday.
Selected Major Antique Shows
Presented as part of University of Delaware Library Electronic Library Lunch Series, October 3, 2000, by Dr. Sandra Millard, Assistant Director for Library Public Services, University of Delaware Library
