The University of Delaware Library


Early American Antiques:
Web Sources for Everyone Interested in Early American Antique Furniture and Accessories

Starting Points | Alphabet of Antiques A-Z | Museums | Media | Organizations | People | Photos & Images | Prices | Reference Bookshelf | Antique Reproductions | Shows, Auctions & Antiques Markets
Starting Points    (First time?  Begin with the sites marked with a * )

Read & Watch Visit Browse
Antiques & The Arts Weekly Colonial Williamsburg Antique Show / Auction Calendar
Antiques Roadshow/PBS* Historic Deerfield Auctions: Christies
Furniture & decorative arts
Early American Life magazine* Metropolitan Museum
American Decorative Arts section*
Auctions: Sotheby's
Furniture & decorative arts*
Maine Antiques Digest* Old Sturbridge Village  Flea Market Directory search by state
Reference Bookshelf: Antiques Winterthur Museum* What are early American antiques*
More to read... More museums... More shows, auctions & markets...


Alphabet of Antiques A-Z

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 magazine
www.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


Museums -- where can I see early American antiques? Related museum Internet sites:


Media:  Newspapers, Magazines, Television &Video -- what to read and watch to learn more about early American antiques?

Newspapers -- most antique dealers and collectors read one or both of these:

Magazines

Online Texts:

Television & Video
Organizations -- how can I find other collectors?

Older established national associations

More antique collector organizations:
People in Antiques -- links to selected major 20th century figures in the American antiques world:

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.


Photos & Images -- where can I find more pictures?
Prices -- how much should I expect to pay?


Reference Bookshelf: 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

Classic Core American Antiques Book Collection

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:


Reproductions of Early American Antiques -- where can I find out about reproductions?
Shows, Auctions, and Antique Markets -- how can I find out about antiques shows, auctions, and other events?

Megasites

Selected Antique Markets

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

Selected Major Auction Gallery Information (northeast United States)

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


This page is maintained by Rebecca Knight, Reference Department. Last modified: 06/17/09
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