Antiques sound financial investment - that look nice, too

by Sandra Miller
Back Bay Sun
When stocks tank and your real estate value is underwater, maybe it’s time to pay attention to what’s in your attic - or in others’ attics.
In what may be the oldest recycling movement known to man, investors have long been practicing “reduce, reuse and recycle.”
By many accounts, investment-grade antiques are an investment that hold, if not increase, in value. It’s risky, but there’s also the thrill of the hunt, and unlike, say, a stock, you can put an antique to work around your home. Just keep the grandkids away from the vase and the dog off the sofa.
“Buy something new, and it’s not worth anything,” says Marc s. Glasberg, of Marcoz Antiques at 173 Newbury St. “It’s like ten cents on the dollar. Antiques hold their value, plus they are beautiful examples of craftsmanship. The quality of wood is much better in an antique.”
Some things just hold their value better. The more unusual pieces can still go up in value, despite the economy, since there are always speculators who are waiting for this type of soft market to scout for bargains.
A watercolor portrait miniature on ivory of George Washington, created by Robert Field in 1801, was estimated at $10,000 and sold for $303,000.
“There are always buyers for things that don’t often come up,” says Skinner Vice President Kerry Shrives, who notes excitement over an upcoming sale on November 16 of rare 16th century manuscripts at their Park Plaza location.
Skinner’s site lists Aubry Beardsley (1872-1898) and Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “The Climax,” Important original illustration for “Salome: A Tragedy in One Act,” published in 1894 -- Estimate: $15,000-$20,000.
“They are examples of book illustrations that’s been in Boston families for a long time,” adds Shrives.
That’s what Shrives loves about working in Boston - there are so many treasures being held by longtime Back Bay families, and there are so many enthusiasts.
“The core reason why we have had a presence in the Back Bay since 1980 is that it’s a great place for buying and selling art,” says Shrives. “We still have a devoted core of Boston customers. It’s business we don’t see in the other parts of the country.”
In this area, residents are constantly moving, which means a lot of new inventory for auction houses and shops. There are students moving in, and many parents also choose to set up a local apartment for visits. Businesses see lots of employee turnover. There are a lot of old Boston families, and not a lot of space in their homes.
“Many are downsizing their estates,” says Shrives. “Some estates need to be settled. There are always people who need to make a move. There are always people who need to make purchases.”
And yes, perhaps a few are in need of some quick cash due to the economy.
Shrives has been with Skinner since the 1980s, and in that time, she’s seen several economic fluctuations. “I’ve seen turbulence through the years,” says Shrives.
Lately, she’s noticed that the lower end of the market, the more common pieces, are creating a buyer’s market. For speculators, this could be an ideal time to buy.
“Things that usually are in the tens of millions of dollars, there are signs of softening,” she says. But for investors and speculators, she adds, “It’s not been battered as much as other sectors.”
The Newbury Street antiques scene, however, is a bit weathered. It used to be home to dozens of antiques shops, a number that’s dwindled to a handful: Marcoz Antiques, Brodney Antiques & Jewelry at 145 Newbury, and Small Pleasures at 142 Newbury St. There are paintings and other artworks at the many galleries here, and Charles Street still has about a dozen antique shops, too.
For some antiques dealers, it may be easier to just go to the antiques shows or sell online. But for a certain customer, they have to see the item up close before they buy. They want to develop a relationship with a dealer who will keep an eye out for items they are looking for.
“I’ve never purchased anything on eBay,” says Glasberg, who opened Marcoz Antiques in 1972. “I am one of those people who have to touch it. The patina is everything. You can’t judge quality by a photo.”
He recalled one customer who saw something she liked in his store, then found a similar item on eBay. “The condition wasn’t good,” he said. He didn’t know how much the customer paid for it, but he was certain she was embarrassed about the purchase and covered up by saying that they didn’t pay a lot for it.
In the thrill of the antiques hunt, sometimes what some consider trash is another person’s treasure; other times, you just buy trash. That’s what makes antiques an exciting trade.
But for residents, it’s not only about investments, it’s buying pieces that match their equally antique homes that have preserved moldings, fireplaces and other detail that just doesn’t match well with today’s modern decor.
In the Back Bay, residents who are interested in antiques vary, from the families moving here from other countries who have an appreciation of classic pieces, to young couples looking for china, young professionals looking for unique items that will hold value. For those empty nesters moving from the suburbs, an antique may be a more appropriate type of furniture to place in a historic home.
“People still need to furnish their nests, even if it’s a sofa or a ceiling fixture,” says Glasberg, who sits next to a striking Bagatelle game table, with a custom stand. It formerly was a parlor bowling game, with a hinged top, but it’s been converted over to a more useful side table that boasts useful storage, for $4,250.
“The Back Bay is a wonderful community of people who live here and are very tasteful. These apartments or homes are into centerpieces. If there are restored moldings and fireplaces, they want a certain amount of antiques in the home. If you’re in the suburbs in a home with lower ceilings, it’s different - you can’t have a big armoire there. Here, it’s a big, European kind of city.”
This “European kind of city” also attracts people from Europe, who are in town to work, or sending their kids to school. “A lot of people who come here are from Central and South America and Mexico, and they like a lot of European items,” Glasberg notes. “Sometimes, the parents buy apartments and stay here when they visit. The dollar is weak. They can buy nice things to put in them.”
For those wishing to dabble in buying antiques, many experts recommend buying what you love, and buy the best examples of it, whether it be art glass, period furniture, paintings and sculpture, “and what you can afford,” adds Shrives. “Some items keep their value, while other pieces continue to grow. At least with arts and antiques, it’s an investment you can live with and enjoy.”






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The Marcoz way by Sandra Miller

Marcoz Antiques of 173 Newbury St. is a well-organized, clean store - .no mustiness, no dustiness, you’re not tripping over items or squeezing into narrow spaces to check out the inventory.
The store, which opened in 1972, specializes in European pieces from the 18th century and up. Clients have ranged from the Back Bay to around the world. Famous customers have included the Kennedys, Meryl Streep, Ralph Lauren, Donna Summer, Bryant Gumbel, and Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
Marc S. Glasberg started Marcoz 36 years ago, along with many other Newbury Street antiques shops.
Glasberg received a business degree from Suffolk University, and tried his hand at retail - at Lord & Taylor and Filene’s - until he decided to give in to what he loved, and he opened a one-room shop in 1972. He served tea, which drew a lot of interesting people who liked to do nothing much but gab and sip. “During the off-season, people would talk to me, we’d have tea. I didn’t make a lot of money back then, but it was nice to get to know my customers,” he said.
In the beginning, he was interested in all sorts of antiques. “Everything was of interest to me. I bought all around the board. There was so much stuff back then. It was hard to go wrong. I had a good eye for things,” he said.
Today, a lot of those good pieces just aren’t available any more. Neither are most of the Newbury Street antique stores. Many have gone online or on the show or auction circuit. He’s seen 10-12 other antique stores close on Newbury Street. “Rents got very high,” he said.
Glasberg keeps going by staying on top of the trends. He works in the shop with Jon Diamond, an interior designer, and also does custom picture framing and lamp shades, interior design, lamp rewiring, restorates ceramics, furniture and glassware, and some upholstery. A longtime member of the Newbury Street League, Glasberg last year earned the Fay Rotenberg Public Service Award.
Glasberg has a long history of relationships with international collectors and antique specialists, and travels around the world to find just the right pieces for his clients. Some of his pieces he buys for long-term investments, although much of his items don’t stay in the store longer than a few months.
Marcoz specializes in 18th to 20th century European furnishings, but he also loves dealing with accessories, such as candlesticks and ceramics. “Marcoz specializes in highly decorative centerpieces that make a room,” said Glasberg. “Things don’t hang around very long.”
Glasberg recently moved from his longtime spot a few doors down, when his building was sold. He loves the space, and saw it as a chance to move away from the French antiques that he loves – think dark woods, carved items and tapestries -- to what more customers are looking for - furniture and accessories with cleaner lines: lighter-colored woods like sycamore, satin wood, light cherry and walnut painted finishes, less elaborate frames; and more Asian pieces.
“We’ve been buying things that are simpler, more angular. People’s tastes are changing to straighter lines,” he said
When you enter his new shop, one of the first pieces is a Japanese folding horseshoe-back chair, from the 18th century, and he’s still researching to obtain its value. Nearby is an industrial table from a factory, the metal frame in a dark gray patina and topped with glass, selling for $2,375. “An architect looking at it said it was made to hold a lot of weight,” he said.
In the window is an armillary sphere, a model of the earth, with encircling iron bands that represent the outer sphere of fixed stars. The iron and stone piece was originally for the garden, and sells for $3,800.
However, Glasberg’s favorite antique is his dog Phoebe, a happy Cavalier King Charles spaniel who has spent many years in the shop and getting walked along Newbury Street.
Like his store, Glasberg tries to keep his home well-stocked but uncluttered.
“My home is pretty clean,” he said, adding he has shutter-style window treatments and solid carpets and bare floors in his fifth floor Commonwealth Avenue condo, to balance the antiques-filled home. “I didn’t want it to get too fussy,” he added.
In Glasberg’s family, a love of antiques was something that skipped a generation. He grew up in Newton, in a home that was a response to his mother’s own upbringing, when her home was filled with heavy, antique furniture. She reacted by decorating her own home with “modern lines” and “monochromatic colors,” said Glasberg. But he was drawn to the home of his great-aunt, whose home was filled with classic antiques. His aunt picked up on his interest by refusing to give him a ballpoint pen or handkerchief that was the usual birthday gift. Instead, she’d give him one of her antiques. He still has her cloisonné ginger jar that she filled with pennies, which she gave to him when he was a teen. “It was black, not like most cloisonné, with red and yellow flowers,” he said. “It’s unusual, a big fat ginger jar with a dome top. It’s dramatic looking.
“She didn’t succumb to trends,” he said. “Going into her home was a different world.” His aunt would invite her family over to Newton on the weekend for a long dinner, served on antique china, and everyone had to arrive with a good joke for the table. “It was a good time,” he said. “I got to see someone I loved, using these things.”
Taking a cue from her, Glasberg loves hosting dinners in his dining room. This year, his Thanksgiving dinner for friends will be served on his Meissen porcelain, Tiffany silver, and Baccarat crystal. He’ll set up his porcelain menus that he writes on with wax pencil.
Among his guests will be Dottie Stewart, sister of his longtime employee, Dan Murphy, who died a few years ago. Murphy worked three decades at Marcoz, but many locals knew him as the guy who would walk Glasberg’s dogs up and down the street. Last year, Glasberg and others planted a tree in his memory. “He was part of the scene,” he recalled. “He had a caustic sense of humor. You either hated or loved him.”
Glasberg has a good idea of how to stoke a person’s love of antiques. He boasts, “I’ve turned people into ardent collectors.” He recalled a collector in the western suburbs whom he turned onto French furniture, and today they’re trolling for pieces each weekend and keeping up with what Marcoz gets. “They have a little museum,” he said. “They don’t have children, so it’s like their kids. Their life has changed.”
Some of his customers are avid collectors of creamware; another loves leather books and miniatures.
A common request is from young couples looking for gifts for their wedding party, for which he suggests picture frames, a decanter, and other small but unique items.
“The fun part is the hunt, to search for these pieces,” he said, recalling one customer who fell in love with his Japanese Imari porcelain plate with iron red and cobalt blue, from the 1880s, and bought it for a friend whose daughter was getting married. But while the daughter was away, her mom took the plate out to admire it again, lying it on the bed. The dog jumped up and quickly crushed it. Heartbroken, she begged for another one to give to her friend’s daughter before the girl returned from her honeymoon. Glasberg insisted that it was a pretty rare plate, but the next weekend, while he was on his regular forays through New York City, he was at a street fair on Third Avenue, and found the very plate. “I was extremely lucky,” he said. He couldn’t have found it if he searched for 10 years, he thought, and he just lucked into this plate within days. “I didn’t make any money on that deal, and I’m sure she was thinking, ‘Oh, right, he said it was so rare, he was trying to sell me a bill of goods…’” But, he said, that’s the thrill of the hunt that keeps him going.