Part 2 - Depression Glass Collecting - What to Collect
Hi,
Part 2 -- What to Collect? --
What Depression glass to collect depends on your goals.
Targeted Buying
Completing an existing set is a frequent and enjoyable goal. Many people enjoy using Depression Glass as it was meant to be used – not as carefully displayed art but as actual tableware or kitchenware.
It creates an enjoyable sense of style and history which modern ubiquitous glassware lacks. This is especially true if you are completing a set from your family’s own past!
It is also a wonderful way to spark interest and conversation at dinner parties.
If you are this sort of person who enjoys having unusual style in your everyday life, then you will probably want to balance cost with aesthetic appeal and collect an everyday set which is affordable.
Most Depression Glass will stand up fine to everyday wear and tear, just like modern dishes, so go for it. Many patterns have pieces available at prices comparable to modern dishware, so why not enjoy a bit of history while you eat your meals?
If you have more of an interest in art for art’s sake, you may seek out specific pieces that appeal to you. Perhaps you don’t care about the dinner plates and bowls in a pattern, but a particular tea cup with a particular etching really catches your eye.
Nothing wrong with that!
The more you read and learn, the more you will find specific pieces that are interesting to you, which you would like to see displayed in your home.
You may find that a particular company appeals to you, because of the nature of their etching, or a specific beautiful color which they used frequently, or because they were based in your home town, or any other reason. There are plenty of people who enjoy focusing on the glass made by a specific company.
A collection which has different patterns from one company gives you the chance to compare them and gain insight into changing styles and tastes through the years, which can be fun from various perspectives: artistic, business, cultural, industrial.
Opportunistic Buying
If you have the time, money, and storage space, you may enjoy buying as much as you can, whenever interesting opportunities or bargains arise.
If you are the sort of person who enjoys browsing garage sales, antique shows, and stores to find exciting bargains, diamonds in the rough, and so forth, then there’s no reason to feel obliged to have a specific pattern in mind and a buying plan mapped out, of course!
Let serendipity guide you.
This is true if you aspire to be a dealer. There is no reason to let a good bargain pass by if you can afford it and have the knowledgeable confidence that you’ll probably be able to resell it later.
Of course to do this successfully on a large scale requires you to have good familiarity with the whole field of Depression Glass – there is a myriad of diverse patterns out there, and you will certainly encounter glass that you’ve never seen mentioned in books or websites before!
But having a good library of books is a must for every Depression Glass collector and the best chance you can give yourself of becoming a successful collector.
Next time we will be discussing how much to spend on collecting. Of course this is a decision only you can make but I have a few suggestions to give you a clear perspective of what to expect.
Have Fun and Keep Collecting
Murray
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