July 21, 2017
A Southern Sojourn
Collector Chats
By Peter Seibert
This past week, the family headed south to one of our favorite destinations - Savannah, Ga. The architecture and food are definitely the big draws for our family. I particularly love the exuberant Victorian architecture that, despite the humid, buggy climate, always seems to be in great repair.
All that being said, I have found Savannah to be a bit barren for the antiques buyer. The shops in the historic area seem to be seeded with lots of very expensive 20th-century Colonial Revival materials. This is in stark contrast to Charleston, S.C., where the shops are filled with English and Oriental antiques of nondescript ages. All in all, as someone who loves Americana, I have found the coastal South to be pretty sparse, to say the least.
One thing that has puzzled me is trying to find where the locals go to buy antiques. I refuse to believe that locals patronize the blue willow reproduction china, refinished Hoosier cabinet, and plastic robot toy shops of downtown. There has to be a place where they go to buy.
Well, I finally discovered what may be that shop. Seventh Heaven is an old-time shop for sure, with lots of period stuff to choose from. The owner has a great selection of real stuff including a modern lamp repair section.
Why I bring this shop up is, first, that this place seemed to be where lots of decorators and collectors in Savannah were going to buy. I witnessed a fair number of folks passing through the doors in my time there, so I am guessing this is the source for many locals who are buying.
Second, I have to grit my teeth when I hear some of the comments made by folks coming in looking to buy. I know that every dealer gets frustrated with the folks who try and beat them up on pricing by customers who want something for nothing. In this case, I watched a former New York decorator who came in and told him that she liked his fire screen but it was “waaayyyy tooooo much money.” Nice lady, but rude, and uneducated to say the least. Beating up on a dealer gets you nowhere.
I found myself in an awkward position in that shop when the owner and I got into a discussion on a lovely Japanese print. This is not my area of expertise, but to my eye, the subject, a woman at a loom, was a pretty wonderful topic. However, like many of the Japanese prints that I have seen over the years, it had been badly sunbaked. The owner asked me what I thought and I said I liked it. He then point-blank asked me if I thought it was faded. While I appreciated his honesty and willingness to ask me such a question, I felt bad in saying that I did think it was too faded. He agreed in a totally friendly manner, and we talked about how many of those prints were put out in the sunshine and baked within an inch of their lives. It was a good conversation but I really hate giving opinions about other dealers’ items.
Anyhow, this is a great shop, and it rates up there in my book as a definite destination when I come back to Savannah.
