I was thinking the other day about a collector that I knew many, many years ago. He would call me for an opinion about various items that he was interested in purchasing. He was a smart guy, but not when it came to the world of antiques. There are many people who have read and heard stories about fakers or profiteering dealers or crooked auctioneers and assume that this is the way everyone is in the antiques business. I have gone on the record of saying that some of the finest people that I know are dealers, collectors and auctioneers--moral, upright and honest people who do their best to treat others well and do right by them if they accidentally make a mistake.
This collector distrusted all and, of course, wanted to buy something for nothing at the lowest possible price. He had lots of money and relatively few obligations, so the ability to purchase was not really the issue. His other problem is that he had no eye for what to buy and what was good. He wanted a Dutch cupboard and could have afford probably the $10,000 to $15,000 that it would have taken to purchase a pretty good one. Instead, he latched onto a $7,000 cupboard made of newly stained softwood. To make matters worse, it was about eight feet long and about seven feet high, defining by anyone’s standards the word “moosey.” I was asked in front of the dealer to give my comments (bad form!) and really had to verbally dance around what was clearly an overpriced, stripped dinosaur of a piece.
On another occasion, I was asked to vet a painting he wanted. It was a period painting of a pleasant enough individual, but it had been over-cleaned. The cleaning was of the type where they scour the face and leave the background dark so as to provide contrasts. Well, not much contrast here, just really ugly on ugly.
In talking with some friends, we agreed that this individual had the economic wherewithal to buy almost anything he wanted. He could have been a force and maybe even assemble a masterpiece collection. Instead, it was a collection put together on the cheap, and it showed.
I truly believe that the great collections are assembled thoughtfully and by working with dealers and auctioneers personally. It is never about trying to cheat the system or in assuming everyone in the system is trying to cheat you. Rather, it is a two-way street. His fear of making a single mistake and his distrust of everyone meant that this collector actually made many mistakes and ended up with a rather mediocre collection.
So, as you build that collection, and I am betting most of you do this already, spend time getting to know the dealers and auctioneers. They don’t bite and, in fact, can help you in establishing your collections.

Peter Seibert, a native Pennsylvanian, grew up in the antiques business and remains closely tied to auction houses, collectors, and dealers. Professionally, he has served as a museum director and public historian in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Virginia. He holds an M.A. in American Studies from Penn State and has authored two books and numerous articles on decorative arts, interior design, and history.