Following my recent post, The Things Antiques Dealers Say…, I received a number of comments and emails from readers, who, for the most part, entered into the spirit of the tongue-in-cheek rundown of dealers’ parlance. However, one anonymous epistolarian – presumably a dealer – didn’t appreciate the antepenultimate jibe which, as he took it, infers that dealers are elitist!
Equally doleful; a second anonymous detractor had a go at me regarding the last expression on basically the same grounds as above and additionally went to some lengths explaining and justifying the pricing of antiques.
Having myself been a dealer, I need no introduction to such matters. Pricing and the Paying Enemy’s perception of worth have been weighing on greater minds than mine for centuries.
“It is difficult to ascertain, in many instances, the true value of furniture, by those who are strangers in the business. On this account gentlemen often think themselves imposed upon in the high price they must give for a good article.” [*]
[*] Thomas Sheraton, The Cabinet Dictionary, 1803, p. 117.
Pegs and 'Tails 
Give ’em hell, Jack!
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