Curiosities are all those antique objects that are interesting to decorate the house, make an original present or simply those antiques that do not fit into any category. The problem with these objects is that it is very difficult to tell whether they are valuable objects or only old stuff. A good advice would be to go to a prestigious antique dealer, one you can trust, and if this is not possible, here you will find some alternative guidelines.

• Verify if it belongs to a series: an antique object will be valuable if it belongs to a series. The series can be a type of ornament, the production of a certain factory, or any feature that puts it into a group to make it valuable. A separate object can hardly be valuable. However, as this category does not belong to any period or style, is the most prone among all categories to recognize as a fundamental value beauty or any other value that inspires us for contemplation.
• Aging signs: This is a very important recommendation. Every object belonging to the «curiosity» category was not valuable during its time; they are valuable now thanks to aging. Therefore, in order to recognize which of them is really an antique object and not a reproduction, we will have to take a close look at those small signs that tell us that time has passed. For instance, rust, dampness stains, dust marks, cracks, roughness, and general decay. Of course you have to be skilled enough to realize you are buying junk, thinking it is an antique object. We need to bear this in mind because not all objects can be restored. That is the reason why you need to find the happy medium between the aging signs, and the signs which make an object become useless and ugly.







• Chances to be collected: This is the chances that have an object to be collected. Not only because the object belongs to a famous series that makes it a «collection» piece, but also because it is prone to become the first object of a new collection. There are curious and valuable objects per se, and others that are not valuable if we take into account the previous points. However, this group of non-valuable objects has a subgroup of objects that are not valuable per se but can be part of a new collection. Finding an object which can be matched with other that is similar, and start a collection, gives it new value. One needs to be careful about this and get information to know if a certain object can have similar pieces to make a collection. This means that even though it is your decision to start a new collection, great part of the decision is determined by the object you are planning to buy.
• Purpose or location: There are very beautiful and valuable objects that have one big problem: people do not know what to do with them. This happens with objects that have no purpose whatsoever, and they do not look nice in any place -as an ornament-. These objects are valuable in theory but not in practice, except for those collectors who only want them to possess them.