It's all in the details for antique collectors

Posted March 05, 2010 10:00 pm

Touring the Glen Ellyn home of antiques dealer Barb Lemme gives lessons for collectors.

Yellow wareHer yellow ware pottery - which really is made from yellow clay - is displayed in the gathering room, the first room visitors enter.Most American yellow ware was made from 1840 to the end of that century. Rolled rims and feet are signs that the pieces are old rather than reproductions. And ones decorated with blue are very popular today.Lemme arranged the pottery in a pie safe with original green-blue paint circa 1860 that belonged to the Parker family of pen fame. The tin panels on the sides are punched in an American eagle pattern. Country antiques like this can be harder to date than more sophisticated pieces because people living away from the population centers might not have kept up with the latest furniture styles.Hooked rugsMost of Lemme's old hooked rugs are displayed as works of art, rather than on the floor. A hooked rug was made from tiny strips of fabric that might have been rags that were redyed to create the colors the artisan desired.In the dining room is a floral whose pink, lavender and olive green caught her eye. She dates it from the fourth quarter of the 19th century, and it shows well on walls painted burlap, a rich Ralph Lauren shade.Figural rugs like the sheep hanging on the stairway wall are important, she said.A hooked rug of red, pink and blue circles that obviously spent some time on a floor receives a place of honor in the master bedroom because it goes will with the round pantry boxes towering in a corner. The pink tells Lemme the rug was made in the 1930s."I love hooked rugs. They are graphic but also textural and had a utilitarian purpose on tables or floors," said Lemme. "Someone spent a lot of time creating them. I marvel at the ability of women working under those conditions."The pantry boxes that held flour and spices stacked in the corner of the bedroom are different sizes and shades of blue. She points out she needs two more to get perfect symmetry with the sizes.The master bedroom set is made from wood taken from a school in Milwaukee, including shutters for the armoire door. It is repainted in a creamy ivory, and using the antique material means no more trees were cut down, said Lemme, who set it against dark blue walls.PaintingsIn the dining room opposite the hooked rug hangs a painting from New York's Hudson River School, a name given a group of mid-19th century landscape artists. It is not signed, which hurts its monetary value, but the style is recognizable; Lemme points to the river, and the small sailboat. This particular example has colorful trees that look almost like the paint was sponged on. The original gold leaf frame is impressive.She selected the 1820s still life hanging unframed in the open second-floor hall for its composition and the aubergine or eggplant background that sets off the glowing peaches, pears, grapes and lemons.QuiltsThe red and green quilts draped over the railings in the open second-floor hallway are rotated because of the damage sunlight does. One wears a date of 1861. A cabinet at the end of the hall displays folded and stacked quilts in a place safe from direct sun. An Amish quilt of small squares from the early 1900s that Lemme compares to modern art hangs above the bed in the master bedroom.Etc.In Lemme's study, two little '20s chairs are covered with leather in the most delicious shade of green, but they show wear of almost a century."I had thought about replacing the leather, but I loved the color and I loved the shape," she said.In the family room, a portion of a wooden sign advertising a hardware store has become a striking piece of art. Even the lavender nursery for grandchildren has antique toys laid out. On a low table is Noah's Ark, known as a Sunday toy because strict families let their children play with it on Sunday because it tells a Bible story.Lemme's company is called Liberty Tree Antiques, and she and two others are partners in Sign of the Whale Antiques, a shop in Glen Ellyn.- Deborah Donovan  Fox Valley Antiques ShowWhen: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., March 13; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 14Where: Kane County Fairgrounds, 520 S. Randall Road, between Routes 64 and 38Admission: $8; discount coupons on lineSponsor: Chicago Suburban Antiques Dealers AssociationBenefits: Garfield Farm MuseumCall: (815) 838-0606 or visit <a href="http://csada.com" target="new">csada.com</a>

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