Procuring thrift shops, flea markets and property gross sales will be overwhelming. With the sheer quantity of stuff, how have you learnt the place to start out? How do you notice gems amid all of the … nicely, junk?
As knowledgeable reseller who has been combing via thrift shops for the higher a part of 30 years, I may also help. In the event you’re prepared to chop your buying time in half, rating larger bargains or stroll away with brag-worthy finds you may flip for money, learn on.
From hard-to-find home goods to resale money-makers, every thing featured in my “Thrift Store Like a Professional” collection qualifies as a BOLO (Be On the Look-Out for) merchandise. Whenever you discover it, purchase it!
Featured discover: Martz lamps
A lamp is a lamp, proper? Not at all times. Some lamps are particular. For the previous 20 years, Martz desk lamps have been on my bucket listing of “dream finds.”
Just lately, my hunt got here to a cheerful — no, ecstatic — conclusion when I discovered an unlabeled Martz lamp within the wild for $20.
In 1949, Jane Marshall met Gordon Martz on the New York State School of Ceramics at Alfred College in Alfred, New York. Each had been college students on the faculty, and each had a eager sense of design and artistic exploration.
In 1950, the 2 married and determined to mix their inventive abilities by becoming a member of Jane’s household enterprise in Veedersburg, Indiana. Her grandmother, Jessie Talbott Marshall, had based Marshall Studios in 1922.
When Jane and Gordon got here on board, the corporate was producing hand-turned wood lamp bases and painted by hand lampshades. The younger couple expanded the product line to incorporate stoneware lamp bases, dinnerware, sculptures, and small tables topped with inlaid tile.
In 1953, a Martz lamp was a part of the Good Design exhibition at New York Metropolis’s Museum of Trendy Artwork.
Jane and Gordon offered their curiosity in Marshall Studios in 1989 and retired. The corporate was bought by Genesis Wooden and Stoneware, and its belongings had been liquidated within the mid-Nineties.
Why purchase it?
Most of the modern lamp designs we see immediately are based mostly on the Martz aesthetic. The pair made modernism accessible to the plenty and promoted a simplicity of type that turned on a regular basis objects into artworks.
In the event you’re fortunate sufficient to discover a Martz lamp, dwell with it for some time. It might launch a wholesome obsession to seek out your subsequent Martz masterpiece (and the following … and the following).
If you’re focused on reselling Martz lamps for revenue however are unfamiliar with Marshall Studios or Martz, brush up and money in. This pair of Martz lamps lately offered for $2,145 on eBay, and this monumental desk lamp is listed for $3,500 on Etsy.
To prime it off (pun meant), even authentic Martz lamp finials get collectors excited. (Finials are the often-ignored threaded items that safe the lampshade to the lamp harp.) Just lately, this teak finial offered for $41 on eBay.
What to search for
Lamps had been normally hand-signed “Martz” close to {the electrical} twine opening on the lamp base. The Marks Challenge — an exquisite useful resource for ceramic collectors and resellers — showcases a number of variations of the incised signature.
However just like the one I discovered, not each Martz lamp was signed. (That will make life too straightforward, proper?) It took a strong hunch and brushing via outdated on-line product catalogs to verify my buy was genuine.
Listed here are a number of different options that may enable you decide in case your discover is the actual deal:
- Finial: Although historic details about Martz finials is proscribed, we do know that many lamps had been topped with strong walnut, oak or teak.
- Glaze coloration: Aside from vibrant blues, most Martz lamps had been glazed in earth tones. The usual coloration vary included chocolate brown, pale gold, cream, mossy inexperienced and black.
- Shade: Although authentic lampshades are sometimes changed, an aged, pure fiber shade is one other clue that may assist affirm an genuine Martz piece. And in the event you discover an orphaned shade, purchase it. Severe collectors can pay prime greenback to match their Martz lamps with Martz shades.
- Underwriters label: Martz lamps had been examined and accepted by Underwriters Laboratories. Many lamps nonetheless retain the paper Underwriters label co-branded with “Marshall Studios Inc., Veedersburg, Indiana.” Search for the UL label on the underside of the lamp or close to the incised signature.
Professional tip: Seventy years later, midcentury Martz lamps are nonetheless extra prevalent within the Midwestern U.S. In the event you dwell in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa or Illinois, you’ve gotten a greater likelihood of discovering one regionally.
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