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 Displaying spoons
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| Author | Topic: Displaying spoons |
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tmockait Posts: 963 |
posted 01-03-2005 08:47 PM
  
A non-hallmark question. How do you display your spoon collections? I use shadow box frames, but then I have to take them down to look at the hallmarks, and I can only see one side of them. I have not found a spoon rack that looks half way decent and most are only big enough for small souvenir spoons. Ideas? IP: Logged |
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dragonflywink Posts: 993 |
posted 01-03-2005 09:34 PM
Narrowed down my collection over the years, but still have around 600 left (though they seem to multiply at times). Most of my spoons are in glass front spoon cases, a few manufacturers make them for larger spoons, but you have to hunt for them. The rest are scattered around in open spoon racks, glass spooners, and small trays. I've picked up some nice old handmade racks over the years that work for some of my tea caddy spoons and other large pieces. Also have some small lucite display stands (sort of like miniature plate stands) that hold my short fat caddy spoons. Also have a few pieces that are so wonderful and unusually shaped that they're displayed on shelves with my hollowware. I'm also setting up most of my Mom's salt spoons in shadowboxes with hinged doors. They're so tiny that very thin black elastic strung through holes in the backboard holds them in place, yet they can be removed easily. Cheryl IP: Logged |
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nihontochicken Posts: 289 |
posted 01-04-2005 12:49 AM
What with my meager collection, I have had similar considerations. Here are some thoughts. If the items are to be "hands on", then I vote for an attached string tag (perhaps with the loop set by a bit of glue so it won't be inadvertently slipped off) giving the pertinent information. If the item is to be "hands off" (passive display, such as a shadow box), then I suggest including in the display, as appropriate, a full-length photo of the reverse side and/or close up photos of hallmarks or other specific areas of interest. The photos may, of course, be cropped (electronically, or, if one is technically recalcitrant, simply snipped with scissors) such that they well fit coexistent within the chosen frame with the real item. FWIW. IP: Logged |
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dragonflywink Posts: 993 |
posted 01-04-2005 01:40 PM
Being a compulsive record-keeper, I've always kept notebooks with pictures of the spoons and notations of marks, engravings, provenance, etc. Usually just use the photocopier (has the advantage of showing the pieces life-size), but advanced technology has provided the digital camera for more detailed pics. Could do it all on the computer, but still kind of a paper and pen type person. Cheryl IP: Logged |
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t-man-nc Posts: 327 |
posted 01-05-2005 12:10 PM
I purchased a software package that allows me to capture a good deal of information on my spoons (and the books as they have begun to take a major investment position as well), this allows me to track them for a number of different purposes, including insurance, and cataloging for my wife if I meet an untimely demise, etc, as well as being able to track what I have examples of verses what I locate, to avoid purchasing duplicates. This also helps to identify the condition for upgrading of examples and to work swaps with other collectors and the like… I also tag all of the with the ubiquitous paper and string labels, regardless of whether they are displayed or not... I maintain a number of the unique pieces in Closed / Locked (Grand Children - little hand leave lots of finger prints and other maladies) Wall Hanging Cabinets (simular to the ones Cheryl describes) which I acquired the first one through an auction, and then I had it duplicated for additional storage by a local woodworker. Additionally I have begun to design some counter cabinets for my work room that started out life as a Architects cabinet and evolved from there. I have labeled them by collection (American Coin, English, Continental / French / German, etc…) with a cross reference by location, type, and maker... The display issue comes down to space… I have more pieces than I can display and store a number away in silver cloth wraps in these drawers, (the more valuable pieces I keep in safe deposit boxes at the bank for security reasons), but then as I build the collection I am inclined to sell off the duplicates, and upgrade examples of each maker and type. So display really tends to be a moving target… I am reluctant to place too many pieces out as the cleaning efforts would quickly overwhelm desire to display. The local area has Paper Mills neraby and high sulfer content in the air makes cleaning an issue. I would be interested to learn how some of the others track, display, and deal with unidentified pieces they are researching… These tend to be some of my biggest problems, as they are simply unknown, and I have 2-3 unknown pieces for each identified piece of silver, this holds true pretty much across all of the collections and I have more and more of them it seems every time I acquire a couple of pieces, it seems half cannot be attributed. I search through my library, and the books either do not reflect the marks, or if they do they are unidentified to the authors as well… Granted, I enjoy the research, and am tickled to identify one that had previously gone unknown, but these are few and far between… Such are the burdens of the Silverphiles… Don't you just love it... "Smaug" IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 01-24-2005 10:43 AM
The method I now use to keep track of items is simply a word document. Is there a software package that allows one to include a photo of the object together with a written description? I just recently purchased a digital camera so really have not had the ability to take pictures that could be easlier put into the computer. Thanks for any infomation. IP: Logged |
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nihontochicken Posts: 289 |
posted 01-24-2005 01:18 PM
If indeed you are using Microsoft word, you can insert a .jpg or .bmp (and I suspect other standard picture formats) directly (right click on pic, "Copy", left click on Word doc, "Edit", "Paste"). I suggest using a two column table, with a row devoted to each item, with the photo inserted in one column and the description in the adjacent cell. FWIW. Good luck! IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 01-24-2005 01:21 PM
There are any number of software programs designed for cataloging collections. Not surprisingly, several can be found for sale on ebay. I have looked at a number of these, and tried four: Thingventory, 321 Collect, Collection Explorer, and Keeperpro (listed in order of increasing sophistication). Thingventory is a free download (not on ebay), designed primarily for inventories of household items, but it can be adapted to small collections. The others are inexpensive and are specifically made for collections, and all allow 1llustrations. Most such programs have websites, and provide interactive demonstrations or in-depth descriptions - this is necessary, as everyone has a different conception of what they want a program to do, and the choice is a highly individual one. To my mind, Keeperpro from Raven Labs is the best of this group for a reasonably sizeable collection, and the most intuitive. There are more comprensive programs available, at greater cost, for museum type collectrions, but require too much computing power for most home users. It has been some months since I have last looked, so there may be other, better choices now. Probably the only way to find one that suits all of one's preferences is to design it oneself in a database program, but some predesigned ones allow the flexibility to modify them to some degree; some are inflexible, and only really fit the preferences of the designer. Fortunately, many of these are inexpensive so they can be tried to see how well they "fit" by working with them for a while. IP: Logged |
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doc Posts: 728 |
posted 01-24-2005 02:24 PM
I have found that setting up an Excel spreadsheet is the easiest (and cheapest) way for me to keep track of my collection, and it doubles as an inventory list for things that I sell. I have set up worksheets for different aspects of my silver collection(coin, Irish, British and general) and then created a numbering system for each item (ie. my British silver would be BS0001). I then put hanging tags on them or sometimes sticky tags with the number (I don't like sticky tags, as they can leave residue). In terms of displaying, I like spooners as well, so I keep a number of them around, and then I have purchased glass covered display cases on Ebay (fairly reasonably) and put the spoons in by category-e.g. Irish, British, coin is broken up by state. I am gearing up to start doing shows, so these will also double as display cases that can easily be packed away at the end of the show. IP: Logged |
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