Two Antique Shop Favorites: the Wedgwood/Waterford bankruptcy

These days it’s a smart thing to be aware of the value of all your old things.
This coming Tuesday evening at 7 p. m., our winter antiques program will begin at the Wetlands Institute on Stone Harbor Blvd.
This first session in important, because it covers what to expect from an appraisal, or when buying or selling antiques.
That evening, and each subsequent Tuesday evening for the next four weeks through March 17, participants can bring in as many pieces as they want for appraisal. Sign up for all five weeks, and you will receive a complimentary copy of my book. Call the Wetlands (609-368-1211) for more information.
If you own Wedgwood china or Waterford crystal, you may see their value rise soon. These two staples of the antiques trade have filed for bankruptcy and may be going out of business for good.
Both of these esteemed brands, each with over two centuries of history behind them, have long been revered as epitomizing the very height of style, grace and stately elegance in both decorative arts and table wares.
The Wedgwood-Waterford merger in 1986 was supposed to strengthen their position in the market. So what went wrong? Opinions abound.
The company claims the high cost of manufacturing, but companies always do. To hear some, only with a return to slave labor could they turn a profit. They cite changing tastes as another factor, and here they could have a point. Fewer folks are formally dining or entertaining at home these days.
Judith Flanders, author of “Inside the Victorian Home,” has another theory. In a recent N.Y. Times piece she blames the company’s current management, saying they have not lived up to the company’s legacy of high quality and savvy marketing.
Josiah Wedgwood I was an innovative artist and technician who also knew how to peddle his wares all the way up to the throne on England. He invented a porcelain-like creamware, his famous jasperware and a system for printing on ceramics called transferware.
In 1830, Josiah II invented the flow blue process that would dominate tableware production for the next 80 years into the 20th Century.
In the 18th Century, Waterford crystal, with its light weight and fine, elegant cutting became the glory of Europe. Then, a victim of famine and British colonialism, it disappeared for nearly 100 years.
Brought back to international acclaim after the Second World War, Waterford successfully opened the American market and once again became a symbol wealth and taste.
In recent years, according to Flanders, the company overused molds, remaindered wares on disorganized discount tables, and allowed the brands to lose their valuable upscale luster on the contemporary market.
On the antiques market however, both Wedgwood and Waterford retain their high quality cachet. If the brands are discontinued, old pieces may become more valuable than ever.
One good way to research the value of your Wedgwood or Waterford pieces is to try on-line at ww.replacementslimited.com or some other similar replacement service.
Just keep in mind that these services, while buying cheaply, will sell at a premium cost above retail shop prices as a well deserved finder’s fee.
–Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions and appraisal requests to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.