About Me

           

 

Welcome! I'm glad that you have found your way to this small corner of the internet which is my online antique store. I'm Gabriel Ficht and I've been involved in the art and antique world since 2011. My first foray as a collector of any kind was when I began a modest coin collection at the age of 5 based on what I was able to get from sorting through change and from gifts from relatives or friends who had been traveling.

However, little did I know, that once you catch the collecting bug, it's like the mafia...you never get out. As I grew up and my horizons expanded, so did my collecting tastes. By the age of 18 I was a full blown antique dealer with a strong expertise in decorative arts of the 17th and 18th century. 

Today, I'm still quite young by today's antique dealing standards and that's something I'm hoping to change. There is such a wealth of beauty, history, stories, and culture wrapped up in our global material culture which sadly most people are totally unaware of, especially among those my age.

If you fall into this category, let me tell you that if there's one thing that keeps me going in the world of art and antiques it's that the stuff is damn cool. Each object is absolutely unique and utterly irreplaceable. These objects have wear from natural use and through this tell a story of their lived history to present. Many of their original uses are esoteric, whimsical, obsolete, and fascinating with a wealth of possibilities to creatively and artistically to mesh them with modern living. 

In addition to the actual objects, the antique world attracts a wonderful group of people who love and appreciate these objects and are always willing to share their knowledge. The antique dealing world is made up of of kind, interesting, and eccentric people who will never cease to surprise you. Antique collecting and dealing is a labor of love and the people within it are true artists and purveyors of culture who uncover beauty in the unlikeliest of places. You too can join their ranks. 

On top of all this is the knowledge. Antique collecting and dealing requires a bit of activation energy to get familiar with a certain type of object you are interested in. However, once you have some knowledge, you also have new eyes. Amongst what you once saw as rubble in flea markets, antique shops, and even dumpsters you will begin to notice treasure that someone else has overlooked because they simply didn't know what you know. You too will join the noble lineage of owl-eyed treasure seekers panning for gold in the material flow of the world around you. 

I hope I've motivated you to get out there and start looking. These are the three reasons that I get up in the morning everyday excited to look for antiques and they remain the three pillars my business is built on. 

1) Quality of Items

  • Quality: I strive to deal in items which are honest in their wear, surface, and state of preservation. These items tell an honest story. 
  • Intuition: If I love it, others will too.
  • Curated: I know the tastes of the people I sell to and I buy with them in mind. 

2) People and Relationships

  • Generosity: I believe that the more you give, the more comes back to you. 1+1=3 with people. I am happy to share my knowledge and experience. 
  • Honesty: I represent everything as it is with any damage, restoration, and ambiguity noted. 
  • Network: I am always happy to meet new collectors and dealers and I am happy to look out for certain items they are on the hunt for. Reciprocally, I am always happy to make new relationships with people who source items for me. 

3) Knowledge 

  • Identification: I trust my experience and common sense to identify and authenticate items within my domain of expertise
  • Learning: I am always learning and will never cease to learn. The antique world has a surprising way of always turning up things you've never seen before. 
  • Sharing: I am always happy to share my knowledge and I enjoy doing it. 

If you stick to these principles, you will have fun collecting and dealing in the art and antique world and you will see your efforts multiply on each-other in a loop

<-> More knowledge <-> More Relationships <-> More Quality Items <->

This is how my business functions and how the businesses and collecting habits of the most successful people I have seen in this industry operate. Yes, it does take time, but the results multiply on each-other and you'll have fun along the way. 

In closing, my moral philosophy as a dealer is to reverse entropy. Over time objects wear, get lost, forgotten, damaged, etc. My role is to sort through the chaos that is the material culture of our present historical moment to find items that have for whatever reason been misunderstood and bring them into a proper context where they will be appreciated for what they are and cared for in order that these objects survive to be passed to the next generation. When you own an antique you are merely a temporary caretaker in a long, lineage of people who will do the same. 

I hope that you enjoyed reading a little bit about why I do what I do and I hope that somewhere in this website you will learn something, get inspired, and maybe find something beautiful to bring into your life. 

Feel free to reach me at fichtantiques@gmail.com. I am always interested in looking at items you may have for sale and I always am willing to offer advice. 


Thank you for listening,
Gabe Ficht