ANTIQUES

What is Antiques?

The common definition of antique is a collectible object such as a piece of furniture or work of art that has a high value because of its considerable age, but it varies depending on the item, its source, the year of its creation etc. The customary definition of antique requires that an item should be at least 100 years old and in original condition (Motor vehicles are an exception to this rule, with some definitions requiring an automobile to be as little as 25 years old to qualify as an antique.)

In the United States, the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act defined antiques as, “…works of art (except rugs and carpets made after the year 1700), collections in illustration of the progress of the arts, works in bronze, marble, terra cotta, parian, pottery, or porcelain, artistic antiquities and objects of ornamental character or educational value which shall have been produced prior to the year 1830.”^{[citation needed]} 1830 was the approximate beginning of mass production in the United States. These definitions were intended to allow people of that time to distinguish between genuine antique pieces, vintage items, and collectible objects.

The alternative term, antiquities, commonly refers to the remains of ancient art and everyday items from antiquity, which themselves are often archaeological artifacts. An antiquarian is a person who collects and studies antiquities or things of the past.