Dick Stark of Bethesda, Maryland adds his thoughts to the discussion about the doldrums in the current market place.
I don’t think the rare decor Aurenes have suffered a similar fate and may now afford an excellent opportunity to acquire…. they seem to emerge less often as well.

This past weekend I was visiting family in Milwaukee. As part of our tour we visited Cedarburg, a somewhat historic and charming town, a northern suburb. Cedarburg is the home of Heritage Lighting Services. antiquelights.com
I had a lovely visit with proprietor David Skarda. His shop contains a massive inventory of collectible shades. Yes, some Steuben and other famous names. Also, a wide variety of finials. Lots of parts David has collected over time. David repairs and restores antique lighting fixtures. Visiting was such a delight because obviously David is craftsman with a great deal of pride. He hates to do marriages of fixtures, but does if the customer instructs and orders. Shops like David’s are quite rare, so I paused and visited for quite some time. I told David I wish I had such a shop nearby so if I needed work on a Steuben lamp, electrified table decoration or the such I had a shop like this to turn to. David responded, every Monday morning a number of shipments show up unexpectedly in his shop with the delivery man. He opens up, looks over the situation, then calls the owner with ideas and quotes prices. If it can’t be worked out it gets returned without a charge.

David told me that the last several years have been soft on the retail side. So, like a good entrepreneur he has focused on and promoted repair and restoration services to carry him through. This includes bending and fusing glass. On a local basis they go on site to look at that chandelier or whatever. So, while some collectors have that lamp shop available to them that can handle antiques , I suspect many collectors don’t know where to turn. David and his company may well provide an answer. Take a look at his web site and I suspect he’d be delighted to take his calls. antiquelights.com

Any opinions expressed by participants to the Gazette are the opinions of the authors and are not endorsed by or the opinions of the Carder Steuben Club