Welcome to Ryder Antiques, dealer of Swedish antiques, Swedish Folk Art, Norwegian Folk Art, Scandinavian Folk Art, French antiques, Canadiana, painted furniture and decorative artwork. We also carry Canadian Folk art, Dutch Folk Art, German Folk Art, and French Folk Art. We can be reached at (905) 639-4407 or you can email us at lloydryder@gmail.com.
OUR LITTLE SNOWMAN
I would like to comment on a couple of things related to
the antique business.But firstly,I would like to acknowledge our little
snowman up to the right.To see a larger photo go to”local sights”at the top
of the home page.By the way that is snow on top of his head.
-our antique world has got to be the “greenest”.Some years ago I sold a rug
for about $1500.00 and two years ago I bought it back at an auction for $700.00.
I have often seen pieces that I sold a long time ago re-appear at an auction or show.
-when I go into a grocery store the items are all priced same as any other store,
however,when I go into a dealers web site about 85% of them do not price their antiques.
I get emails from dealers showing new purchases but no prices,this is very
fustrating.If you want a happy customer,include the price.If I see something I like I have to email
and wait for a reply and that might be in minutes or days.If a dealer is a busy person
adding prices to the web site eliminates the time it takes to send emails back.
-to the dealers-when you sell something,take it off your site.I am not interested in seeing what has been sold.I want to know what hasn’t.
-When I started in the antique business I should have been an auktioneer instead.Do you
realise that they charge a minimum of 20% to buy and roughly 20% to sell.If an item sells
for $1000.00 his take is $400.00.Not bad.If the auktioneer has a sale valued for,say,
$3,000,000.00 his take is $1,200,000.00.He is an instant millionaire.Of coarse these rates vary
from auction house to auction house,for example,I know that Sothebys you pay higher than 20%,possibly
25%.I bet that they charge more than 20% to sell.I do not have much respect for auction houses and there
are a few descriptive words I could use.There are a very few auktioneers that I do not include here.
I feel better now that I got that of my chest.Thank you.
Featured Piece July 2013
Norwegian Mangle Board
I have heard of numerous uses for the mangle board. A bed smoother, used for ironing clothes, as gifts. A lot of the more decorative boards were carved by men as ‘love tokens’ for their lady friends. It is said that the man would leave the board outside his sweethearts door at night and if it was gone in the morning he knew she was saying yes to his offer of marriage.
One of the boards in our inventory is Norwegian and it is fairly rare because of the lion handle. It seems that the horse is the Swedish emblem while the lion is Norwegian. Here in Canada it would be the beaver or in the United states, the American eagle.
I have attached a picture of a Norwegian lady using a mangle board for ironing. They had a rolling pin and around it they would wrap tightly their laundry then roll it with the board.
The mangle board fits into the folk art category because of the chip carving and paint. There are some boards that are extremely well carved and this makes them rare and valuable. Hanging them on a wall adds a nice decorative touch to any room.
Featured Item May 2013
Every so often we come across a piece of furniture, glass, Mora clock or decorative item that we feel stands out above and beyond our already eclectic selection of interesting things. In the past we have quietly changed our sidebar image to showcase these items, pieces that you, our readers, might miss in the depths of our inventory section.
While it may not be every month, we will now endeavour to post a quick note on these pieces in our blog.in order to further highlight items we feel deserve to be on our front page. These pieces appear on the right-hand sidebar under ‘Featured Piece’
Our current “featured piece” is a carved wood gold decorated Swedish wall clock, it is signed “Hans Wesemann, Stockholm” Continue reading
Swedish Empire Mirror
In reference to the mirror below we are looking at “Swedish Empire”. The Swedish Empire period was, roughly, between the years 1810-1840. The style is characterized by pomp and pageantry and is sometimes referred to as Imperial. The French Empire is often associated with Napoleon Bonaparte who was fond of ancient Rome and its attributes. Egyptian features with sphinxes, palettes, eagles and griffins were common as decor elements. Continue reading
Swedish Long Case Mora Clocks
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What do we know about Mora clocks?
Well, we know they were made, at least the clock works, in a town called Mora in the district or province of 
Dalarna, Sweden. We know that they were made as early as the 18th century and that the shapes that are in demand now, the figure eight and the curvaceous female forms, were produced more in the early 19th century. It seems that each province in Sweden used roughly the same internal clock works and a similar set of patterns for their body types, but each came up with a somewhat different variation on the shape or form. While there was little deviation from the standard figure eight or female shapes, there were some that were very thin and tall (northern Sweden) and some wide and overly shapely. These beautiful clocks, quickly becoming a hot commodity on the market today, were sought after even more fervently in their own time.( CLOCKS TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT ARE “SOLD”). Continue reading
The Swedish Three Crowns
Around the world Sweden is recognized by its three golden crowns on a background of blue.You will find it on a coat of arms, cuff links, clothing etc. Historians have searched for the origin and meaning of the three crowns.Researchers felt they were used by heathen gods and others felt they represented the three surrounding areas of the capital that had the right to participate in the election of the king. It came down to the three crowns were simply accepted to be the symbols of the Three Holy Kings who came to praise the birth of Christ. Continue reading