How to know by yourself and for free if it is an antiquity
One of the main problems that people have when they try to sort out what things in their attic, closets or basements are actually antiques and which ones are simply garbage is to sort out those commercial artefacts. Perfume bottles, personal hygiene bottles and utensils are among those that are constantly discarded as trash considering that there will be little to no market for “antiques” that state “coke” on their labels.
That is not true, anything from an under bed pan to the perfume flask that your great-grandmother used when she was courting so long ago can be an antique. One of the alternatives to sort these things out before going to a professional appraiser that will charge you for his or her services are to browse through the Internet and learn about that particular item. Once you have learned of the item, like a hair brush, you can analyze the one that is in your possession; if all indicates that it might be an antiquity, then you can take several pictures of the item and send them via online to any of the auction houses all over the world.
Christie’s and Sotheby’s offer fee antiquite verification services only with the use of as many photographs as possible, though in some cases they will require to see the item personally to make sure that it is the real thing and not a Photoshop created concoction. Nonetheless, even in such cases their service and assistance in free of charge, once you have the item verified that it is an antiquity, any of these houses will guide you to the next step that will be the certificate of antiquity so you can insure the piece.