IT’S TIME FOR: THEMED COLLECTIONS
There’s no better way to enjoy summertime’s full calendar of outdoor antiques fairs and flea markets than by pursuing a themed collection, namely a grouping of different types of objects that share a motif. One friend of ours collects things to do with prosperous 19th-century gentlemen—portraits, ledger books, journals, ephemera, etc. He can tell if the portrait portrays a prosperous fellow by the cut of the clothing, the setting, the look on the subject’s face.

Blue-and-white has long been a popular theme, and appears in every form from transferware plates to antique quilts.

At the Boston Antiques Show recently, we loved the themed collection put together by Deborah Prescott Meiselman, a partner in Circa Antiques & Decoration, of Rockport, Massachusetts (www.circaofrockport.com, 508/654-0056). “My hobby is the crustacean collection,” says Meiselman, who mentions her home near the Massachusetts coast as one of the inspirations for the theme.

Objects in her crustacean collection include: 1920s CarltonWare serving pieces made by the Staffordshire, England, company (see photo, top shelf); early 1900s Royal Bayreuth lobster pitchers, from the famed Bavarian china factory (see photo, second shelf from top); and bright yellow 1960s Maruhon ware plates and bowls, also known as Japanese lusterware (see photo, third shelf from top). Meiselman also has a large assortment of lobster salt-and-pepper shakers. In addition to the porcelain lobster objects, she also has a set of 1820s American prints of crustaceans, in antique frames. Frames are one of the specialties of Circa Antiques.

If you have a themed collection, tell us about it. Go to the “Community” section of our Web site and click on the Collecting Message Board.