Scouting badges, pins and emblems represent hundreds of hours of dedication in pursing excellence in different areas. The awards, so hard won, are often put away in shoe boxes, dresser drawers or even lost.
Recently, Leigh Keno also has been looking for objects for his newest venture -- the inaugural auction of Keno Auctions, to be held at the Marriott in Stamford, Conn., on May 1 and 2."Collect the most important items. You'll have too much, then edit the collection down. Think about the size and depth and buy your shadow box accordingly," Zacher said. "Pictures or names are important. Grandchildren may not know who the person is later so you should document what this shadow box is about and be sure to include dates."He said that he hopes the auction will attract younger collectors, people in their early 40s or late 30s. "From young collectors, great collectors grow."Zacher suggests including documentation in the back of the shadow box identifying each item and its significance. She tells of an instance in which a customer brought in a very simple-looking spoon to be framed. "It didn't look at all special, but she (the customer) told about the grandfather handforging it." The spoon suddenly gained significance because of the story.Another early auction memory: The auctioneer just couldn't get the bidding going on an old kerosene lamp. He started at $20 -- no bidders, so he dropped the price to $10. Still nothing. Exasperated at the lack of interest, the auctioneer suddenly threw the lamp against a wall; it smashed into pieces.Keno, whose antiques business is based in Manhattan, launched his auction company a few months ago, and ever since, he said, he has been making visits through New England, Pennsylvania and the Eastern Seaboard, lining up pieces for his first event.After watching Zacher so ably and quickly assemble the shadow box, I decided that in some circumstances, because of the piece's intricacy and importance, it might be worth paying a professional for his or her expertise."As long as you have the depth, you can shadow-box it."It was the seventh time in about a half-hour that Leigh Keno had hit the floor in the antiques-filled house in West Hartford, Conn.By the time they were 9 or 10, they also were digging for things around the house -- for old bullets and other finds. Once they discovered a swirl marble. "We were convinced it was something from outer space," Keno recalled. They also collected bumblebees.Keno also said he is making a point to have some items in the auction that probably will to sell in the $100 to $200 range. Others could go up to $300,000 or $400,000, although, he added, "I'd rather not guess the top."Shadow boxes can preserve these memories for the Scout and his family. They provide a barrier to the elements as well as providing a beautiful piece of art to display and enjoy. With the 100th anniversary of Scouting this month, it might be a good time to pull out the Scouting mementos and create a display that will be treasured for years to come.The lean, wiry antiques expert and dealer -- well-known with his twin brother, Leslie Keno, for their appearances on 14 seasons of "Antiques Roadshow" on PBS -- visited West Hartford and Bloomfield recently. He said he typically visits eight to 10 homes a month; sometimes he is contacted by collectors who have something to sell, sometimes by family members who want to liquidate an estate. And occasionally, as at this home in West Hartford, it was simply a chance to meet someone with an exceptional collection.Keno, 52, grew up on a farm near Mohawk, N.Y., and he and Leslie starting going to auctions with their parents, who were antiques dealers, as early as he can remember -- "probably when we were in the womb."If you can't find a purchased shadow box that will accommodate your items, she suggests purchasing a frame at a second-hand store like Deseret Industries and building a box behind the frame to accommodate your items."If it falls off of the wall and the glass breaks, it may damage irreplaceable items."To have a shadow box professionally assembled, "the cost depends on the size and the intricacy of the piece," she said. "It can be as low as $50 to several hundred, but the cost to assemble it is actually minimal. The cost is usually in the frame and glass."The memory of buying the ax at auction, "whether it was $20 or $30, that experience of bidding on it" is still so vivid, Keno said. "It's funny that it was wrought iron, and I collect wrought iron today. It's funny -- we love all the things we grew up doing."When you�ve gotten to the part of actually selecting the bits and pieces of your vanity keep in mind that you will need the cabinet, the countertop, the basins, the fixtures, and hardware (drawer pulls and knobs). I always recommend mixing and matching according to your taste, especially if you can afford to do so rather than sticking with the pre made sets that many stores offer.Another advantage of having no reserve, he said, is that it attracts more people."The great thing about an auction is you never know how high it could go. ... When it does start low, you see hands in the air or phones ringing -- it gives you confidence that you're not just bidding against the reserve. You're bidding against real people who like the same painting or object that you like. Those are actual people, willing to spend money. You're not just bidding against an idea.""Being a dealer," Keno added, "buying and selling at auction and working at auction houses, you're able to see the whole range of things. You see the mediocre; you see the fakes. You see the better examples, and occasionally you see the best and the masterpiece."Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services."That's a great survivor," he said.When assembling Scouting memorabilia, try to determine the order in which the pins should be displayed. They should be in sequence or order of significance.Arrange your items, edit them and begin to secure them to the backing board in layers, back to front. Zacher uses a gun that secures fabrics to the board by means of a small plastic tab, much like clothing stores use to secure price tags. She says do-it- yourselfers can use a needle with monofilament or fishing line and actually sew the item down to the backing board. This is a time- consuming endeavor, but it will not damage the fabric like glue can, and it will allow you to change the display at a later time, should you need to as your decor changes. She often changes the color of a mat board on something like doilies or hand-worked fabric pieces. If they were glued to the backing, it might damage the piece to try to change it."All the hands shot up," Keno recalled, adding, "I will refrain from that."He said his first vivid memory of an auction was at a country auction in a barn, when their mother let the boys bid on an 18th- century broad ax, the kind that would have been used to cut beams."The best thing is finding things, going on visits. I'm in heaven when I'm looking at objects.""We once framed a missionary's worn-out shoes," she said. The shadow box also included the missionary's scriptures and items he had collected during his mission to make a unique and personal art piece.As the double sink design for vanities becomes more common, there are more and more suppliers of these special vanity tops cropping up all around. Finding them is the easy part, deciding which one is the best for you might be a little more difficult. Decide on the overall look you want for your vanity then choose the one that fits best with the overall design. Don�t rush your decision because once you�ve decided what you want, things will move rather quickly.
e-mail: vparsons@desnews.com
Author: Valerie Parsons Deseret News
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