Welcome to The Crowned Leopard!

For me the word “antiques” always held a certain connotation.  It brought back memories of wandering around musty smelling antique malls with my mom rooting through piles of dusty ceramic plates or glass candy dishes…which I didn’t take much interest in. Being from the West Coast of the United States, nothing here is particularly old simply due to our history. Most of the “antiques” we came across were probably no older than 1940 and I was sure I had seen them in my grandmother’s house. Not very exciting or inspiring!

I held this view for years until a recent trip to South Africa to visit my in-laws.  One afternoon I picked up a catalog from an antique and fine arts auction house in Johannesburg which was part of the Sotheby’s network. The items I found in this catalog were certainly not the antiques I remembered from growing up!  In it were solid mahogany dressing tables from the late 1700’s in immaculate condition and hand painted porcelain trinket boxes from the 1800’s with not so much as a crack. Everything was absolutely gorgeous! My husband explained that South Africa had quite a selection of fine pieces which had been brought by English, Dutch and French families who immigrated to Africa hundreds of years ago.  I was struck by the absolute beauty, elegance and diversity of items up for auction and the vast history each item certainly carried.

My preconceptions ended and my passion for collecting and selling these quality, eye-catching pieces from the past began! I created the Crowned Leopard Antiques Ebay store in hopes of bringing fine pieces from around the world to market and sharing their history with prospective buyers looking to integrate old world style into their modern home.

Here on the blog I hope to share my experiences in sourcing, identifying, and marketing the treasures I find and sell through Crowned Leopard Antiques. I hope you’ll visit often to read about new pieces that have just come in, updates on when they go on sale, fun stories about my adventures in buying and selling (such as what I call the Steiff monkey trampling incident!) and how these stories bring a new and progressive life to the word “antiques”.