Tables Turned

Rich Americans used to be among the best customers for Europe's antiques. They bought the Old World's treasures to furnish mansions on the Hudson or castles in California, and a smart dealer could turn an easy 100% profit by buying at bargain prices in Europe, selling for what the traffic would bear in the U.S. But in recent years, the antique tables have been turned. Fine antiques generally are now more expensive in Europe than in the U.S., and some old pieces are being bought cheaply in New York for shipment back to Europe. Items:

P: In London, a Louis XVI fall-front secretary recently brought $9,000; a New York dealer doubted if he could get more than $1,000 for it at home.

P: In Holland, an 18th century Strasbourg silver tea service went for $22,000; earlier it had found no takers in the U.S. at $5,000.

P: In Germany, a 16th century linenfold cupboard was sold for $5,476; Manhattan buyers would pay about a quarter of that amount.

P: In Paris, a pair of fine Regency chairs that were $250 ten years ago now sell at $1,000. "France is up in the clouds," said one top U.S. buyer. "When they told me the prices, all I could do was whistle, say I wasn't interested, and walk out."

Even at their most reasonable, the prices on top-quality antiques are usually so high that by the time U.S. dealers pay shipping and overhead costs they have no profit left. The U.S. antique market, meanwhile, has become overstocked. "In a five-mile radius of New York," says Alfred Phillips of Manhattan's Symons Galleries, "there are more good available antiques than in all the rest of the world put together."

Why the change? Nobody was quite sure, but there were plenty of guesses among dealers. Americans seem to be buying fewer high-priced antiques, are turning increasingly to modern furnishings. New low-ceiling apartment houses and ranch homes are not suited to period furniture. On the other hand, many Europeans buy antiques as safer wealth than stocks or currency, and nouveau-riche families buy them to acquire class.

Result: U.S. antique dealers are hard pressed. Sales at Manhattan's big Parke-Bernet Galleries are off $1,600,000 from last season's $5,727,759. Smaller dealers are even harder hit. Some predict that the next five years will see half of Manhattan's once flourishing antique shops close their doors.

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