VGCC Antiques, Collectibles Class Offers Own Version Of ‘Roadshow’
Anyone who is interested in buying, selling or just learning more about antiques or collectibles may want to attend a class beginning March 14 at Vance-Granville Community College.
This will be the eighth time Peter Tocci of Oxford has taught the Antiques & Collectibles class at the college. Tocci grew up Boston, where his parents collected Colonial antiques, and he has had a lifelong interest in them. (In the photo at left, Tocci shows off some of the iridescent art glass he has collected and which he displays on an antique rosewood etagere in his Oxford home.)
Since moving to Oxford, where he is a nurse anesthetist at Granville Medical Center, he has restored two old homes, one on College Street built in the 1880s and his current residence on Gilliam Street, the Lassiter home built in 1908. He has furnished his home with antiques, and one session of the eight-week VGCC class will be spent at Tocci’s home, seeing, evaluating and discussing pieces in his collection.
Tocci said his lectures will include the importance of antiques, and what makes an item an antique or collectible. He will discuss the periods of antiques, beginning with the Colonial period. His personal favorite is the Victorian period from 1840-1910, he said.
After completing his class, participants should be able to identify period pieces and why they are made as they are. Tocci will compare antiques of the North and the South. He will bring in pieces of furniture, glassware and silver to illustrate his lectures. Tocci will also talk about embellishing and making alterations to pieces of furniture and tell participants how to deal with antique dealers. He’ll even discuss the possibilities and pitfalls of buying on eBay.
Lectures will take up about the first half of the three-hour classes that run from 7-10 p.m. each Tuesday from March 14 to May 2. The second portion will be Tocci’s version of “Antiques Roadshow,” the popular Public TV program. Tocci encourages students to bring in an item each week for him to identify its origin, discuss its history and place a value on it.
“I have been amazed at some of the things that have come in during the past eight years,” he said. “Some have been quite remarkable.”
Tocci calls Antiques & Collectibles a “fun class,” and he says he often sees former participants at auctions he attends up and down the East Coast.
Space in the class is limited. Persons who wish to attend should pre-register by calling the VGCC Office of Continuing Education at (252) 492-2061, ext. 3316.
