Ralph and Terry Kovel were bitten by the antiques bug when they tried to furnish their first apartment on a budget. They bought porcelains at house sales and tried to decipher the marks on the bottom of each piece, but the only available reference books were written for experts and were of little help. Ralph decided to put to together a list of marks and makers they had discovered. The small list grew to Kovels' Dictionary of Marks - Pottery & Porcelain: 1650-830, which was published in 1953 and has gone through more than 43 printings since then.
"Neither of us was trained in art, antiques or writing," Terry remembers. "We came from nowheresville as far as the experts are concerned. Maybe that why we can write what we write, because we think like beginners and write in plain language."
Ralph and Terry Kovel, America's foremost antiques and collectibles experts, have kept collectors and dealers up-to-date on trends, prices, care and identification of antiques and other collectibles with over 9- books. The Kovels began their series of annual price books in 1968 with The Complete Antiques Price List. Now titled Kovels' Antiques and Collectibles Price List, the best selling price book has sold more than three million copies since its first edition. Other popular books include Kovels' Know Your Antiques, Kovels' Know Your Collectibles, Kovels' Depress Glass & Dinnerware Price List, Kovels' Bottle Price List, Kovels' Yellow Pages and Kovels' Big, Buy and Sell Online. The 36th edition of Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price List and Kovels' Yellow Pages, 2nd Edition are currently available (Fall 2003).
Their award-winning monthly newsletter 'Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles', has more than 150,000 subscribers in the United States and Canada. A weekly newspaper column 'Kovels: Antiques and Collecting', is distributed to over 150 newspapers nationwide by King Features Syndicate. The Kovels appear weekly on the popular HGTV program, 'Flea Market Finds with the Kovels' and are frequently featured on radio and television shows.
The Kovels are obsessive collectors and still make room for new finds in their antiques filled home outside Cleveland, complete with an 1890s general store in the basement and a library with 18,000 books about antiques. They are frequent speakers at museums an other organizations around the country. Active supports of public television, the Kovels appraise and auction all donated antiques at the WVIZ Public Television Auction in Cleveland every year. They have ben quoted extensively in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and other newspapers. They also write the collections section for the Encyclopedia Britannica. Their website Kovels.com includes the prices of more than 300,000 antiques and collectibles.
