Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Hey Buzz, what word can I drop at parties to wow my friends?

You have friends? That wasn't funny, sorry.

My far and away most favorite antique term is "psyche". No one, even most experts, know what this is, so it's really fun.

You'd think you'd pronounce it "SYKE!" but it's actually pronounced "psee SHAY". Weird, huh?

A psyche is a dressing mirror from the Empire (pronounced 'om PEER') period in France-around 1800-1815. If you see an antique dressing mirror that is not French Empire, it's just called a cheval (pronounced "shuh VAHL").

Here is an early psyche that lists for $54,000 USD:

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