What to Look for in Antique Furniture

Filed in From Other Authors... on Jan.06, 2009

(All Auctions Shown are Ebay Results)

The popular collections of antiques typically include fully functional furniture made from specific periods of time. Since most antique furniture was produced before the use of power tools and mass production, they are considered stronger and more valuable than many of the pieces made today. In order to collect antique furniture, you need to know a bit about the age and condition, the number of serviceable pieces in existence, and be able to distinguish the identifying aspects of the piece.

The value of antique furniture isn’t determined so much by its age, but rather by the appearance and condition of the piece. As an example, a table built 200 years ago might have seen water damage that makes it impossible to repair. If it’s missing some legs and can’t be mended, it’s pretty much useless for anything other than the bonfire. However, there are some basic construction tips that can help people determine the quality of the piece as well as the period in which it was made.

Apart from condition and age, a good piece of antique furniture needs to be usable. Therefore, if an antique chair meets all the necessary criteria, you should be able to have a seat on it and not worry about it collapsing. Since nails and other metal fasteners were rarely used on most furniture, the means with which the different pieces are held together can be an indication of its age.

Antique Furniture Restoration Is An Art Form

With many pieces of antique furniture requiring some sort of repairs, it takes a qualified person to accurately restore the piece to near original condition. The value and quality are affected by the quantity of wood that needs to be replaced. When choosing a pice of antique furniture, a serious collector won’t look at anything containing replacement wood that exceeds 25 percent.

Antique furniture was commonly used woods such as walnut, pine, oak, rosewood and mahogany. The type of wood used will affect its value as an antique. Restoring antique furniture requires the same species of wood to be used as in the original construction. It’s not that easy to find someone who is able to make a replica of a table leg using the same type of wood and duplicating the look of the grain.

Today, many factories pump out replicas of antique furniture using laminates to recreate the pattern and grain of some of the most popular woods used in antique furniture. However, with these pieces it is easy to spot the difference between the original construction and today’s mass-produced items.

Antique Statesville Furniture Company Green dresser PU