Is Your Furniture Antique or Just Old?
Apr 30, 2015Whether you are purchasing antiques to add warmth and beauty to your home or wanting to restore a vintage chair sitting in the attic, the best rule of thumb is to wait and get an appraisal before you do anything. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between an old piece of furniture and an antique.
That old chair in the attic could be a just a piece of junk, but then again, it might be a rare piece worth millions. Here are a few tips that can help you determine if you have an old piece of furniture or a valuable antique.
Old Looking Does Not Mean Antique
A piece of furniture that looks old may not be an antique. You can take new wood and use special techniques to make it look old. As well, you can utilize timeworn wood and create a new piece of furniture.
Type of Wood
When it comes to antiques, there are certain types of wood that were commonly used in different centuries. For instance, oak was typically used in furniture made prior to 1700. After 1700, walnut and mahogany were very prevalent. In the 1800s, cherry and maple were quite popular, and by the late 1800s, a lot of Victorian style furniture were made of rosewood and mahogany. In the 1900s, oak was back in style, and in the first half of the 20th century, the wood most often used in American furniture was gum.
You cannot approximate the date of a piece of furniture merely on the type of wood used; but, it can be a hint of the age if the other components match the same era.
Labels and Signatures
A label or signature can help you ascertain the furniture maker. You can generally find the signature etched or stamped underneath the furniture. A few antiques have paper labels that add extra value to the piece. However, a signature or label is not in itself enough to validate a piece.
Overall Construction
Joinery and how a piece crafted together can provide many clues to help you define the age. Unlike manufactured furniture, antiques are handmade and have irregularities on the surface. For example, hand planes were used to make the wood smooth which would cause cuts and nicks. The irregularities are more apparent on the back side as opposed to the finished front surfaces.
Matching Components
If your piece of furniture has perfectly matching components then it probably is not an antique. Matching components are almost impossible to craft by hand, especially if there are numerous items such as drawer knobs or feet. Although there were many gifted furniture makers, you can usually find minor differences in the shape if they were hand crafted before 1860.
Old Screws
It is said among many antique experts; screws were not made entirely by machine until 1848. So if your piece of furniture uses screws with perfectly finished heads and matching cuts, has rounded shafts and pointed ends, the piece is probably just old. No two antique screws are the same. Some have blunt ends and most have uneven threading.
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