Tips for Identifying Antique Furniture
Feb 25, 2015When decorating your home you want the perfect balance of comfort, warmth and appeal. Antique décor creates the ideal ambiance that is ample in quality, design and history. As it happens, antique furniture adds a seamless combination of continual style and elegance.
Whether it’s a French Regency card table or a Victorian mahogany chest of drawers, antique furniture remains high in demand. In actuality, the magnetism of antique furniture is everlasting. You will find antiques in a variety of homes around the world plus in castles, chalets, resorts and more.
Identifying Antique Furniture
When it comes to recognizing antique furniture, there are many types of styles and woodworking techniques that help differentiate original pieces from imitations or reproductions. In addition, antique furniture identification covers a very wide area of expertise which can sometimes be confusing. However, there are a few basic tips used by expert antique dealers that can help a novice collector identify an original piece of antique furniture.
Tips and Tricks
When inspecting a piece of furniture there are numerous things that can help you identify the originality and value of an antique piece of furniture. Here are a few tips for identifying antique furniture.
Labels and Signatures: You should always check for a label or signature to identify the furniture maker. The signature label is often stamped or engraved underneath the piece. Also, some antiques have paper labels. If you discover that your piece is actually an antique, a documented tag will actually add value to the furniture.
Proportion: The piece needs to be in proportion. For instance, if the top is inconsistent with the lower portion or the legs appear to be the wrong size, then it is likely that the furniture is a marriage. A furniture marriage is when two pieces or sections are joined together making it unoriginal.
Saw Marks: Until the early 1800s, wood furniture was hand sawn. The saw marks during and before that period were straight. After the 1800s, wood was cut with a circular saw leaving circular saw marks.
Leg Styles: When identifying antique furniture, check the leg styles. The leg style can provide clues to the estimated age and style of a piece. There are various leg styles such as fluted, saber, cabriole, trumpet, marlborough, spiral and more. Also compare the leg styles with the foot styles.
Foot Styles: Recognizing antique furniture foot styles can be useful in identifying the estimated age and style of a piece. There are many foot styles to be considered like paw foot, cylindrical, arrow foot, ball and claw, French foot, hoof, ogee bracket, monopodium, trestle foot, scroll and numerous other feet.
Joint Construction: You can usually pinpoint when an antique piece of furniture was made by the construction of the joints. Up until the late 1600s, handmade pegs or dowels bound the mortise-and-tenon joints together and were somewhat raised above the joints. In the 1700s, dovetailed joints were glued and became more sophisticated throughout the 1700s and the early 1800s. In the 1860s, the Knapp joint or half-moon technique was established utilizing pin to dowel.
Contact Us
Rear 404 Burke Road, Camberwell VIC 3124
Mobile: 0417 585 207
Email: rod@lordsantiques.com.au
Optimized by NetwizardSEO.com.au