Tip of the Week - Buying Antique Furniture

"For today's consumer, 'luxury' is a marketing tag applied more often to loo roll and ice-cream than ormolu and silk moire`. It demands nothing of us bar the willingness to pay more, and few of us pause to marvel at the dexterity of the loo-paper maker." 'The World of Interiors' Paris: Life & Luxury in the 18th Century

An article published in the September edition of 'The World of Interiors' magazine made this observation in a reference comparing today's standard of quality in contrast to that of the 18th century, particularly 18th century Paris. The article went on to reference the book Paris: Life & Luxury in the 18th Century and the significance that art, furniture, houses and gardens had in society and the general understanding and consensus that these articles were, "so much more than 'mere' decoration".

In a modern world where speed and immediacy unfortunately mean quality, detail and proportion are more often than not long forgotten,  it is refreshing to know that at least some of the artifacts have survived. 

It's not surprising given the adherence to quality and detail in this time. One need look no further than the stones of Versailles and their extraordinary 18th and 19th century European equivalents to testify to the importance of such skill over mass production. Like these great structures, these pieces have stood the test of time, flood and fire.

So why dear reader do we make these points? To reiterate and hopefully educate on the difference between true luxury/quality and what perhaps should be avoided. The key is to look closely. Don't get carried away by an overall view. Look, as always at the detail, the line, the proportion, the curves.

Does it look like scrambled eggs...

or does it look like this?

Does it look as if it's been done by machine, with perfect lines, that are somehow lacking in character or do they look like this?

23rd January 2012

'Distressed Furniture - How do you know?

There's many different ways of distressing furniture, and they're used the world over to fool people into thinking they're buying 'the real deal'. It's important to remember though, that distressing furniture costs money, the more a piece has to be distressed, the more expensive it becomes to make, which means it's unlikely that there are no hints as to whether a piece is genuine or not.

Reproduction and or fake furniture does have a certain 'look', however recognising this can take many years of experience which you won't necessarily have when you go to buy your next antique dining table. So what are some of the clues?

The following tip is by no means conclusive in itself and alone will not necessarily ensure that you buy a ‘correct’ piece however it will certainly go some way to giving you an idea of what it is you’re buying.

 During the 19^th century and earlier, wooden pegs, better known as dowels were often used to join timber. Prior to the industrial age, there were no machines and as such, dowels like everything else were hand-made. As a result, dowels never had four perfect sides, nor were they a perfect circle. Instead they were rather crude, often with 5, 6 or more sides. If you see a perfect timber dowel in an ‘antique’, then perhaps the question of authenticity is worth asking.

Photo 1: Old dowel - not symmetrical.

Furthermore, over time timber shrinks in the cross grain, not the long-grain.  When building furniture it is typical to hammer in the dowel, and then cut it off so that it is flush with the surface of the timber. Dowels are made on the long-grain and therefore do not shrink, however over centuries, the timber does shrink on the cross grain. What this often means is that the dowels will sit proud from the timber as it has shrunk back over time.

els will sit proud from the timber as it has shrunk back over time. 

Photo 2: Dowels not symmetrical and sitting proud of

the surface where the timber has shrunk

over time.

View Our Antique Collection

December 2011

Buying an antique armchair?

Check that it actually is an antique...

1. In the event that the chair is old, and has spent it's like on stone or concrete floor, the underneath will be dark in colour, and matt with no shine. The edges will also be rounded and worn from years of scraping against the floor.

2. In the event that the chair has been kept on a carpet for it's life, the timber underneath will still be dark, but it will have a shine where the carpet has polished its surface over the centuries.

A new piece may or may not be dark in colour, depending on whether the manufacturer has stained it or not, but is unlikely to have clean sharp edges like the new table leg below.

This is by no means the only test of a chairs authenticity, but it is a start.

View some exceptional antiques for the year here!