Antiquing

You already know that an antique is something that is no less than 100 years old, but how exactly can you be certain that the particular piece you are looking at was truly crafted that long ago? Learning to identify antiques is not difficult, it just takes a little bit of know how and understanding of what qualities make an antique an antique.

Regardless if you are not sure of the age of a piece, want to check the accuracy of an age claim, or wish to be certain the antique has all of its original parts, there are various nuances that should stick out to you. Ask these questions of yourself in order to determine whether or not the item that you are dealing with is in fact an antique.

Question #1 - Is the piece in question made out of materials that are uncommonly or even rarely ever used in modern day production?

Question #2 - Do the details on the piece in question appear to be hand painted, or does it seem as if they were created by a machine?

Question #3 – Does the particular style of the piece in question reflect a certain period of time that may give away hints as to its origin?

Question #4 – For items that are made out of wood, how thick are the pieces of veneer? In general, older veneer is going to be significantly thicker than modern day veneer.

Question #5 – Does the piece that is in question happen to possess nails that are irregularly shaped, or pegs that are squared off? These are characteristics that are reminiscent of times long past.

Question #6 – For items that are used as tables, is the item’s under side lighter in comparison to the top? Antique tables should have lighter undersides.

Question #7 – If there are any carvings or details on the piece, look to see if they are all identical as this will help you determine whether they were done by hand or if they are reminiscent of work from a machine.

Question #8 – When appraising a wooden item, you should check to see if there is darker wood around all of the hardware, indicating that the hardware is original. When the shadows are inconsistent with the current hardware, that should tell you that the current hardware is not the original hardware.

Question #9 – Finally, is there any dirt in the crevices of the piece that has always been hard for you to clean?

You should remember that items that are 100 years old are always going to show their age no matter how well kept they were. Slight wear, even when an item is in top condition, is completely understandable.

Photo Credits: Lynn (Gracie’s mom) – I’m here…

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The first piece of advice when you are thinking of antique furniture repair is to stop. Don’t do anything until you’ve read this blog – it could save you (or gain you) thousands.

Every antique dealer has horror stories to share — there’s the woman who stripped the old paint off of an antique table before showing it to the expert who had to tell her she had devalued it by half when she stripped the paint, or vintage candelabras ruined by well-meaning jewelers.

The best piece of antique furniture repair advice you can get is to have an expert or a dealer with a great deal of knowledge look at the piece before you begin any repair.

Since they likely don’t deal in antique furniture repair themselves, they are not likely to give you self-serving advice, and you have the potential of preventing real damage to the piece.

If you have some woodworking or metalworking skills and a knowledge of antiques, there may be repairs you can complete and still preserve or even increase the value of the piece.

If you have only a minor scratch, then you could try a good quality scratch cover. Howard’s Restore a Finish is one that does well with surface scratches and other marks.

More significant marks may require the use of a furniture marker. You’ll need to purchase a marker in the same color as the furniture you’re touching up for the best results. If you have a dark piece and you’re debating between a lighter and darker maker, you may want to choose the darker version. The eye doesn’t differentiate the darker color, but may notice the lighter.

Crayon type fillers work well for small cracks. Run the crayon over the crack several times to let the waxy substance fill the crack. Some 0000 steel wool rubbed over the crack will remove extra residue.

After consulting with a professional, you may repair small nick or dings or missing veneer with Quick Wood, an epoxy based substance that sticks to nearly any surface.

There are also repair cover powders that allow you to repaint over the repair, but it’s a job for professionals in most cases.

For antique furniture repair of dirty pieces, there are products you can use to clean and restore to life to an area that needs to be cleaned. Oz cream is one of the standards used by antique specialists and furniture lovers everywhere, or you can buy the kits that contain cleaner, buffer and shiners that are great for cleaning your antique furniture.

You should expect to pay about $60 for the cleaning kit. Using this method requires a bit of elbow grease, but the results are worth it. One caution; be sure you don’t rub too hard, or you will remove the finish from the furniture.

Replacing old latches with newer, magnetic style latches is an easy antique furniture repair, but is not always the recommended repair. Before replacing a sticky latch, try 3 in 1 oil on the latch and see if it fixes the problem. Consult a professional before replacing a latch.

Photo Credits: arekd

Originally posted 2009-06-06 05:55:56. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Unless you are shopping around in a museum, it may be difficult to buy antique furniture dated before the 16th century. Collectors are generally only able to obtain pieces of furniture from the 1485 to 1600 Tudor Period and onwards, and even the furniture selection from this period is relatively small in comparison.

It was not until the middle of the seventeenth century that things began to change. Before then, most furniture was made simply with oak and with peg joints. Some of these antique furniture items were inlaid or painted, but if there was any décor at all, it was typically carved directly into the wood. The most common antique furniture that you are going to find today includes paneled oak chests intended for linen, and many of these are hand carved in order to feature unique figures and architectural shapes. If the carving is to regular or geometrical, then there is a chance that the piece is either a reproduction, or that the decorations have been improved upon or added much more recently.

The chest of drawers is a piece of antique furniture that has evolved gradually since the latter half of the 17th century. It began with a simple carcass that contained a couple of drawers which were mounted on a stand that featured turned legs. This piece of furniture gradually progressed into what we now know as featuring drawers from top to bottom. This is also the same period of time where using veneer became popular. Thin pieces of carved wood or wood featuring interesting colors were glued onto the piece’s outside frame to serve as decorative paneling or to cover the entire structure.

At this point, chairs and settlings were also beginning to change from their basic, square and relatively plain designs into designs that were significantly more elaborate and featured backs and can backs and seats were being introduced. The very best antique furniture pieces were destined to suit aristocratic homes and they were upholstered lavishly. The backs became significantly higher and the seats became significantly lower.

Another influencing factor on antique furniture was trade with the Far East. Lacquered cabinets featuring two doors and a variety of drawers began to be imported from Japan and China. They were mounted on stands upon reaching England. This was the birth of a process that is known as Japanning, which involves imitating the Oriental style lacquers using spirit and oil varnishes.

Toward the end of the century, the influx of European craftsman brought about a radical change in what types of antique furniture were available. The writing bureau, for example, came to be during this period of time as an arrangement of a cabinet with a drop down, hinged front and an arrangement of cubbies and drawers that provided ample space for writing.

If you are interested in learning how to buy antique furniture, learning the history of the pieces is definitely a good way to go.

Photo Credits: mezzoblue

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