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January, 2019 The Antique Shoppe Page 35
It turns out that the way to get the facts on your new possession is the same
COMMON SENSE way you get the facts about so many other complicated subjects, ask someone
who knows. Go visit an antique shop that you think may carry items similar to
ANTIQUES the style and vintage that you presume yours to be. Or better yet visit a large
mall where you can see perhaps dozens or even hundreds of items that may have
some relativity to yours. But don’t just read the labels, ask. Unfortunately, many
By Fred Taylor mall clerks and some of the dealers are as clueless as you are and can offer little
of substance in your quest while others are a veritable wealth of information.
One of the best sources is at a large antique show. The dealers are usually very
ANTIQUE OR REAL TREASURE knowledgeable. You just have to filter the information you receive very carefully.
What you hear has to pass the “smell” test. Like milk, if it doesn’t pass the
Your Call smell test it probably is no good. A “smell” test for furniture? Yes, but not with
your nose, with your brain. If a piece of information just doesn’t fit with what
your common sense tells you it probably doesn’t fit with the furniture. Furniture
vocabulary is not that exotic.
One of my favorite examples is the information given to me by a reader
regarding a furniture company in the late 19th century. She informed me that
the company did not use any power equipment and that each piece was entirely
hand made by individual craftsmen and each piece was slightly different. No
doubt this information was imparted to her in a sincere effort to sell her the piece
of furniture in question, but the facts of the piece did not bear out her story. I
found exact comparables to her piece with the same label and finish. I also found
circular saw marks which leaves out the “no power tools” concept and company
history reflected the fact that it used very modern, for the time, assembly line
methods of construction.
With any luck at all using some, none or all the just mentioned methods of
discovery, you will probably eventually find out what you really have. And if
you are really lucky you may find out an approximate current market value,
although that may be iffy. And even if one source tells you it is a real antique
from a previous century, don’t quit the day job. Confirm it with another source.
Unfortunately, the most likely outcome is that you do not have a valuable
Is this dining set a valuable antique? No. antique piece of furniture. In some cases, you may have a fairly old piece that
It is a 20th century Colonial Revival reproduction. belonged to several previous generations who thought it was even older than it is
Is it attractive? Yes. Is it useful? Yes. but that’s the problem with oral family history. It isn’t very reliable. Or the piece
Is it a treasure? ABSOLUTELY. may turn out to be not much older than your parents, it just looks old. And the
value is about what you paid for it or less.
Assume for a minute that you have just come into the possession of what looks Now its decision time. Keep it or chuck it? Up to you. But just because a piece
like it might be a valuable piece of antique furniture. Maybe you inherited it by is not an antique and has less current market value than you had hoped is no
default. Maybe you stumbled across it at a yard sale or an auction or maybe you reason to get rid of it. It has probably already lasted longer than most furniture
even found it in a junk store. This could be your Antiques Roadshow moment. you own so it has some integrity to it. It may turn out to better constructed and
So now what? Well, first you have to find out what you actually have. How? made of better materials than is currently offered in contemporary models of
You could spend hours at the library thumbing through a probably inadequate whatever it is, and current market value is only one measure of the value of a
set of antique furniture reference books. You could also spend an equal number piece of furniture. Utility value is high on the list of desirable traits for furniture
of hours Googling your way through the internet looking at things that may look and if it’s useful, it has value whether it is a true antique or not. And then there
sort of like what you have but not exactly. Or you may just get overwhelmed by is the case of sentimental value if you inherited the piece. Hard to put a price on
the number of commercial hits you get trying to sell you that “antique” chest of that in dollars and cents.
drawers or couch that you used as a search word. There are other search engines In short, if it serves your purpose and looks good or can be made to look even
besides Google, but you know what I mean. better you may have come across something even more valuable than an antique.
It turns out that the antique furniture business, like almost every other field You found a real treasure.
of specialized endeavor, has its own vocabulary and its own nuances of usage
and meaning. For example, an antique coffee table does not exist in the world Send your comments, questions and pictures to me at PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423 or email them to
of a true antique dealer or collector because the coffee table as we know it is a me at info@furnituredetective.com
Visit Fred’s website www.furnituredetective.com and check out the downloadable “Common Sense Antiques”
20th century form. The same is true for a Jenny Lind bed. While it is not a 20th columns in .pdf format. His book “HOW TO BE A FURNITURE DETECTIVE” is now available for $18.95 plus $3.00
century form, the form most associated with the name is not the one that so shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423
Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “IDENTIFICATION OF OLDER & ANTIQUE FURNITURE”, ($17.00 + $3.00 S&H) are
pleased the Swedish opera singer in the mid-19th century. Her favorite spool bed also available at the same address. For more information call (800) 387-6377 (9AM-4PM Eastern, M-F only), fax
did not have rounded corners on the headboard and footboard. 352-563-2916, or e-mail info@furnituredetective.com. All items are also available directly from the website,
www.furnituredetective.com

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