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What to Look for in Antique Furniture

The popular collections of antiques typically include fully functional furniture made from specific periods of time. Since most antique furniture was produced before the use of power tools and mass production, they are considered stronger and more valuable than many of the pieces made today. Collecting antique furniture usually requires some knowledge about age, how many pieces remain usable today, its condition and use, along with some of the unique features built into a piece of furniture.

The value of antique furniture isn’t determined so much by its age, but rather by the appearance and condition of the piece. A 200-year-old table for example, may be beyond repair with water damage. Or it may be missing a leg or two that cannot be restored, turning that old hunk of wood into firewood. But a look at the construction of the piece can help to assess its quality and also the period it comes from, if you know what to look for.

Apart from condition and age, a good piece of antique furniture needs to be usable. This means that if there is an antique chair meeting the requirements in all aspects, a person should still be able to sit on it without fear of it breaking. Since nails and other metal fasteners were rarely used on most furniture, the means with which the different pieces are held together can be an indication of its age.

Antique Furniture Restoration Is An Art Form

A majority of antique furniture pieces need repair of some type or another, and not just anyone has the ability to restore them to mint condition. How much wood must be replaced will impact quality and value. Usually, a collector will consider no more than 20 percent content of replacement wood when deciding on a piece of antique furniture.

Most antique furniture was made of mahogany, oak, pine, walnut and rosewood. It’s value as an antique will be impacted by the kind of wood it was made from. With antique furniture restoration, it’s important to use the same type of wood that was used in the original piece. It’s not that easy to find someone who is able to make a replica of a table leg using the same type of wood and duplicating the look of the grain.

These days, antique furniture replicas are churned out by factories; they’re made from laminates that copy the grain and pattern of the commonly used woods in antique furniture. But the difference in quality is very noticeable when you compare the original to a factory machined piece.