It is hard to tell which one is an antique one and which one is a painted antique reproduction. This is because at one look you will not notice any difference between the two. This is same with that of reproduced furniture’s and antique pieces. Given below are some tips and information that will guide you while selecting the antique furniture.
You may mistake the produced reproductions coming from India, Indonesia and Mexico for the antique country furniture. The handcrafted antique furniture has been evolved from the rural areas in the form of kitchen tables, chairs and cabinets for daily requirements. The painting done on them is a totally different story. The paintings successfully cover the poor quality of the woods, the knots and coarse grain on them. Paints protect the wood and never reveal the fact that the furniture was made with different wood in some cases.
There is no reason as to why a furniture maker should paint inside the drawers and cabinets. Thus you will have to look in to the matter and actually look inside the drawers and see if it is painted or not. In case it is painted then you will not have to further continue your investigation of regarding its antique nature. This is one of the many ways where you can find if it is reproduction or not.
Another interesting factor you must be aware is of the crazing produced artificially in new furniture for giving them the old look. Crazing is the tiny cracks in the paint that occur over many years Crazing on old furniture happens very naturally over the years. It can be due to spills and exposure to heat, fire or smoke and so on. Crazing of paint and crazing of varnish needs to be noticed were the varnish happens to get fine lines and brittle with expansion and contraction of the wood during the long years. However, in the case of crazing done in new furniture it will be of a consistent nature. When it comes to crazing of paint same phenomenon as that in the case of varnish takes place, where wood extracts and dirt fills in the area. The same look is produced in the reproduction which will leave you in the midst of trouble waters.
Quality of the paints does help you
In the olden days milk or oil based paints were used which will come in irregular cracks and is very brittle. However, new paints are water based acrylics and when scraped out will come easily in curls.
Natural wear and tear
If we observe an antique chair the wear signs would be more visible on the end of the arms rather than the being a consistent wear on a reproduced version. In case of gouges or dents checking out the bare woods will do the job as the paints over gouges will be the result of repainting.
Another area where the observations can be done is the availability of screws, staples and fibre board making it a reproduction. Antique painted furniture tends to hide the tips off with the paint. Earlier furniture makers used wide boards with an uneven width for large surfaces which is not the case of reproductions where narrow boards with an even width are used.
Related posts: