Age Matters

By: Will Pollock

May 2003

My grandmother’s tilt-top worktable will never be the same. In 1993 I stumbled over the relic in her garage—it was a simple, handsome piece that had accumulated decades of element damage and dust. I figured some work would make the finish more contemporary and the hinges sturdier, thereby improving the piece overall and boosting its value. Was I ever wrong!

A decade later, that mistake still fills me with regret. My good intentions resulted in an 18th-century, auction-quality Colonial hutch table being nearly totally devalued and irrevocably altered. Experts agree that refinishing antique furniture without advice or consultation is a common, costly mistake—though one that is easily and definitely avoidable. Keep the following tips in mind:

Social vs. Visual Value

“The inherent value of a piece of furniture—its social value—is its appearance of antiquity,” says Colin Cochrane, an antique furniture consultant based in Washington, D.C. “If owners don’t realize that they have a piece of some worth, they sometimes carry out an inappropriate restoration. They talk about a piece being ‘irretrievably restored’ —there’s nothing you can do about it after the fact, and it loses its collectors’ value and original patination.”

A furniture piece’s irregularity oftentimes can be a sign of fine engineering and historic lineage. Yet Millicent Creech, a furniture dealer in Memphis, Tennessee, says she has regular buyers who will purchase 17th- and 18th-century antique furniture, completely strip off the finish and change it to suit their tastes—a personal choice, she adds, that can have enormous repercussions. “All those imperfections tell a story; they create an incredible romance,” Creech says. “When you take those imperfections away, you’ve negated the piece’s history. It’s like a fairy without any powers: The glamor and spellcasting are gone.”

Check It Out

Experts say there are a number of criteria to use in doing an initial self-evaluation before you alter furniture. A piece made before the Industrial Revolution of the early 19th century has a number of specific characteristics and features, including oddly shaped nails and hardware, imperfect yet intricate accent carvings, and dull, cracked finishes. Any self-conducted evaluation also should concentrate on the following areas:

Mortise-and-tenon construction. This woodcrafting technique emerged in the 14th and 15th centuries, and marked a significant improvement in joint craftsmanship. An inspection of a sideboard’s back, for example, could reveal how one projecting portion of the furniture piece (a tenon) is shaped for insertion into a mortise to form a joint. “You’re talking major value with anything made with mortise-and-tenon joints,” Creech says. “It took money, expense and good craftsmanship to get that.”

Locking mechanism. Many antique desks and chests were built with period locking mechanisms, often on drawers, fitted with steel or brass keys. “If the piece has a locking drawer, examine its mechanism; the age sometimes can be seen there,” says Charles Attal, an Austin, Texas-based appraiser. “You might be able to find the lockmaker’s name and trace the age back that way.”

Joints. Dovetail joints are a common technique (often found in drawer construction) and also a measure of age. “You almost can date a piece from its dovetail joints,” Creech says. “Pull out the drawer and look at the dovetail’s shape and consistency. The older pieces’ dovetails also should go from dark to light because the front had more air and the back part less. And they should have consistent wear.”

Peg and nail shape. Square pegs on a piece of furniture are an indicator of age. “English furniture was built with mortise-and-tenon construction and the pegs were square,” Creech says. “That’s a big sign to check into the piece’s history.” Also, hand-forged nail heads are irregularly shaped as compared to the smooth, rounded appearance of their machine-made counterparts.

Secondary wood. Furniture created more recently will use nondescript, less-expensive secondary woods in constructing a piece’s back, interior or underside. Older pieces often were made with woods such as poplar, pine and oak. Identifying an American piece’s wood might even reveal the region in which it was made. “Connecticut provided much different secondary woods than the South and the styles would influence the end product,” Attal notes.

Signatures. Specialists say that finding a signature—often inscribed or burned onto secondary wood, at the back of a piece or inside a drawer—is a common determinate of origin and worth. “The signature gives it a provenance,” Cochrane says. “And establishing the provenance means you can fit the piece more accurately in a specific niche in history that makes the link with the past more direct.”

Patina. “Brand-new reproduction pieces will have a newer look and finish,” Attal says. Some of the earlier 17th-century pieces were not sealed, which means that a dull finish does not necessarily mean a lower value. Creech adds that a piece’s “crazing” (where old waxes and finishes have caused the surface to bubble and “alligator”) can be a sign of value and owners often are too quick to repair it. “Don’t immediately try to clean that up,” she says. “Find out about the piece first.”

Learn and Build Networks and Relationships

Seeking tips in magazines, surfing the Internet and poring through books are all good ways to gain basic knowledge. And whether you have an astute, calibrated eye or are a beginning collector, seeking the counsel of an expert can help you evaluate pieces more accurately and officially, and save furniture from unintentional ruin.

“It’s important to develop an acquaintance with an antiques dealer or a specialist at an auction house or museum,” Cochrane says. “In the initial phase of collecting, that’s an especially good strategy. If you have an odd piece of furniture, for heaven’s sake have someone look at it so he can guide you in any project you may entertain.”

For More Information
Charles Attal (appraiser), Austin, TX. (512) 312-0836. cattal@austin.rr.com
Colin Cochrane (antique furniture specialist), Washington, DC. (301) 493-5916. ceccwdc@mindspring.com
Millicent Creech (dealer), Memphis, TN. (901) 683-4668. www.mfordcreech.com or mfcreech@bellsouth.net
Society of American Period Furniture Makers, Wallingford, PA. www.sapfm.org
The American Society of Appraisers, 555 Herndon Pkwy., Ste. 125, Herndon, VA 20170. (703) 478-2228, www.appraisers.org.
Fake, Fraud, Or Genuine? Identifying Authentic American Furniture, by Myrna Kaye (Bulfinch Press, 1991).
Field Guide to American Antique Furniture, by Joseph Butler and Ray Skibinski (Henry Holt, 1987).
A Field Guide to Antique Furniture, by Gillian Walking and Peter Phillip (Houghton Mifflin Co. 1992).
Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture, by Leigh Keno, Leslie Keno and Joan Barzilay Freund (Warner Books, 2000).
 Maloney’s Antiques & Collectibles Resource Directory 6th Edition, by Isa Capp Maloney (Krause Publications, 2001).
The Antiques Directory of Furniture, by Judith and Martin Miller, and John Bly (Crescent Books, 1995).
The Book of Antique Furniture: An International Style Guide from the 16th to the 20th Century, by Francis Rousseau (Castle, 2000).