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How to tell if furniture is old.

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How to tell if furniture is old.

#1

How to tell if furniture is old.

Don Henthorn

>I think the Colonel will back me up here. One of the first things I look for when trying to determine if a piece of furniture is really old is to look for white paint specks. I don't think I have ever gotten in a piece of antique furniture, regardless of quality, that didn't have at least one or two white specks of paint on it somewhere. It seems it is a law of nature that during a long lifetime every piece of furniture must be in a room where someone is painting with white paint and in the process it must acquire at least a small showing of the paint just to be authentic. Has anyone else noticed the phenominon?

Re: How to tell if furniture is old.

#2

Re: How to tell if furniture is old.

Ted Wong

>You might be on to something. Museum curators that make the big $$ spend their careers picking out fakes all day long. Maybe you can let them in on your secret.

Re: How to tell if furniture is old.

#3

Re: How to tell if furniture is old.

Robert R Clough - Thorncraft

>Seems to me, Don, there are better methods than flecks of white paint. None of our antiques has ever had any such specks. I generally use internal evidence such as joinery, finish including the back and lack tyhereof, and so on.

Re: How to tell if furniture is old.

#4

I'm with you Don...

Theresa K

>Now that you've mentioned it, I do recall seeing white specks of paint on older furniture.

Re: How to tell if furniture is old.

#5

One Thing You Couldn't Tell, Don

George@Colonel's Workshop-Havertown PA

>Good Morning Don,

You sure couldn't tell any of my kids to cover their bedroom furniture when they painted their rooms! They have since learned.

When I did work for various antique dealers little flecks of white paint on finished wood were common. I could never understand why folks didn't take the trouble to cover their stuff with a drop cloth, or move it out of the room. I sometimes flicked black dots of paint on finished furniture to make replaced/refinished portions appear older.

George

Re: How to tell if furniture is old.

#6

If you say so, I believe you, Robert.

Don Henthorn

>But having handled and repaired hundreds of pieces of furniture from the common to high end antiques from international dealers that has not been my experience. Tiny flecks of white paint seem to be ubiquitous in old furniture. Doesn't mean there aren't some without the white paint. Just means that is rarer than one might think.

Re: How to tell if furniture is old.

#7

Re: If you say so, I believe you, Robert.

Robert R Clough - Thorncraft

>Don, I don't mean to be supercilious or superior. And this isnot a good week for me.

Our pieces, family pieces all, have no white paint at all. they, collectively, cover a couple of hundred years. Now I must admit that one piece, a country Maple Secretary C1750 which we no longer have, was found in a family member's barn and used as a paint locker. It was a real mess. It was, according to my Mother, a rainbow of colors. I have seen some in the past when I bought and sold antiques that did have traces of paint, often white, but very few.

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