Antique Furniture Shop – American Antique Furniture, a brief history…

The most highly desired antique American furniture was produced in the thirteen original colonies from the mid to late 17th Century through the early part of the 19th century.

The reason is because these pieces were impeccably hand made by skilled craftsmen in the finest colonial cabinet making shops. A number of these fabulous creations were even signed by their makers. The Goddard Townsend family of Newport, Rhode Island produced some of the most renowned and valuable pieces made during this period and a number of them were signed.

These pieces tend to get high-end auction houses like Sotheby’s really excited whenever  they come on the market. In fact, a single mahogany secretary bookcase made by Christopher Townsend in 1740 once sold at auction in New York for the astonishing sum of $8.25 million.

What makes period American furniture so unique and valuable?

If you’ve read Leigh and Leslie Keno’s book, Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture , you’re familiar with the passion period furniture pieces generate. If not, I believe it’s still available through major online booksellers, and definitely worth picking up if you want to learn more about antique furniture.

Lyn Sack Wall also discussed the merits of period furniture, in a guest feature here on About Antiques. As the niece of Albert Sack, who operates Sack Heritage Group as mentioned in the Keno’s book, she’s uniquely qualified to teach about this topic. “It takes more than being old to determine the value of an antique. Not only must an item be of high quality, it must have artistic merit,” Wall said. She also noted “there are many periods of antique furniture. The different periods and styles overlap.”

Wall emphasized that cabinetmakers didn’t stop making Queen Anne furniture on a specific date and start making Chippendale furniture the next day. Each subsequent period actually influenced the style of its successors. However, the major periods can be broken down into Colonial and Federal.

The Colonial period dates from around 1620 to 1780 and includes Jacobean, Queen Anne and Chippendale styles. The Federal period extends from 1780 through 1820 and incorporates Hepplewhite,
Sheraton and Classical styles. These styles are the epitome of American furniture design, and have been copied through the decades.

Who owned period pieces then? What about now? While we rarely run across these fine pieces now, you’ll find a number on display in museums. In fact, there are some lovely pieces on exhibit at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, including a fabulous shell carved chest crafted by John Townsend.

Colonial Williamsburg’s own cabinetmakers, in a shop where period reproductions are handmade while visitors watch, will tell you that the wealthier members of colonial society usually imported their furnishings from Europe. The consumers buying more ornately carved pieces of American furniture were from the up and coming middle class who wanted to display their new status.

These days it’s definitely only the privileged that can afford these beautiful examples of American craftsmanship. They often purchase them anonymously through phone bids in upscale auctions where prices can skyrocket in a matter of minutes.

What makes a masterpiece of furniture worthy of such attention? According to Wall, a piece must possess a “beauty and quality that transcends the bounds of the era or even the field of art it represents” to qualify for masterpiece status.

Even if you never find a period piece, why do you need to know about them? While you may never run across a piece of this caliber in your neighborhood, it certainly doesn’t hurt to learn all you can about the quality of fine American furniture. The more you know about craftsmanship and styles, the better you’ll be at separating the wheat from the chaff on your own antique furniture shopping adventures.

 Visit here if you’d like to shop for and buy antique American furniture.

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Some of the most popular furniture pieces have always been formal antique dining tables. Just about everyone needs a dining table at one time or another.

In this post I will be focusing on formal antique dining tables. 

The most costly are those dating from approximately the 1760′s through to the early 1800′s.. They range in length from two to four pedestals and are usually rectangular in shape. The pedestals act as supports for additional leaves and also control how many leaves can be added to extend the table.

The more pedestals a table has, the longer it’s length and thus, the more desirable the table is. An example would be an antique double pedestal table from the 1790′s…the table would have one fixed leaf on each top of pedestal and, with the support of stretchers and clips or clamps, could take an additional leaf. The maximum length of a table like this would be approximately eight or so feet in length. 

Another important factor in making an antique dining table from this period very desirable and expensive would be the quality of the wood that was used, as well as the table’s utility. Additional pedestals can extend the length up to as much as twenty feet. We usually see extending tables that are made of mahogany, a durable, strong and very attractive wood .

All periods of antique furniture have different characteristics. The earlier antique Georgian and Victorian dining tables had pull-out mechanisms…a relatively simple construction that extends the table and allows additional leaves to be inserted by pulling the ends open.

Later Victorian antique dining tables were constructed with wind out mechanisms, allowing the tables to be opened by a winding handle. Many of the antique dining tables from those periods still exist today, are of superb quality and many still have their original leaves.

Buying an antique dining table can be a bit complex, as quality and costs for antique dining tables vary greatly. The most important elements to consider in pricing are: originality, length, width, period, wood quality and color.

As a general rule the earlier the antique dining table the higher the quality of the wood that was used. Tables that still have all their original leaves are rare and much more valuable, than those without any leaves or with replacement leaves.

The width of the table is important…where people are sitting opposite each other, there should be adequate room in the centre of the table. Look for tables 48 inches or more in depth. An antique dining table that is 42 inches deep would be worth less than half that of an identical table that is 48 inches deep. The length is also extremely important, with tables that sit 10 or more people very desirable. 

Here’s an estimated price guide:

Georgian pedestal tables – $15,000 – $200,000, could be even more, depending on the number of pedestals and leaves and the originality of table. Georgian pull-out tables – $10,000-$100,000 again, depending on length and condition. Victorian pull-out and wind out tables – $6000-$40,000 once again, depending on length and condition. 

With all the estimated prices given above, please note that exceptional wood quality, fine detailing, or provenance can make any antique dining table worth even more.

Antique dining tables is an important topic, and one I will address again in greater detail in later posts, but for now, an overview of the subject may provide some guidance to a prospective purchaser.

Visit my website if you’d like to buy an antique dining table; there are many to choose from…

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       Antique Furniture Shop For Antique Victorian Style Furniture 

Antique Victorian style furniture dates from 1837 to 1901 and was named for British monarch, Queen Victoria, who ruled England during that period.

As the middle class in Britain became increasingly affluent, their wealth prompted a huge demand for, and increase of, furniture making. Although, at the time furniture makers were using machines to make the decoration elements on these pieces, there actually was no mass production of the furniture itself until much later in the Victorian era.

The elements of design that had previously been popular became unfashionable and furniture having simple classical lines was given away to charity or relegated to the attic. The new antique Victorian style furniture was far more grandiose having high gloss finishes, curved lines, flamboyant and sometimes ostentatious decoration, and then later in the period some very weighty and overly ornately carved pieces were produced. Quite frequently, the design elements and motifs of different periods were even combined in one piece.                                                                                                          

The most popular woods used at the time were rosewood, oak and mahogany and iron was used, as well. The majority of antique Victorian style furniture was hand made with dovetailed joints, turned bun feet, pin hinges and turned handles. 

Some elements of William IV and the Regency style can be found in early Victorian pieces, such as curved backs and reeded elements of decoration. Mid-Victorian furniture contained more curves and had much higher gloss.

Also, upholstery, turned knobs, scrolled backs and molding with a bit of carved decoration was a main consideration in design. Later, the furniture took on a more feminine and delicate look, with comfort a big consideration. Later, in the late 1880′s, reproductions of Sheraton, Tudor and Chippendale were in high demand. Copies of Sheraton and Chippendale were high quality and produced by well known furniture makers. 

During the late Victorian period the furniture designs became heavy with a lot of carved decoration. Medieval and gothic carvings were popular, along with mahogany and dark oak pieces that were very large and extravagant. Sideboards, some with gothic or with heavily carved pediments were very popular and seating was still made for comfort. Dining tables had winding mechanisms for extention leaves and turned legs and simple pieces of furniture were usually embelished with decorative carvings.

The emergence of The Art Nouveau Movement, during the later part of the Victorian period, contined to influence furniture fashion well into the Edwardian period. However, Antique Victorian Style Furniture is a dominant force in all of the various styles and periods of antique furniture and is extremely popular even today.

If you are interested in antique Victorian style furniture, as well as in viewing a large selection of other styles and periods of antique furniture, please visit my antique furniture shop.

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