Home

Contact Calvert Regan

A Brief overview of how types of repairs affect the value of Antique furniture

The value of Antique furniture is in its history, its provenance and how well it has fared the ravages of its life. The closer it is to its original condition, with fair ware and tare, the more valuable it is to the collector. Provenance is very important but sadly very few pieces have traceable documented history. In the absence of provenance the educated collector looks for a piece which has its original finish if at all possible. This is also very important to the value of the piece even if its origins can not be traced. They will also look for signs of repair or inappropriate additions to its structure. Some repair must be accepted particularly in an old piece. It is the integrity of the repair that is important.

Inappropriate additions would include replaced mouldings, feet or handles of the wrong period. Inappropriate additions can sometimes be referred to as a marriage. This means, as it suggests, that two or more pieces have been added together to make one. An example of this would be a bureau which at some time in the past had become separated from its original bookcase. The marriage happens when someone finds a bookcase of similar size which suits the bureau, puts it in place, and calls it a bureau bookcase-true but not true, and nowhere near as valuable as the complete original would have been.

Replacement handles are not uncommon as these followed the vagaries of fashion just as we follow the latest trend now. Original handles on a piece are valued and with a little research are easy to confirm or shown as reproductions or additions not appropriate to the period

French Polishing is very destructive to the value of historic furniture. The Victorians, on learning about the latest in furniture finishes from France, embraced the idea completely. It was the new shiny finish. Many early pieces were ruthlessly stripped and the new finish proudly applied. This finish is very appropriate on furniture designed in the Victorian period and certainly has its charm but applied to Georgian furniture and earlier, is totally incongruous and destructive to its value

One of the most destructive of fashions which continues to devalue antique furniture is spray lacquer finish. This process has been used over the last thirty or so years and still continues to be used. Sadly it is still being perpetrated by ignorant uneducated restorers or worse still, by those in search of a quick return. It must be said that many restorers are put under pressure to spray lacquer by unscrupulous dealers in search of the same.

Worse still to the value of the finish is sanding the surface of the veneer or wood.

Further up the scale of de-valuation is mechanical sanding. This process leaves tiny oval marks on the surface of the wood.

At the top of the scale of irresponsibility and monetary devaluation is a combination of mechanical sanding, oil staining and spray lacquered finish.
 
Ageing of the surface of wood, patination and the effect of sanding the surface

The colour of wood changes as it ages. It becomes mellow. As a general rule dark woods like rosewood and mahogany become light with age. Light woods like sycamore and oak darken. This aged colour is microns thick. It follows that if it is sanded the colour, which may have taken two hundred years or more to produce to produce, will be removed and the surface of the wood will resemble that of the original when it was first made. The name given to an undisturbed finish that comprises the aged colour of wood and surface polishing through use over many years is patination.  Furniture with this naturally aged finish is said to show a good patina. This is extremely beautiful, rare and valuable to the collector. Patination comes with age and cannot be replicated

Provenance, patina and integrity of the piece reflects a high value, stripped or inappropriate finish, poor repairs and inappropriate additions detract markedly from its value.

Repairing and conserving furniture

It is inevitable that most furniture will require some work at various intervals. As long as repairs and interventions are done with care and consideration, and techniques of its period are used in the repair, its value will be stabilized and time will do the rest. Only age and care through its life will restore that much sort after patination and with it, its potential value will be realised

One positive note for the budding collector is that the value of poorly restored or badly damaged antiques is always considerably less that a similar piece in good condition. This means that it is affordable for the collector with tied purse strings. With care and it is possible to increase its value considerably.