A premier antique furniture shop where you can buy antique furniture!

Welcome to Antique Furniture Blog!

Hello to all you antique furniture shoppers and antique furniture buying enthusiasts!

When you click on the link above, you’ll be at our virtual online warehouse where you can view our extensive inventory of American, English and European antique furniture and accessories. You’ll find a large selection of antique dining tables and chairs, antique writing desks, antique Victorian furniture, Queen Anne furniture, antique mahogany wood furniture, etc…If you scroll down below, you’ll see a slideshow with a small sample of the inventory in our virtual online warehouse, along with some of our other posts…

Click play to see the slideshow. Oh!…and enjoy the music!

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Buy Antique Furniture at auction…

Finding an antique auction house isn’t as simple as it once was, nor are they as highly regarded as they used to be. However, when antique buyers are in search of the best deals, visiting an auction can be much more enjoyable than bidding online. There are lots of local antique shops everywhere, as well as some big-name auction houses like Sotheby’s or Christie’s, but the key to success in the auction world, as in everything else, is knowledge. Knowing how things work and how you can avoid getting taken by the system.

Typically, antique auction houses have a commission that they charge to each buyer called a “buyer’s premium”. This is added to the price paid for the item. They also charge the seller a fee, which comes out of the price the item sells for. For example, if you sell an antique at auction for $5,000, the auctioneer will get a certain percentage of that money as their fee for hosting the auction and managing the sale. If you are a buyer, you don’t have to worry about this fee as it will come out of what you pay for an item.

Many items are there on consignment, which means that the auction takes them from people and, instead of paying for them in advance, they place the item to auction. If it sells, they give the seller a portion of the profits and keep the rest. Typically, the commission percentage will be around 10% to 15% at most venues, but you need to verify what is charged before you consign, just to be certain.

Keep in mind there are employees to pay, overhead costs, and profits to make. This is where they make their money. Antique auction houses aren’t out to get people, for the most part, but they do need to get paid for the services that they offer. While online auctions are great and help cut down on overhead costs and other expenses, they don’t have the same feel or atmosphere as a traditional auction. Many antique collectors fearl that the auction house will be replaced by the internet, but with the exciting environment that is a large part of the hobby in the first place, it will likely be a very long time before that happens, if it ever does.

These establishments have been around for decades and they aren’t going anywhere. If you’ve never been to an antique auction, there is never a better time than now to check it out for yourself. Just take the time to learn about the fundamentals first, including the inside tricks and secrets that experts won’t tell you so that you can be an informed buyer or seller within the auction house setting.
 
Check your local area for antique auction houses so that you can find the ones that are near you, and then go out and visit them on auction day. You might just be surprised how much fun you have with antiquing in this setting once you know what you are doing. When it comes to antiques, the auctions on the internet just can’t compete with a traditional auction house atmosphere because just being at a live antiques auction is half the fun.

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Buy antique Furniture to decorate your home…

There are several ways you can add an elegant and homey look to your home. One of them is to display some quality antique furniture and accessory items. But shopping for antiques can be quite an overwhelming endeaver for beginners, and determining an authentic antique from junk or reproductions can be a nerve-wracking experience.

But before you start out on a tour of garage sales, flea or antique markets, consider the following tips:

Eye-opener
Take the time to do your homework so you can find the right antique for you. Developing your eye is about education…know your budget, know what you want, and find a reputable dealer. Is it really Victorian, or does it just look Victorian; is it really Art Deco, or does it only look Art Deco. If it’s a watch, are all the parts original?’ Developing your eye also means finding a dealer you can trust.

Quality Counts
The perfect antique or collectible just simply looks old, right? Not always the case…especially for anyone with a trained eye. Using rustic pieces to adorn your cottage walls is a great idea, but you want your prized possessions to have both intrinsic and monetary value. One of the important things is to buy quality. Buy the best item you can afford.

Condition Matters
Don’t be fooled by the notion that it’s okay for an antique to be torn, chipped or cracked. That might mean skipping the garage sale and heading straight for an antique market or an established dealer.

If anyone tells you condition doesn’t matter, they don’t know about antiques…condition always matters!

Don’t forget…shop for and buy antique furniture at a reputable dealer. 

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Buy Antique Furniture online at a virtual antique furniture shop.

Early Victorian Furniture

In early 19th Century Victorian England, furniture was made for the first time with an interest in comfort as the determining factor in its design. With the increase in middle class homes, more furniture was needed and, to accommodate the demand, it was made in an abundance of styles. But, for the first time in history, it was made firstly with the desires of the consumer.

Victorian Interiors, 1855
Early Victorian England, from around 1835, saw the decline in popularity of the smooth and relatively simple Grecian style of Regency furniture that existed in the preceding period 1800-1830. It was largely replaced by more serious furniture…more imposing, rounded, with ample ornament, decoration, curving, and gloss. Classical, heavy, styles however did persist in “male” clubs as well as in the dining room.

Battle of Styles

Gothic Revival, 1852
No single style emerged as dominant in the homes of the early Victorians, rather furniture designers, and now manufacturers, looted a multitude of styles from earlier periods in history. Gothic, Tudor,
Elizabethan, Renaissance, English Rococo, and Neo Classical battled for prominence. The Gothic revival style was probably the most “important” in furniture history terms,while the exuberant Rococo
revival may have taken the honors popularity.

Rococo Revival, 1845
Mahogany and rosewood were the woods of choice with oak making something of a nationalist comeback and admired for its Englishness. Iron also made its appearance in the early Victorian age,
particularly in Victorian bedroom furniture. Paper mache was also used in Victorian age furniture.

Victorian Paper Mache, 1850

Victorian Decadence
“It seems to us that the art manufacturers of the whole of Europe are thoroughly demoralized” This was said in the “The Times” in 1851 commenting on the furniture and other
interior decorations displayed at the Great Exhibition in London, 1851. The furniture exhibited at the Exhibition shows early antique Victorian furniture at its most extravagant and flamboyant and
somewhat cut off from reality.

The Victorian Armchair, 1851
By this time, around the middle of the nineteenth century, good design may be said to have suffered in much early Victorian furniture, even in country areas, with the partial exception of chair
making. The demands of the mass market, with its concerns of economy, led to a probably inevitable decline in standards of ordinary domestic furniture with lots of showy, hastily and cheaply applied
ornament and veneer attempting to conceal the lack of quality craftsmanship.

The seeds of the arts and crafts movement and the art furniture fashion of late Victorian style furniture had been sown…more about this in the next post…

Click here if you would like to buy antique furniture online.

Antique Furniture Terminology…a brief discussion

Do you know the meaning of some of the pieces when you shop for you shop for and buy antique furniture?

As an example, the “dresser” in your bedroom…is it a highboy, a chest of drawers, or a chiffonier? You may be confused and wondering just what it is you have. And, the answer might just be just as confusing as the question.

It seems a chiffonier is a high and narrow chest, whereas a highboy is defined as a tall chest with a legged base. Both of these are considered to be chests of drawers

What’s the difference between a sideboard and a buffet? The two terms are frequently used interchangeably, and for good reason, as they are pretty much the same thing. As defined by the French, a buffet is a small sideboard for storing dishes. A sideboard may look a bit larger than a buffet, but both serve the exact same purpose.

What about the armoire…or is it a wardrobe? Well, both usually have a rod for hanging clothes, both have doors. However, there is a distinction…a wardrobe oftenhas a smaller, more streamlined look while armoires tend to be bigger and more ornate.
 
There are some English wardrobes that were designed for gentlemen which contain an area for hanging garments on one side and  labelled drawers or shelves, for certain other articles, on the other side. These particular pieces were manufactured primarilyin the early 20th century and do not offer much decorative flare, but are definitely popular because they are reasonably priced.

Actually, the different terminology used to describe similar pieces when you buy antique furniture depends heavily on the sellers preference. The only thing that’s really important isthat you do truly love the piece you’re buying. If that is so, the name of your piece doesn’t matter one bit.

Here’s a brief history of the dining chair in the 18th Century…

It is important to mention that these beautiful and important chairs have been in existence only since the beginning of the 18th Century. Prior to 1700, most people sat on benches along trestle tables. Where you sat at the table signified your social status. Only the owner of the house and very special guests were placed at the head of the table and sat in comfortable armchairs.

Dining chairs became popular during the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14). They had broad padded seats, high backs and cabriole legs, and were all produced from walnut. They were very decorative, very well balanced and could accommodate the various proportions of dinner guests.

Thomas Chippendale had already established the dining chair as an essential part of fine furnishings by the mid 18th Century and provided his customers with numerous choices of style and design. Detailed drawings of each design allowed patrons to choose whether Gothic, Rococo or Chinese styling would suit their décor best and the piercing of the splat would denote the style.

As the century progressed, classical lines and styling became increasingly popular. Designers like George Hepplewhite were introducing shield shaped backs to their dining chairs, and Thomas Sheraton took styling to an almost minimalist level by producing a much simpler rectilinear type of chair.

Primarily, all antique dining chairs from the 1730s onwards were made from imported mahogany as home grown walnut had suffered from overuse and blight.

18th century dining chairs have been revived, reproduced and copied many times over. When looking for a good set of period or revival antique dining chair Antiques USA can help!

Are Antique Clocks A Good Investment? 

Antique clocks are not just a piece of furniture or a clock; they are a sensible investment.

The majority of antique clocks use a simple and robust movement, hand-built by master clock-makers. This results in a reliable clock movement that’s been running for hundreds of years. With regular and appropriate maintenance it will run for another hundred years.

On the other hand, a modern clock’s movement will last only about thirty years…modern movements just don’t last as long as an antique movement.

If you purchased an antique clock five years ago, it would be worth more than you paid for it in today’s market. Whereas, a modern clock would only be worth a fraction of its original price.

Given our volatile economy antique clocks are a much better investment than a 401k.

History Of Time Keeping:

Time keeping, prior to any written records, is a bit of a mystery. However, we do know that in ancient times people were grappling with idea of quantifying the passing of time and had some method of measuring it. Ancient civilizations most likely measured time’s passing by using the Planets, the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. They hunted and produced during the day and slept at night. That was all there was to it…nothing was measured in minutes, hours or days. Those periods are measurements of time that were eventually devised by man, but had no impact on the ancient civilizations that had no clocks.

The Earliest Clocks Known:

One of the first known means of telling time used the Sun. It is believed that the sundial, or “shadow clock” was in use in Egypt around 1500 BC. These early “clocks” allowed the daylight to be divided into “hours”. Other instruments like candle clocks, water clocks (or clepsydras ), sand glasses (or hourglasses), and oil lamps were all used at various times in clock history; and some, such as the hour glass, until fairly modern times. Eventually, perhaps sometime late in the 13th century, a better way to tell time was developed.

The Clock Is Invented:

No one can say exactly when the first mechanical clock was made or by whom, but researchers say that they were probably first made late in the 13th century. This seems to be confirmed with evidence that around Circa 1283 church records in England were found that mention a clock. Most early mechanical clocks known at this time were tower clocks. Most of these early tower clocks had no dials or hands. They alerted the public of the hour by ringing bells. This may be the reason the word ‘clock’ which is derived from the word ‘bell’ gained wide use. Built out of iron, most tower clocks were made and serviced by blacksmiths. These first clocks were very inaccurate. They had to be frequently adjusted to the correct hour by comparing them with the sundial!

The development of the mechanical clock was reduced by the lack of a reliable escapement (a device which converts continuous rotational motion into an oscillating or back and forth motion, creating the familiar ticking noise). Gear works had been known for centuries, and the power at the time to drive the gears was weight. So the only thing lacking to make a clock more accurate was a reliable system to regulate the speed of the gears. Several different early escapements were used on tower clocks and soon after, dials and hour hands began to appear on some clocks. Finally the minute hand was introduced into common use.

During the latter part of the fourteenth century, in Europe, the “chamber” clock finally brought clocks down to a size that could be brought into the home. Then, in the fifteenth century, table, or mantel clocks using springs instead of weights for power started to appear. Some clocks also started using a balance wheel escapement. Other improvements followed, such as the pendulum by Christian Huygens in 1657, which along with an anchor, or deadbeat escapement, greatly improved the clocks accuracy.

History Of The American Clock: 

Most clocks in America in the 17th Century were tall case clocks, or grandfather clocks as they are known today. All these early clocks were hand made. They were far too costly for all but the mostaffluent, so until the late 19th Century, most Americans did not own a clock. In the late 18th-early 19th Century Eli Terry (1772-1852) began using water power to drive machinery to make clock parts faster and less expensive. Known as the ‘father’ of the clock manufacturing industry, he believed that by standardizing movement parts, clocks could be made in batches at greater speeds.

By the late 19th Century, many manufacturing companies were providing clocks at a reasonable price, greatly increasing the number of households with clocks in America. During this time, pocket watch companies were also doing the same thing and by 1900, thanks to the dollar watch, almost anyone could own a watch. Since these early years of clockmaking, many styles and types of clocks have found their way into our homes and collections. Among them is the well crafted Vienna Regulator with its accurate pendulum movement and the xtremely popular Cuckoo Clock , originally made in the Black Forest in Germany. There are also Cuckoo Clocks that were made in America, such as the Lux Company in Philadelphia in the early in the Twentieth century.

                                              
 
Probably every home has at least one alarm clock . They come in every conceivable style imaginable. Clock history does not end with mechanical clocks. No clock history timeline would be complete without the history of the quartz clock movement and how it changed the way we use and buy clocks forever.

Last, but not least, the atomic clock, which is the most accurate clock human beings have ever made. But, that’s for another discussion… 

The history of antique clocks is a fasinating study for every clock lover…too bad so much of this is lost forever.
 

Visit my online virtual antique shop f you would like to buy antique furniture and antique clocks…
 

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Antique Oak Furniture

Ever since medieval times, oak has been a common choice in furniture making because it is plentiful, durable and resistant to insects and fungus and antique oak furniture is also pretty easy to take care of. Oak is well-known for being a hard and long lasting wood. Any piece of furniture made from oak is sure to last.

One particular type you should look at is quartersawn antique oak furniture because it increases in value every year. One of the major reasons behind the value of quartersawn antique oak furniture is the high quality of every piece. If you do buy quartersawn antique oak furniture you will likely get a better return on your investment than investing in other types of antique furniture.

Oak furniture, and especially antique oak furniture, is quite different from most types of modern furniture; mainly because of the cost associated with oak furniture but also the fact that oak furniture is made to last for your entire lifetime, and possibly even for generations to come. Some of the most sought after antique oak furniture pieces are old-style rocking chairs, much beloved by Americans.

The rooms that benefit most from having antique oak furniture in them are the bedroom and the dining room. These are the places where you will get the most from the benefit of oak furniture’s main characteristics, its durability and beauty, not to mention the impact that the classic design of either the dining table, china cabinet or the bed will have on the decor of the rooms.

Antique oak furniture meant for the bedroom is usually characterized by a plethora of decorative patterns which can give off some clue as to where the piece was built initially. These pieces of antique oak furniture are meant to work in homes where there is a definite antique ambiance.

Living rooms can also benefit from antique oak furniture, especially by using an oak coffee table. Commonly, the coffee table is more or less the centrepiece of the entire room and as such it can see a lot of abuse, however when we’re talking about oak furniture that’s not a problem, due to the durability of oak.

Research quartersawn antique oak furniture before you buy antique furniture, as this may help you to make your decision.

American antique oak furniture has an appeal that suits every household. And, if you are a serious collector of antique oak furniture, then make room in your budget for a vintage roll top oak desk.

Visit my virtual antiques warehouse if you want to buy antique furniture…

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