How to Identify Old Furniture

Grandma's cherry wood hutch may seem like a valuable antique, but it could be a modern reproduction of a classic. To the untrained eye, it is very hard to tell, and even professional antique dealers are sometimes fooled. Spotting old furniture, however, only takes a working knowledge of the tell-tale signs and some practice. You may not be able to determine the value of a Chippendale-era piece, but you will be able to tell if great-grandpa really did make that hutch with his own hands. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

How to Identify Old Furniture

1

Examine the entire piece of furniture under bright light, preferably sunlight. Look for any marks made by the furniture maker, which may be hand-written or in the form of a stamp or label and are usually found on the back, bottom, inside drawers or compartments. In addition, old furniture should show signs of use and wear.

2

Identify the materials from which the piece is made. Synthetic materials, such as plastic, indicate a newer piece. Before 1900, oak, maple, birch, pine, mahogany, walnut, cherry, and rosewood were commonly used. Wood shrinks with age, and signs of shrinkage are most often found in drawers or inlaid work.

3

Examine the finish. Waxes and oils were used to finish most furniture until the mid-1800s. Old paint feels hard to the touch, whereas new paint has some give to it when pressed.

4

Remove all drawers and open all compartments. Shine a small flashlight into any recesses to identify maker's marks or any signs of repair, such as mismatched woods, stains, or veneers.

5

Examine drawers and doors, if any. Dovetails, used to join pieces of wood, are a tell-tale sign of an old piece of furniture. Handmade dovetails are not uniform, whereas machine-manufactured dovetails, in use after 1860, will be perfectly symmetrical.

6

Examine the hardware and construction. Old nails and screws were not uniform, had a blunt tip until the mid-19th century, and may have bled into the wood. Modern, machine-cut wooden dowels are perfectly round, and modern saws leave half-moon shaped marks in the wood.