Please tell me something about these Windsor style chairs. They were painted and used as outdoor furniture when my mother-in-law acquired them in the 1940s. She refinished them and used them inside. Read More +
One of the most overlooked and least understood clues in establishing the date and authenticity of older and antique furniture is the story that screws can tell about the history of a piece. Read More +
The political unrest in 19th century Germany had a profoundly positive effect on American furniture construction and design for the next 50 years. A large number of German craftspeople made their way to America in the 19th century, but four in particular stand out in the furniture field: John Henry Belter, George Hunzinger and Gustave and Christian Herter. Read More +
Common wisdom in the furniture trade says that anything made in Grand Rapids is “good stuff.” Is that true? Perhaps. But like so many other things, there is always a “but.” In this case the but is “Made when and by whom in Grand Rapids?” Read More +
In the everyday conduct of our affairs in the older and antique furniture trade, we often come across terms and references that we accept as just part of the lingo. But almost just as often we have little or no idea what the reference or term really means or how it got to be called that. Read More +
What determines asking or eventual selling prices of antiques or collectibles anyway? The universal answer has four parts: quality, condition, rarity and demand. Read More +
Any antiques shop that has more than three pieces of Colonial Revival furniture is almost certain to have a Mersman table somewhere in the joint because the company made millions of them. Read More +
Is tung oil safe for antique furniture? Furniture Detective Fred Taylor says unless the original finish was an oil finish, then tung oil, like any other oil, has no place on antique furniture over the long term. Read More +
The inventor of the pencil eraser and the first ink eradicator, H.T. Cushman, found his way into the furniture business after developing products to sell through mail order. Read More +
Here’s how you can tell if your Hitchcock chair (a small, rickety chair, perhaps painted black, with leaves and flowers and fruit painted all over) is the real thing, or a reproduction. Read More +