Duncan Phyfe was one of the rare early century cabinetmakers who actually used paper labels and tags to identify some of his work, but most makers of the early period either scrawled their name or mark under a drawer somewhere or didn’t bother to mark their products at all. Finding a label on a piece of furniture now means that the collector has to know what kind of label it is to decipher its meaning. Read More +
Tag Archives: Furniture Detective
Four top reasons why antique furniture values vary
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 +
Mersman tables remain a staple of 20th-century Colonial Revival furniture
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? No, not really.
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 +
Ask AT: Civil War vet, inventor founded Cushman furniture company
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 +
Identify an authentic ‘Hitchcock’ chair by its mark
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 +
Hiring out for antique furniture repair begins with doing your homework
Sooner or later, most of us who hang out with antiques get the urge to do a little repair here or a touch up there – nothing major. But one thing usually leads to another and before we know it, we are in over our heads. Then we need the help of a professional restorer. Read More +
Ask Antique Trader: Antique chest may have had a concealed drawer
Furniture Detective Fred Taylor answers Antique Trader readers’ questions about wood care, furniture repair, history and restoration. Read More +
Keep steel wool away from your antique furniture; you’ll do more harm than good
Although many products associated with furniture care and restoration recommend steel wool in their instructions you should avoid using steel wool on antique furniture. In the furniture trade, steel wool’s use is limited to producing results after a finish has been applied, not before and never during. Read More +
Furniture Detective: Having an old style doesn’t guarantee that it’s antique furniture
It is tempting to date a piece of antique furniture by looking at a book with pictures of antique furniture and find one that is like the piece you are considering purchasing. But the style doesn’t guarantee the age or that it’s antique. Read More +