March, 1913 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



Vll 



RESTORING OLD FURNITURE 



By ETHELBERT M. COLE 



CAREFUL and skillful work in the 

 rennishing of old furniture is of im- 

 mense importance to the collector's com- 

 plete enjoyment of the treasures which 

 represent the fruit of so much patience 

 and perseverance. Of course it occa- 

 sionally happens that someone, unusually 

 favored by Dame Fortune, is able to se- 

 cure some much coveted object which is 

 in perfect order, but this does not happen 

 frequently and most antiquarians stand 

 much in need of the aid of the patient 

 and clever craftsmen who may be de- 

 pended upon to restore their treasures to 

 their original beauty. 



Alanv collectors are so fully aware of 

 the wiles and deceptions practiced upon 

 them and are so anxious to avoid the nets 

 and pitfalls prepared for their feet that 

 they feel much safer in purchasing an- 

 tiques, and furniture particularly in its 

 unrepaired or unfinished state, for the 

 chances of its really being "antique" are 

 of course, much greater than if it be in 

 perfect order. Most antique dealers of 

 the better class, and particularly in Eng- 

 land, carefully discriminate between an 

 object in its original state and one which 

 has been restored. In buying from a 

 dealer of this class, however, one is quite 

 safe and may invest in even the most 

 carefully restored piece, feeling really as- 

 sured of its antiquity. 



The hesitancy which many people feel 

 is due, of course, to the fear of having 

 palmed off upon one some reproduction 

 which, as such, may be excellent indeed. 

 Xo one objects to purchasing a thing 

 which is frankly a reproduction of an 

 antique but anyone would resent being 

 asked to pav the high price of something 

 really old for an object which is of quite 

 recent make. 



It is possible to simulate the effect of 

 age upon glass, metal, and china, but 

 when it comes to furniture the frauds 

 practiced upon unsuspecting collectors 

 are such as would baffle ingenuity itself, 

 and many of the truly wise prefer to in- 

 vest only in such pieces of old furniture 

 as are obviously old — by reason of their 

 battered and forlorn condition. 



Xow, while in one sense the skill of 

 furniture repairs is unfortunately often 

 exercised in an unworthy cause, there is 

 scarcely a collector who has not had oc- 

 casion to bless the care and skill with 

 which a clever cabinetmaker can restore 

 the poor and the lame; the halt and the 

 blind ; of the fallen aristocracy of the old 

 furniture painter. If a leg of a mahogany 

 table be missing a carefully trained 

 craftsman can easily secure wood of pre- 

 cisely the same color and copy a new leg 

 from those which remain with such fidel- 

 ity to the original that the deception de- 

 fies detection even of the very keen. 

 Sometimes even the greater part of a 

 piece of furniture may be "built up" or 

 restored from the pieces which remain, 

 for a skillful workman becomes so 

 familiar with the designs and proportions 

 as the best old work that piecing out 

 such an object isn't as difficult as might 

 be supposed. I myself once purchased 

 an antique mahogany sideboard which I 

 found upon an old plantation in one of 

 the sugar planting parishes of Louisiana 

 The columns which adorned the front of 

 the sideboard were unfortunately lost in 

 sending the sideboard by freight to my 

 home and the cabinetmaker who under- 

 took the work of restoration had to be 

 guided wholly by his sense of proportion 



Your Garden: 



Your garden and grounds should be thoroughly and carefully 

 planned during the Winter and early Spring. A new and special feature 

 of our 1913 issue of the Garden Guide and Record, is the introduction 

 of a department showing several garden plans laid out by our experts, 

 to fit various sized plots, with the view of obtaining the most satis- 

 factory results. 



To get the best results from your garden it is necessary to get 

 the best seeds. Every packet of Flenderson's seeds that is sold has be- 

 hind it the accumulated experience of sixty-six years of successful seed 

 growing and selling. Most of the accepted methods of seed testing and 

 trials in use today originated with the founder of our firm, and the 

 methods that were the best three generations ago have been improved 

 and bettered by us from year to year and are today still 

 the best. The initial cost of the seeds is really the small- 

 est cost of your garden and it pays to be sure you have 

 started right. Henderson's are Tested Seeds. 



Special Offer 



Our 1913 catalogue, "Everything for the Garden," a book 

 of 209 pages, over 800 illustrations, color plates, etc., will be 

 mailed on receipt of 10 cents. In addition, we will send without 

 extra charge, our new book, "Garden Guide and Record," and 

 our collection of 6 Henderson Specialties, in a coupon envelope 

 which will be accepted as 25 cents cash payment on any order 

 of one dollar or over. 



Peter Henderson & Co. 



35-37 Cortlandt Street 



New York 





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