HOUSE AND GARDEN 
September, 1912 
H 
An admirable example of the Hepplewhite style mahogany settee with 
original silk covering 
1 he Seventeenth 
Century “stretcher” makes a pretty bedroom sofa.. 
This one is from Concord 
of Empire Style you will find 
thousands of pieces of furniture made 
in America say from 1810 to 1830, 
veneered, heavy, clumsy and without 
a single qualification to make them 
valuable or desirable. Yet within the 
last two years I have known of a 
score or more of hideous old sofas 
bringing from $100 to $150 just be¬ 
cause somebody had set the fashion for 
them in a particular neighborhood. 
If you are going to buy several 
pieces of antique furniture you want 
to find one or more reputable antique 
dealers, unless you can trust yourself 
to “pick up” pieces. This last 
method though agreeable is apt to 
be costly and not satisfactory, 
since this country has been search¬ 
ed almost as thoroughly as Eu¬ 
rope, and many ingenious frauds 
are palmed off on the unwary. 
After you have secured your 
dealer, tell him what you want and 
insist on having your pieces “in 
the rough.” No sophisticated col¬ 
lector buys them nowadays in any 
other condition, and you are more 
likely to direct their restoration in¬ 
telligently. You would be amazed 
at what an unscrupulous dealer 
will do with inserting n e w 
pieces, recarving, repainting, 
staining, and so on, relying on a 
coat of heavy varnish to cover up 
his misdeeds. 
Never buy as antique a 
piece of furniture which 
exhibits drops of glue on 
its under side when you 
turn it upside down. If 
of oak, walnut or ma¬ 
hogany, see that no metal 
nails are in it, only 
wooden pegs. If your 
specimen is carved, note 
that the mark of the car¬ 
ver’s tool shows in the low 
relief, but that the edges 
of the wood are never left sharp.. 
English collectors place great store- 
on what they call “patina” on antiques.. 
A New England housewife would call 
it dirt and promptly scrub it off. It is,, 
however, an unfailing mark of an¬ 
tiquity, and is a coating which comes 
on the used parts of old furniture, like 
the arms of chairs, and is compounded 
from dust and dusting, frequent 
handling and rubbing from clothes, 
which in the course of time gives a 
shiny coating to that part. Look for- 
it on exposed surfaces. 
If your piece of furniture has draw¬ 
ers, like a sideboard, chest of' 
drawers or highboy, see that the- 
wood of the front of the drawer- 
inside and out shows the same col¬ 
or. I saw a splendid old Virginia- 
walnut highboy the other day 
which had been completely ruined' 
because the restorer thought it 
would sell better if it looked more- 
like mahogany or cherry, so he- 
had stained and varnished it! 
In old American furniture—and’ 
there is more of this about than 
most people believe—-the backs,, 
sometimes the sides, the drawers, 
etc., are of pine, the wood of the- 
showy parts being mahogany, wal¬ 
nut. cherry or maple. The lighter 
wood was more easily worked and 
cheaper. Now if the bit of furni¬ 
ture on which you have- 
set your heart has han¬ 
dles, look at them care¬ 
fully. If only one of the- 
original handles remains- 
this is far better than a 
whole new set put on ac¬ 
cording to the dealer’s 
ideas, for you can have it 
copied exactly and then 
rest comfortably in the- 
assurance that they are- 
correct, which is far bet-- 
ter than worrying if the- 
A three-chair settee of the Sheraton period, lacquered, 
and with cane seat 
This mahogany and satinwood sideboard is a good Sheraton 
example, though the brasses are not originals 
The Empire style of furniture is clumsy and lacks desirable qualifications 
