Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-27


back to the fifteenth century. II you
want an armoire Of the time of Louis XII or
bed after the style of George you have simply
| to send an order for it and it will be ready
within fortnight. Domestic equipments of
all sorts, from 100 to 500 years old, are readily
purchasable here, with every possible evi ience
| OF genuineness accompanying, at the lowest
market rates. Colonial articles, of course
desks, tables, couches, chairs, &C., Of the revo-
iutionary epoch-are most desired and there
| fore most easily supplied. There are TIN ee
factories In the city that turn out such things
In large quantities, employing in their construc-
| ton no end Of old wood and ingenious imita-
to-day real old furniture will bring higher
prices than ever before, there is almost none Of
1t in the market. And, accordingly, the de-
mand must be filed with a bogus product
| BUYING UP ANTIQUE FURNITURE.
A few years ago agents used to be sent
through all the rural parts Of New England to
pick up superannuated furniture of every kind
| such as was found astray in farmhouses, village
| attics, country hotels and elsewhere, having
been handed down from generation to genera
| ton in the families of long-resident natives
| The latter were usually willing enough to part
with the treasures, valuable only in the eyes Of
the esthetically disposed for a song, and the
dealers reaped big profit. But now the sup
ply obtained in this way has been practically
exhausted. Relics of this sort have pretty much
all been gathered in, and accordingly the de-
mand has to be met by artificial means. 1t
Is the fashion in these times for rich
| Yankee people to have in their houses one or
two apartments in the old colonial style, with
| floor and walls of dark oak, massive rafters,
huge fireplace, mahogany furniture and an
occasional spinning wheel, like unto that at
which the maid Priscilla sat with flying fingers
| when she suggested to brave John Alden that
| possibly he might venture to speak to her Of
marriage in his own behalf. There are not
nearly enough Of these precious relics to 20
around, and 80 it is blessing that provision is
made for reproducing them indefinitely at COM
paratively cheap rates. The most approved
method, by the way, Of giving floor or wall
the look Of age is to scrub it at intervals with
gallons Of old ale. This costs money. but it
produces a fine effect, and is considered quite
the swell thing to do. And now for your in
terror fittings.
MAKING ANCIENT MAHOGANY.
The "ameublement' has for its material
chiefly the most ancient mahogany. This you
can buy Of lumberman at SO much foot In
its natural state it is not darker than black
walnut, and to make it Of the proper hue
staining 1t must be resorted to. Five or six
applications of a solution of dragon's-blood
root in oil will suffice to give the desired hue
of age. A better way, however, of procuring
your mahogany is to purchase disused bar
counter, or something of the kind, made from
the real wood, grown in San Domingo and long
| seasoned, and chop it up to suit. II oak is
wanted 1t is rubbed with common shoe
backing and the usual wax finish put on after
ward. This is warranted to add fifty wears
to the apparent history Of a bureau or desk
in one hour. For the inside works of said
! desk or bureau pine is employed, and this is
given the requisite look Of antiquity by
| repeatedly firing a shotgun loaded with
drawers and around about them, until the sur
faces exposed are sufficiently discolored and
all full Of those curious indentations which
ordinarily signify age. Another process is to
wash the drawers, &c, with a coarse sponge
dipped in powerful acid, which eats the wood
here and there and effects the same result. So
far so good. The next thing is to provide ap-
propriate brass handles. A specially of turn
ing these out is made by q Boston firm You
have only to take them one real old-fashioned
make as many. fac SMILES of it as
you desire. The difficulty of repro
ducing the worn and half-effaced designs in
the metal is very simply overcome by max
ing plaster of Paris mould of the original and
casting from it. The casts are rubbed with
pumice to render them dull, and finally each
one is placed in a little pile Of gunpowder and
a match applied. This occasions discolora-
ton which seems to betOken the action of
times gnawing tooth, and the same is warranted
to last until the merchandise is sold, though
not much longer.
FINAL TOUCH.
This is the way in which the manufacturers
of imitation antique furniture produce the
goods they sell. If a desk is the article to be
disposed of they have one final touch to add
that excites unqualified admiration for its in
genuity. To cover up an artificial crack in one
OF the drawers they paste over it portion of
real letter, properly smoked, from Robert Nor
ris or some other revolutionary person whose
epistolary mssives come cheap, at so cents
apiece or so, in the autographs market at this
day. One letter used in this manner will serve
for several escritoires, and thus the purposes
both OF economy and chronological resem-
blance are satisfactorily served. Candlesticks
and andirons in brass are done ad infintum in
the same fashion as the knobs above spoken Of
The androns, however are first done into wood
| for models and then cast from the latter with
applications of pumice and gunpowder to follow.
A special branch of the work has to do with
clocks of the ancient upright pattern which
are copied Ill every detail from the really old
ones. Even the metal faces, with their curious
numerals, are initiated. and the works of mod
ern pattern are permitted to lie In dusty
corner and oxidizc comfortably while the
framework il in process of construction. There
Is nothing, the makers say, in the line OF back
number furniture that cannot be reproduced
at few days notice from brand-new mate
rails, and yet 80 like the old that no ordinary
person could possibly tell the difference.
- QUEER CUSTOMERS.
There is one place in that market Of curios-
ities Bromfeld street, which is recognized
here as an exchange for real antique furniture,
sent there in odd lots now and then by Boston
people who have grown tired of the ola things
and wish to replace them with new Such bits
are always eagerly snapped up by the enthu-
siasts who attend the sales every SATURDAY. and
are always on the lookout for something cheap
II you want to see some of the queer folks of the
modern Athens, you should attend one of these
weekly auctions. One man who is invariably
ON hand has long iron gray curls streaming
over his shoulders and buys everything that
brings 10 cents or less, whatever the descrip-
ton may be. He makes q living by driving
about town with wagon load of the articles
thus bought and selling them to housekeepers.
Another regular customer buys everything
that is purchasable for dollar and stores it all
away for keeps in the attic of his house at Ded-
ham, He has no use for any OF the stuff but
Just lets 1t lie and accumulate. No telling, he
says, when 1t might come in.
On one occasion he was called away on busi-
ness TO New York and his wife took advantage
OF the opportunity to clear the attic of the ac-
foundations. which amounted t. three big cart
loads, and send them in to the same old auc-
ton place for sale the following Saturday.
Now, 1t SO happened that the husband got back
to Boston that same Saturday morning in time
for the sale, which, as matter of course. he at
tended before going out home. lie had quite
sum OF money in his pocket and actually bid in.
without iyiu tha