Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-29
ANTIQUE FURNITURE
NEW YORK THE THIRD MARKET
IN THE WORLD.
Many Clever Frauds and Reproductions
High Prices for Fine Work
OF Old Makers.

From the New York Evening Post
BY recalling the number of shops in this
city which deal in antiques" both real
and spurious. one may get some idea of he
extent Of the demand for old furniture and
limitations of It,
Paris is now the chief market for genu-
Inc antique furniture of all kinds. having
drawn largely upon Italy and all other
countries. London ranks next and the i'm
portance Of New York in the trade has been
increasing so rapidly that 1t is now, or soon
will be, the third market in the world.
Americans will pay higher prices than buy
ers of any other nationality. A great many
OF the purchases for this country are made
on commission. for rich people who know
what they want and to whom cost is no
object.
The city of Amsterdam used to be an i'm
portant market and so was Brussels. The
latter city still has much fine old French
work and many excellent reproductions.
Hamburg does a considerable business In
antique furniture. mostly obtained In the
south of Germany. and ships largely to
England. Very little of the kind stays III
Germany. except in the hands of collectors
and few persons Of wealth.
Colonial Furniture in Demand
The large demand in this country for an
tique furniture, or furniture which 10 )xs
like the antique. is said to have begun with
the craze for the tall. eight day timepieces
Familiarity known as "grandfathers' clocks"
These were picked up in farm houses al
over the country, and quantities of them
were brought here from England. where
they were very plentiful. Fine old spe-
cimens now fetch all the way from $3.50 to
$500. AS rule. the works in old clocks are
found to be in very good condition, includ-
ing not only the hall clocks. but the man
tel timepieces and the wall clocks made
by Willard in New England, which are
known from their shape as banjo clocks.
TIE taste for these articles soon extended
to old furniture of every variety, and this
country was ransacked for it. with the
suit that New England. which was richly
stored with ii, was cleaned up a long
time ago, and the south was largely de-
pleted. There was never very much of 1t
In the middle states, 1t is said, except in
Philadelphia. But a few years ago. anna
teur collectors and the agents Of dealers
were able to secure fine specimens, here
and there, in farm houses. They can rare
ly do SO now. and rural owners have be-
come keenly alive to the value of their in
herited possessions. When these can lie
obtained, the work of scraping, cleaning,
oiling and general restoring usually adds
considerably to the cost of the original pur-
chase.
The "Highboys."
owned in this country was made in Eng
land. The highboys or chests of drawers
in which to keep linen. &c, are distinctive
ly English. except a few which are early
Dutch. The former are almost invariably
Of carved mahogany and are usually In
Chippendale designs. and the highest priced.
Dutch specimens are chiefly of oak, and are
OF severe pattern. The cost of a good old
highboy ranges from $500 to 1000. There
q n 6 vrybf fob Gil, To- ol,A rfn
about half the height of the highboys.
What are known as console tables, some
of which are surmounted to mirrors, are
both English and French. and are made of
mahogany in Georgian and Empire styles,
between which there is little difference
Then there are old card tables and tilt or
screen tables. such of the latter have a
ribbon effect on the edge of the top being
known as Die-crust tables. Genuine an
tiques Of this kind are sold for from $50 to
$500 apiece.
Four-Posters, Sideboards and Mantels.
There has been considerable demand for
the old four-post bedsteads. which were
formerly hard to get. but a good many
came on the market a year or two ago. a
number being imported from England The
demand is not now SO large. They fetch
from $50 up to $780, those at the latter
price being deliberately carved or of fine
Georgian design. Colonial sideboards are
valued at from SIS to $500. almost all being
separate pieces. white In England the old
sideboards were chiefly built in the wall.
Cabinets are scarce in colonial furniture,
and the very few china cabinets are worth
from 500 UP to $500 $500. The same
prices apply to the old bookcases with writ
Ing desks combined. Fine specimens of the
large writing desks known as secretaries,
in beautiful Georgian style, are worth as
much, as 500 or 5000. very few being on
sale. ...s.
Colonial mantels. taken out of houses.
fetch from $125 to $3.50 or $500. Some are of
mahogany. while others are of oak or of
American pine. enameled. They are finely
carved. and were chiefly made in England
It is to be noted that by the beginning of
the last century a good deal Of furniture
was made in this country, principally in
Philadelphia. after the colonial patterns
The designs of the mantelpieces usually
show the influence Of the brothers Robert
and James Adam. eminent English archi-
tects in the eighteenth century. Such pieces
of what is called the English classical
style have been obtained in various parts of
the country, but they have been largely
taken from old houses in Maryland and
Virginia. Many beautiful examples of colo
NAL furniture have come from Charleston.
5. C., and many are still there, in private
ownership. Although New Orleans has
been largely drawn upon. 1t still contains a
great deal of old French furniture of a
style distinctly different from the English