The San Francisco call., 1904-12-25
SEARCHING FOR
OLD FURNITURE
Mr.. Amateur Must Be Careful
in Selection, as Imitation
Closely Resembles Genuine
GOOD WAYS OF TELLING
Desirable Articles of Earlier
Days Fast Becoming Scarce
While Bogus Ones Abound


furniture has almost developed into
passion of late years. 1t has sud
denly become the fashion to have Gu
rios of all kinds in the home furnish
ings. Therefore, as a demand always
creates a supply, there are to be found
on the market hundreds Of mastery
limitations of the work Of the great ar
lists in furniture. Some of these imi-
tations are open and above board re-
productions of the antique but others
are such successful limitations of an
cient furniture that 1t is necessary to
be very wide awake if one meditates
purchasing specimens of the old crafts
mans art.
The coarse and rough limitations that
are seen in second-rate shops every day
never deceive the searcher after the
antique. but really first-class work may
easily impose upon even the elect, and
reasonably so, when il becomes known
that there are skilled workmen who
make a business OF initiating worm
holes in modern furniture before it
proudly blossoms forth to become the
joy of the innocent amateur collector
of the antique.
II is usually at this time of the year
that the housewife is seized with the
spirit Of refurnishing her home or add
ing by way of adornment d few new
pieces If the antique is her special
choice the following suggestions may
be Of interest. The modest buyer is
alone being considered. she who would
spend at the very most a hundred or
so dollars on cabinet table or desk.
There Is kind of sham too popular
nowadays-and of all shams it is the
most dangerous-to buy old wood, pos
sibly of drawers or panels of cup
boards and mingle the old and new to
the confusion of the uninitiated.
Sometimes dealers have the honesty
to say that goods of this description
are made up articles, and often these
pieces are quite worth adding to ones
collection because the wood in their
construction is well seasoned and the
grain fine and exquisitely cclored.
LOOK INSIDE.
When n cabinet is the object under
considera ton II is we'll to open the
drawers and inspect the lining. If the
article is genuine they will be lined
with oak or elm, but if a modern i'm
posture the lining will be merely plain,
stained deal. Other evidences of the
real thing are the weight and the
doweling, which in old furniture is pc
culiarly done. But all these signs fail
when the genius of perfect deception is
abroad. One simple thing to notice Is
the state of the polish. 1t should be
put on perfectly smooth, and the var
nish should not seem to be carelessly
run into the corners. Another evidence
! is that. the edges are comparatively
soft and rounded by wear and not
sharp or clearly cut.
In spite of the widespread interest
and knowledge in furniture and deco
rative art generally there is a great
confusion of ideas as regards styles
Just in the same way that some collec-
tors of antiques persuade themselves
that because 4 thing is old 1t must
necessarily be beautiful, so there are
those who think that to conform to
certain style is slavish and lacking in
originality. To such people French
style Immediately conjured up bow
knots, garlands and gliding. while we
know that this expression of art can
exist without any of these and still be
true in character. What style in house
furnishings should really be taken to
mean is character, appropriateness
and an acceptance of those rules
which the experience of centuries has
proved the best. vet allowing scope for
Individual requirements.
KEEP TO THE STYLE.
The collector of antiques should
also bear in mind that a piece of fur
niture must never be selected ire
spective of the differences in its style
that is. when a single apartment
is to be furnished-for if jumbled in
! a heterogeneous mass the result will
be no more satisfactory than a col
! lection of pieces in a furniture shop.
! There is no character, no originality;
only motley collection of things.
The skillful artist knows we'll that
in decorating and furnishing a house
harmony of color and form is the first
essential, and the collector of the an
tique should have her walls decorat-
ed with regard to the furniture for
which they are to form a background
Could anything be more absurdly
grotesque than the placing of a piece
of French art in a room decorated in
Dutch style? Still decorative errors,
perhaps of less glaring nature, are
met with on every hand and in homes
of culture. more's the pity! The
French style of furnishing will be
very popular this winter my lady
needing this setting for her Louis
XVI and Henri III gowns. An especial
prize in French examples is the Boule
furniture, which is particularly happy
In its cabinet specimens. Andre
Charles Boule was the cabinet maker
or ebonist to Louis XVI. and the first
and most characteristic work connect
ed with the style of lie grand mon
argue" is known as Boule. The Boule
is an elaborate kind of marquetry in
laid with tortoise shell, brass, ivory
and ebony, the origin of which can be
traced to Indian, Persian and Damas-
! Gus incrusted inlays. Examples of
Boule work are now very valuable and
command high prices when they are
| offered for sale.
FOR MODEST TASTES.
The inlaid Dutch furniture resem-
bles somewhat the Boule, but is quite
within the bounds of the modest an
tique purchasers sphere. The rich
and bright colors of different woods
are used in the marquetry and the de-
sign is usually that of some pictur-
esque foliage mingled with tulips.
roses and birds. In addition to wood.
other materials, such as ivory and
mother-of-pearl, are employed. This
Dutch furniture was introduced into
England during the reign of William
and Mary, and has descended to us in
the simpler and later phase known as
F! Queen Anne. This seeming confusion
of names was brought about by the
rrocti1a of using the noroao .1-,.t