The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1904-11-10
How TO Collect
OidFurnhare


1t is generally considered that the coli
lection Of antique furniture Is hobby
to be INDUCED in only by those VINO, 10
say the least of il. are possessed OF very
ample means. This, however, Is very iat
from being the case. 1t is, OF course,
easy to spend huge sums upon old iur-
niture; two years ago 1000 POUNDS was
paid for a pair of ChIppendale chairs'
while 100 pounds is not an out-ot-theii
way price for a Cnippendale settee ana
the Sheraton dressing table now Ia the
South Kensington museum Is probably
priceless. says writer IN II. r.
Weekly"
The great beauty of the English fur
niture OF the eighteenth century hes IA
its form-not so much in its ornamental
ton. Fifty years ago II was conslaeleu
very fine TO attach ugly Impossible cary,
ing to an already shapeless object. ana
to n certain extent the same ldea pre-
walls to-day. but IN the golden gSe OF
English interior art-the eighteenth cen.
tury-a designer would hrst declae ,ns ~
lines Of a chair. giving as much attentloh
to the shape OF the open spaces ltil n
the back as TO thai OF the pacN ltseil'
so that the bare outline would already Pc
a thing Of beauty, heavy where sttehsth
was needed. and light where Il was un-
necessary.
TWO things must be guarded against.
and the first Is limitations. ihese are
whole piece is false from beginning 70
end. but more often part Is genuine such
as the top Of table, While the iess az
new or the legs in another table Whlle
the top Is new. In fact. genuine afueie
IS in this way often made to serve IS q
foundation for several so-called anuque
pieces of furniture.
Fortunately, however Ia spite OF an
the tales one hears such furniture crly
decetves the nexperlenced-and u ~ not
necessary to be an expert, either There
IL something about old wood ana ora
lOinery that cannot be initiated. and once
YOU have thoroughly studied an old chan
All over especially the hidden parts Aou
could never be deceived
Either you would know instlnctiye,E,
that the chair was genuine. or you would
be doubtful, and in the latter case you
would not buy. r. however, the iurnl-
turc has been covered with French poi-
ish, II is difficult. and sometimes ii9possi-
BILE. TO be certain Of its real antiluity.
for which reason do not buy anything
unless the dealer. or whoever ne may pe,
will entirely strip of the polish helore
YOU decide. II YOU buy the polish WIN
have to come of In any case, as the real
collector will tolerate nothing but OH,
wax and turpentine.
Secondly you must guard against ouy-
ing any furniture which. though genu-
inc, is of inferior form. Although an
tiuue furniture is principally cistin-
guished by its beauty Of line, there were
Inferior makers who were deficient IN
parted from the published designs or men
like Chippcndale they went astray with
the result that their handiwork fell Tar
short OF what is esteemed In antiques.
The only safeguard a collector has In
such cases Is his taste. and taste IN these
matters Is a quality that can be culu-
The would-be collector should make up
his mind not to buy anything at all for
some time after he begins to take an in
terest in the subject. II is a hobby tnat.
first carried out in one direction, and
then IN another. is going TO last him all
his life so IL Is as well to start cautious
ly and avoid later regrets. For this pur
pose he must begin systematically, and
should take the eighteenth century as
being the most prolific period for his pur-
pose He should not trouble at first
about the slight (although Mterestlng)
differences between the dozen or more
should gain an absolutely clear idea OF
the three principal styles OF furniture
which succeeded each other during the
century.
The first was Queen Anne" This was
a heavy style, taken from the Dutch. and
the principal woods used were walnut
and oak The introduction of mahogany
in Ne early part Of the century acceierat-
ed a lighter taste. which prepared the
way for Chippendale, His work may
roughly be divided into three classes
An Improved style OF what was already
current a style OF his own, and imita-
tions and adaptations OF other styles
such as the French and the Chinese; out
of these three his own style Is the best,
and most admired to-day
II is characterized as has been said
above principally by beauty OF form.
and. TN the rarer examples. by carving,
the amount OF which practically rules
the pecuniary. although not the artistic.
value OF the furniture.
Next followed Sheraton. who adopted
a much simpler style. which was alto
gether his own. and for ornamentation
he used the lathe In conjunction with in.
laid work and veneer. Speaking very
broadly, all the other varieties OF the
furniture OF this period can for our pur-
pose be regarded as the outcome OF these
Three styles. which are therefore the
landmarks Of the time. and this Is why
furniture OF the eighteenth century Is
nearly always called by one OF the three
names. Queen Anne" ~chippendalc" or
sheraton" even IN the case OF perfectly
evident examples 81 some other maker.
Now. these three styles must be care
fully studied. and Tor this purpose moth
ing can be better than a few visits to a
museum where there are plenty Of exam.
Plies Of each From careful study Of
these various specimens the visitor will
come away with the broad ideas OF what
he Is going 20 buy fixed Ia his mind lie
should go two or three times, ard then
pay a visit to some old shop Ia the cOun.
Try where he will probably find eut OF
some dozens OF chairs. two or three
which remind him OF those in the muse
um, but with the carving omitted and
these Will probably be the right chairs
20 buy. View York Fverne Mail