The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-02-04
Sound Rules
for Judging
Are Offered
By MRS. WALTER L. ENRICH
Written for NEA Service

Some one has estimated that the
heritage of antiques In this coun-
try should be sufficient to allow an
antique apiece for every tenth fam
ily in the United States today. This
estimate is excessive, but the num-
Der Of persons who can afford to
buy precious pieces from out Of the
past is great.
How to tell antiques? There are
rules and sound rules for the buy
ing public.
The English cabinetmakers were
Hont to turn the legs Of chair IN
one fashion, those of France and
Italy in another. The turn and d.
rection of final on top OF chair
will place It In one country or an
other. or of one period or another,
as will the Joint or turn Of leg.
Certain combinations Of wood and
inlay were used by one country's
cabinetmakers and not by another.
Field Vast and Complex
The field Of antiques is vast and
complex, but there has been sufd-
cient research into the subject to
start the antique buyer off with
some compass.
It is wise generally for the be-
einner to limit himself to single
line Of questing, be it hooked rugs,
glass, pewter, textiles or furniture
for the period Of his initiation, any,
way. There is SO much to learn.
OF certain articles and modes 1t
it safe to say that they no longer
can be procured, except insofar as
rare collections come into the mar
ket, and that includes almost all
authentic Gothic, early Renaissance
and fourteenth and fifteenth CEN
tury pieces
Many treasures remain from those
centuries, but they are mostly in
museums. or are held at high ran
som by dealers and collectors
~Genulne?" Be Careful!
A popular misconception as re-
CARDS Sheraton, Adam, Hepple-
white, Chippendale ought to be IN
learned. One can safely say that
one can not buy a piece "by' any
of these masters.
They primarily were designers
and not executors, and the number
of their handiwork which can be
traced with certainty to them is not
large.
The use Of many articles IN the
making of bogus antiques ap-
breaches, but never equals the de-
Unable quality Of genuine antique.
First of all there is the patina,
the surface coloring on line piece
of old wood that ages to the sheen
and quality of satin.
If enough genuine pieces are seen,
this quality of surfaces becomes a
primary guide. A genuine antique
will warp in a certain way and will
be worn honestly in such spots as
usage induced.
Beetle Often Human
For example, the forerungs Of a
chair or table will show more wear
than the under sides, and the inter-
stices between where chairs were
placed will show less year than
where the feet touched the table.
Wood does not shrink with the
grain, but across it.
The wood beetle is such an ubi-
quitous pest and spares so few old
pieces, that the faker in antiques
uses his borings as one of his
prime assets. But here again, a
little scientific knowledge will
guard the buyer. The wood bee
tie works underneath in the soft
part Of the wood. the human fab
ricator exposes too much.
In a piece of genuine antique
there can be seen the pinpoint holes
where the wood beetle enters and
exists, but the catacomb of dots
which man-made holes shows Is not