Driscolls Antiques – Antique Furniture Blog

Some reproduction furniture is antique furniture.

Very often in the Victorian and Edwardian periods older styles of antique furniture designs were copied and re produced. They were classed as reproduction furniture but this was over 100 years ago so now are classed as antique.

The Victorian and Edwardian cabinet makers liked to use the earlier designs but now they had the use of machines and better tools so pieces of furniture could be made much faster and so you see more pieces from these periods.

In the late Victorian and Edwardian period there was still very good timber that the cabinet makers would use so extremely good quality pieces of furniture was still being produced.

A prime example of a superb Victorian copy of a Georgian design is the set of 8 Victorian mahogany antique dining chairs in the Chippendale design. They have shaped moulded backs with pierced back splats and stand on tapering legs with H stretchers.

They really are a stunning set with the best quality mahogany used but also come at a fraction of the price to an original set of Georgian Chippendale chairs.

So just because they are only around 100 years old do not let this deter you as sets like these are currently reasonable to buy but will only increase in value as time goes on and they get harder to find but also you get a stunning period looking antique but that are constructed to last as they are built from quality timber.

Bookmark

Warning American Express scam with antiques

Antiques and antique furniture are being targeted more and more by credit card scams and we do try to report on any we hear about. There is currently a scam and antique dealers are being targeted by credit card fraud with the use of cloned American Express credit cards.

Some of the fraudulent purchases have been for over two hundred thousand pounds and the scammers may have been operating for a few years now.

The cloned cards cannot use the chip and pin for clearance so the signature is needed instead but because it is a cloned card the signature will look correct. They have been used with PDQ machines and the correct authorisation code has been sent by the card provider as the cards appear not to be lost or stolen but the biggest problem is that correct AMEX card holder doesn’t know until thay get their credit card statement and the antiques are long gone by the time they receive it.

The fraudsters are very convincing as they have knowledge of antiques and seen genuine so they are scamming many people and have never been caught, plus non of the antiques stolen have ever been recovered.

The main recommendation is not to accept payment without chip and pin but this can be difficult as many cards sometimes decline when using chip and pin through no fault of the customers and you do not want to turn away sales.

The best thing to do is be very vigilant and any suspicion at all then double check before agreeing with the sale of the antiques.

Bookmark

Only two delivery runs left before Christmas

As Christmas approaches you might start thinking about buying antique dining tables and antique dining chairs for Christmas dinner but because we are so busy at the moment we now only have two delivery runs available. So if you are interested in buying antique furniture and want it before Christmas please order quick as I would hate for you to be disappointed with delivery having to be in the new year. If we can make any further delivery runs available we will announce it on our blog page but it is looking very unlikely as we have lots of deliveries to complete before Christmas. If we do end up getting fully booked then we can recommend some trusted carriers who we occasionally use and they might be able to help but at the moment we have two large runs available but these will soon fill. If you need any further details on dates or recommended antiques carriers please contact us and we will help in any way we can.

Antique dining tables with antique dining chairs can make a superb setting at Christmas and are the ideal pieces of antique furniture for every day use, as they are quality built with beautiful character.

Bookmark

The Victorians period was renowned for recycling antique furniture.

Did you know that in the Victorian period recycling of antique furniture was already happening as earlier period pieces were often restored up to date with the modern look. Towards the late 19^th century it was fashionable to heavily carve or add lots of inlay to period pieces of antique furniture to fit in with their newly bought carved furniture but unfortunately what they did not realise is that this actually spoilt the furniture in today’s eyes as they changed the originality of the piece. But the main point of this was they recycled their old furniture even 100 years ago mainly by people who could not afford the new Victorian pieces. This was also the case on pieces passed down from the family so it would e changed into the modern look. The larger manner houses would usually preserve their antique furniture in the original condition and pass these down by generation to generation so this is how many of the best quality antique furniture survived. What amazes me is how so many pieces of antique furniture survived from wars and changed in tastes, but this was mainly because it was well crafted and fits into most interiors as they are beautiful pieces. I am sure antique furniture will stay popular and people will be saying did you know antique furniture was recycled not only in the Victorian period but also in the 21^st century.

Bookmark

Cleaning Handles and fittings on Antique Furniture

Antique furniture has lots of different metal fittings like handles, hinges, key escutcheons, tilting bolts, locks, clash moulds, pulls, brackets and castors. These fittings are usually made from brass, copper or iron and if they have dullness and age I personally recommend leaving this as it is part of the character and you expect to see signs of age on the metal fittings. If the marks bother you and you want to clean the fittings, you must firstly remove all the fittings as cleaning solution on the wood will damage the polish. You can use any metal cleaner that can be purchased at a supermarket as these are as good as any other cleaning product that we have used in the past. Apply the cleaning solution with a piece of cotton wool or leave the handles etc to soak in the liquid for 30 minutes and then clean using a cloth or cotton wool. For badly rusted metal use cleaning solution with fine wire wool. I would just leave them to show the years of use adding to the character of your piece of antique furniture.

Bookmark

Antique furniture in fashion

As a woman, like most women I love clothes but for me it’s not just the seeing and feeling of a piece of clothing, it’s also the presentation. There are certain brands of clothes I tend to go for and they send really lovely catalogues or booklets to my home. I love the feel of the thick paper sheets and the woody fragrance of the pages and the way it is set out or presented inside. With pretty ladies leaning on old antique chairs with threads hanging from the upholstery or holding a much worn picture frame with only faint traces of paint left on it. I love the way antique furniture can be used in fashion magazines, I think they look great, they give the page a rustic vibe and a sense of quality which makes the clothing look good and seen as quality clothing. I love both clothes and antiques and I think they both go together perfectly so the combination is always a winner for me. 

There are many different types of antique furniture used in magazines from old country looking pieces to fine regency polished mahogany or shabby painted furniture but it works in all cases as the background is as important as the clothing you are looking at so keep up the good work and hopefully this will also have the side affect of promoting antiques at the same time.

Bookmark

What is an antique Cellaret used for?

An antique cellaret is a portable antique cabinet for storing bottles, decanters and glasses. Originally they are usually lined in lead to keep your wine cool and were designed to fit under the middle of a twin pedestal antique sideboard. They are very nice small pieces of antique furniture and if they have flat tops can also be used as a side or coffee table.

We have just put up for sale two very nice examples and both are from the Regency period. We have a mahogany cellarets with moulded lift up lid with banding and the interior has dividers for wine bottles and glasses. It has swan neck handles on the sides and stands on 4 tapering legs. We also have a mahogany cellaret in the unusual sarcophagus shape with moulded top and the interior has dividers. It has 4 beautifully turned feet with brass castors.

Bookmark

How to inherit antique furniture without paying inheritance tax

If you are a collector of antique furniture and are worried about the inheritance tax your children will have to pay when they inherit them, we may have the answer for you. The answer is to give your entire collection to your children before you die but if they rent it back to you for the current market rent you can still enjoy your collection in your home. Do not rent it at a nominal fee as the inheritance reservations rules prevent nominally gifting antique collections to their children. The other thing you need to be aware of is after you give the antiques to your children you need to live for seven years after the gift otherwise they will still be taxed.

What you need to do to comply is to get independent valuer to value the antiques and also offer you a value of open market rent. This is quite a difficult thing to do as how can you offer an open market rent on antique furniture. HMRC said they look at open market rent as being 1% of the value and needs to be re valued every 3 years by independent valuers. Gift lease back is becoming very popular as HMRC offers guidance on this issue but don’t take my word as gospel please get a specialist accountant or financial advisor to help as I am no specialist, I am just offering what small amount of knowledge I know on this as I am simply an antiques dealer not a money or tax specialist! But I do have some very nice pieces of antique furniture for sale.

Bookmark

Restoring holes and cracks in antique furniture

Antique furniture often has ware and tare due to age and use and it is quite common to see small holes from old woodworm or use and cracks from shrinkage due to temperature variations. This can sometimes be fixed very easily by using some of our repair king wax sticks. They come in different colours so get the closest to the colour of the wood and if it is not quite right try to mix two together by warming the wax in your hand first. Before applying the wax stick, warm it in your hand and use the plastic spatula provided. Scrape some of the wax off of the stick and press it firmly into the hole or crack. Scrape any excess off and with some soft cardboard paper carefully rub it smooth. One the holes or crack is filled wax over the top with a good quality furniture wax. Some people like to see honest marks and cracks as this is original to the piece and comes with antique furniture but if it bothers you this is a simple way to fix the problem and it does not cause any damage to the piece as long as it is done correctly.

We offer two different types of wax stick, the first is medium in colours and is for woods such as Oak, Cherry, Teak, lighter shades of mahogany and lighter walnut shades and Antique Pine wood.

The other wax stick we supply is for Dark coloured woods such as dark oak, dark mahogany and darker walnut shades of wood.

Bookmark

The 56.6 Million Pound house clearance !

As you may have herd on the news today a record has been set for the sale of an antique vase that made 56.6 Million Pounds including the buyer’s premium and what is more amazing is that this antique was found house clearance. The family who inherited the vase took it to their local auction with no idea of the value and when they were told it was going up for sale with hopes of fetching a little over one million what a shock but not as much as a shock as the final selling price. It had been owned by their family member for around seventy years and to their surprise it was an 18th Century porcelain vase probably from the Chinese Royal Palace and fired in the best and most famous imperial kilns.  It rarity and stunning beauty with skilful craftsmanship along with the fact it was in super condition attracted many, many bidders and many from the far east. The buyer has been left anonymous but I can only hope it is put on a beautiful piece of antique furniture and is well admired. Well done to the family who sold it, hopefully they will use some of the money to re invest in some good quality antique furniture.

Bookmark