Adventures in Antiquity

Although these particular pieces of Italian porcelain were made in the 19th century, Italian porcelain showed signs of the influence of the Chinese as early as the 15th century.

Part of the reason that anyone buys or sells and antiques comes from a love for craft. It tells, moreover, something about the way people lived during that period. It tells us how they worked. It tells us something about their values.  In general, antiques tell us about the culture which produced it: past and present. This is the first in an on-going series of articles about the construction and the markings of 18th century furniture.

One might assume that placing value on a piece of antique furniture is fairly obvious; however, the only people who consistently understand the actually value of an antique are experienced antique dealers. They gain that experience because they also know when to buy a particular piece. They can instantly identify an 18th century chinoiserie secretary from a reproduction of the same antique secretary. An antique’s market value also takes more knowledge and experience than one might initial assume. How do they do it?