Painted Country Furniture

How to tell the difference between reproductions and antiques

by Martin Swinton

Can you tell the difference between a real painted antique and a painted reproduction? Good quality reproductions serve their purpose. You just want to make sure that you know what you are getting. Here are some tips to help you tell them apart.

Why paint? Mass produced reproductions come from India, Indonesia and Mexico. But antique country furniture was handcrafted by rural furniture-makers as utilitarian furniture — kitchen tables, chairs and cabinets. It was painted for several reasons. An assortment of poor quality woods was often used. Plus, paint hid a multitude of sins — the knots, coarse grain of the wood and the fact that several types of wood might be used on a single piece. And, paint protected the wood.

Where to paint. It simply made no sense to furniture makers to paint the insides of drawers and bottoms of tables because no one would see them. So, why waste the time and paint? You should be on the lookout for paint on hidden areas when you’re assessing a piece because you’ll often find reproductions with paint on the inside of drawers, chair bottoms etc. It’s a tip-off that you could be looking at a reproduction.

Does crazing mean it’s old? Crazing (tiny cracks in the paint that occur over many years) can be artificially produced on new furniture. One tip-off is that new furniture will often be crazed all over and with the same consistency. Crazing on old furniture happens from the accidents of regular use — spills and exposure to heat, fire or smoke damage that occurs over the life of furniture. There are two types of crazing: crazing to the paint or to the varnish. Over time varnish gets brittle and develops very tiny fine lines as wood expands and contracts. A similar effect happens to paint. Paint cracks as the wood expands and contracts and dirt fills into the tiny cracks. On reproductions, this look is achieved by painting fine dark lines to imitate dirt.

Is the paint old? Old paint is very hard and breaks off into irregular pieces because it is very brittle. If you try to scrape it off with a knife, it’ll come off in jagged pieces. New paint is soft. When scraped with a knife, it will come off in curls. New furniture is painted with water based acrylics that were invented in the 1940s. Old furniture would be painted with milk or oil based paints.

Natural wear. Do the signs of wear make sense? A painted antique chair will show increased signs of wear at the end of the arms where the hands would naturally rest and rub off the paint more than underneath the arm. If the wear is consistent through the piece, it’s likely a reproduction that has been distressed to appear old. If there are gouges or dents, you should see bare wood. Paint over gouges or dents means that it has been repainted.

Construction details. Phillips screws, staples and fiberboard are all tip-offs of any reproductions -whether it’s painted or not. What makes painted furniture unique is that these tip-offs can be hidden with paint. On antiques with large surfaces (tables, trunks, armoires), furniture makers used wide boards with an uneven width. Reproductions use narrow boards with an even width.

Martin Swinton lives in Toronto, Canada and owns Take-A-Boo Emporium, a popular local antique shop. He has appeared on a variety of television programs and teaches courses on antiques. Contact him at www.takeaboo.com