Antique Painted Furniture: The Fragile, Hard-to-Get Furniture

Not to give much disappointment to avid antique collectors yet today, it is so hard to purchase antique painted furniture from the 18th century, especially those that are hand-painted. Most of this kind of furniture is lying inside the guarded museums, separated from the community through silk ropes.

Today, one can rarely see genuine pieces of antique painted furniture. There are several manufacturers who design such pieces of true creations and not just sole reproduction. Avid makers of antique painted furniture assemble this highly sought-after furnishing hiring the best Italian artists. The Italians are the ones carrying the old and elegant tradition of antique painted furniture, thus they are considered the master crafters.

The origin of antique painted furniture carries a long record, from the use of resin lacquer in old China around 3500 years back to the present reproduction of the items. Marco Polo was the one to have conveyed the idea of the vastly developed Chinese lacquer state to the country Italy sometime in 1283 A.D.

The breakthrough of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the year 1738 as well as 1748 guided in a neoclassicism period that abruptly established its way to designing antique painted furniture. The era’s striking styles and elegant antique painted furniture decorations made the pieces true classics.

Today, its reproduction is continuously becoming exceptional and one-of-a-kind. And since they are generally precious, some produces counterfeit items. Telling the difference is sometimes hard. A lot of mass-produced pieces are coming from Mexico, Indonesia and India.

To start discerning, try to gauge why this kind is painted. It has actually several reasons yet fake manufacturers paint the antique painted furniture for the purpose of hiding a lot of irregularities like coarse wood grain, knots and light scratches. Sometimes, they also mix poor woods into high quality ones, and painting will conceal this sin.

Try also to check the natural wear of the furniture. Some signs of wear are seen, and you have to consider whether these make sense. For instance, an antique painted furniture chair will display larger hints of irregularity at its arm end. If the wear is considerably consistent, then it definitely means the item is only a reproduction. The construction details of the furniture can also be a factor to gauge the authenticity of the piece.

Always be choosy about your purchase of antique furniture in painted style especially that today; a lot are taking advantage of its rarity. More are reproducing instead of designing authentic products.