Antiques Oronoco: Furniture

Furniture

There are a wide variety of antique furniture styles and types of woods. Collectors tend to select a style that they like and look for pieces that fit that style and era. They tend to select similar woods or woods that complement the style and look they are trying to create. Some furniture is valuable just for its historic value, a chair that a famous treaty was signed in, a table that appeared in a movie, etc.

Styles

These styles are reflected not only in furniture, but in jewelry, glass, figurines and a wide variety of collectible items.

Primitives: Made before electric tools were available and have a roughness and hand made look that appeal to a number of collectors.
Art Deco and Art Nouveau: Popular in the U.S. in the early part of this century.
Country: Handmade, simple and built to be sturdy and practical.
Victorian furniture: Reminiscent of the 1800s with ornate designs and darker wood.
Mission furniture: From the late 1800s, it was developed by Gustav Stickley and is generally very clean, simple lines in oak furniture - reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement of the time.

Woods

Oak and golden oak are the most popular furniture woods among antique furniture collectors.
"After the Industrial Revolution, mail-order furniture companies began to favor the lighter weight oak over the massive rosewood and walnut pieces, simply because shipping oak was less costly." (Huxford, 1994)

Valuing Furniture

Recently a return to the natural wood look has caused a resurgence in refinishing activity. Many people find gems "in the rough" and do the refinishing themselves, or hire a professional refinisher to do the work for them.

Ask to see the unfinished furniture area of an antique shop and you may find many treasures waiting to be restored. Look for quality wood, good workmanship and solid construction, interesting designs and styles that will fit your home. Minor surface flaws, mars in finish and paint are all problems that can be dealt with by a restorer/refinisher.

Look for signs that the piece was handmade versus machine-made. Look for handmade nails, dovetail and other glued joints rather than nailed together construction, slight irregularities in construction, etc.

Also, do note that the price of a piece has a alot to do with where you buy it. Due to the difficulty of transport of most furniture and the fact that there are real regional differences in preference for various styles, the same piece can sell much higher or much lower in different parts of the country.

Note that location is a large determinant of furniture price. There are large differences in preference for various styles across the United States and around the world. Furniture is heavy and expensive to transport so these differences continue to result in large price differences for the same piece from one state to the next.

References:

American Oak Furniture and Victorian Furniture Kathryn McNerney, Collector Books
Furniture of the Depression Era and The Collector's Encylopedia of American Furniture, Volumes I and II Harriet and Robert Swedberg, Collector Books

HWY 52, Oronoco, Minnesota
6 minutes north of Rochester

Open Wednesday through Saturday 10am to 5 pm. Sundays 12pm-4pm.

They do go on buying trips so call first if it is the last 4 days of the month or during the months of January or February.
507-367-2220